[quote]chillain wrote:
Granted we’re still not even out of May, but your squad has no chance zip zero none…
[/quote]
Yeah, they blew their chances early on. Lucky if we get wild card.
raj - in the dog days between NBA Finals and NFL preseason, when there’s literally nothing else on is when I kinda start to pay attention. And yeah, I’m sure that this year’s early success has something to do with it.
I will say that live games at the ballpark is always good times, and I wouldn’t say the same re: NFL or NBA.
Hey DB,
If the Los Angeles Dodgers play .500 baseball the rest of the season (which i think is realistic), the San Francisco Giants would have to play .565 baseball to get ahead of them in the standings.
Do you think with the Giants current squad, they’d be able to pull that off?
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Hey DB,
If the Los Angeles Dodgers play .500 baseball the rest of the season (which i think is realistic), the San Francisco Giants would have to play .565 baseball to get ahead of them in the standings.
Do you think with the Giants current squad, they’d be able to pull that off?[/quote]
With their current squad? No. Not without Pablo Sandoval in the lineup and a banjo-swinging abortion of a platoon at both 2nd base and SS. But the current lineup won’t remain as such for much longer, so that’s a moot point.
The Dodgers are good, but they’ve also played a cushy schedule with something like 20 of their first 28 games at home and their road series’ against Arizona and San Diego. The next month or so should go far in determining who wins the division. The Dodgers play most of the next month’s games on the road against much better teams in general, and the Giants get a softer schedule played mostly at home.
The Dodgers aren’t as good as they appear right now, but they’re hardly Kemp, Ethier, Kershaw, and a bunch of no-name hacks. Kenley Jansen has better stuff coming out of the bullpen than anyone they’ve had since Gagne, Billingsley is pitching more consistently than he has the past couple years, Capuano is a legit starter and Dee Gordon has a lot of talent.
There’s definitely a couple guys having career years out of nowhere right now, but that’s baseball. All it takes is a down year from a couple of players in the division (Lincecum or Upton to name a couple) and a couple career years from some Dodgers (Ellis) and they can win it. So don’t discount the non-big name players on their team at all. They’re still professional baseball players, after all.
That being said, I DO think the Giants can overtake the Dodgers. It’s not even June yet and they’re only like 6 or 7 games out. I don’t expect Lincecum to revert back to his Cy Young form, or even last year’s, but I do expect him to develop some more consistency. When Sandoval comes back in two weeks they’ll probably move Pagan back into the leadoff spot with Cabrera, Sandoval and Posey batting 3,4,5. Brandon Crawford has seen some time in the 2nd spot and he’s hit well there.
It’s actually pretty tough for a young player to hit 8th in the NL because they don’t really get pitched to that much. They don’t see a lot of fastballs at all with the pitcher due up next and it’s tough to remain patient in that situation sometimes. In the 2nd spot he’ll get a lot more fastballs and he can handle good fastballs. His swing is very level and he has a good opposite field approach. There’s no reason why he can’t hit .265-.275 there. With Cabrera, Sandoval and Posey in the middle of the lineup, that’s a legit middle of the order.
The Giants have some problems to address and I trust Sabean to at least attempt to do so. Freddy Sanchez and his perpetually-swollen labia are never coming back and Sabean is a fucking idiot for ever expecting anything out of that guy this year. They also need another arm in the bullpen, preferably someone who can throw gas with his right arm. Luckily, their top pitching prospect in the minors is Heath Hembree, who throws 100mph and has been unhittable in most of his professional career.
I expect him to get called up at some point this summer. Brad Penny just signed a minor-league deal as a reliever and I think that could turn into a pleasant surprise as well. But if the Giants are to win the division they still need another bat and a serviceable player at 2nd. They’ll make a run at trading for Youkilis to play 1st and they could trade for someone like Keppinger again or something like that to get an everyday 2nd baseman.
So, the division is still wide open, for them at least. They haven’t played good baseball at all up to this point (their defense at 2nd and SS has been atrocious) but they’re still several games above .500 thanks to some improved hitting and their rotation. So yes, I think the Giants can win the division. Will they? Too many question marks around them to say anything definitive, but with a trade here, a role player stepping up there and they could easily be back in the driver’s seat going into August.
