[quote]fnf wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
So I just heard what Charlie Manuel had to say about Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum after the two of them gave up zero earned runs in 13 innings against his team.
Basically, he said that they aren’t great pitchers, haven’t done anything to deserve being called great pitchers, said that Lincecum doesn’t have good stuff, his changeup is average and his slider and his curveball don’t do anything, can’t throw above 92 (I saw him consistently hitting 94 throughout the game against them) and that his team was just unlucky against him. He further went on to say that his team can and will beat both of them.
This guy is about as low-class as they come as far as I’m concerned. It’s beyond low-class to disparage two pitchers, who just shoved it right up your team’s ass to the tune of 13 innings of scoreless ball and two wins, in your home ballpark no less. The Giants are definitely in the Phillies’ heads at this point. They may have the best record in baseball right now but the Giants have looked like the superior team against them in their last nine meetings (in which the Giants are 6-3, of which 6 of those games have been in Philly).
The Giants just match up really well against the Phillies and in my biased opinion the Giants are the better team. Their starters are more than capable of matching zeros against any of the Phillies’ starters and their bullpen is clearly superior. It’s the best 'pen in baseball and they have two dominant lefties (Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt) that they can bring out of it to face the mostly left-handed lineup the Phils trot out every day.[/quote]
I was listening to KNBR today, and a couple of the hosts and guests (can’t remember their names) thought Charlie Manuel said that to give confidence to their hitters when they play the Giants again. They can’t be mentally defeated when they see Lincecum and Cain on the mound. I could agree with that. Look at the last sentence.
“They’re good pitchers. You say they’re great pitchers. To me, I don’t know how great they are. I think as they move on into their careers, there’s the longevity part and things like that. I think that’s when the greatness might come by. This is a consistent game. When you say somebody is great, tonight I saw 90 fastball, 92 at the best. I saw a good changeup. I saw a breaking ball. I saw a cutter. Good pitching, but at the same time we can beat that. I’ve seen us do that.”
“We can beat them. I know we can.”[/quote]
That may be what his intention was, but it was a low-class, bullshit way to go about it. If they need a pep talk from their manager, fine. But don’t do it by publicly downplaying/belittling/minimizing/disparaging the pitchers who have shoved it right up your ass in 3 of their last 4 starts against your team. Do it behind closed doors.
Personally, I’m glad he went about it this way. He may have been intending to give his hitters a pep talk but I can guarantee you that this is going to be plastered all over the Giants’ bulletin board when they come to SF next month. It’s only going to serve to motivate the Giants even further. I’ve never seen a defending champion sitting in first place this late in the year that seems to still have so much to prove to everyone outside of themselves and their fans. The Phillies and their fans can deny it all they want, but of all the teams in the NL that could make the playoffs, the Giants are THE team that they do not want to face in the postseason. This rant from Manuel only confirms it. A pep talk? For the best team, record-wise, in the bigs? They’ve got problems with the Giants.