Iron Mike was on Jimmy Kimmel last night, and when I saw it I thought it was funnier than when I watched it on youtube this morning, but since we haven’t put up any clips in a while I thought we were due for one of them. Ripping on Kobe will always get me to smile. Then I remembered another skit he did last night that I also thought was funny at the time where he busted out a trick shot compilation making fun of all those Sportsnation kids. The domino shot was simply amazing… I guess I thought both of these were more funny last night, but since I’m don’t really want to write about Dirk’s amazing performance, I figured may as well take you into the weekend with a laugh or two instead…
Author Archives: chappy81
About chappy81
Some Love For Matt
No, I’m not talking about MCeezy. There’s another Matt out there that is tearing up Major League pitching this year, and it seems like nobody is talking about him. Maybe one of the only reasons I’ve noticed his existence is because he’s on two of my fantasy teams, but there’s good reason to take notice of what he’s been doing this year. While others try to figure out if Jose Bautista is “for real” or not, nobody is really talking about ML leader in batting. Matt Joyce is hitting a ridiculous .370 this year. I’m not so sure he’ll keep that up, but it definitely should warrant some more attention than it has received. Maybe it’s because he’s in his fourth year as a pro making him slide under the radar in a time when people are more excited about a rookie sensation like Eric Hosmer. His career normals are in the .250/10/40 range, but then again, Joyce was always in a platoon situation or just a substitute when someone got injured. Fortunately for the Rays, Manny Ramirez decided to call it quits, errr, fail a drug test, and open a spot in the lineup for Joyce. He’s probably already done as much as Manny would’ve done at the plate this year, and plays some really good defense to boot.
With 3 more homers, 10 more RBI’s, and 6 more runs this season, he will have career highs in all categories (already has career highs in doubles and SB’s). At his current pace he’ll have those well before the All-Star break. Can you label this a fluke? I wound’t, because looking at his games played each season as he’s never played over 92 games in a season. He’s always hit for power, but the average has never been there like it has this year. If you had to pick an MVP for the Rays this year, it would be Joyce hands down. Longoria, Damon, and Zobrist have been good on and off, but the rock in the lineup that’s been hot all year long is Matt Joyce. What I can’t figure out for the life of me is why Maddon puts Joyce so far down in the lineup. Sometimes he has his .370 hitter in the six or seven slot. A guy that hits with power and average should be in the top three hitters or protecting Longoria. I know we have one Rays reader, so maybe he can explain Maddon’s theory of putting him so far down in the lineup half the time.
If you didn’t know it’s all-star voting time, and there’s sure to be some bad picks as there are every year. Here’s how I feel like the AL outfield should look. Joyce, Bautista, and Granderson. Too bad it will probably be something like Crawford, Ichiro, and Hamilton or something like that…
Lebron vs. Jordan
I don’t get it, where is all this Lebron is better than Jordan talk coming from? Why are guys like Scottie Pippin saying things like this? Does he still have some animosity towards MJ? Are youtube videos like the one above being made, because there’s nothing else to debate about at the moment? Personally I don’t understand why it’s even a debate. For years we compared Kobe to Jordan, and over the last couple years we’ve seemingly put that argument to bed, aside from a short sighted Lakers fan here and there. Now Lebron is better than Jordan when he hasn’t won anything yet?!? Jordan was 6 for 6 in his career in the finals, and won 6 Finals MVP’s while Lebron is 0 for 1 with a sweep in the finals to his name. Wake me after Lebron has a single three-peat, and we can maybe start this argument. Hell, Dwayne Wade has more “Jordan-like” credentials than Lebron with a 1 for 1 in Finals appearances, and earning a finals MVP. I understand that a lot of us want to see another Jordan, but in reality I doubt we ever will see anyone with the drive that Jordan had. He made it so everyone around him would never give up, because he wouldn’t let them. I can’t say the same for Lebron at any point in his career so far. Lebron doesn’t seem to mind losing while Jordan died a little inside every time he lost a meaningless regular season game, and that my friends is what will separate these two for eternity. I think we should be comparing Lebron to Kobe first, then Magic, then maybe Jordan if he ever gets that far. It feels like we skipped a few legitimate and major steps in our comparisons with this guy. It’s scary to me this is going to be a debate for the next 10 years regardless of how many titles the Heat do or don’t win…
Hopkins Found the Fountain of Youth
I’ve had one of those super busy weeks, and neglected the blog a bit. Last night I finally had a chance to watch the Hopkins-Pascal fight that I Tivoed on Monday (thanks for airing it Showtime). Sorry this took me until almost a week after the fight actually took place to write about it. It’s pretty impressive for any 46-year old to be in the ring, let alone a title fight. The Executioner was nothing short of brilliant in the fight, and became the oldest boxer ever to hold a title. He will also be the oldest boxer to have a title defense when he decides to fight again. He’s a genius in the ring as he gets into the head of his opponent as one of the best trash talkers/taunters the ring has ever seen.
