What a BIG day for Bay Area Sports!
SF Giants win in 12 innings against the Cards;
Oakland A's win against the Angels;
SJ Sharks win against the Nashville Predators;
And the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Blazers to advance to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Keep the faith...
I am so frustrated with the way our season has started. Not only have we been severely out-pitched by SD and LA; But when you see Cain on the mound go through six hitless innings, with no run support whatsoever, you know it's not just our opponent's pitching giving us trouble.
Wake up, bats! Our rotation and bullpen need you!
Tonight was also the Oakland A's home opener vs. the Chicago White Sox. Despite having their healthy ace, Rich Harden, on the hill vs. Chicago's Jose Contreras (ERA 63.00!) and the White Sox's 4-23 record in Oakland since 2001 and a sold-out audience at McAfee Coliseum, Chicago took tonight's win, 4-1.
On a positive note, I'd like to consider what the A's skipper, Bob Geren, had to say after tonight's home opener: "...it generally takes an offense a month or so to define itself."
At the rate things are going, it can only get better.
Wake up, bats! Our rotation and bullpen need you!
Tonight was also the Oakland A's home opener vs. the Chicago White Sox. Despite having their healthy ace, Rich Harden, on the hill vs. Chicago's Jose Contreras (ERA 63.00!) and the White Sox's 4-23 record in Oakland since 2001 and a sold-out audience at McAfee Coliseum, Chicago took tonight's win, 4-1.
On a positive note, I'd like to consider what the A's skipper, Bob Geren, had to say after tonight's home opener: "...it generally takes an offense a month or so to define itself."
At the rate things are going, it can only get better.
Friday, April 06, 2007
In the clouds...
Literally.
We were seated beyond nosebleed seats in the park tonight. My friend lost feeling in his toes tonight as we sat back and watched the fog roll in from all angles. Surreal.
I arrived early to catch some batting practice. But something caught my attention down the first base line, at the visiting bullpen. Just beyond Nomar Garciaparra signing autographs and shaking hands, was something vaguely familiar. I could recognize that pitching stance and follow-through from across the park. Yup, it was my Schmidttie... in Dodger Blue. Nearly broke my heart. He's still #29 and boy was he still bringin' it. Unfortunately, for my G-Men, he's still got it.
He maintained his cool despite the brutal heckling from up above in the Arcade section. But, every once in a while, you'd hear a small voice squeak through - "We still love you Schmidttie," and "We miss you Schmidttie."
The wounds are still too fresh for me. He's a Dodger for goodness sake. He looks horrible in blue. And the back of his neck does not look good with a sunburn/tan! He is, officially, the enemy. Sigh...
Brad Penny. Takahashi Saito. Ouch. We need Ortiz and Zito to be on top of their game this weekend.
Saturday: Lowe vs. Ortiz
Sunday: Wolf vs. Zito
Oakland A's @ LAA: Vlad Guerrero unleashed a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 7th. That was the difference in tonight's final score, 5-2 Angels.
We were seated beyond nosebleed seats in the park tonight. My friend lost feeling in his toes tonight as we sat back and watched the fog roll in from all angles. Surreal.
I arrived early to catch some batting practice. But something caught my attention down the first base line, at the visiting bullpen. Just beyond Nomar Garciaparra signing autographs and shaking hands, was something vaguely familiar. I could recognize that pitching stance and follow-through from across the park. Yup, it was my Schmidttie... in Dodger Blue. Nearly broke my heart. He's still #29 and boy was he still bringin' it. Unfortunately, for my G-Men, he's still got it.
He maintained his cool despite the brutal heckling from up above in the Arcade section. But, every once in a while, you'd hear a small voice squeak through - "We still love you Schmidttie," and "We miss you Schmidttie."
The wounds are still too fresh for me. He's a Dodger for goodness sake. He looks horrible in blue. And the back of his neck does not look good with a sunburn/tan! He is, officially, the enemy. Sigh...
Brad Penny. Takahashi Saito. Ouch. We need Ortiz and Zito to be on top of their game this weekend.
Saturday: Lowe vs. Ortiz
Sunday: Wolf vs. Zito
Oakland A's @ LAA: Vlad Guerrero unleashed a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 7th. That was the difference in tonight's final score, 5-2 Angels.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Sweet Victory
Congratulations on your first win as SF Giants Manager, Bruce Bochy!
