Giants Midnight Replay

Stress

I have been stressed lately. Getting finished with my finals, switching jobs, eating a lot of pizza, and watching the Giants….. all of these things stress me out. I want to say that my “magical vacation” to Chicago to see friends and the Giants play at Wrigley Field was a cloud of fun and relaxation, but it really was just more stress. I will fill those blanks in with a post when I get a chance. For now I am wallowing in a couple of stress free days. Now all that stresses me out are the Giants. Why did I even dream that this win would be an easy one?

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The Omar Vizquel defensive inside play of the game goes to:

Nate Schierholtz for making an absolutely balls to the wall flying catch to end the game. If he missed the ball we lose. Flat out spectacular!

The Eugenio Velez defensive mishap of the night goes to:

Miguel Tejada, sure he made an amazing dive to get the ball but how much does that mean when you almost throw it away…. at this point I know I am being petty, the guy is getting better. 

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The Jack Donaghy (hero) award goes to:

Madison Bumgarner, how do you win your first game, hit a double and suppress the hell out of the opposing batters. Madison went all beast-mode on the dodgers today, I’m impressed. 

The Devon Banks (goat) award goes to:

Police people. I know I know, I am suppose to welcome safety to the ballpark right? nah, this just looks like a my house after the kegger I threw in high school got broken up. 

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more stuff:

Fontenot gets the scoring started!

The absolute meanest Pablo face I have ever seen. Awesome!

When you can’t win you just go after the batters I guess. 

I love that look that pitchers have when they can’t believe that they just gave up a hit. 

Soooo close to his first shutout. zoiks. bummer moment here. 

I probably should have giving Fontenot the Velez award today, but I just couldn’t. I like the guy too much. 

Usually a good sign, if you have two outs in the ninth, not today. Brian needs to take a day or two to heal that ankle. 

That is the second batter that got hit tonight. just saying…

Who is this guy? and what has he done with the old crappy Tejada? No joke, let’s pay some respect to a guy who seems to be turning it around. I really do want to root for you buddy, just give me a reason. 

Take notes Darren Ford, this is the only way you are going to make the bigs. 

Walking Off

Last night my boss took me out to eat, we went out for burgers and he tried to convince me to not quit my job. We ate our burgers and had a couple of uncomfortable moments. Eating, drinking, me talking about “how money matters to me now”, as if I’m some sort of adult. After dinner we split ways, I went drinking with a friend, had a few too many and ended up running around SOHO kicking trashcans over at 3 am. At some point I blacked out, got blue paint all over my pants, told a poet that I hate poetry and lost $20. I woke up at 1pm today, my head was throbbing. 

There’s no walk off hit in real life. I can’t make an amazing latte for someone, get cheered by a room full of satisfied customers, be mobbed by delirious co-workers and carried out on their shoulders. Life doesn’t provide the moments that baseball provides. I guess that’s why we get shitty drunk and run around manhattan kicking trashcans over. 

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The Omar Vizquel Defensive Excellence Award Goes To:

Aubrey Huff for sticking with the under-thrown ball to nail Miranda at 2nd. 

The Eugenio Velez Defensive Indifference Award Goes To:

Freddy Sanchez… surprisingly. For making 2 errors on one play, bobbling a ball and then throwing it too low for huff. 

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The Setoguchi Award (Hero) Goes to:

Lincecum…… I wanted it tonight. I was sniffing a no-hitter when I turned the game on when I got home in the 2nd inning. “is there a hit yet”?

My girlfriend goes to sleep and I ask her…..”should I wake you up if anything “historic” happens?”….. It’s gonna happen… someday. Until then, sleep tight. 

The Datsyuk Award (Goat) Goes to:

Ian Kennedy, not only for throwing a damn fine game but for breaking up the no-hitter in the 6th. disappointing, I was really feeling like tonight could have been the night for Timmy. But just like Datsyuk… you have to recognize greatness. 

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More Stuffs

This makes me wonder if the phrasing “Andre The Giant” is copy write, or if they felt it was appropriate to call it “Andre el Gigante” just because of his latin roots? Either way it is kinda cool, and kinda lame, I can’t decide yet.  

Buster sniffs out a hit. 

“Vaaat I git no vin today, eeez ok”

Cody Ross does the Freddy Sanchez “fake like it’s inside” dance

Then he throws his bat like a spoiled brat. haha

Tim threw two perfect corner pitches for strikes in a row in the 7th inning. Both times they showed a close up of his face and he was mouthing “fuck” with a disappointed look on his face. Perfection must be hard. 