Was this one of the greatest achievements of all time? I’d argue it is. We see ageless wonders like Jaime Moyer in baseball that somehow keep pitching, but boxing is a much different animal. Hell, you see the best professional athletes try to do boxing workouts and can’t even hang, so that’s got to say something about the sports ability to define athleticism. Fighting is and has always been the best way to tell how athletic any person is. You can’t fake anyone out or flop your way to a victory you have to stand toe to toe with the other man in the ring.
Why is this such a great feat when boxing seems to be in a constant state of flux and turmoil constantly losing popularity? I personally think that only the heavyweight ranks have lost their luster. The middleweights are scattered with a few quality boxers. I feel like if the NFL didn’t exist we’d have another good American heavyweight, but instead all those guys play football. Maybe if boxing had a commissioner like MMA does they’d be able to have better fight cards and be more organized.
Anyways, back to Hopkins. Pascal might not be the best fighter in the world, and many seem to discount Hopkins achievements simply because they say he’s boring to watch. Others discount him because he hasn’t beaten that many really good fighters throughout his career. Is that his fault that the middleweight division didn’t produce many quality opponents aside from Oscar and Trinidad? He beat everyone that challenged him for 20 straight title defenses. He moved up to the light heavy division, and won there too. Now he’s back on top of the middleweight division. He’s changed his fighting style since his younger days, and is now much more calculated than his early Executioner style. I still can’t get over how a 46-year-old can have more stamina and be more fit than someone 18 years younger. I’m actually more excited for Hopkins next fight than I am for Pacquiao’s next fight. 23 years of dominating the most physical sport you’ll ever come across is no small feat, so when Bernard has his next fight, you should be watching.
Elephants and Seals
As always, By is covering the Giants portion, and Chappy is covering the A’s portion for this post.
San Francisco Giants (1st, 24-19) Oakland Athletics (2nd, 22-22)
Three Up
Oakland Athletics – They swept the Angels in a quick two game series, and also swapped positions with them to be in a tie for first place in the AL West for the first time this season. That didn’t last long as they lost two straight to the struggling Twins and were promptly sent back to 2nd place. Their offense has gotten progressively better over the last week and a half.
They’ve actually averaged nearly 5 runs a game over their last 10. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Coco Crisp has been getting on base, stealing bases, and scoring runs. When he does well, they seem to score a lot more runs. Their pitching has still been their crutch to lean on. They lead the majors in ERA at 2.68, which is the only sub-3.00 ERA in all of baseball besides the Braves 2.88 team ERA. Andrew Bailey is getting closer to returning, and will be a welcomed addition to an already great bullpen.