Whew. I was sitting in front of a Padres fan tonight and he had a broom with him. For a split second before the game (and in the top of the 9th!), I was worried we might be swept by the Pads tonight. *At least I was able to talk quality baseball with him. San Diego fans aren't as shallow and stupid as Dodger fans - heehee.
We had a magical 5th inning RBI Fest! Ray Durham was due for some clutch hitting so I just knew he had to deliver some goods tonight - it came in the form of a 2-run single. And thanks to a clumsy fluke by the Pads' Kouzmanoff and Greene (stumbling over each other and letting a routine popup drop), Rich Aurilia drove another run in. Klesko had a 3-4 night, bringing in one final run for the inning.
Other notables:
- Barry's 1st inning RBI 2B got us on the board fast!
- 6 straight-up solid innings by Morris;
- Incredible offense AND defense by Dave Roberts (just what the Giants need);
- I want to see more of Jonathan Sanchez;
- The Giles' boys can't stay hitless against our pitching in any game. I knew it was too good to be true when they approached the plate in the 9th;
- I was scared as heck to see Cameron's opportunity to face Benitez in the 9th, but it's good to know that, statistically, Cameron has not been too successful against Benitez;
- 5 Star rating by Guest Services in the Bleacher section tonight. They were so cool, funny, sweet and in great control of the crowd.
Oakland A's notes:
- Piazza launched a 9th inning homerun (the winning run!); Kendall ended the game by throwing out someone on 2nd from homeplate, against the Angels tonight. *Maybe I'm a simpleton (or still bitter from the '02 World Series), but I absolutely love that Piazza took K-Rod yard!!! Oakland ties up their record 2-2.
Penny vs. Lowry tomorrow night - I can't wait!!! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!
Whew. I was sitting in front of a Padres fan tonight and he had a broom with him. For a split second before the game (and in the top of the 9th!), I was worried we might be swept by the Pads tonight. *At least I was able to talk quality baseball with him. San Diego fans aren't as shallow and stupid as Dodger fans - heehee.
We had a magical 5th inning RBI Fest! Ray Durham was due for some clutch hitting so I just knew he had to deliver some goods tonight - it came in the form of a 2-run single. And thanks to a clumsy fluke by the Pads' Kouzmanoff and Greene (stumbling over each other and letting a routine popup drop), Rich Aurilia drove another run in. Klesko had a 3-4 night, bringing in one final run for the inning.
Other notables:
- Barry's 1st inning RBI 2B got us on the board fast!
- 6 straight-up solid innings by Morris;
- Incredible offense AND defense by Dave Roberts (just what the Giants need);
- I want to see more of Jonathan Sanchez;
- The Giles' boys can't stay hitless against our pitching in any game. I knew it was too good to be true when they approached the plate in the 9th;
- I was scared as heck to see Cameron's opportunity to face Benitez in the 9th, but it's good to know that, statistically, Cameron has not been too successful against Benitez;
- 5 Star rating by Guest Services in the Bleacher section tonight. They were so cool, funny, sweet and in great control of the crowd.
Oakland A's notes:
- Piazza launched a 9th inning homerun (the winning run!); Kendall ended the game by throwing out someone on 2nd from homeplate, against the Angels tonight. *Maybe I'm a simpleton (or still bitter from the '02 World Series), but I absolutely love that Piazza took K-Rod yard!!! Oakland ties up their record 2-2.
Penny vs. Lowry tomorrow night - I can't wait!!! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!
Fireworks Night at the park
There were fireworks after the game tonight, and throughout the game, but the G-Men just couldn't get us a win on day 2 of Opening Week.
We were blessed with some great defense by Bonds in LF, and a two out, 2-2, solo homer to ensure that, at the very least, we would not be shutout again! He looked so good tonight - agile, smart AB's workin' the count, and just solid.
Check out some of these great factoids:
- 20 homers behind all-time leader Hank Aaron;
- Chris Young became the 435th pitcher to surrender a Bonds homer;
- Bonds "vaulted atop the franchise's runs-scored list in San Francisco annals with 1,481, surpassing his godfather, Willie Mays;"
-Bonds career home run total against San Diego: 86 - his most against any team.
But mostly, I have to say, Dave Robert's triple had my heart thumping! He is lightning. And he just runs the bases so efficiently. I love watching him play.
I wanted a win for Cain tonight. And, despite giving up two long balls to SD tonight, I still really like his stuff.
And, thanks for the RBI Pedro - I'll consider it as redemption for yesterday's horrible error.
Let's get out of this losing "streak" fast!
