Dan Hennessey of the Oakland A’s blog Baseballin’ on a Budget – the same of Rob Neyer’s (abandoned) baby: The SweetSpot Network – and I thought it might be fun to get an unbiased take from one another on the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics. It makes a whole lot of sense given the adjacency of their markets and the cross-town rivals that they are – not to mention, that “quick” little study Bud Selig is working on regarding the Athletics’ potential move to San Jose. After the jump, Dan will answer some questions on the Giants. Well, mostly the Giants…
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Insightful baseball analysis for the casual crowd, Moneyball masses and you, the Third and King crew
Showing posts with label San Francisco Giants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Francisco Giants. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions
Just before the World Series started, I put together my 3 Keys to the World Series. I can now say without hesitation that the Giants obliterated my loftiest expectations, and I’m thrilled. The Giants, quite frankly, handled the three “challenges” with flying colors throughout the entire series but perhaps never more beautifully than in glorious game 5.
My first key was to beat Cliff Lee once in the series. Apparently, this key was far too attainable so the Giants beat him twice, making him forever “Mortal Lee” in San Francisco. I even included the caveat that the Giants didn’t necessarily have to beat Lee, but merely battle him to a stalemate and get into the bullpen. Lee wasn’t really Lee in game 1 and they beat him easily. But in game 2, Lee was pitching like Lee, and yet somehow they – read World Series MVP and hero Edgar Renteria* – managed to hit a huge three-run jack and beat him at his best.
*It should be noted that of the many fantastic (and fortunate) occurrences for the Giants down the stretch and within this postseason, perhaps one of the most serendipitous was when Edgar Renteria completely snapped his biceps tendon in the NLDS versus the Braves. To that point, the tendon was injured but not completely torn and caused him pain. After that, he was able to let loose and it carried him through the rest of the postseason and eventually down Market Street.
My second key in the series was the Rangers’ speed. Again, they nailed it – the Rangers down that is. The Rangers’ leadoff hitter (and greatest stealer) Elvis Andrus finished the series with only a .300 OBP, 1 stolen base and 2 runs (both runs came in game 1). In the clincher, Andrus went 0-4 and basically did nothing. Furthermore, the Rangers were only successful 50% of the time on theft attempts (2/4) in the series, and had Renteria not dropped a ball they would have been 1/4.
My third and final key to the World Series was keeping soon-to-be AL MVP Josh Hamilton at bay, and boy did they ever. Hamilton terrorized the Yankees in the ALCS after a cool division series and he was a huge threat coming into the series. Hamilton hit one HR but it was only a solo shot in a game 3 but the Rangers were already likely to win. Otherwise, he was completely shut down. He hit just .100 with a single walk (.143 OBP), 3 strikeouts, and slugged .250 to push his series OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) to a minuscule .393. What’s more, he grounded into a double play. In the clincher, he went 0-4 with two punch outs for his worst and final game of the series.
All that being said, the biggest key to series went unsaid by me at the outset of the series: The Giants’ Pitching. This was the key to their success all along, and it will continue to take them wherever they go in the next few years. And of their top four starters who all pitched in this series, most of them brilliantly, and throughout the playoffs – Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner – none shined brighter than Tim Lincecum on Monday night.
Game 5 Clincher
When they opened the broadcast on Monday night, they said it was clear and a bit cooler. Lincecum was on the bump, and it just had to be the night.
For a full six innings on November 1st, 2010, and really though out the entire game, we finally got to see the heavyweight pitching battle we’d been waiting to see since game 1 of the NLCS (Lincecum vs. Halladay), game 2 of the same matchup and Game 1 of the World Series (Lincecum versus Lee).
In the first, Lee dispatched the Giants relatively easily by striking out Torres, and sandwiching a nice first pitch swinging, opposite field single by Buster Posey between a harmless groundout to Sanchez and pop out to Cody Ross – who is still Boss, by the way. Lincecum retired the Rangers in order with just 13 pitches.
In the second, Lee retired the Giants in order but it took him 9 pitches to whiff Uribe, which may have been a sign of good things to come, especially when Burrell shortly thereafter put a good swing on a ball for what seemed like the first time since his 3-run job in game 2 of the NLDS. Lincecum, again, mowed through the Rangers and only needed 6 pitches to get through his frame after two first pitch outs to Vlad and Cruz – it was a quick U-turn and back to work for Lee.
In the third, Lee continued to pitch sharply and retired the side with relative ease with the exception of a single by Torres. Lincecum finally allowed a base runner in the third when he walked Moreland, but it didn’t much matter because he struck out the side while making David Murphy look ridiculous – with his old toy, the gnarly changeup – on three pitches, as well as his former battery mate Bengie Molina with his shiny new toy, a two-plane slider that Molina had never seen Lincecum throw before except for probably on video. So much for that supposed advantage.
In the fourth, Lee put the Giants down in order again but Posey took another 10 pitches out of him to open the inning before grounding out. It was a shame Posey’s swing came alive so late in the series when he belted the dinger off O’Day, because I’m sure the country would have loved to see him when he’s hot; they will soon enough. In the bottom half, Timmy finally gave up a hit but stranded the runner at first by striking out two more batters and receiving an excellent play by Renteria for a fielders choice out at second. It was looking like we were in for a long night. That would be assuming extra innings, of course, as the game was literally zooming along. Someone tweeted the commercial time was likely exceeding the actual baseball air time, and I think they may have been right.
In the fifth, the Giants caught probably the first break of the game. Kinsler made an outstanding play on a weakly hit ball but first baseman Moreland simply dropped the putout. Lee, undeterred, helped Burrell to continue his abysmal postseason and especially dreadful World Series by striking him out and then got the double play grounder out of Renteria to end the minor threat. Lincecum got two more weak groundouts in the fifth as well as striking out Murphy, again, who learned nothing from his previous at bat and retired in three pitches.
In the sixth, the Giants almost got their man. Lee punched out Rowand and got another ground out to retire Torres, but Sanchez – who was robbed by Lee with a nice catch on a liner up the middle earlier in the game – singled to center. Up came the dangerous Buster Posey. He drove a ball to deep right field and I screamed my patented “Get OUT! GET OUT!” Unfortunately, the ball landed in Cruz’s glove on the track and I was left with a hollow feeling and my 10 pound dog scared half to death – for the 40th time this month**. Lincecum gave up slightly better swings to the Rangers in the sixth, but the results were harmless as he stranded Moreland at first after a leadoff single with a couple of hard hit balls to center and groundout.
**Quick primer on my dog: He’s actually a 12 pound darling of a dog named Oscar – half Yorkie and half Shih Tzu – whom I wonderfully fell into when I met my lovely fiancé; he’s now half mine. He’d been getting a treat per run in the NLDS, half because it somehow became good “luck” amidst my many superstitions I began adopting one after the other during the series, and half in apology for the loud yelling. Anyway, I had to stop giving Oscar the treats because he had recently lost a pound – he’s supposed to be closer to an 11 or 10 pound dog than a 12 or 13 pound dog – but mostly because my beautiful fiancé told me to. Thankfully, the Giants won and the ritual stopped long before the 11 run outburst in game 1 of the World Series!