San Francisco Giants – Giants are sitting pretty at first place despite playing average ball. So there’s not much to complain about here, furthermore, they just did a mini sweep of division, no everything rivals LA in LA. So a major f**k yeah for that. The Mark DeRosa injury could be looked at as a down, but I see the positive in it. For one, he was hitting like s**t. Second, we’re too deep not to circulate other players in and out of the lineup, giving tough-minded guys like Mike Fontenot a shot at some p.t. Hopefully DeRosa takes this time to clear his mind, and find his swing. Finally Madison Bumgarner finally got his first win of the season, the Giants are on the up and up from here on out.
Three Down
Oakland Athletics – Hideki Matsui hasn’t really shown much promise thus far in the season. Maybe the inconsistent playing time has something to do with it, but I feel like there’s a chance he might just be old. Dallas Braden had season ending shoulder surgery, which was a downer but not unexpected. I’m a huge Tyson Ross fan, and he’s done admirable filling in since Braden went down, but he got injured, and apparently Brandon McCarthy did too, so that’s a hole in the rotation. Maybe Harden will eventually not be hurt or maybe another round with Outman wouldn’t be terrible. Bob Geren is still making questionable lineup/bullpen changes and tinkering that seems to prevent the team from keeping their continuity, but the players seem to be overcoming the handicap of having him as a manager, which must be one tough obstacle.
San Francisco Giants – I can’t complain about much these days, perhaps the injury to Pablo Sandoval has put a damper on our inconsistent hitting. I’m not satisfied with Tim Lincecum’s 3-4 start. I was hoping for him to be blazing toward another Cy Young early on. But those are all ‘whatevers’ in my book. The Giants are in first in the NL West, and this should lead to an interesting series with the A’s.
Next Up – The battle of the bay. Inter league play starts and the battle for bay area bragging rights is on the line.
Win or lose Chaps, we’re still friends o.k. !?!?
Yeah, no hard feelings a quarter of the way through a season!
Botaoshi
We always try to bring you cool Asian stuff as we run across it. This game is called Botaoshi, and is a new one to me. I guess the goal for the team with the pole is to keep it upright, and the other team is trying to get the pole to the ground. I always find it refreshing to see a sport without a ball. It’s a little less structured than the fight league, but a very entertaining minute of play nonetheless. I’m not sure why it helps the team protecting protecting the pole to have the guy on top, but there must be something to it since all the other youtube clips I watched employed the same strategy. I can understand why there’s a minute time limit on this game, seems like if it went much longer everyone would be too injured to go on.
Rainouts Aren’t Always Bad
There’s been a ton of rain outs in the MLB this year. Too bad the pros aren’t allowed to have fun like these college kids during rain outs. They can’t afford to get injured. I think I posted a video like the one below last year with two teams having a talent show trying to one up the other team. This one was a lot more friendly. A few of the skits were a little lame, but all in all it looks like a good way to spend a rainy day…
Can Jaime McCourt Save the Dodgers From Frank?
Surprise, I actually took this picture...
For some strange reason Frank McCourt has been trying to sell to the fans that he actually cares about the team. He’s been making appearances on local TV as well as radio shows. The callers have been funny as they tell him how much they dislike him, and all the questions on his moves being for the “best interest of the team” usually net a comical response from Frank. I understand the team has gotten to the playoffs 3 of 4 years under his rule, but the players that got them there were in LA before he took over, so I’m not sure why he keeps playing that card. He overpaid for Manny, but that’s the only guy I can think of that he really brought in. It’s painfully obvious to a non-financial guru like myself that he has been in over his head since he bought the team, and NOTHING he does will ever get the fans to trust him again.
As a Warriors fan, I know about battling an owner, and I battled with deciding what degree of support to give the Warriors for years under Cohan rule. It’s almost impossible to abandon your team, but once fans start the revolution there’s no going back. Just like the Warriors fans did with Cohan over his final couple years, Dodgers fans are starting to do the same. I guess it helps that both owners were on the verge of being broke. I feel like it’s way past the tipping point when fans pleading with anyone and everyone that will listen to buy their beloved team. Some Dodgers fans have even started sites like this one, which is begging Mark Cuban to buy this team. I’m sure Cuban is probably into the idea, and has been in the running for purchasing a few baseball teams, so if you can get one at a discount why not try. Maybe he’ll wait till after the Mavs are done with their season.