*Also noteworthy: Oakland's Rich Harden threw seven shutout innings on the road in Seattle. And an awesome 5 RBI night for Mark Ellis. A's 1st Win of the season. Go A's!
We were blessed with some great defense by Bonds in LF, and a two out, 2-2, solo homer to ensure that, at the very least, we would not be shutout again! He looked so good tonight - agile, smart AB's workin' the count, and just solid.
Check out some of these great factoids:
- 20 homers behind all-time leader Hank Aaron;
- Chris Young became the 435th pitcher to surrender a Bonds homer;
- Bonds "vaulted atop the franchise's runs-scored list in San Francisco annals with 1,481, surpassing his godfather, Willie Mays;"
-Bonds career home run total against San Diego: 86 - his most against any team.
But mostly, I have to say, Dave Robert's triple had my heart thumping! He is lightning. And he just runs the bases so efficiently. I love watching him play.
I wanted a win for Cain tonight. And, despite giving up two long balls to SD tonight, I still really like his stuff.
And, thanks for the RBI Pedro - I'll consider it as redemption for yesterday's horrible error.
Let's get out of this losing "streak" fast!
*Also noteworthy: Oakland's Rich Harden threw seven shutout innings on the road in Seattle. And an awesome 5 RBI night for Mark Ellis. A's 1st Win of the season. Go A's!
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Happy New Baseball Year!
It was a perfect, sunny, clear, Opening Day at phone company park and we had a power outage - We had 2 Barrys and that just wasn't enough to light up the G-Men's bats today. To quote MLB.com, "...it was a perfect Opening Day. Until the game began."
But, boy was it glorious to be in the park again! It was a perfect day, perfect crowd and plenty of good baseball. The ceremonies began with an introduction of past All Star G-Men and it was incredible. I'm a newbie, so I was nearly drawn to tears when Robb Nen came on to the field, despite the fact that he was among other larger-than-life legends, including: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Will Clark, Felipe Alou, Vida Blue, Mike Krukow, Kevin Mitchell, Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal... In all, "27 of the 44 All-Stars to have represented the Giants in one or more All-Star Games attended the Opening Day ceremonies."
I can't believe we were actually blessed with an awesome stolen base from Bonds today (by a wide margin!)- I cherish these rare moments (after hitting a 2-out single to left in the 1st inning). I'm just glad he's looking much healthier at the beginning of this season than he did in the beginning of '06.
Ray Durham was showin' some gLove today and I sure hope he stays healthy. I've got my eye on Dave Roberts, though. I have great expectations and am looking forward to his energy. I'm also glad I can wear my Aurilia gear again. And, it goes without saying, I've always loved watching Russ Ortiz on the mound - he looks even better when he's in black & orange! I'm looking forward to more great memories with him. Plus, I think it's been under-appreciated, but Randy Winn has some pretty smart at-bats. I hope he stays sharp.
While I agree with a fellow Giants fan's sentiment - "Well, we can't win 'em all," I was hoping today's loss wasn't accompanied with some of these San Diego highlights:
- Catcher Josh Bard hit his first career 4-hit game against us today;
- SD's Ace, Jake Peavy, looked real solid;
- SD shut us out on opening day...
To my G-Men:
- No more errors, Feliz. We really cannot afford them, especially in crucial innings;
- And Zito, I'm keepin' the faith. Keep it real and BRING IT! I know you can...
I'm at the park every night during opening week, except for Sunday (I'm still workin' on gettin' some tickets!). And yes, I will be hissing at Schmidttie during Dodger weekend.
But, boy was it glorious to be in the park again! It was a perfect day, perfect crowd and plenty of good baseball. The ceremonies began with an introduction of past All Star G-Men and it was incredible. I'm a newbie, so I was nearly drawn to tears when Robb Nen came on to the field, despite the fact that he was among other larger-than-life legends, including: Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Will Clark, Felipe Alou, Vida Blue, Mike Krukow, Kevin Mitchell, Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal... In all, "27 of the 44 All-Stars to have represented the Giants in one or more All-Star Games attended the Opening Day ceremonies."
I can't believe we were actually blessed with an awesome stolen base from Bonds today (by a wide margin!)- I cherish these rare moments (after hitting a 2-out single to left in the 1st inning). I'm just glad he's looking much healthier at the beginning of this season than he did in the beginning of '06.
