GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at DODGERS 04-16

I hate the fucking Dodgers… and the only thing I hate more than the Dodgers, is fucking Los Angeles itself… Pompous, self centered, shallow people inhabiting a dirty urban sprawl of asphalt and concrete…. Sure it’s a great place if you are shopping or trying to do business, but as you lift off from "lovely" Burbank, Santa Ana, or god forbid LAX, you can just look over at the brown shit you have been wading through for the last few days and you feel dirty all over……And then there is Dodger stadium, with decks that seem to get higher and steeper and then the smog that you really don't notice day to day……but when you focus further away and looking through a good chunk of "air" to watch a ball game…..fucking nasty….I can hardly watch a ballgame there, can you imagine playing??? Sure its cliché, but its true….I will take the crunchy neo-hippie of Mill Valley driving a Volvo, or the Sand Hill Road Venture Capitalist driving a Mercedes S Class with a huge Grateful Dead sticker in the back window…..

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at DODGERS 04-16


GAMEBALL

VELEZ

Yes, the rally fell short of its objective… or maybe not…..7-0 after 2 innings….this game was long over already and the Giants of 2009 would have mentally checked out of the game…..but not tonight, as the Giants kept coming trying to make a game of it…..and thanks to a 2 out 9th inning blast from Velez, his 2nd this week….good job Velez, and way to make another late charge for the GAMEBALL…..

TIP OF THE CAP :
URIBE
Couple hits including a 2 RBI Single that plated the Giants first 2 runs….

DEROSA
Beginning to warm up to this guy….he don't like losing and he was key in 2 Giants rallies

JOAQUIN/ MEDDERS
Neither were particularly effective….but they got the job done….saving the real pitchers in the bullpen…..

JACKIE ROBINSON
He may have been a Dodger, but he was still Jackie Robinson …and he is bigger than baseball….there are only a few stories in the world that can make me as emotional as Jackie's…… great man, great story…..tip that cap……

JOKER

PADILLA

Wow…. Brian Wilson thinks you are a crazy fuck……Big time headcase with Big time stuff and never been able to put it together….been too busy beaning people and fighting with his own team….I joke about Brian Wilson, but this guy is a wack job…..just be glad he is good at baseball…..otherwise he might be hiding in the bushes waiting to hack you to pieces……I swear the subhuman thing is missing a few chromosomes……the headhunter added Rowand to his list of victims and is tonights JOKER


SMACK OF THE STICK :
WELLEMEYER
11 runs allowed for Wellemeyer, 14 runs for the rest of the starting staff….Todd's spring magic is gone and the velocity of 2008 is a distant memory…..this guy make me long for the days of Jamey Wright….now that's pretty sad……Honestly, send this guy to the pen, send Joaquin down to AAA to get some work and bring Joe Martinez back up……sure Joe isn't lighting the world on fire, but he couldn't be worse and at least then you would have Joe and Wellemeyer to soak up innings every 5th day



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(The fine print: There will be cussing and bad taste. This is written with the heat of the moment feel you may have during the game, with rational though sprinkled in now and then. This is entertainment folks, sure there is a lot of truth and I am a genius, but this is all about having a laugh and enjoying the ride…….now lets go heckle Jeff Kent in when he gets inducted to Cooperstown..)




by merkin

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at REDS 8/19

Sorry for the wait, it was lets "play with some stats night"

Shutout, Giants…..bet you didn't know the Giants lead the Major League Leagues with 16 shutouts….oh, you DID know that…..ok, well…..I bet you didn't know that the Giants have 9 shutouts that did NOT involve Lincecum or Cain, which would place them 4th in the Majors in team shutouts…not exactly "Lincecum Cain and pray for Rain"…..another nugget the Giants have only BEEN shutout 6 times, fewer than any team in the National League except the Phillies, Nationals, and Reds… and those 6 shutouts are the same number as the offensive powerhouses Dodgers and Brewers…..and of course the useless stat of the day…. Giants have shutout differential of 10, with the Reds next closest with a differential of 6….Arizona next at 3 and then the Phillies….. and the next useless stat…..Giants have participated in 11% of shutouts in the Majors this year…..