All in all it’s been a wacky year for the Dodgers. Aside from Kemp and Ethier there haven’t been a ton of bright spots for them, until today. Ethier might have even made a salute to the owners during batting practice yesterday. Jaime McCourt decided to sound off for the first time in awhile. Today she requested that the Supreme Court look into a forced sale of the team to prevent the MLB from seizing the club. It’s not a shocking move by any means, but it is a huge step to getting the Dodgers back to their normal selves. It would be great to see more talk about their on-field product instead of what Frank messed up on in the news headlines. The MLB looks like it’s almost assured to seize the team, so if Jaime can get the court on her side which she’s been trying to do for months, it will speed up the process of getting a new owner in there that would be a relief to all Dodgers fans. I highly doubt anyone wants the league running their team, unless you’re the Hornets and are being saved.
Obviously Jaime has been against the big Fox television deal that Frank keeps insisting will save this team financially. I have one reason to side with Jaime, and that reason is you’re never in a good position when you’re broke. It sounds like $3B would be a huge TV contract and would relive some debt for the short term, but I’m almost positive they could do better than the deal offered. Fox probably smells blood and wants to take advantage. Here’s a good quote from Jaime that really shows the differences between the two sides as in I don’t think Frank really has the best interests of the team in mind.
“As I’ve said all along, my goal is to resolve this situation for my family in a way that also advances the best interests of the Dodgers fans, players and franchise. This motion will hopefully provide some momentum in the right direction.”
Memphis vs. OKC: Their Futures
The theme of the NBA playoffs seems to be the youth movement. Aside from the Mavs, all three teams left are fairly young, and look like they’ll be around for years to come, which had me thinking more about the future than this year. Today I was looking at the Memphis and OKC rosters for the next few years, and there was one thing that stood out to me, how can they keep these cores together? There’s a couple of reasons I think a team like Memphis has a better chance than OKC at sustaining success for the next six years like say Miami and Chicago probably will too. The reason I decided to compare Memphis and OKC is because they are both small market teams that are very young.
I’ll start with the Grizzlies, since it’s a team that for some reason has grown on me a lot over the season. What made Memphis successful this season? Their size and scrappiness on defense. Their size with Marc Gasol and Z-Bo is tough to match for any team. Z-Bo already got his extension, and obviously Gasol is going to be making more than $3M next year and every year after that, so Gasol is priority #1 for them this off-season. They have a bargain PG in Conley locked up for five years, who seems to be slowly getting better even though barely anyone had faith in him (myself included). They will also have Rudy Gay back in the lineup next year. He’s been labeled over rated, but if you saw him play much this year you’d know that isn’t the case, and he might even be worth his huge contract when it’s all said and done. The media talk about Gay has bugged me, because everyone seems to think he is Joe Johnson part II, when a) he’s five years younger than Joe, and b) he gets more steals, rebounds, and blocks than Joe (ie. plays defense). Am I the only one that thinks it’s obsured that people think they need to trade Rudy Gay? After Gay played with team USA on the gold medal run this year, he seemed to get it, which is a time when normally players seem to figure it out (mid-20’s) or be destined to never figure it out. Unfortunately for us (and him), he broke his arm during the last month of the regular season, so he wasn’t around this year in the playoffs, and now he should be traded!?! Really!?! My question for those people calling for them to trade Gay is, are you really putting a lot of stock in OJ (I play no defense and am a little crazy) Mayo. That’s what you’d be replacing Gay with in the long term if they’re building from in house talent. Tony Allen and OJ Mayo both feel like 6th men types to me, and you can find them elsewhere if you need to. Tony Allen is a shut down defensive guy, but is limited in offense. OJ is great when asked to help out the offense, but doesn’t play defense as we saw Harden torching him over and over. Gay plays both ways, and no, I’m not sure on his sexual prefrences, but I do know he works as hard on defense as his offense. He also made a few game winners this year if you didn’t remember, don’t you think he would’ve helped in that triple OT game when they needed a clutch bucket from anyone badly? I do, and think this is a team that hasn’t reached it’s full potential as Gay, Conley, and Gasol will all improve. As I said in the past, Memphis has a bright future for at least the next five years.