My prayers were answered in the seventh. Cody Ross went down 0 and 2 but singled to center. Juan Uribe started 0 and 2 but then singled to center – he literally made every hit count this postseason – bringing up the Giants’ best offensive player in 2010. Remarkably, Aubrey Huff laid down a perfect bunt for the first time in his career to advance the runners like he’d been doing it since 1993. After another brutal strikeout by Burrell, I believe his 11th in 12 World Series at bats – he would add a 12th in the ninth – the collective fan base of the Giants had to again start recalling Ashkon’s rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing.” After getting ahead 2 and 0, Renteria delivered a mistake cutter over the left center field fence for a game changing, history shattering, Ranger razing 3-run HR, bringing Giants fans to a fever pitch and my household into a hooting sh*t storm. I was literally shaking and struggled to text friends as I knew he’d just won the Giants the World Series. Lincecum gave up a solo homer to Cruz in the bottom half after the ump squeezed him on a should-be strike two, but after beginning to look a bit human and following that with a walk to Cruz and bringing the tying run to the dish, he struck out Murphy (again) and Molina (again) with his usual array of spinning, dizzying, gravity defying, air bending - not the M. Night Shyamalan kind - batter battering pitches.
In the eighth Ron Washington finally displayed understanding of how best and properly to use his closer and brought in Neftali Feliz. Feliz gave up an infield single to Posey but otherwise moved through the Giants quickly. Lincecum retired the side with his tenth strikeout of the game to open the bottom half and needed just 9 total pitches. Even with one of the very best, elite closers in the bullpen ready to go, I wondered if Bochy might let Lincecum*** finish it. He did not, which I felt was the correct move. And anyway, it was nice to see Lincecum show off his gymnastic athleticism as he gracefully leaped over the dugout barrier and attacked the mound to meet his battery mate and black-bearded savior.
***Lincecum’s line: 8 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 1 BB, 10 K’s.
Lincecum’s career pelts: 2 NL Cy Young awards, 3 NL All-star selections, 3 straight NL strikeout titles – joining only Spahn and Randy Johnson in the NL since WWII, and a World Series clinching win. The 9 teams that passed on him in 2006 are weeping somewhere right now and none more sobbingly than his hometown of Seattle.
Feliz tossed a couple of strikeouts in the ninth to give his team a shot and keep it close, but then they really didn’t have a shot anyway. The Giants’ feared and bearded closer came trotting in to end all the torture of 2010 and of the last 52 years for San Franciscans, and he had no intention of making it interesting this time. He struck Hamilton out with a belt high heater, looking. He got Guerrero to meekly ground out to short; I was suddenly grinning ear to ear. After going 3 and 2 to the dangerous, right-handed Nelson Cruz, Wilson never gave in and planted his filthy cutter in much the same spot of the plate he did to the left-handed Ryan Howard to clinch the Pennant. Unlike Howard, Nelson swung but missed as so many hitters had against Wilson before him, and the San Francisco Giants were World Series Champions for the first time in history, and I was – along with countless other fans, including my family and father who forged the passion for Giants baseball in my belly – smitten.
Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, Will Clark, Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, Juan Marichal, and Willie McCovey are all Giants greats, Hall of Famers, or will be – or at least should be, see Barry Bonds – Hall of Famers, but none of them won a World Series with the San Francisco version of the Orange and Black. But now Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, Cody Ross, Juan Uribe, Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Javier Lopez – the greatest deadline deal of them all in 2010, even bigger than Cliff Lee as it all turned out – have. And though this team is filled with dazzling arms like Tim “The Franchise” Lincecum and budding young stars like Buster Posey, they brought home the hardware with a lineup largely assembled of guys no other team really wanted, and I would never have wanted it any other way.
My first key was to beat Cliff Lee once in the series. Apparently, this key was far too attainable so the Giants beat him twice, making him forever “Mortal Lee” in San Francisco. I even included the caveat that the Giants didn’t necessarily have to beat Lee, but merely battle him to a stalemate and get into the bullpen. Lee wasn’t really Lee in game 1 and they beat him easily. But in game 2, Lee was pitching like Lee, and yet somehow they – read World Series MVP and hero Edgar Renteria* – managed to hit a huge three-run jack and beat him at his best.
*It should be noted that of the many fantastic (and fortunate) occurrences for the Giants down the stretch and within this postseason, perhaps one of the most serendipitous was when Edgar Renteria completely snapped his biceps tendon in the NLDS versus the Braves. To that point, the tendon was injured but not completely torn and caused him pain. After that, he was able to let loose and it carried him through the rest of the postseason and eventually down Market Street.
My second key in the series was the Rangers’ speed. Again, they nailed it – the Rangers down that is. The Rangers’ leadoff hitter (and greatest stealer) Elvis Andrus finished the series with only a .300 OBP, 1 stolen base and 2 runs (both runs came in game 1). In the clincher, Andrus went 0-4 and basically did nothing. Furthermore, the Rangers were only successful 50% of the time on theft attempts (2/4) in the series, and had Renteria not dropped a ball they would have been 1/4.
My third and final key to the World Series was keeping soon-to-be AL MVP Josh Hamilton at bay, and boy did they ever. Hamilton terrorized the Yankees in the ALCS after a cool division series and he was a huge threat coming into the series. Hamilton hit one HR but it was only a solo shot in a game 3 but the Rangers were already likely to win. Otherwise, he was completely shut down. He hit just .100 with a single walk (.143 OBP), 3 strikeouts, and slugged .250 to push his series OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) to a minuscule .393. What’s more, he grounded into a double play. In the clincher, he went 0-4 with two punch outs for his worst and final game of the series.
All that being said, the biggest key to series went unsaid by me at the outset of the series: The Giants’ Pitching. This was the key to their success all along, and it will continue to take them wherever they go in the next few years. And of their top four starters who all pitched in this series, most of them brilliantly, and throughout the playoffs – Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner – none shined brighter than Tim Lincecum on Monday night.
Game 5 Clincher
When they opened the broadcast on Monday night, they said it was clear and a bit cooler. Lincecum was on the bump, and it just had to be the night.
For a full six innings on November 1st, 2010, and really though out the entire game, we finally got to see the heavyweight pitching battle we’d been waiting to see since game 1 of the NLCS (Lincecum vs. Halladay), game 2 of the same matchup and Game 1 of the World Series (Lincecum versus Lee).
In the first, Lee dispatched the Giants relatively easily by striking out Torres, and sandwiching a nice first pitch swinging, opposite field single by Buster Posey between a harmless groundout to Sanchez and pop out to Cody Ross – who is still Boss, by the way. Lincecum retired the Rangers in order with just 13 pitches.
In the second, Lee retired the Giants in order but it took him 9 pitches to whiff Uribe, which may have been a sign of good things to come, especially when Burrell shortly thereafter put a good swing on a ball for what seemed like the first time since his 3-run job in game 2 of the NLDS. Lincecum, again, mowed through the Rangers and only needed 6 pitches to get through his frame after two first pitch outs to Vlad and Cruz – it was a quick U-turn and back to work for Lee.
In the third, Lee continued to pitch sharply and retired the side with relative ease with the exception of a single by Torres. Lincecum finally allowed a base runner in the third when he walked Moreland, but it didn’t much matter because he struck out the side while making David Murphy look ridiculous – with his old toy, the gnarly changeup – on three pitches, as well as his former battery mate Bengie Molina with his shiny new toy, a two-plane slider that Molina had never seen Lincecum throw before except for probably on video. So much for that supposed advantage.
In the fourth, Lee put the Giants down in order again but Posey took another 10 pitches out of him to open the inning before grounding out. It was a shame Posey’s swing came alive so late in the series when he belted the dinger off O’Day, because I’m sure the country would have loved to see him when he’s hot; they will soon enough. In the bottom half, Timmy finally gave up a hit but stranded the runner at first by striking out two more batters and receiving an excellent play by Renteria for a fielders choice out at second. It was looking like we were in for a long night. That would be assuming extra innings, of course, as the game was literally zooming along. Someone tweeted the commercial time was likely exceeding the actual baseball air time, and I think they may have been right.
