Destiny Spits on the Giants

So Peter Happy ends up being the guy who gets the game winning hit in the clincher of the World Series, eh?  That hurts worse than the beartrap that's attached to the canker sore on my tongue.

It is a bit reminiscent of The Polish Catcher Not To Be Named leaving for the White Sox and winning a ring the next year.

Scott Eyre is another former Giant who is dancing after last night.

In other news, Aaron Rowand is punching himself in the nads for following the money to the West Coast, but hopefully this team will take him to the Promised Land at some time in the 37 years left on his contract.

It ain't all bad: Big ups to Bay Area natives Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell (Bellarmine HS) and Brad Lidge (Sacto) for getting their first rings.  All three are solid players and great ambassadors of the Bay Area way to play.

Comment starter: Any other notable Giants who left and went on to win a ring or have huge years immediately thereafter?

Giants LOB one to Rockies

Cold (or even mild, temperate) summer nights at Pac Bell are no fun unless the Giants are scoring, and these days, the faithful along with the Lunatic Fringe know: that scoring is not going to come from home runs. So when these scrappy, fast, aggresive young kids go out and get hits - EIGHT of them - we hope that some of those baserunners come around on consecutive hits, sacrifices, and seeing-eye ground balls. For one inning last night it seemed that would be the case, but then the bats - and the luck - fizzled. Despite yet another 3-for-4 performance from "Win, Win, Win, with" Randy Winn and another 2 hits from Fred Lewis in the 2 hole, the offense never came alive in a manner worthy of the word RALLY.

Matt Cain is back to his losing ways, giving up an astronomical 3 ER in 6 IP, succumbing to the ever-Giant-killing Yorvit Torrealba (2-run HR) and failing to score from third (or even cause a collision) on a fielder's choice by Aaron Rowand.

Venite Adoremus tonight, though, as The Kid looks to stop the losing. Matt Palmer, that is, looks to stop the losing, at 1 loss. Why, who did you think this blogger was referring to?

DING DONG, CASTILLO'S DFA'D (And Everyone's Up)

Well, how about that for a move? (From Baggs)

Huge, huge shift today. The Giants have a whole new corner infield. John Bowker and Steve Holm were optioned to Fresno and Jose Castillo was designated for assignment. Rohlinger, a third baseman, comes from Double-A Connecticut along with Sandoval, who can catch and play first base. Ishikawa was lighting it up at Triple-A Fresno. He switches spots with Bowker, who was hitting .154 since the All-Star break.

Wow, is it me or did it just get a whole lot less suck in here?

Okay, I'm not going to go overboard, but this is a big day for the youth movement. We could conceivably see this lineup tonight:

RF Winn

2B Burriss

LF Lewis

CF Rowand

1B Ishikawa

C Sandoval

3B Rohlinger

SS Ochoa

What a difference a day makes.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go scrub OBnB of any acknowledgment of the existence of Shrekstillo. (Prances off, giggling.)

UPDATE (3:33PM): And, in typical Giants fashion, the only one of the trio to get the start is Rohlinger, who is penciled in at third and batting second tonight. Even Omar, God bless him, is playing.

Vintage Suck

On a night where the Giants adorned their garb of yesteryear, Omar Vizquel decided to go throwback, too, flying all over the field and collecting the Giants' first straight steal of home in 25 years.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team played like it actually was the late 1970s (the G-Men wore the orange pullover from '78-'82) - they couldn't run, swing a bat, and seemed generally distracted by bright colors when they weren't soiling themselves in key situations.

And, in one of the most oft-repeated phrases in Bay Area baseball history, the A's beat the Giants.

From now on, as far as I'm concerned, as long as Barry Zito (who won the race for the fastest to double-digit losses in the NL) doesn't completely implode, I put all of his losses on the offense.

(Real world example warning.)

Barry's like the guy in your department who has his job as a favor to a higher-up - a guy who, in spite of his repeated gaffes, will never get canned. If your department continues to fail and he's the guy screwing it up, it doesn't make a lick of difference. If an exec eventually demands someone be held accountable, who do you think is going to pay?

I'll give you a hint: it's not going to be John Q. Moneydummy.

I'll give you another hint: it's going to be you.

So that's why I blame the offense. You're going to have to bring at least 5 runs when Zito pitches. It's just a reality you accept if you're a member of the Giants offense over the course of the next five and a half years. (Sigh.)