The curious case of OKC. They currently have a roster that has ALL their big names at or under the age of 22, which seems great on the outside looking in. It’s amazing to me that everyone thinks that everything will be great for them for the next decade when there will be a ton of franchise changing decisions on the horizon. It’s a team that has dealt with little as far as basketball careers go, since almost all of the important players except Perkins and Durant are still on their rookie contracts. What I understand about this team is this, Durant works harder than anyone on the team, he’s their best player, it rubs off on everyone else, etc., but does it rub others the wrong way on how he’s mister perfect? I’m asking Westbrook this question as I go along, because he’s the main player that you have to question within this team. Forget all the ill-advised shots he took against the Grizzlies, the real question becomes does he want to be Robin or does he want to be Derrick Rose (aka Superman) on his OWN team?
It's all fun and games till someone wants more out of the relationship than the other one does.
Does Westbrook have the Scottie Pippen and Lebron gene that says “I’m okay being the sidekick”? From what I’ve observed, I feel like Westbrook has more of an alpha type personality than Durant as far as being demonstrative on and off the court. At times we saw him ignore Durant during the game, which begs the question if we have to pick one, who is it? If you didn’t pick Durant your fooling yourself. Yes, I understand that the way this team was built was genius, and the envy of the league at the moment, but how sustainable is this team? They picked Ibaka, Harden, Maynor, and Westbrook all in the top five, and all of them are going to be asking for their paydays once they are done playing for these very friendly rookie contracts they are currently in. I think Ibaka just started playing hoops last week and is getting better by the game, so aren’t he and Westbrook going to command top dollar? Would they stay to play with Durant for the sake of winning or do either of them think they can do it on their own elsewhere? That might not even be the biggest question for them moving forward. Money is a funny thing that can lure anyone away from anywhere, and I’m sure Ibaka has some homies that need help in the Congo. Westbrook was born and raised in LA, and doesn’t it seem likely with his alpha type character he’d want to try to spread his wings on his own to see if he can lead a team like Derrick Rose is? I’m not saying that this team is going to get blown up for sure, but you have to wonder in a small market like thiers how big is that window. You’d think with them all being so young it would be a decade long window, but at the moment I just don’t see it being anywhere near that long. The Heat and Grizzlies both have their cores locked up for a lot longer than the Thunder do. The 2012-13 season might be their last hurrah as a group together, and if that’s the case, Miami and Memphis will still have their cores locked up for three more years after that. All I’m saying is that this groups window might only be three years, and I’m praying I’m right since I’d love to see Durant getting frustrated and leaving so his paychecks aren’t signed by Clay Bennett anymore…
Can the Sharks Actually Come Through?