Ray Durham was showin' some gLove today and I sure hope he stays healthy. I've got my eye on Dave Roberts, though. I have great expectations and am looking forward to his energy. I'm also glad I can wear my Aurilia gear again. And, it goes without saying, I've always loved watching Russ Ortiz on the mound - he looks even better when he's in black & orange! I'm looking forward to more great memories with him. Plus, I think it's been under-appreciated, but Randy Winn has some pretty smart at-bats. I hope he stays sharp.
While I agree with a fellow Giants fan's sentiment - "Well, we can't win 'em all," I was hoping today's loss wasn't accompanied with some of these San Diego highlights:
- Catcher Josh Bard hit his first career 4-hit game against us today;
- SD's Ace, Jake Peavy, looked real solid;
- SD shut us out on opening day...
To my G-Men:
- No more errors, Feliz. We really cannot afford them, especially in crucial innings;
- And Zito, I'm keepin' the faith. Keep it real and BRING IT! I know you can...
I'm at the park every night during opening week, except for Sunday (I'm still workin' on gettin' some tickets!). And yes, I will be hissing at Schmidttie during Dodger weekend.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Give me some Glovin'!
SF Giants Depth Chart
Our 2007 Rotation:
Zito
Cain
Morris
Lowry
Ortiz
The Bullpen:
Benitez (CL)
Kline
Correia
Chulk
Taschner
Sanchez
Hennessey
C: Molina, Alfonzo
1B: Aurilia, Klesko, Niekro
2B: Durham, Frandsen, Aurilia
3B: Vizquel, Frandsen, Aurilia
SS: Feliz, Aurilia, Frandsen
LF: Blonds, Klesko, Linden
CF: Roberts, Linden, Winn
RF: Winn, Linden
It's Opening Day tomorrow at phone company park and I can barely sit still. I know this year it won't be all about the pitching for me. Aside from my original Barry, I feel like it's gonna be all about Dave Roberts. I'm so excited with what he brings to the game and what he'll bring to our club.
From his bio and career highlights:
"One of baseball's top base stealers and established leadoff hitters signed 3-year deal with San Francisco Dec. 2, 2006...renowned for his baserunning acumen, ranks 4th in majors with 195 stolen bases since 2002 - his 1st full ML season"
And, it goes without saying that I'm just as excited about Zito, and the return of Aurilia and Ortiz. I'm barely warming up to Alonzo and Molina behind homeplate but I need to watch them a bit more to see how well they mesh with our rotation/bullpen.
It's a funny/weird vibe, but I just don't get the impression that there's much team chemistry yet. But I'm reassured with the likes of Bochy and Zito - seriously, it can't be that bad with these two stand-up guys in the dugout. Good energy.
I miss my G-Men. I'm at the park tomorrow morning as soon as the gates open to catch some bp. Zito vs. Peavy (SD) - it's gonna be a great battle!
Our 2007 Rotation:
Zito
Cain
Morris
Lowry
Ortiz
The Bullpen:
Benitez (CL)
Kline
Correia
Chulk
Taschner
Sanchez
Hennessey
C: Molina, Alfonzo
1B: Aurilia, Klesko, Niekro
2B: Durham, Frandsen, Aurilia
3B: Vizquel, Frandsen, Aurilia
SS: Feliz, Aurilia, Frandsen
LF: Blonds, Klesko, Linden
CF: Roberts, Linden, Winn
RF: Winn, Linden
It's Opening Day tomorrow at phone company park and I can barely sit still. I know this year it won't be all about the pitching for me. Aside from my original Barry, I feel like it's gonna be all about Dave Roberts. I'm so excited with what he brings to the game and what he'll bring to our club.
From his bio and career highlights:
"One of baseball's top base stealers and established leadoff hitters signed 3-year deal with San Francisco Dec. 2, 2006...renowned for his baserunning acumen, ranks 4th in majors with 195 stolen bases since 2002 - his 1st full ML season"
And, it goes without saying that I'm just as excited about Zito, and the return of Aurilia and Ortiz. I'm barely warming up to Alonzo and Molina behind homeplate but I need to watch them a bit more to see how well they mesh with our rotation/bullpen.
It's a funny/weird vibe, but I just don't get the impression that there's much team chemistry yet. But I'm reassured with the likes of Bochy and Zito - seriously, it can't be that bad with these two stand-up guys in the dugout. Good energy.
I miss my G-Men. I'm at the park tomorrow morning as soon as the gates open to catch some bp. Zito vs. Peavy (SD) - it's gonna be a great battle!
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