Bear in mind, my sympathies for their plight is limited: they only have to score a run, two tops really, thanks to the consistent dominance of Tim Lincecum on days he pitches. Even Stevens.

The top two culprits on the offense these days? Big Money (batting .190 in the past week) and Aaron Rowand (.227 in June).

Hope our 4 and 5 hitters right the ship in short order. The lineup simply isn't built to pick up our two best hitters.

Cainer versus Harden tonight.

Unifun: Check out this prototype for the Giants jersey redesign in 1993. Had no idea that it got so close to production.

My gut reaction is that it's kind of an abomination, but it has a certain ugly charm to it. Some veteran Giants fans may remember that a similar inverted coloring scheme was employed in the seasons between '73-'76.

Holy Sweep!

"Ace" Barry Zito leads the Giants to a sweep of Randy Johnson and the first-place D'Bags to cap a 6-3 road trip.

Let the record show that Orange Black and Blue takes absolute full entire credit for that. You can be sure that Warm Fuzzy Zito Feeling Email Writing Campaign (don't you like the ring of that?) will be back.

That being said, I suppose these guys helped:

Macho Man Randy Winn: Two homers, including one off a previously perfectly dominant (and record-tying) Big Unit in the fourth, and then off Chad "You're Breaking My" Qualls for the go ahead run in the ninth. His first homer from the left side this year. Off a guy who doesn't really give up homers. To the opposite field. To double his HR total for the year.

If you called that, I'm laying my Belmont bet down soon, so I'd love to get your input.

Aaron Rowand: Did you see that full extension catch? Absolutely disgustingly sick. The #4 hitter in the National League (with Big Money nipping at his heels at #5) was, dare I say, a great Sabean signing?

Brian Wilson: First pitch strikes, ridiculously unfair sliders and no BS in an 8 pitch save. I'll take that every time, Robb.

And finally...

Barry Zito: Warm fuzzy feelings = quality starts. You need any more proof?

For the record, he (or one of his minions) wrote back:

Thanks man.
Appreciate your support. Great win for our team!
Z

What were you expecting, Shakespeare? Classy, though.

- The good guys face their second legend in a row tonight. Unlike the Big Wet Rat, the Farting Professor has completely pwn3d the G's throughout his long career.

- A fluff piece with some interesting tidbits has given rise to a new OBnB stupid nickname: HinShawn Carter.

Comment THIS: Did Zito write you back? Will you ever doubt OBnB's powers again? And also, can the Giants keep up this run against the hapless Friars?

???

Who were those guys?

Excuse my confusion, but those mysterious men in gray scored in double digits - for the first time all season. (They were the second to last to get there, however, with the Royals still reliably being the Royals.)

I gave Feliz-lite grief yesterday for his atrocious hitting with the bases loaded, but the team as a whole entered last night's play hitting .094 (3 for 32) in such situations. In yesterday's win, they went a blistering 3 for 4.

Jonathan Sanchez acting the part of poised pitcher while the opponent's starter repeatedly got rattled? You had to see it to believe it. In the words of Boch:

"He's just really growing as a pitcher. He had it all going tonight, and aside from the command, he was very composed. It's great to see how poised he has become."

Some great stuff from opposition press about the throttling the Giants delivered last night. Melvin calls it their worst loss of the year. Fantastic.

A legitimate leadoff hitter, cleanup hitter, and #5 hitter really does wonders for an offense. It's too much to ask that Bengie and Rowand keep up this whiffle ball streak, but it does underscore what the presence of one legitimate power bat could do for this team.

If only there was one available...

As for that #6 hitter - well, he had a good game, actually a good month, but I still say he kills any of our fathers if he gets a chance.

I can't wait until his value invariably bottoms out with a bottom injury and he gets traded for Shea Hillenbrand.

Some more good news: with yesterday's win, the Giants move to 5-3 and clinch a winning road trip.

Bad news: a suddenly decent Big Wet Rat takes the mound against Zito tonight.

Another Broken Record: Backbreaking Losses

Giants drop two maddening games in the double-header, the second costing hard-luck Matt Cain another shot at a win. Misch-ugana remains winless after deciding to take the day off, getting absolutely shelled in the first game.

Positives: Aaron Rowand's 100th career homer and Bengie Molina's total dominance (12 for his last 17).

Unlike Pat Misch, Omar Vizquel shows up, and gets the all-time record for doing so in the second game. I guess Woody Allen was on to something.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.