In the fifth, the Giants caught probably the first break of the game. Kinsler made an outstanding play on a weakly hit ball but first baseman Moreland simply dropped the putout. Lee, undeterred, helped Burrell to continue his abysmal postseason and especially dreadful World Series by striking him out and then got the double play grounder out of Renteria to end the minor threat. Lincecum got two more weak groundouts in the fifth as well as striking out Murphy, again, who learned nothing from his previous at bat and retired in three pitches.
In the sixth, the Giants almost got their man. Lee punched out Rowand and got another ground out to retire Torres, but Sanchez – who was robbed by Lee with a nice catch on a liner up the middle earlier in the game – singled to center. Up came the dangerous Buster Posey. He drove a ball to deep right field and I screamed my patented “Get OUT! GET OUT!” Unfortunately, the ball landed in Cruz’s glove on the track and I was left with a hollow feeling and my 10 pound dog scared half to death – for the 40th time this month**. Lincecum gave up slightly better swings to the Rangers in the sixth, but the results were harmless as he stranded Moreland at first after a leadoff single with a couple of hard hit balls to center and groundout.
**Quick primer on my dog: He’s actually a 12 pound darling of a dog named Oscar – half Yorkie and half Shih Tzu – whom I wonderfully fell into when I met my lovely fiancé; he’s now half mine. He’d been getting a treat per run in the NLDS, half because it somehow became good “luck” amidst my many superstitions I began adopting one after the other during the series, and half in apology for the loud yelling. Anyway, I had to stop giving Oscar the treats because he had recently lost a pound – he’s supposed to be closer to an 11 or 10 pound dog than a 12 or 13 pound dog – but mostly because my beautiful fiancé told me to. Thankfully, the Giants won and the ritual stopped long before the 11 run outburst in game 1 of the World Series!
My prayers were answered in the seventh. Cody Ross went down 0 and 2 but singled to center. Juan Uribe started 0 and 2 but then singled to center – he literally made every hit count this postseason – bringing up the Giants’ best offensive player in 2010. Remarkably, Aubrey Huff laid down a perfect bunt for the first time in his career to advance the runners like he’d been doing it since 1993. After another brutal strikeout by Burrell, I believe his 11th in 12 World Series at bats – he would add a 12th in the ninth – the collective fan base of the Giants had to again start recalling Ashkon’s rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing.” After getting ahead 2 and 0, Renteria delivered a mistake cutter over the left center field fence for a game changing, history shattering, Ranger razing 3-run HR, bringing Giants fans to a fever pitch and my household into a hooting sh*t storm. I was literally shaking and struggled to text friends as I knew he’d just won the Giants the World Series. Lincecum gave up a solo homer to Cruz in the bottom half after the ump squeezed him on a should-be strike two, but after beginning to look a bit human and following that with a walk to Cruz and bringing the tying run to the dish, he struck out Murphy (again) and Molina (again) with his usual array of spinning, dizzying, gravity defying, air bending - not the M. Night Shyamalan kind - batter battering pitches.
In the eighth Ron Washington finally displayed understanding of how best and properly to use his closer and brought in Neftali Feliz. Feliz gave up an infield single to Posey but otherwise moved through the Giants quickly. Lincecum retired the side with his tenth strikeout of the game to open the bottom half and needed just 9 total pitches. Even with one of the very best, elite closers in the bullpen ready to go, I wondered if Bochy might let Lincecum*** finish it. He did not, which I felt was the correct move. And anyway, it was nice to see Lincecum show off his gymnastic athleticism as he gracefully leaped over the dugout barrier and attacked the mound to meet his battery mate and black-bearded savior.
***Lincecum’s line: 8 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, 1 BB, 10 K’s.
Lincecum’s career pelts: 2 NL Cy Young awards, 3 NL All-star selections, 3 straight NL strikeout titles – joining only Spahn and Randy Johnson in the NL since WWII, and a World Series clinching win. The 9 teams that passed on him in 2006 are weeping somewhere right now and none more sobbingly than his hometown of Seattle.
Feliz tossed a couple of strikeouts in the ninth to give his team a shot and keep it close, but then they really didn’t have a shot anyway. The Giants’ feared and bearded closer came trotting in to end all the torture of 2010 and of the last 52 years for San Franciscans, and he had no intention of making it interesting this time. He struck Hamilton out with a belt high heater, looking. He got Guerrero to meekly ground out to short; I was suddenly grinning ear to ear. After going 3 and 2 to the dangerous, right-handed Nelson Cruz, Wilson never gave in and planted his filthy cutter in much the same spot of the plate he did to the left-handed Ryan Howard to clinch the Pennant. Unlike Howard, Nelson swung but missed as so many hitters had against Wilson before him, and the San Francisco Giants were World Series Champions for the first time in history, and I was – along with countless other fans, including my family and father who forged the passion for Giants baseball in my belly – smitten.
Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, Will Clark, Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, Juan Marichal, and Willie McCovey are all Giants greats, Hall of Famers, or will be – or at least should be, see Barry Bonds – Hall of Famers, but none of them won a World Series with the San Francisco version of the Orange and Black. But now Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, Cody Ross, Juan Uribe, Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Javier Lopez – the greatest deadline deal of them all in 2010, even bigger than Cliff Lee as it all turned out – have. And though this team is filled with dazzling arms like Tim “The Franchise” Lincecum and budding young stars like Buster Posey, they brought home the hardware with a lineup largely assembled of guys no other team really wanted, and I would never have wanted it any other way.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Madison Mutes Texas, Giants up 3-1
After a postseason of walks and important singles, Huff finally pumped a pitch and Tommy Hunter sure gave him a good one to do just that. But then again, Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez combined to work him to death in the top of the third inning which may have helped, and by the time Huff Daddy stepped up to the plate, Hunter was ripe for the picking. He threw an 86 MPH cutter across the middle of the plate, just ever so slightly towards the inner half, and Huff took care of the rest. The only question was fair or foul, and had they been in San Fran you bet that pearl would be wet. The Giants led 2-0 and it was the big blow they would need to restore their confidence and carry them the rest of the muggy evening.
One of the most promising signs of the evening was one swing off the bat of the Giants’ – lets say it together – 23 year old rookie, cleanup-hitting catcher. When he stepped up to the plate in the eighth against Darren O’Day for yet another battle, I texted to a friend: “I wish Posey would wake up. His at bats have been dreadful. He’s trying to pull everything and it doesn’t make any sense. His strength is opposite field and yet he’s trying to yank everything.” Moments later, Buster displayed the brilliance of his developing talents and of glorious backspin in one swing. O’Day left a changeup in the top quarter of the strike zone – in case you didn’t know, terrible place for a changeup – and Buster belted it to center for a solo shot. It sure would have been nice to hear a real homerun call, you know, one by Kuiper. Oh well. It reminded me a great deal of a homerun Buster hit off of Andrew Cashner in the eighth inning of a critical game at Wrigley in September. That night hard luck Matt Cain had battled a resurgent Carlos Zambrano to a stalemate through six and was removed because the Giants were desperate for runs. The solo shot by Posey in the eighth would be the only run of the game as the Giants won 1-0. His homerun that night traveled 418 feet to center field, and his blast traveled 419 feet to center on this Halloween night. When Posey’s going good that’s exactly what he does, and I’m hoping that’s a sign for tomorrow’s 2010 version of November baseball. The graph below illustrates Posey's ability to hit for power to all fields, where 10 of his 18 homeruns were to center or right field.