All I will say is that tony gawddamn romo threw out the first pitch. The baseball gods punished the Rangers, hard, for that one.
[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
All I will say is that tony gawddamn romo threw out the first pitch. The baseball gods punished the Rangers, hard, for that one.[/quote]
I wouldn’t blame somone for thinking Romo threw out every pitch after looking at the score.
Man is Carlos Quentin on fire since playing his first games of the year. He’s played five games and has five doubles and five homers. I already saw Buster Olney talking about him being trade bait. Screw that, I want at least one guy on my team that is exciting to watch.
[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
Man is Carlos Quentin on fire since playing his first games of the year. He’s played five games and has five doubles and five homers. I already saw Buster Olney talking about him being trade bait. Screw that, I want at least one guy on my team that is exciting to watch.[/quote]
Just saw the first home run. Not taking anything away from Quentin but I don’t think a pitch can get any closer to dead centre than that.
I wouldn’t get too excited over 5 games though. Enjoy the ride, leave the expectations at home.
Question for you California guys. If I wanted to come to California and catch a game at every MLB ballpark located in the state, how bad would the drives between each stadium be?
If you guys ever come here, and were to plan a similar trip, it would be pretty doable.
If you’re in NYC you’re…
4 hours from Boston
4 hours from Washington
3 hours from Philadelphia
8 hours from Toronto
3 hours from Baltimore
10 hours from Detroit.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Question for you California guys. If I wanted to come to California and catch a game at every MLB ballpark located in the state, how bad would the drives between each stadium be?
[/quote]
Well, to get from the Giants park to the Oakland Coliseum is only about 15 minutes away. The Bay Bridge is just a few minutes from AT&T.
Of course, since you’re just interested in major league teams you could just skip the trip to Oakland.
I’m not sure about LA and SD though. I think Dodger Stadium is about an hour or so north of Angels Stadium in typical traffic. SD is probably another hour and a half or so from Anaheim. If you were to drive, you could just take Highway 1 from SF to LA. It’s a long drive but it’s all along the coast, probably the most beautiful drive you could go on in the United States. SF to LA is about 8 or 9 hours if you miss bad traffic, so Highway 1 is probably another two hours.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Question for you California guys. If I wanted to come to California and catch a game at every MLB ballpark located in the state, how bad would the drives between each stadium be?
[/quote]
Well, to get from the Giants park to the Oakland Coliseum is only about 15 minutes away. The Bay Bridge is just a few minutes from AT&T.
Of course, since you’re just interested in major league teams you could just skip the trip to Oakland.
I’m not sure about LA and SD though. I think Dodger Stadium is about an hour or so north of Angels Stadium in typical traffic. SD is probably another hour and a half or so from Anaheim. If you were to drive, you could just take Highway 1 from SF to LA. It’s a long drive but it’s all along the coast, probably the most beautiful drive you could go on in the United States. SF to LA is about 8 or 9 hours if you miss bad traffic, so Highway 1 is probably another two hours.[/quote]
Interesting thanks.
How many parks have you been to?
I’ve heard the food at AT&T Park is awesome btw
You know I use to wonder why the Rogers Centre received such poor reviews as a stadium, I’ve always thought it was a pretty decent place to catch a game.
After visiting 5 other parks in my life, I’ve realized that it isn’t because Rogers Centre is shitty, rather other parks are just so amazingly awesome.
Citizen’s Bank and PNC Park are just amazing stadiums. PNC is an absolute work of art.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Question for you California guys. If I wanted to come to California and catch a game at every MLB ballpark located in the state, how bad would the drives between each stadium be?
[/quote]
Well, to get from the Giants park to the Oakland Coliseum is only about 15 minutes away. The Bay Bridge is just a few minutes from AT&T.
Of course, since you’re just interested in major league teams you could just skip the trip to Oakland.