Yor-vit Is Better Than Ours

Among the nasty byproducts of the mercenaries otherwise known as the early 21st century Giants is that we seem to play a former Giant every freaking series. And every freaking series, no matter how much their skills eroded, if there were any in the first place, they kill us.

So in following in the May tradition of Pedro Feliz, Jose Cruz, Jr. and A.J. Pierzynski, Yorvit Torrealba was the hero last night with the go ahead 2 run double off Vinnie Chulk. And Pat (you drive me) Mischuga once again had his first W of the season ripped away.

In April, the Giants showed that a punch and judy team can, in fact, generate enough runs to win, particularly given the presence of a solid staff. I don't think I'm going out on a ledge in proclaiming that the bullpen has been fairly awful the past couple of weeks, but I believe this is more of a correction than a permanent decline. Did anyone really think that Tyler Walker was going to keep that minuscule ERA? Or that Vinnie Chulk would strand every single runner he inherited? Or that Keiichi Yabu was any kind of long-term answer?

Additionally, Merkin Valdez's absence has hurt this team more than we could have imagined. And that's a guy, who, if he stays healthy (which has always been the problem) could maintain a dominant pace given his stuff.

Here's the point: this team could, you know, come back sometimes. The Giants trailed by 1 for three full innings at Coors Field against a 26th ranked pitching staff and couldn't get it done.

This team, you know, could use a clutch hit with RISP (.196 with 2 outs/.224 overall), or even, perhaps, put the ball in play with a runner on third but less than two outs (purely empirical - who dares call me on this?)

Even the "clutch hitters" are not delivering in this regard. Bengie Molina, who has largely been hitting cleanup because of his clutch hitting, is only hitting .250 with RISP. Same stat for Aaron Rowand (who had an ugly AB with RISP yesterday) - and these guys are our leaders.

Granted, you can't put lipstick on a pig, so I don't put this all on Carney Lansford. But it would be helpful if the better looking pigs told the uglier, runtier pigs that their collective best shot at an extended lifespan is as a showpig.

Okay, I'm done. In other news:

- Remember when the Giants talked to Dallas McPherson before deciding they had no interest? Because we were happy with our options at third?

The former Angels über-prospect, whose career was derailed by back injuries, hit 3 homers for AAA Albuquerque yesterday and is otherwise absolutely destroying AAA pitching.

I guess there's a reason the Marlins are in first with a payroll about a quarter of ours.

Also ironic: the third man out of the three man duel at third between Jorge Cantu (now starting with the Marlins) and McPherson, who was optioned, was Jose Castillo.

- ESPN reports P.J. may hang it up after this year. Unfortunate that such a great pitcher had such an assorted injury history, and a prime reason why Giants fans soil themselves every time the similarly proportioned Timmy L throws over 100 pitches or comes in after an hour rain delay. For the record, I only soiled myself in the latter instance.

- Andruw Jones may have an excuse for his general suck. Not a good one mind you, particularly because his rotundity is probably the reason his knee's giving out.

- Props to Jon Lester, who throws a no-hitter last night. Besides the fact that this is the Red Sox 112th no-hitter in the past ten years, a great story because of the odds Mr. Lester has had to fight to get back to where he is today.

Clutch Holmer

Steve Holm gets it done in relief of Big Money as his 2-run homer (the first of his ML career) in the bottom of the seventh helps the Giants nab the rubber match and return the favor to the Phillies.

Awesome story for the local boy. The former backup to Justin Knoedler in Single-A San Jose has looked the part in the majors coming off an improbable upset in an open battle for the backup job in spring training.

On the other hand, Jose Castillo celebrated the return of Pedro Feliz by doing his best impression, hitting into 3 double plays (two on the first pitch and two with the bases loaded) before lining a triple in a completely no-pressure situation leading off the eighth. (Unsurprisingly, he was subsequently stranded by Vizquel, Aurilia and Lewis). His struggles epitomize the Giants biggest downfall so far this season: not cashing in on baserunners. Team batting with RISP? .237.

Dirty continues to struggle as he allows three in a very wild 4.1 IPs. Also troubling: Sanchez's inability to control his emotions - a good example being his failure to cover first on a helluva diving play by John Bowker.

However, the bullpen does the job - a scoreless 4.2IPs as Sadler looks like he belongs, and Taschner, Walker, and Wilson throw a scoreless inning apiece, all without much drama. Special shoutouts to Walker, who bounces back from a recent hard-luck patch, and Wilson, who gets Burrell back with a Nen-esque series of sliders to get the 9th inning K.