But the real story tonight was Madison “Young Hickory” Bumgarner* of Hickory, North Carolina. A reader recently informed me that was the nickname of James K. Polk – I hadn’t realized it –who was given the nickname for being a particular protégé to Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson. This tenacious 21 year old Bumgarner, who by my novice observation is about as fearless as the original Hickory, started the evening having already thrown 216 total innings in 2010 (including at AAA Fresno) and hadn’t pitched more than 151 innings in a season ever; he did that in 2009.
*The Giants used to punt 1st round draft picks for aging hitters like Michael Tucker. That trend is no more. Their four postseason starters are homegrown, drafted and developed by San Francisco. Their second baseman, who flashed the leather brilliantly on this night, was acquired by trading Tim Alderson, another 1st round pick. Posey was of course the fifth overall selection in 2008. Their bearded closer they got in the 24th round of the 2003 draft out of LSU because he had a big arm but needed Tommy John and would require a hefty bonus. That one worked out, too.
At the end of 2009, he came up to make an emergency start when Tim Lincecum had a stiff back and couldn’t make it. It was cause for four-alarm panic in San Francisco, but at least we’d get a chance to see this kid we’d heard so much about already pitch live. Bumgarner pitched fine, he gave up two runs (on two solo shots) in 5.1 innings and got the no decision. But, Madison topped out at about 88-90 MPH and confirmed what many (obsessed) Giants fans had been reading. The reports from the minor leagues were not good. Bumgarner was still getting outs and competing, he was still not walking many batters which is one of his greatest strengths, but he was also not popping the catchers mitt with a mid-90’s heater and he was not striking out many batters. That’s what he was throwing in Spring Training in 2009 what he garnered compliments from Manny Ramirez. But over the course of his second professional season, his fastball disappeared. He was still pretty successful, but the way he was doing it wasn’t exactly overwhelming.
In 2008, Bumgarner made his professional debut in the Class A Sally League and threw 141.2 innings. He struck out 164 batters (10.42/9) and walked just 21 (1.33), while giving up just 3 homeruns (.19). That left him with a 15-3 record, a 1.46 ERA and the honor of Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He was instantly an untouchable prospect and being groomed for the Big Club’s rotation by the Giants. He was overmatching the Class A hitters like a man among boys, and his 6’4”, 220 lb frame doesn’t make it difficult to imagine.
Many Giants fans hoped that Bumgarner’s arm simply tired throughout 2009 and that he’d show up in the spring in 2010, flash his plus fastball and control and skate his way into the rotation. Instead, his velocity hadn’t returned and he was blasted in Spring Training. Suddenly onlookers began to worry he was injured. It’s happened countless times before. A phenomenal pitching prospect rockets through the minors, gets hurt along the way and is never heard from again.
Bumgarner was sent to AAA Fresno and continued to get rocked through three starts. His replacement in the Major Leagues was Todd Wellemeyer, and he would need replacing of his own soon enough, that is once the Giants came to the realization that any success he was having was as hollow as a termite infested tree. And then, Giants instructor and pitching guru Dick Tidrow had a bullpen session with Madison and he was back on track. His mechanics had been muddied somehow along the way and he needed a tweak to get him back where he was. Over the next couple months, Madison regained his control and started dispatching minor league hitters again.
Fast-forward to Halloween 2010. Sometime in August or September, Bumgarner started to get his fastball back. What’s more, he’d gotten a better idea of how to pitch through his struggles – does this remind anyone of Tim Lincecum’s struggles this season? On Halloween night with (much) of the country watching, in a pivetol game 4 of the World Series, Bumgarner once again flashed his talent and everything he learned when his fastball abandoned him, and he showed that he was a better pitcher because of it. It’s a beautiful thing when a plan comes together.
Madison threw 106 pitches on the night and 69 strikes (65%). The big key for him was changeup and slider command. He was able to five total swing and miss strikes with those offerings. He threw 16 of 21 changes for strikes (76%) and 18 of 25 sliders (72%). He averaged 91 mph with his four seam fastball (topping at over 94 mph) and located it on both sides of the plate. I recall specifically, when McCarver mentioned that Kinsler was an inner half feasting type hitter. No sooner did those words fly out of his mouth was Bumgarner pounding him on the insider corner with a fastball for a strike. Bumgarner pitched fearlessly and was rewarded for it.
His best work came against Vladimir Guerrero. In the second, he struck him out with a 92.5 mph fastball perfectly placed on the insider corner, up at the hands. In the fourth with a runner on, he struck him out with an 82 mph changeup off the plate. Guerrero’s swing was extremely awkward. And in the seventh after a baffling error by Juan Uribe, he struck him out with an 82 mph slider that he, again, looked far from comfortable swinging at. It was almost as if after the first strikeout he kept waiting for that inside fastball again, and it just never came. His final line was impressive: 8 IP, 3 hits (all singles), 2 BB and 6 K’s.
In the ninth, closer Brian Wilson needed just 11 pitches while throwing 8 strikes to finish Texas off. He decisively handled the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton which was particularly impressive. He threw a 93 mph fastball for a called strike. Then he threw a devilish, biting slide piece at 84 mph that many believe must be some type of hellish curveball. Hamilton miraculously tipped it for a foul strike two. Finally, he threw a 96 mph fastball way up and out of the zone but Hamilton just couldn’t resist, swinging and missing and giving the Giants the 3-1 lead in the series. The Rangers got the chance to flash their shiny closer in game 3, and the Giants did in game 4. It had this Giants fan smiling and the Rangers hitters (and fans) fearing the beard.
Also of note, the Giants averaged 4.6 pitches per plate appearance. They averaged just 3.74 during the regular season, and no, that’s not good. Andres Torres went 3 of 5 with two doubles, including a huge one while batting right handed. This is a good sign because he’s been swinging a hot bat lately from both sides of the plate lately, and he’ll be facing left handed Cliff Lee tomorrow as the Giants attempt to clinch, and Torres gave him trouble last go ‘round in game 1. And their creaky shortstop, Edgar Renteria, had three hits too. This may well be his farewell performance and I can't think of a better way for a gem of a ballplayer to head out as the curtians close.
The Giants are up 3-1 going into a Game 5 in Texas with their ace on the hill and their adoring fans at their backs. They have 3 games, 1 in Texas and 2 in San Francisco if necessary, to make history and give Giants fans a long awaited parade down Market Street. I may only be 25, but I was around in 2002 and I’ve been around long enough to know these opportunities don’t arise very often – someone can try telling that to rookies Bumgarner and Posey when this is all over. The Giants are making just their fourth trip to the Fall Classic since coming west, and the thought that their on the doorstep of ending the heartbreak after all the torture this season is giving me the chills.
Pitch data from Brooks Baseball PitchFX.
One of the most promising signs of the evening was one swing off the bat of the Giants’ – lets say it together – 23 year old rookie, cleanup-hitting catcher. When he stepped up to the plate in the eighth against Darren O’Day for yet another battle, I texted to a friend: “I wish Posey would wake up. His at bats have been dreadful. He’s trying to pull everything and it doesn’t make any sense. His strength is opposite field and yet he’s trying to yank everything.” Moments later, Buster displayed the brilliance of his developing talents and of glorious backspin in one swing. O’Day left a changeup in the top quarter of the strike zone – in case you didn’t know, terrible place for a changeup – and Buster belted it to center for a solo shot. It sure would have been nice to hear a real homerun call, you know, one by Kuiper. Oh well. It reminded me a great deal of a homerun Buster hit off of Andrew Cashner in the eighth inning of a critical game at Wrigley in September. That night hard luck Matt Cain had battled a resurgent Carlos Zambrano to a stalemate through six and was removed because the Giants were desperate for runs. The solo shot by Posey in the eighth would be the only run of the game as the Giants won 1-0. His homerun that night traveled 418 feet to center field, and his blast traveled 419 feet to center on this Halloween night. When Posey’s going good that’s exactly what he does, and I’m hoping that’s a sign for tomorrow’s 2010 version of November baseball. The graph below illustrates Posey's ability to hit for power to all fields, where 10 of his 18 homeruns were to center or right field.
