Tuesday, September 8, 2009

BFF's Square Off Again

Tonight at AT&T Park, former San Francisco Giants BFF's Tim Lincecum and Kevin Correia will face each other for the second time this year. Correia, now pitching for the San Diego Padres after spending the first six years of his career in the Giants organization, has held his own all season, posting a respectable 10-10 record with 4.29 ERA. The Padres won the first matchup with both pitchers receiving a no-decision.

Lincecum, having another dominant, Cy Young caliber season, has been the unfortunate benefactor of piss-poor run support from the pathetic Giants offense. Also receiving piss-poor run support this year are Matt Cain, Barry Zito, and Jonathan Sanchez.

***UPDATE***

Tim Lincecum has been scratched from tonight's start with back inflammation. Replacing him will be top Giants' pitching prospect Madison Bumgarner, just promoted from AA Connecticut and making his Major League debut. He is expected to receive piss-poor run support.


Sunday, August 30, 2009

162 Games of Pablo Sandoval

Pablo Sandoval
Saturday marked the 162nd Major League game for Pablo Sandoval. Beginning the 2008 campaign as catcher in Class A San Jose, he was quickly promoted to AA Connecticut where it soon became obvious he was ready to join an offensively challenged San Francisco team. Last August 13th he was called up and made his debut against the Houston Astros.

Sandoval, whose defensive flexibility afforded him nearly equal playing time at catcher, 1B and 3B, was an immediate impact. The 2008 Giants, who finished the season 18 games below .500 (72-90), would play .500 ball (22-22) after Sandoval joined the club.

Though not his natural position, Sandoval entered 2009 as the starting 3B. Though avoiding protracted slumps all year, his explosive June, in which he hit .394 with 8 HR and 20 RBI, nearly resulted his being elected as a reserve for the National League All-Star Team.

Taking just over a calendar year to accrue 162 games of big-league service, Sandoval has compiled an impressive line:

AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG  OBP  SLG
601 84 203 47 4  24 99  39 81 4 .338 .378 .549

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Why No Vietnamese Heritage Night?

We in Northern California are lucky enough to live in one of the most culturally diverse regions of America, a fact the good people in the Giants marketing department have exploited the past several years by promoting "Heritage" nights, where fans can express their pride by purchasing specially priced game tickets (typically mid-week against lousy opposition). The 2009 season includes 14 such dates:
  • Mexican Heritage Day (5/2)
  • Indian Heritage Night (5/11)
  • Chinese Heritage Night (5/12)
  • Korean Heritage Night (5/14)
  • Japanese Heritage Night (5/15)
  • LGBT Night (8/7)
  • Latino Heritage Night (8/25)
  • Italian Heritage Night (8/26)
  • Jewish Heritage Night (8/27)
  • Irish Heritage Night (TWICE! 6/16 & 8/28)
  • African-American Heritage Night (8/29)
  • Filipino Heritage Night (TWICE! 4/21 & 9/16)
Of course, it would be near impossible to have a "Heritage" night for every cultural, minority or special-interest group, so really, they probably target groups that bring the largest turnout (i.e. the most cash). As such, it's not worth being sensitive over any particular group being omitted (Why the fuck's there no Greek Heritage night?!?!) since they're just a function of Giants fan demographics.

Nonetheless, for a team that wants to stake claim to San Jose, and really all of the South Bay, we here at Yet Another San Francisco Giants Blog consider it a slap in the face to NOT hold a Vietnamese Heritage Night. These "Heritage" events have been taking place for at least three years, and never once has there been Vietnamese Heritage Night. Perhaps the Vietnamese community of the Bay Area doesn't mind being omitted, but what does it say about the Giants' understanding of the makeup of the South Bay? I doubt Bill Neukom, Larry Baer, or any other Giants executive has ever even set foot in San Jose, yet somehow they think they own the place.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Sue Burns Passes Away

I attend a dozen or so Giants games a year at AT&T park, and for the past two, usually bring my big Pentax SLR camera with telephoto lens to snap photos of the game. One of my favorite subjects, aside from the players themselves, is to zoom in on the owners box next to the home dugout and try to get few silly shots of the Giants brass. It is usually pretty easy to get a photo of Larry Baer picking his nose, or talking right up in his guest's face. Before his retirement, maybe get a nice capture of one of Peter Magowan's new, flamboyant outfits. This year Bill Neukom has been a fixture, always in his bow-tie and usually sitting by himself with nobody to talk to.