I’m not sure about LA and SD though. I think Dodger Stadium is about an hour or so north of Angels Stadium in typical traffic. SD is probably another hour and a half or so from Anaheim. If you were to drive, you could just take Highway 1 from SF to LA. It’s a long drive but it’s all along the coast, probably the most beautiful drive you could go on in the United States. SF to LA is about 8 or 9 hours if you miss bad traffic, so Highway 1 is probably another two hours.[/quote]
Interesting thanks.
How many parks have you been to?[/quote]
I’ve been to Candlestick Park about a million times back when the Giants still played there. I’ve been to AT&T about as many times. Oakland, Dodger Stadium, Angels Stadium, San Diego when they still played at Jack Murphy Stadium, Coors Field and Mile High, Camden Yards the first year it opened and I also saw a game in Montreal when I was about 2 years old. Don’t remember that one at all. That was when Olympic Stadium was only a few years old.
I haven’t been to very many of the newer parks at all and I’ve still never been to Fenway or Wrigley. I could care less if I ever visit Fenway though. Red Sox fans are about as pathetic and obnoxious as they come and I’ve yet to see an in-game tradition as hokey and bush league as singing “Sweet Caroline” every fucking game. Not like I’m going to watch good baseball there anyways.
hat and the whole “roll call” bullshit at Yankee Stadium. Seriously. If you want to see a real baseball atmosphere come to AT&T Park, where the fans are as knowledgeable as any in the game, they boo anyone even attempting the wave, it’s always sold-out, there’s no bullshit sing-along other than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and they don’t mow a shitload of weird geometric shapes into the grass. It’s just green grass, no stripes or patterns or anything like that. Just green grass, brown dirt and the most beautiful view in the majors beyond the outfield fence.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’ve heard the food at AT&T Park is awesome btw[/quote]
It is. By far the best I’ve had at any sporting event. Hell, everything at that park is awesome. It’s the best sporting venue in the world for a reason.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I’ve been to Candlestick Park about a million times back when the Giants still played there. I’ve been to AT&T about as many times. Oakland, Dodger Stadium, Angels Stadium, San Diego when they still played at Jack Murphy Stadium, Coors Field and Mile High, Camden Yards the first year it opened and I also saw a game in Montreal when I was about 2 years old. Don’t remember that one at all. That was when Olympic Stadium was only a few years old.[/quote]
Sadly I’ve never been to an Expos game, but I was still a teenager when they moved to Washington
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I haven’t been to very many of the newer parks at all and I’ve still never been to Fenway or Wrigley. I could care less if I ever visit Fenway though. Red Sox fans are about as pathetic and obnoxious as they come and I’ve yet to see an in-game tradition as hokey and bush league as singing “Sweet Caroline” every fucking game. Not like I’m going to watch good baseball there anyways.[/quote]
What I like about Fenway is that it’s tiny as fuck. No matter where you’re sitting you are very close to the action. I know you prefer well-pitched low scoring games, but one thing that I personally enjoy is seeing all the nuances of the park and the carom’s balls take. Seeing how the green monster effects the strategy of the hitters is interesting too.
I agree on the Sweet Caroline tradition. It’s a little silly to sing and cheer when your team is down a fuckload of runs.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
hat and the whole “roll call” bullshit at Yankee Stadium. Seriously. If you want to see a real baseball atmosphere come to AT&T Park, where the fans are as knowledgeable as any in the game, they boo anyone even attempting the wave, it’s always sold-out, there’s no bullshit sing-along other than “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and they don’t mow a shitload of weird geometric shapes into the grass. It’s just green grass, no stripes or patterns or anything like that. Just green grass, brown dirt and the most beautiful view in the majors beyond the outfield fence.[/quote]
Yes. I can’t stand turf.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’ve heard the food at AT&T Park is awesome btw[/quote]
It is. By far the best I’ve had at any sporting event. Hell, everything at that park is awesome. It’s the best sporting venue in the world for a reason.[/quote]
Well this statement certainly isn’t bias…
Here’s a vid I made in 2005. Nothing crazy it’s just of Matt Clement warming up. You can see how close you get to the pitchers in the bullpen though.
Interesting