I don’t follow hockey aside from the Sharks, and by saying I follow them, that mostly entails looking at where they are in the standings every once in awhile. Once the playoffs roll around I usually start watching some of their games, and this year hasn’t been any different. I mean you gotta take a break from the NBA playoffs every now and then! I think the real reason I don’t get entirely into hockey is because nearly every year I watch the Sharks just to be disappointed with their playoff performance. They usually have a pretty high seed, and a solid team, but never make it over the hump. It must be the same kind of feeling that Mavs fans have as they are great through the regular season only to suck and collapse in the playoffs. I thought maybe this year would be different, kinda like I think every year will be different for them, but looking at it a little before the game 7 tonight, I don’t seem to have much faith in them. They had a 3-0 series lead on the Red Wings, and are faced to play a game 7 tonight at home in HP Pavilion, which doesn’t feel like much of an advantage. The Sharks are on the verge of being the fourth NHL team to lose a series after going up 3-0. I’m tentatively excited about the game if the SJ star (Marleau) can get his act together, because he’s been non-existent this series. Even his former teammate and my favorite player in video games when I was younger Jeremy Roenick, even called him out. The whole team has lacked energy in the losses, and it’s probably fair to blame their captain, so I agree with Roenick that Marleau needs to stop being so gutless. I feel like they’ve already booked their off-season plane tickets like Andrew Bynum did. Hopefully they win tonight, but I feel like there’s a much better chance they’ll lose…
Lebron in Spacejam
Awesome video. I usually get a kick out of the college humor website. I’d love to play with Stegosaurus and that Purple Guy, they sound like beasts! I couldn’t figure out if Taz was supposed to be Delonte or not, but either way that part made me laugh…
Playoffs Getting Interesting…
It’s been a entertaining NBA playoffs thus far. Teams that we thought were favorites aren’t turning out to be the powerhouses that we originally thought they were. Like I said back on 4/20, there’s a changing of the eras in the NBA. I didn’t think it would be this year, but thought it was on the horizon. More and more it’s looking like this year is the year of change. Another good thing is I don’t think any of these series are rigged so far. Well done Stern, usually we can tell!
Mavs 2, Lakers 0 – As they say once the home team loses the series really starts. I think someone forgot to tell the Lakers that the series started after game 1. Last night’s Lakers game was disturbing to the fans down here in LA, much to my enjoyment. It’s fitting that this is the first year I was somewhat rooting for them because I didn’t want any of the Eastern Conference teams to win it all. I can’t believe I admitted that, but yes, I was rooting for the Lakers a little. I am enjoying that some Lakers fans said they would win the series in 3 games against this soft Mavs team. Obviously, that can’t happen, but it was an indication of how they overlooked Mavs in general. Maybe the players were listening to the radio shows and got full of themselves or maybe this team is just plain dysfunctional. I won’t call this series done, because the Mavs have a long history of choking in the playoffs when the pressure is at it’s highest. The pressure of closing the Lakers out is going to be big, and close to the pressure of closing the Heat out in the Finals four years ago. That Mavs team was much different though, they have only two players from that finals roster, and were much softer without Chandler. This version of the Mavs feels a lot better, but I won’t believe it until they close out this series. Either way, the winner will lose next round to one of the young guns in the changing of the guards.
Memphis 1, Seattle 1 – Everyone thought the young team that would make an impact out West was going to be the Supersonics when it’s really been the Grizzlies who have shocked the world. I didn’t pick the Grizz to win that first series against the Spurs, especially without Gay in the lineup, but did think they were a good team all the way back in November when I regretted leaving them off my playoff predictions. Both franchises have figured out how to build a contender, and they have one glaring thing in common, size. Size matters in the NBA, just ask Steve Nash. It was always the Lakers biggest advantage for the last three years, and what do teams have to do to knock them off? Get bigger. Memphis did that through free agency and trades (Gasol, Z-Bo). Seattle did the same (Perkins, Ibaka), and now both teams look like they could beat anyone with solid role guys and their stars knowing exactly what is needed of them to be successful. I’m going to say whoever wins this series will be representing the west in the finals. I’m rooting for it to be Memphis, because I still have a hard time rooting for Sam Presti to succeed on any front.