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| Compliments of Hit Tracker |
But the real story tonight was Madison “Young Hickory” Bumgarner* of Hickory, North Carolina. A reader recently informed me that was the nickname of James K. Polk – I hadn’t realized it –who was given the nickname for being a particular protégé to Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson. This tenacious 21 year old Bumgarner, who by my novice observation is about as fearless as the original Hickory, started the evening having already thrown 216 total innings in 2010 (including at AAA Fresno) and hadn’t pitched more than 151 innings in a season ever; he did that in 2009.
*The Giants used to punt 1st round draft picks for aging hitters like Michael Tucker. That trend is no more. Their four postseason starters are homegrown, drafted and developed by San Francisco. Their second baseman, who flashed the leather brilliantly on this night, was acquired by trading Tim Alderson, another 1st round pick. Posey was of course the fifth overall selection in 2008. Their bearded closer they got in the 24th round of the 2003 draft out of LSU because he had a big arm but needed Tommy John and would require a hefty bonus. That one worked out, too.
At the end of 2009, he came up to make an emergency start when Tim Lincecum had a stiff back and couldn’t make it. It was cause for four-alarm panic in San Francisco, but at least we’d get a chance to see this kid we’d heard so much about already pitch live. Bumgarner pitched fine, he gave up two runs (on two solo shots) in 5.1 innings and got the no decision. But, Madison topped out at about 88-90 MPH and confirmed what many (obsessed) Giants fans had been reading. The reports from the minor leagues were not good. Bumgarner was still getting outs and competing, he was still not walking many batters which is one of his greatest strengths, but he was also not popping the catchers mitt with a mid-90’s heater and he was not striking out many batters. That’s what he was throwing in Spring Training in 2009 what he garnered compliments from Manny Ramirez. But over the course of his second professional season, his fastball disappeared. He was still pretty successful, but the way he was doing it wasn’t exactly overwhelming.
In 2008, Bumgarner made his professional debut in the Class A Sally League and threw 141.2 innings. He struck out 164 batters (10.42/9) and walked just 21 (1.33), while giving up just 3 homeruns (.19). That left him with a 15-3 record, a 1.46 ERA and the honor of Minor League Pitcher of the Year. He was instantly an untouchable prospect and being groomed for the Big Club’s rotation by the Giants. He was overmatching the Class A hitters like a man among boys, and his 6’4”, 220 lb frame doesn’t make it difficult to imagine.
Many Giants fans hoped that Bumgarner’s arm simply tired throughout 2009 and that he’d show up in the spring in 2010, flash his plus fastball and control and skate his way into the rotation. Instead, his velocity hadn’t returned and he was blasted in Spring Training. Suddenly onlookers began to worry he was injured. It’s happened countless times before. A phenomenal pitching prospect rockets through the minors, gets hurt along the way and is never heard from again.
Bumgarner was sent to AAA Fresno and continued to get rocked through three starts. His replacement in the Major Leagues was Todd Wellemeyer, and he would need replacing of his own soon enough, that is once the Giants came to the realization that any success he was having was as hollow as a termite infested tree. And then, Giants instructor and pitching guru Dick Tidrow had a bullpen session with Madison and he was back on track. His mechanics had been muddied somehow along the way and he needed a tweak to get him back where he was. Over the next couple months, Madison regained his control and started dispatching minor league hitters again.
Fast-forward to Halloween 2010. Sometime in August or September, Bumgarner started to get his fastball back. What’s more, he’d gotten a better idea of how to pitch through his struggles – does this remind anyone of Tim Lincecum’s struggles this season? On Halloween night with (much) of the country watching, in a pivetol game 4 of the World Series, Bumgarner once again flashed his talent and everything he learned when his fastball abandoned him, and he showed that he was a better pitcher because of it. It’s a beautiful thing when a plan comes together.
Madison threw 106 pitches on the night and 69 strikes (65%). The big key for him was changeup and slider command. He was able to five total swing and miss strikes with those offerings. He threw 16 of 21 changes for strikes (76%) and 18 of 25 sliders (72%). He averaged 91 mph with his four seam fastball (topping at over 94 mph) and located it on both sides of the plate. I recall specifically, when McCarver mentioned that Kinsler was an inner half feasting type hitter. No sooner did those words fly out of his mouth was Bumgarner pounding him on the insider corner with a fastball for a strike. Bumgarner pitched fearlessly and was rewarded for it.
His best work came against Vladimir Guerrero. In the second, he struck him out with a 92.5 mph fastball perfectly placed on the insider corner, up at the hands. In the fourth with a runner on, he struck him out with an 82 mph changeup off the plate. Guerrero’s swing was extremely awkward. And in the seventh after a baffling error by Juan Uribe, he struck him out with an 82 mph slider that he, again, looked far from comfortable swinging at. It was almost as if after the first strikeout he kept waiting for that inside fastball again, and it just never came. His final line was impressive: 8 IP, 3 hits (all singles), 2 BB and 6 K’s.
In the ninth, closer Brian Wilson needed just 11 pitches while throwing 8 strikes to finish Texas off. He decisively handled the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton which was particularly impressive. He threw a 93 mph fastball for a called strike. Then he threw a devilish, biting slide piece at 84 mph that many believe must be some type of hellish curveball. Hamilton miraculously tipped it for a foul strike two. Finally, he threw a 96 mph fastball way up and out of the zone but Hamilton just couldn’t resist, swinging and missing and giving the Giants the 3-1 lead in the series. The Rangers got the chance to flash their shiny closer in game 3, and the Giants did in game 4. It had this Giants fan smiling and the Rangers hitters (and fans) fearing the beard.
Also of note, the Giants averaged 4.6 pitches per plate appearance. They averaged just 3.74 during the regular season, and no, that’s not good. Andres Torres went 3 of 5 with two doubles, including a huge one while batting right handed. This is a good sign because he’s been swinging a hot bat lately from both sides of the plate lately, and he’ll be facing left handed Cliff Lee tomorrow as the Giants attempt to clinch, and Torres gave him trouble last go ‘round in game 1. And their creaky shortstop, Edgar Renteria, had three hits too. This may well be his farewell performance and I can't think of a better way for a gem of a ballplayer to head out as the curtians close.
The Giants are up 3-1 going into a Game 5 in Texas with their ace on the hill and their adoring fans at their backs. They have 3 games, 1 in Texas and 2 in San Francisco if necessary, to make history and give Giants fans a long awaited parade down Market Street. I may only be 25, but I was around in 2002 and I’ve been around long enough to know these opportunities don’t arise very often – someone can try telling that to rookies Bumgarner and Posey when this is all over. The Giants are making just their fourth trip to the Fall Classic since coming west, and the thought that their on the doorstep of ending the heartbreak after all the torture this season is giving me the chills.
Pitch data from Brooks Baseball PitchFX.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Giants Flinch, Fail to Clinch in Frisco
The Giants’ game five cinching effort, that started off so well, ended so disappointingly. If someone would have told you that: 1) Roy Halladay would not be sharp and would need a mound visit in the first inning before getting an out, 2) Halladay would pull his groin in the second inning and finally 3) Andres Torres would reach base in four of four plate appearances, would you have believed the Giants would lose? I certainly would not have. The slightly inclement weather didn’t play a factor, but shoddy defense assuredly did.