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at REDS 8/19

GAMEBALL

ZITO

Yes that’s Gameball #11 for Zito in 2009, probably a function of poor run support (no competition) and low expectations…..Not sure if I buy into the second half player thing, but Zito was dominant…..yes I said dominant…..and he shows no signs of slowing down…..with a max fastball velocity of 89 MPH and average fastball Velocity of 88 MPH which is higher than any game recorded in 2009 AND 2008 via the Pitchfx system….Zito's max fastball velocity bottomed out in 2009 at 86.2 MPH with his 8/12 start that ended the first half and had everyone calling for his head…..since then he has p-itched well enough to lower his ERA from 5.04 to 4.26…..With Cain and Lincecum anchoring the staff, and Zito and Sanchez putting in solid work the Giants have the best starting four in the majors…..no, he won't ever be the ace of the staff, and he won't ever live up to that contract, but he is a major contributor to the Giants success this year……I wonder if this means I can wear my 75 Jersey for the first time? (I won the jersey, I didn't buy it…….ok?)

TIP OF THE CAP :
NATE
After hearing almost everyone in the media and in the fan base, and after some lame excuse about liking Nate as a pinch hitter… Bochy saw the light, and it paid off as Nate his a line shot just past the outstretched Balentin for the only RBI of the game……Atta boy Nate!...

GARKO
Looks to keep a good thing rolling with 2 more hits….maybe we can move him up the lineup? eh?

AFFELDT/ ROMO
Looking good, and thus so are the Giants…..The Bad Facial Hair twins put up a perfect 2 innings striking out 4….and it wasn't even THAT close….

URIBE
Nice play on that line shot in the 8th….my baseball career never made it that far, but I do know what its like to have a 90MPH fastball pulled right at you at 3rd…..that ball has some serious hook and sizzle……and that was off the bat of someone who never even played college ball…..I can only imagine what a Major League line drive at-em ball musr be like……

HUDSON
Called strike 3 on a full count to lead off the 9th was a big play…..that runner gets on and the complexion of that inning changes dramatically….perhaps Hudson was feeling generous after he blew that fair foul call yesterday and then sent Bochy home to an early shower…….and sorry kids…..that was a ball……

CARDS
give up the lead, but they come back to take a 3-2 victory….and that’s 4 back in the loss column….

BWeez
......1-2-3 aided by Hudson.....but 1-2-3 nevertheless


JOKER

PADILLA

Not sure if you know about Vincente Padilla…..but he is known for a few things besides his 95+ MPH fastball (which he still has)…. he has gained a reputation of being a bad teammate and being a headhunter……well I don't know about the clubhouse cancer thing, and I have seen anecdotal evidence of the headhunting…..but I wonder what the stats say…..is he really a beanball artist??? So I took a quick look at HBP data for some active players…..now HBP doesn't necessarily mean headhunter, but still it might lend some credence to the assertation……and sure enough…..after compiling data on active players with 200+ starts……Padilla is second on the list with 1 HBP per 2.18 starts …..who is #1 on the list? Fellow Dodger Jeff Weaver at 1 HBP per 2.12 starts…. for sake of comparison Cain is 1 HBP per 6.40 starts and Lincecum is 1 HBP per 7.45……so the after the bad blood left over from the last series Giants hitters better start thinking about wearing Kevlar uniforms and upping those insurance policies……and come to think of it, maybe the Giants can convince Tiny Minor to come out of retirement and play the Enforcer role on the bench in September…..I bet he could do some damage in a bench clearing brawl……totally worth a spot on the 40 man

SMACK OF THE STICK :
WINN
Well that was quick….after putting up a nice little 3 game run, it was back to hacking with 2 K's in 4 AB's

NATS
After winning 8 in a row at home, they drop back to back games to the Rockies…whats that now 0-5 versus the Rockies???? good job, fuckers…..

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GB and JK ARCHIVES AT THE GIANTS BOARD BLOG

(The fine print: There will be cussing and bad taste. This is written with the heat of the moment feel you may have during the game, with rational though sprinkled in now and then. This is entertainment folks, sure there is a lot of truth and I am a genius, but this is all about having a laugh and enjoying the ride…….now lets go heckle Jeff Kent in when he gets inducted to Cooperstown..)