Miami 2, Boston 0 – The team I picked to represent the East is looking about as good as it has all season. I thought that Boston was in trouble before this series started. Wade ALWAYS gives Boston fits, and that’s going back to when Wade was the only player worth anything in Miami. Last year I think he dropped close to 50 one playoff game in Boston to help the Heat avoid getting swept. Now that he has Lebron and Bosh who can also give Boston fits, he no longer has to put up 50 to will his team to a win. What’s even scarier about this Miami team is they look more comfortable playing together than they have all year. The Celtics on the other hand look a lot like the Lakers this postseason. They haven’t really looked good for more than one or two games the whole second season. They know it’s their last shot with their great coach, and might be pressing a little too hard or could just be old. Is it a lame duck coaching situation for Boston and LA that’s getting them down? Are they not playing as hard because they know there’s a new coach on the horizon after this season? Probably not, but I have to throw it out there. I guess this series hasn’t started yet since the home team hasn’t lost, but this video seems to sum up how high people are on the C’s right now…
Chicago 1, Atlanta 1 – Of the teams left in the playoffs, I’ve probably watched these two teams the least. I’m not sure why, but I was never totally sold on Chicago. Derrick Rose’s ankle is what this series hinges on, and personally I think getting the MVP is a jinx. No guard since Jordan has won a title the year they won the MVP. This day in age only big men that win the MVP get championships. Like I said before, I haven’t watched Chicago a lot, but is there anyway their defense is overrated a little? Indiana and Atlanta aren’t exactly offensive juggernauts ranking in the middle of the pack in the NBA, but are putting up over 90 in the playoffs where scoring is usually down against the unbreakable Thibodeau defense. Atlanta is the toughest team for me to figure out. They blow teams out, and get blown out just as much. You’re never really sure what you’re going to get from them. I can’t figure out why they went away from Jeff Teague, who was lighting Chicago up in game 2, but that happened, and they didn’t come close to winning. I actually like a lot of Atlanta’s players, but for some reason just can’t seem to talk myself into rooting for them. Don’t they feel like they are Mavs of the East? Good enough to be in the playoffs every year, but not good enough to go very far…
Elephants and Seals
This is our second installment of Elephants and Seals. And just like last time Chappy will be covering the A’s, and By will be covering the Giants.
San Francisco Giants (13-15) Oakland Athletics (15-14)
Three Up
Oakland A’s – They lost two of three in LA, but came on strong over the weekend to take 3 of 4 from Texas to bring themselves over .500. Their bats seemed to wake up against what we all kinda knew was some weak starting pitching out in Texas. Kurt Suzuki hit two bombs after having his newly born daughter. Willingham hit a game tying homer, and Matsui hit a walkoff in yesterdays series winning game, so there’s some reason for optimism for the offense. Andrew Bailey is throwing again, and should be back sooner than later as he’s set to face some live hitting this week. That is a big relief because Fuentes is about as scary a ninth inning as you’ll get. He doesn’t throw hard, and puts guys on base giving A’s fans a heart attack every time he’s on the mound. Bailey we need you back! Coco Crisp’s bat is as lively as his hair these days, and when he’s on, he scores lots of runs. Oakland pitchers still lead the league in ERA at 2.76. They are did pretty good in April for their standards, because April is a month they almost always have a losing record in. You don’t win a division in April, but you can be far enough behind to lose it if you aren’t careful. I mean, we could be the Twins with only 9 wins.
San Francisco Giants – 1. We won the 2010 World Series. I know that was last season, and that historic event is a thing of the past, but when your beloved team plays as inconsistent as they have been, despite the talent and experience they possess, well then you got to hang your hat on something. We’re only about 7% into the season, and if they don’t clean up their act by the 20% mark, I’ll throw this trump card away. Which brings me to my next ”up” ~
2. We’re only 7% into the season! It’s still very early and the Giants are much below .500 ball thanks to taking two out of three in five of the past seven series’. They’ve been in a lot worse situations, and for them to be even despite not finding themselves is a good sign.
3. Aaron Rowand is hitting .300 (o.k. .296) and Pablo Sandoval is hitting .313 with five dingers. These are two players who contributed very little last season. Aaron Rowand was considered a free agent bust, and Panda was looked at as a fluke. The Giants are currently 11th in hitting in the N.L. but it’s neither of these two’s fault. If they keep playing this well offensively, it will almost be like we picked up two solid free agents this year.