So when news broke Sunday that Sue Burns, who actually owned the largest stake in the team, and with late husband Harmon was an unsung force behind preventing the Giants' move to Florida in 1992, had suddenly passed away from cancer, I revisited my photo library to see if she was present in any of these shots.
Sue Burns

In fact, Sue was to be found in virtually EVERY shot of the owners box I snapped since 2007, I just never noticed. Always dressed in orange, usually in the company of friends or family, and invariably, smiling. This photo was taken less than two months ago, May 26, 2009...a Tuesday night 4-0 shutout victory against the Atlanta Braves. In a Giants season that has the makings of being one of those spoken of fondly for years to come (e.g. 1993, 1997, 2002, etc ), it will also be remembered with a touch of sadness for this great loss to the soul of the team.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Halladay Not the Piece Giants Need

It must be an instinctual response for baseball fans to swoon over any dominant, franchise type player when they become available on the trade market, irrespective of how that player fits within their team's roster. So when the Toronto Blue Jays announced staff ace Roy Halladay was on the trading block, many Giants fans and talk radio personalities began envisioning him joining the San Francisco rotation, then sitting back and watching the team steamroll it's way to the World Series. Even at a very high cost it would be worth it, they assert. After all, how could a team with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, AND Roy Halladay possibly lose a post-season series???
Roy Halladay

First of all, there's no question Halladay is a centerpiece, franchise player and easily one of the top five starting pitchers in baseball both now and, arguably, of the decade. He should remain a perennial Cy Young contender and a rock to build a staff around for the next several years, no matter where he plays. On the mound he brings a presence and intensity that compares him to a right-handed Randy Johnson. A quick summary of his career:
  • He's averaged over 16 wins per year and over 7 IP per start since 2002 (7.5 seasons)
  • He finished in the top 5 in AL Cy Young balloting in 2002, 2003 (winner), 2006, 2007, and 2008. Injury shortened seasons kept him out of the running in 2004 & 2005.
  • He has two career 20-win seasons
  • Is a six time All-Star including as starter in 2009
The Giants are in the midst of a magical season and there have been year long expectations they would make a mid-season impact trade before the stretch run. Make no mistake, if they added Halladay, the Giants would own the sickest rotation baseball has seen in years. There are, however, a multitude of reasons why the Halladay to Giants rumor should remain fantasy.

The first and most obvious is that Halladay doesn't address a need. As alluded to already, the Giants have the best pitching staff in baseball. In the first half, they held opponents to two runs or less in 44% of their games. They have the best team ERA in baseball. They've tossed 13 shutouts and have a bullpen that ranks second, while throwing the fewest innings, in MLB. Recently reinstated #5 starter Jonathan Sanchez is coming off the franchise's first no-hitter in 33 years. In a nutshell, the Giants pitching staff is consistently excellent, frequently dominant, and despite some minor injury worry surrounding Johnson, are poised to remain strong in the second half.

Secondly, assuming he stays healthy, Halladay would only give the Giants 10-12 regular season starts in '09. He would remain under contract for another year before becoming eligible for free agency after the 2010 season. How much better would the Giants record be in those 10-12 starts over whomever he replaced? Is it reasonable to assume he could come to the Giants and go 11-1 with the 13th worst offense in the NL? Halladay can lose a game 2-1 just as easily as Sanchez, or any other replacement can lose a game 5-1. He has also been on the DL once so far in 2009.

Lastly, precisely because of his greatness, the cost of acquiring Halladay will be excruciatingly high. In somewhat of a minor miracle after years of neglecting the draft, the Giants have built their farm system into one of the top five in baseball. Pitching prospects Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson, and catcher Buster Posey are universally projected to become good to great major leaguers in the next few years. No deal for Halladay will be made without giving up at least one of these players, as well as multiple other highly touted prospects. Despite never winning a World Series in San Francisco, the Giants should not act desperately in this moment, not when there is so much more potential on the horizon.

Simply put, the Giants need to trade for a bat, preferably upgrading somewhere on the infield. Everyone has known this all year and nothing's changed, the availability of Halladay notwithstanding. Keeping the Giants pitching as is, obtaining an everyday player for the final 50 games that can help the team tack on a few extra runs per week will be just a effectual, if not more, than Halladay in a dozen starts. And this sort of deal could be had at a cost much less that that needed to acquire a player of Halladay's caliber.

The Giants are not without their faults, but have been, record-wise, awesome so far. They deserve to play out the second half focused on earning their first playoff berth since 2003. However, any dealings they make in the next few weeks to compete in '09, even if it is to get more pitching, should reflect the confidence that the organization, as a whole, is heading in the right direction, and great things are bound for the years to come...

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Sanchez No-Hitter Another Dash Of Magic To '09

Congratulations to Jonathan Sanchez for his history making performance Friday night, a 8-0 no-hit victory over the San Diego Padres; the first no-hitter ever at AT&T Park. Sanchez needed just 110 pitches to complete the gem in which he walked none and struck out 11. The only baserunner of the night reached on an error with one out in the 8th inning; Sanchez went on to retire the final five batters.

The start was Sanchez's first since being being demoted to the bullpen after starting the season as the Giants #5 starter. Attributing some mechanical tweaks recommended by pitching coach Dave Righetti, Sanchez effortlessly pinpointed his fastball, slider, and splitter all night, realizing the potential that has made it so difficult for the Giants to give up on him despite his struggles.

Adding to the emotion of the night was the fact his father had just flown from Puerto Rico to watch the game in person, the first time he witnessed Jonathan make a professional start. Shortly after the final out, father and son shared a long embrace in the dugout, after which Sanchez emerged to tip his cap to the over 30,000 in attendance.

It was, indeed, a very special moment for Giants fans everywhere.