All in all, a lot of positives. In addition to his ever-improving D, Bowker may have made his first adjustment (and the one many prospects never make) - in limited duty this month, he's hitting .556. Both of his hits today were opposite field against a steady diet of breaking balls. Maybe we have a keeper.

Also, Aaron Rowand is good. One hit in one official AB along with three walks boosts his average to .348 and his OBP over .400. Gamer or not, guy certainly backs his scowl up.

Great Mother's Day at the park.

- Great to see Vizquel back. Didn't get a chance to mention his solid debut in yesterday's win. Had a great turn in today's game, barehanding a wayward Velez toss and almost turning an improbable 4-6-3 early on.

Contrary to previous speculation, Durham stays active but Burriss's buddy Bo gets the axe. Best of luck to the kid who never really had a chance against big league pitching. Hopefully, it's not his last taste of the big leagues.

No Smile Tonight

"Fastball after fastball. You don't see this very often."

Those were the famous last words on the Phillies broadcast before Pat the Bat deposited a Brian Wilson 3-2, 2 out fastball into the left field seats, sealing a crushing 10th inning comeback.

Unfortunate for a number of reasons, one major one being former Phillie Aaron Rowand stood to be the hero after his go-ahead solo shot in the top of 10. Also overshadows the temporary comeback of spurned wunderkind John Bowker, who collected the first 4 hit game of his career and flashed serious leather at his new home at first.

However, the takeaway is that you can't go 4 runs on 16 hits. Stranding that many will not cut it if this team has any chance at legitimacy.

For the record, I didn't think the fastballs only approach was the incorrect one - he simply did not hit his spot on the fateful pitch.

Let's see how the kid bounces back.

On the plus side, great matchup tomorrow as Cainer faces Brett Myers.

Jose Castillo Reads This Blog

Giants take the rubber match against the defending NL Champs, end up rebounding from a 1-6 start to go 12-10 the rest of the way in April. I have to say, I have been enjoying this team a lot, warts and all.

One of the great emblematic moments for this team was watching Fred Lewis, whose glove has been much maligned, make the defensive adjustment that allowed him to snag Willy Tavares's would-be game-tying RBI hit. With him playing every day and work with major league coaching, you can see him making huge strides with the glove. As for hitting, the team-leading .952 OPS (followed by Aaron Rowand at .866) speaks for itself.

I'm going to go ahead and take credit for Jose Castillo jacking an unexpected game-winner last night - I called our third base power production out yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, guy goes yard for the first time in 20 months. Let's put that in perspective: the last time Castillo hit one out (as a member of the Pirates), America mourned as it came to light that Mel "I Know What Women Want" Gibson was actually a belligerent racist. I can only imagine Danny Glover, his longtime Lethal Weapon cohort, was shocked and dismayed. Glover, of course, is a Giants fan.

See how I did that?

Also, requisite daily Barry Zito story from John Shea. Actually a fairly good read. The scouts are all over the map on what's up with bro hymn. From the article:

Two National League scouts provided The Chronicle with different reasons for Zito's decline, speaking on the condition of anonymity because teams don't want their scouts sharing information. One said it's because of the fastball. The other blamed the curve.

The first scout: "It's velocity, period. If he can throw 89, 90 like he used to, he could escalate the ball in the strike zone. That sets up the curve. Now, with that slower stuff, they can take it for a ball or go wild with it."

The second scout: "It's his curveball, bottom line. Losing 4 to 5 (mph) doesn't concern me as much as his inability to break the curveball as much as he used to. It was his bread-and-butter pitch. It used to break from your head to your ankle. Now it breaks from your chin to your belt. Only a few guys in the league have the ability to snap off a good curveball. Now, for some reason, he can't."

Don't know if that makes me more or less hopeful. I still see a tough road back for him if he can't pick up at least some of the MPHs. The only people who survive in the low 80s have unbelievable control, and I'm not sure Zito has it in him.

Speaking of soft-tossing lefties, Noah Lowry's return has been delayed at least another three weeks as he continues to feel numbness in his arm in fingers. Don't know much about nerves and such, but this whole thing starting to get a season-ending vibe to it. Everyone keep their fingers crossed - no offense, Noah.

In non-Giants news, I get the feeling that this guy is going to give us fits this year both on the mound and in the box; but man, is that a cool baseball story or what?

Check out this ESPN all-time chart of OPS leaders on the left. I mean, sure, it's a small sample size, but still! Pretty impressive.