Three Down
Oakland A’s – Kevin Kouzmanoff is supposedly on the team more for his defense prowess, yet he’s already made 6 errors on the season. If his bat actually worked, I wouldn’t mind the errors as much, but this is getting ridiculous, and these errors are leading to runs almost every time he kicks an easy grounder. The team as a whole hasn’t been good defensively, but I doubt they will be tied for the lead the league in errors. The offense as a whole is offensive as they’re ranked 27th in the league in runs scored, don’t have a hitter over .300 in the lineup, and swing at way too many pitches early in the count. Pitchers that give up a few runs to us still are in the game in the 7th. Aside from Barton, I’m not sure anyone in the lineup knows how to work a count, unfortunately his working the count has resulted in a high amount of strikeouts. Pitchers are throwing 70 pitch complete games against us. Ok, not really, but you get the point. We have renamed the Oakland Coliseum to the Overstock.com Coliseum or O.co Coliseum. This is in the three down section, because it sounds lame.
1. We won the 2010 World Series. I know you’re asking, how can this be an ”up” and a ”down”? It’s an ”up” from a fans’ perspective, especially someone like me who is grateful he witnessed a World Series championship during his lifetime. It’s been a ”down” for the actual team. I tried not to think it, but it’s becoming more and more apparent, the Giants have a World Series hangover. They’re too busy making music videos with Keenan Cahill that they forgot there’s a season to play. But then again, this is the reason why we fell in love with these guys, they’re a bunch of goofy clowns and miSFits.
2. Missing Andres Torres has been a huge downer for the Giants. He’s a great lead off man, and plays a fantastic center field. The one thing that’s underrated about Torres is his defense. Our outfield has been our week spot early on, especially when we threw Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff out there (wtf!) but with Ross back, and Torres on his way, I’ll stop holding my breath on every fly ball.
3. Pitching and hitting. If it’s not one, it’s the other. This is reminiscent of years past with these Giants team. They’re winning or losing games, 1-0 or 9-8. Neither side can get it together consistently and act as a cohesive unit. Like I mentioned earlier, we’re 11th in the N.L. in hitting. I’m not concerned about average starts from Timmy, Jonathan Sanchez and Matty Cain, but Madison ”Mad Bum” Bumgarner has struggled big time. Last season he was brilliant in the post season, we’ve only seen one glimpse of that pitcher since. Could I actually be asking this, but are we missing Barry Zito? If it’s come to this, then that’s a huge downer.
Next Up
Oakland A’s – Taking on the best team in baseball, Cleveland Indians at home. They found a little groove offensively against Texas, so hopefully that keeps up. I can’t wait for the day when I’m not shocked when they put up 4 runs in a game.
San Francisco Giants got to start doing their best Charlie Sheen impression, winning. We got the Mets and Rockies next, very winnable series’.
Doin Work's Staff
-
Doin Comments
11 Things You Might… on Should Kobe Get Two Numbers… tophatal ........... on Good Night Mark Jackson tophatal ........... on Good Night Mark Jackson chappy81 on Good Night Mark Jackson
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
Hey Sabean, Don’t Forget You Have Whiteside!!
I think the Giants might have the most videos on youtube of any team since they won the WS. Some are entertaining and others are pretty lame. In the wake of the whole Buster Posey debacle as he got plowed at home, the Giants GM Brian Sabean pretty much said he hopes Cousins of the Marlins never plays again. It was an unpopular statement everywhere except in SF, and kind of reminded me of how Dan Gilbert reacted when Lebron left the Cavs. To say I disagree with his comments would be an understatement, and Larry Granillo brings up some solid points on why Sabean should’ve questioned some other plays at the plate in the Giants not so distant past. Anyways, enjoy this song someone made about the Giants backup catcher Eli Whiteside.
(Actually Whiteside is no longer hitting .200, it’s down to .170).
15 Comments | tags: Baseball, Brian Sabean, buster posey, comments, Eli Whiteside, MLB, san francisco giants | posted in Sports