The Giants were essentially sunk by a single inning, and were it not for a comeback the previous evening it would have been two nights in a row. Writing is therapy – and my fiancé is a doctoral candidate so I would know – so here goes. The calamitous top of the third went something like this:
1) Lincecum gives up a jam shot (grenade) single to center to Raul Ibanez – his first hit of the series. 2) Lincecum promptly gets Placido Palanco down 0 and 2. 3) A Timmy changeup slips from his forked fingers and hits Polanco – perhaps foreshadowing doom. 4) Roy Halladay bunts a ball just foul. 5) The umpire calls the ball fair. 6) Posey throws a seed strike to Pablo Sandoval to get the out at third. 7) Not. Pablo “Not so Kung Fu” Panda cannot make it to the bag in time and Ibanez is safe. 8) Pablo throws the ball across the diamond to throw out Roy Halladay, who was not running… 9) …because the ball was foul. 10) Victorino grounds out to first baseman, Aubrey Huff, to score one. 11) Psyche. Huff – who would later admit to having aspirations of throwing out the slow Ibanez at home – muffs the grounder which spits out to center field, scoring both runs and advancing the would-be out Victorino to second. 12) Placido Palanco singles on a ball to left center, scoring would-be out Victorino… 13) …and the damage is done. The rest isn’t of much importance - Howard whiffed, Utley stole second and Werth* flew out.
*Dave Cameron just yesterday wondered how the Phillies could possibly just let Werth walk at seasons end. I see where he’s coming from. Werth is a good player that can do more than a few things very, very well. He has power, speed, plays good defense, runs the bases well, and he’s patient. I replied because, “…the Phillies are overpaying Howard and have no choice.” Anyway, I think there’s a strong likelihood he does walk, and that the Phillies simply can’t work out a way to keep him. But, with an aging lineup – Utley, Rollins, Polanco and especially Ibanez – plus a somewhat precipitously declining Ryan Howard, I just don’t see the Phillies’ lineup being nearly as formidable as people believe they are now and know they were two years ago. I think that a loss of Werth without a stepping up of the aging vets or the rookie Brown would knock the Phillies out of the NL’s elite, at least offensively. They clearly have the starting pitching.
Halladay wasn’t terribly sharp the rest of the way or at any point during the game, as he threw a ton of pitches in the second (despite setting them down in order) after managing to wriggle out of the first. But he managed to be effective. The Giants did manage to scratch one more run off of him with an RBI double by Cody Ross in the fourth, but that was all they would get. Halladay got Sandoval to fly out to right and Ross rather foolishly tried to take third on the play. They got two more on in the fifth with two outs, but Huff grounded out. They got two more on in the sixth, but Uribe struck out on a ball to end the threat. Halladay gave way to the pen and Torres got on again in the seventh, but never scored.
And then there was the eighth inning. Ryan Madson came out and I was happy. He had to be a bit gassed after his hefty workload the previous evening, but so much for that. Madson usually throws quite a few changeups. He didn’t. He threw one. He struck out the side on 12 pitches with an array of mostly filthy cutters. He cut threw the most productive part of the Giants’ lineup thus far this postseason like a hot Samurai sword through room temperature butter.
Bonehead Bochy had an easy decision to go with closer Brian Wilson in the top of the ninth – he’d thrown a relatively few pitches the previous two nights and would rest on Friday with the day off. He went with the Giants’ fourth or fifth or sixth best reliever instead, Ramon Ramirez, whom promptly gave up an impressive solo homerun to Werth. And with that, the Giants’ clinch which was still within reach given the one run deficit, was all but squelched. The fans were deflated and Lidge was likely energized. Lidge went right at the Giants and rather impressively spun a few get-it-in sliders – I think, anyway, I haven’t taken the time to look them up – for strikes and retried San Francisco in order.
The Giants now head back to Philadelphia clinging to a 3-2 series lead. Don’t allow the once true thought that the Phillies “still have to win three in a row to beat them” to delude you. That would be as foolish as putting stock in the very purposefully placed, previously hit numbers board at the roulette table. The Giants now must win Game 6 or Game 7 to ignite the bubbly bath, and they’ll have to do it on the road. This resilient team has found a way to do it all year, and I’m sincerely hopeful they can do it again. Don’t stop believing.
And I assure you, the squalid Phillies fans will be sure to greet the Giants with all the class they can muster.
The Giants were essentially sunk by a single inning, and were it not for a comeback the previous evening it would have been two nights in a row. Writing is therapy – and my fiancé is a doctoral candidate so I would know – so here goes. The calamitous top of the third went something like this:
1) Lincecum gives up a jam shot (grenade) single to center to Raul Ibanez – his first hit of the series. 2) Lincecum promptly gets Placido Palanco down 0 and 2. 3) A Timmy changeup slips from his forked fingers and hits Polanco – perhaps foreshadowing doom. 4) Roy Halladay bunts a ball just foul. 5) The umpire calls the ball fair. 6) Posey throws a seed strike to Pablo Sandoval to get the out at third. 7) Not. Pablo “Not so Kung Fu” Panda cannot make it to the bag in time and Ibanez is safe. 8) Pablo throws the ball across the diamond to throw out Roy Halladay, who was not running… 9) …because the ball was foul. 10) Victorino grounds out to first baseman, Aubrey Huff, to score one. 11) Psyche. Huff – who would later admit to having aspirations of throwing out the slow Ibanez at home – muffs the grounder which spits out to center field, scoring both runs and advancing the would-be out Victorino to second. 12) Placido Palanco singles on a ball to left center, scoring would-be out Victorino… 13) …and the damage is done. The rest isn’t of much importance - Howard whiffed, Utley stole second and Werth* flew out.
*Dave Cameron just yesterday wondered how the Phillies could possibly just let Werth walk at seasons end. I see where he’s coming from. Werth is a good player that can do more than a few things very, very well. He has power, speed, plays good defense, runs the bases well, and he’s patient. I replied because, “…the Phillies are overpaying Howard and have no choice.” Anyway, I think there’s a strong likelihood he does walk, and that the Phillies simply can’t work out a way to keep him. But, with an aging lineup – Utley, Rollins, Polanco and especially Ibanez – plus a somewhat precipitously declining Ryan Howard, I just don’t see the Phillies’ lineup being nearly as formidable as people believe they are now and know they were two years ago. I think that a loss of Werth without a stepping up of the aging vets or the rookie Brown would knock the Phillies out of the NL’s elite, at least offensively. They clearly have the starting pitching.
Halladay wasn’t terribly sharp the rest of the way or at any point during the game, as he threw a ton of pitches in the second (despite setting them down in order) after managing to wriggle out of the first. But he managed to be effective. The Giants did manage to scratch one more run off of him with an RBI double by Cody Ross in the fourth, but that was all they would get. Halladay got Sandoval to fly out to right and Ross rather foolishly tried to take third on the play. They got two more on in the fifth with two outs, but Huff grounded out. They got two more on in the sixth, but Uribe struck out on a ball to end the threat. Halladay gave way to the pen and Torres got on again in the seventh, but never scored.
And then there was the eighth inning. Ryan Madson came out and I was happy. He had to be a bit gassed after his hefty workload the previous evening, but so much for that. Madson usually throws quite a few changeups. He didn’t. He threw one. He struck out the side on 12 pitches with an array of mostly filthy cutters. He cut threw the most productive part of the Giants’ lineup thus far this postseason like a hot Samurai sword through room temperature butter.
Bonehead Bochy had an easy decision to go with closer Brian Wilson in the top of the ninth – he’d thrown a relatively few pitches the previous two nights and would rest on Friday with the day off. He went with the Giants’ fourth or fifth or sixth best reliever instead, Ramon Ramirez, whom promptly gave up an impressive solo homerun to Werth. And with that, the Giants’ clinch which was still within reach given the one run deficit, was all but squelched. The fans were deflated and Lidge was likely energized. Lidge went right at the Giants and rather impressively spun a few get-it-in sliders – I think, anyway, I haven’t taken the time to look them up – for strikes and retried San Francisco in order.
The Giants now head back to Philadelphia clinging to a 3-2 series lead. Don’t allow the once true thought that the Phillies “still have to win three in a row to beat them” to delude you. That would be as foolish as putting stock in the very purposefully placed, previously hit numbers board at the roulette table. The Giants now must win Game 6 or Game 7 to ignite the bubbly bath, and they’ll have to do it on the road. This resilient team has found a way to do it all year, and I’m sincerely hopeful they can do it again. Don’t stop believing.
And I assure you, the squalid Phillies fans will be sure to greet the Giants with all the class they can muster.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Bochy's Band of Misfits –The Giants – One Fistfight from Fall Classic
Scoring: Giants up 0-1, up 0-2, up 1-2, down 3-2, down 4-2, down 4-3, up 4-5, tied 5-5, walk off 5-6!
First off… Buster Posey! At this point, Posey doesn’t just have the keys to San Francisco. Posey has the keys to the adjacent cities as well, and those cities that are adjacent to the cities that are adjacent to San Francisco. That’s at a minimum.
Last night he went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, he drove in two runs, and he basically had some of the most important hits on the night. In the first, he smashed a sharp ground ball single up the middle on a breaking ball to open the scoring. He did that with two strikes. In the third, he ripped a double that one hopped the left field wall on a 1-1 count and brought in another run. I told my buddy that Blanton was getting too aggressive with his changeup before that double. He was. He threw it, Posey was ready, and Blanton was lucky the Kid didn’t backspin it into the bleachers. In the 5th Posey showed off his other graceful talents. Posey nabbed a one hop throw – a great throw by Rowand, of all people – and laid a quick swipe tag to get Carlos Ruiz. That may have saved the game for the Giants as it was 1) one of three outs in a nightmarish inning and 2) one less run (4 instead of 5) in a horror showish inning. In the 7th (after striking out in the 5th) Posey doubled again, and once again after being down two strikes. And finally, in the 9th, Posey went down 0 and 2 to Roy Oswalt who dominated him in game two. Posey hit a near double down the line foul, nearly broke his bat on a pop up that dropped foul*, and then lined a single (his fourth of the night and third with two strikes) down the line for a single that moved Huff to third and set up the walk off sac fly. Asked about whether or not he knew his game was “epic,” not from the standpoint of a rookie but from any player, Posey smiled and coolly replied: “Well, thank you.”
*Krukow (on KNBR) said, Posey must be thinking: “I’m gonna stick with it, that ones had three hits in it.” Make that four.
The roughest inning for the Giants, I thought, may have been the 4th because it may have resulted in some repercussions in the 5th. Bumgarner labored hard in the 4th and was able to get out of a jam. In the bottom half, the Giants hitters were out in just 7 pitches. They certainly didn’t do Bumgarner any favors in terms of giving him a breather and he unraveled in the 5th. These are the types of innings the Giants offense must avoid, as "clutch" as they were on Wednesday night.
Bruce Bochy gave Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval a start tonight and boy did it pay off. Pablo did ground into one of his patented - seriously, look it up - double plays with the bases loaded, sure, but only after a very good at bat and a scorched ground ball rather than a roll over. But before that double play, Panda delivered one of the biggest hits of the postseason**. He seemingly doubled down the fight field line – it might have hit a sliver of chalk, or it might now have – earlier in the at bat. But with two strikes Durbin tried to put him away with a high fastball and Pablo laced it into the left center field gap to score two and reclaim the lead for the Giants. It was a swing of the bat that was so throwback 2009 Panda, and after a season in which Pablo hit .208 with runners in scoring position and was badly battered on balls in play, it truly proved that in AT&T as in the jungles of China, the Panda is not extinct.
**What would a postseason post be without a mention of can-do-no-wrong Ross? Ross hit a broken bat, grenade double down the left field line to set up the spot for Pablo.
Aubrey Huff contributed with another three hits, and two huge ones at that. Huff had a two out, run scoring, line drive up the middle single in the 5th that brought the Giants back within one. That was a huge swing of the bat as it got the fans back into it after the devastating top half, refreshing their memories of Ashkon’s “Don’t Stop, Believing… this could be the seeeeeaaason.” He also singled on one pitch in the 9th to set up the Posey single and the Uribe sacrifice fly. Huff hasn’t delivered the knock out blow thus far this postseason – a double, triple or homerun to break a teams back. But Huff has delivered huge singles in the middle of (or to start off) pivotal rallies more than once.
Bochy, I thought, also made another great (non) move. When Werth hit the chalk double off of Romo following the Howard double off of Lopez, the Giants were immediately thrust into a “here we go again” moment. Bochy could have panicked like he had in the divisional series. He didn’t. I might have. I was panicking. Bochy instead stuck with the Frisbee throwing righty, and he delivered. He delivered a fly out and back to back strike outs on six straight (five swing and miss) Frisbee sliders, which is of course, his specialty. That was a great vote of confidence by Bochy and a wonderful job by Romo. It also was a moment of success which Romo can draw back on and perhaps it will bear dividends later. It’s a lot easier to recall the homer Romo gave up to Hinske (and Manny in May) than to recall his 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio and over 10 strikeouts per 9 IP. It seems Bochy’s recollection was just fine last night.
Before we get into the bottom of the 9th, let’s not forget that in the top half, Uribe made an absolutely spectacular play on a ball in the hole. Ross Gload hit a ball to Uribe’s right and was getting down the line pretty good. Uribe snared it and delivered a seed across the diamond to get Gload by an eyelash. Earlier in the game, Jeff Fletcher from AOL Fanhouse tweeted (after a nice play by Rollins): “#sfgiants fans, that’s what it looks like when you have a shortstop with an arm.” Ya, Jeff, we know.
Everyone in the world knew (or should have) that Oswalt was going to try to light Uribe’s hands on fire with inside fastballs given his sore wrist. Oswalt did, and did, and did, and did do just that. He threw a fastball at the top, inner corner of the zone at 95 by Uribe for strike one. He threw a fastball just under Uribe’s lips for a ball. He threw another inside fastball boring in on Uribe and it hit his hand, maybe, or the knob of the bat which is what the umpire went with. Then he threw yet another fastball up and in that glanced off of Uribe’s bat on a check swing. Apparently, Oswalt thought Uribe was set up for a changeup, some type of offspeed. And maybe he was. He probably was. I half figured that at some point, either against Uribe or Posey, that Oswalt would throw the Bugs Bunny 64 MPH curveball. Instead, Oswalt threw an 83 MPH changeup. I think Oswalt would probably tell you he intended to throw that pitch below the strike zone with the count 1 and 2. He didn’t. Oswalt threw a good changeup. It would have been a great pitch 0-0. It would have been a great pitch 2 and 0. But 1 and 2 against Uribe, he threw it at the bottom of the strike zone – reachable for Uribe – and after Uribe flipped it relatively deep to left field and drew Francisco back, the game was all but comfortably over as Huff rushed home like life depended on it. Huff popped up from his slide and stretched both arms straight up in the air in stunning reminiscence of Rocky Balboa’s famous statue in the City of Brotherly Love, almost as if to add insult to injury. It was beautiful.
Brian Wilson would later say that Uribe was hitting in the cages in the late innings to test his hand. Whatever he was doing all game, Uribe found some way to muster the strength in the hand and get it done. OOOOO-Ribe!
The Giants need a single win to claim the National League pennant for only the fourth time since they came West in 1958 – the others in 1962 (Mays, Marichal, McCovey, Alou, Perry etc.) 1989 (Clark and Mitchell) and 2002 (Bonds and Kent). The Giants will not take this lightly, but rather will take it one game at a time. Tonight they’ll go with their long-locked, f-word spraying, humble Cy Young award winning Tim “The Franchise, The Freak” Lincecum. And no matter who the opponent or the opposing pitcher when he’s going, they like their chances.
First off… Buster Posey! At this point, Posey doesn’t just have the keys to San Francisco. Posey has the keys to the adjacent cities as well, and those cities that are adjacent to the cities that are adjacent to San Francisco. That’s at a minimum.
Last night he went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, he drove in two runs, and he basically had some of the most important hits on the night. In the first, he smashed a sharp ground ball single up the middle on a breaking ball to open the scoring. He did that with two strikes. In the third, he ripped a double that one hopped the left field wall on a 1-1 count and brought in another run. I told my buddy that Blanton was getting too aggressive with his changeup before that double. He was. He threw it, Posey was ready, and Blanton was lucky the Kid didn’t backspin it into the bleachers. In the 5th Posey showed off his other graceful talents. Posey nabbed a one hop throw – a great throw by Rowand, of all people – and laid a quick swipe tag to get Carlos Ruiz. That may have saved the game for the Giants as it was 1) one of three outs in a nightmarish inning and 2) one less run (4 instead of 5) in a horror showish inning. In the 7th (after striking out in the 5th) Posey doubled again, and once again after being down two strikes. And finally, in the 9th, Posey went down 0 and 2 to Roy Oswalt who dominated him in game two. Posey hit a near double down the line foul, nearly broke his bat on a pop up that dropped foul*, and then lined a single (his fourth of the night and third with two strikes) down the line for a single that moved Huff to third and set up the walk off sac fly. Asked about whether or not he knew his game was “epic,” not from the standpoint of a rookie but from any player, Posey smiled and coolly replied: “Well, thank you.”
*Krukow (on KNBR) said, Posey must be thinking: “I’m gonna stick with it, that ones had three hits in it.” Make that four.
The roughest inning for the Giants, I thought, may have been the 4th because it may have resulted in some repercussions in the 5th. Bumgarner labored hard in the 4th and was able to get out of a jam. In the bottom half, the Giants hitters were out in just 7 pitches. They certainly didn’t do Bumgarner any favors in terms of giving him a breather and he unraveled in the 5th. These are the types of innings the Giants offense must avoid, as "clutch" as they were on Wednesday night.
Bruce Bochy gave Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval a start tonight and boy did it pay off. Pablo did ground into one of his patented - seriously, look it up - double plays with the bases loaded, sure, but only after a very good at bat and a scorched ground ball rather than a roll over. But before that double play, Panda delivered one of the biggest hits of the postseason**. He seemingly doubled down the fight field line – it might have hit a sliver of chalk, or it might now have – earlier in the at bat. But with two strikes Durbin tried to put him away with a high fastball and Pablo laced it into the left center field gap to score two and reclaim the lead for the Giants. It was a swing of the bat that was so throwback 2009 Panda, and after a season in which Pablo hit .208 with runners in scoring position and was badly battered on balls in play, it truly proved that in AT&T as in the jungles of China, the Panda is not extinct.
**What would a postseason post be without a mention of can-do-no-wrong Ross? Ross hit a broken bat, grenade double down the left field line to set up the spot for Pablo.
Aubrey Huff contributed with another three hits, and two huge ones at that. Huff had a two out, run scoring, line drive up the middle single in the 5th that brought the Giants back within one. That was a huge swing of the bat as it got the fans back into it after the devastating top half, refreshing their memories of Ashkon’s “Don’t Stop, Believing… this could be the seeeeeaaason.” He also singled on one pitch in the 9th to set up the Posey single and the Uribe sacrifice fly. Huff hasn’t delivered the knock out blow thus far this postseason – a double, triple or homerun to break a teams back. But Huff has delivered huge singles in the middle of (or to start off) pivotal rallies more than once.
Bochy, I thought, also made another great (non) move. When Werth hit the chalk double off of Romo following the Howard double off of Lopez, the Giants were immediately thrust into a “here we go again” moment. Bochy could have panicked like he had in the divisional series. He didn’t. I might have. I was panicking. Bochy instead stuck with the Frisbee throwing righty, and he delivered. He delivered a fly out and back to back strike outs on six straight (five swing and miss) Frisbee sliders, which is of course, his specialty. That was a great vote of confidence by Bochy and a wonderful job by Romo. It also was a moment of success which Romo can draw back on and perhaps it will bear dividends later. It’s a lot easier to recall the homer Romo gave up to Hinske (and Manny in May) than to recall his 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio and over 10 strikeouts per 9 IP. It seems Bochy’s recollection was just fine last night.
Before we get into the bottom of the 9th, let’s not forget that in the top half, Uribe made an absolutely spectacular play on a ball in the hole. Ross Gload hit a ball to Uribe’s right and was getting down the line pretty good. Uribe snared it and delivered a seed across the diamond to get Gload by an eyelash. Earlier in the game, Jeff Fletcher from AOL Fanhouse tweeted (after a nice play by Rollins): “#sfgiants fans, that’s what it looks like when you have a shortstop with an arm.” Ya, Jeff, we know.
Everyone in the world knew (or should have) that Oswalt was going to try to light Uribe’s hands on fire with inside fastballs given his sore wrist. Oswalt did, and did, and did, and did do just that. He threw a fastball at the top, inner corner of the zone at 95 by Uribe for strike one. He threw a fastball just under Uribe’s lips for a ball. He threw another inside fastball boring in on Uribe and it hit his hand, maybe, or the knob of the bat which is what the umpire went with. Then he threw yet another fastball up and in that glanced off of Uribe’s bat on a check swing. Apparently, Oswalt thought Uribe was set up for a changeup, some type of offspeed. And maybe he was. He probably was. I half figured that at some point, either against Uribe or Posey, that Oswalt would throw the Bugs Bunny 64 MPH curveball. Instead, Oswalt threw an 83 MPH changeup. I think Oswalt would probably tell you he intended to throw that pitch below the strike zone with the count 1 and 2. He didn’t. Oswalt threw a good changeup. It would have been a great pitch 0-0. It would have been a great pitch 2 and 0. But 1 and 2 against Uribe, he threw it at the bottom of the strike zone – reachable for Uribe – and after Uribe flipped it relatively deep to left field and drew Francisco back, the game was all but comfortably over as Huff rushed home like life depended on it. Huff popped up from his slide and stretched both arms straight up in the air in stunning reminiscence of Rocky Balboa’s famous statue in the City of Brotherly Love, almost as if to add insult to injury. It was beautiful.
Brian Wilson would later say that Uribe was hitting in the cages in the late innings to test his hand. Whatever he was doing all game, Uribe found some way to muster the strength in the hand and get it done. OOOOO-Ribe!
The Giants need a single win to claim the National League pennant for only the fourth time since they came West in 1958 – the others in 1962 (Mays, Marichal, McCovey, Alou, Perry etc.) 1989 (Clark and Mitchell) and 2002 (Bonds and Kent). The Giants will not take this lightly, but rather will take it one game at a time. Tonight they’ll go with their long-locked, f-word spraying, humble Cy Young award winning Tim “The Franchise, The Freak” Lincecum. And no matter who the opponent or the opposing pitcher when he’s going, they like their chances.
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