Buster Posey is making gloves drop like beats……. ok that didn’t work as a metaphor. Whatever, Posey is playing great. 

Can some internet nerd draw some lasers shooting out of these eyes? Cause Ford is straight up cyclopsing dudes with these lazy browns. “Ya, I just stole on you… what?”

Huff has the swing of the game, with this karate chop fouling a ball at his eyes. 

Amy G. is the only thing in the world that makes Cody not want to smile. I feel ya Cody, I feel ya. 

Don’t Call Him Garbage

You can say a lot of things about Aaron Rowand, but you can’t say that he has given up. I seriously dislike the Giants association with Rowand, but I can’t fault him as a human. He just grinds……… sometimes he grinds a little too hard on sliders thrown outside and in the dirt. But the bastard just grinds. Here’s to you Rowand, keep grinding. Who knows, maybe we won’t miss Ishikawa so much, maybe Rowand becomes an amazing pinch hitter. 

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The Omar Vizquel Award goes to:

Pat Burrell for closing on a well hit ball in left field and making a nice jumping play….. I know…. you don’t remember that do you, that’s cause the game lasted 9 hours! 

The Velez Award goes to: 

Tejada for two miscues, one is stepping on his glove the other was picking up a grounder that should have been Sanchez’s in the 9th that proved to be an infield hit. 

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The Tina Turner Award (hero) goes to: Rowand for getting two big hits, when no one is really on his side (including myself)

The Ike Turner Award (goat) goes to: Brian Wilson for not throwing strikes. Sorry buddy, you wanna be a bad-ass and close games, you gotta throw strikes and shut the door. Screw the dramatic flare, close that shit down. 

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Some extras. 

Huff Miscue #1

Huff miscue #2


Yeah….. The Cardinals don’t really care about this. They are here to ruin our fun!


Sanchez’s breaking pitch was really working today. 

Affeldt needs to open his eyes when he swings.

Tejada makes good on his first swing at AT&T.

Do we need to do more ground ball practice for pitchers? Seriously guys. 

It’s conclusive evidence folks, Burrell is juicing. JK. But seriously, he is crushing balls! (haha)

Sanchez hits a double…….. that’s big Johnny Sanchez, not F. Sanchez.

This was a key play, unfortunately those bastards who were scoring the game didn’t give torres a hit OR a stolen base……. come on guys, your killing my fantasy team!!!

Sorry Affeldt, but your swing SUCKS!!! hahahaha

This is garbage!!! Lose with some dignity you batty old fart! Don’t pull 5 guys into the infield. uuuugh. I HATE Tony LaRussa! I hate him even more because it totally worked!

This is how long the game went, soo long that the announcers started talking about their meat. 

More Umpire garbage, this same spot was called a ball on Wilson at least 3 times in the 9th. 

If I Can’t Have a World Series

If there is no way that we could win the World Series in 2011, then there are still some things that would make me happy to see as a Giants fan.

#1. Matt Cain throws a No-Hitter. Even after a World Series ring AND not allowing a run in the post season, I am afraid that Matt Cain is still woefully overlooked. The plain fact is that he is SUPER DOMINANT! Every time I see him lose a 1 run game in the 8th I want to cry. Cain has thrown:

2 hit game through the 8th 2 times

1 hit game through the 8th 2 times

3 hit game through the 9th 3 times

2 hit game through the 9th 1 time

1 hit game through the 9th 2 times

12 Complete Games and 

4 Shutouts.

The only stat in these categories that Lincecum even comes close to matching him is shutouts. We all know that Cain has a no-hitter in him somewhere. he has gotten soo close, his ability to shut down a game is amazing. 

#2. Kung Fu Panda the sequel. There is nothing that I would love more than to see all those morons with panda hats on enjoying their purchase once again. There are no stats to back up what I want here, I just know that “thinner” pablo has a better shot of being 2009 pablo than Panda-tha-hut does. 

#3. Brandon Belt gets some trophies. Between 1992-1996 LA Dodgers rookies won 5 consecutive Rookie of the Year awards. And through all that they won 0 World Series. Which is pretty surprising because among the 14 N.L. ROYs since there have been 6 World Series winners. We are already 1 for 1 so… let’s get this goggly-eyed kid some hardware.

#3.5 Wilson Giants Saves Record. He is sitting on 134 saves right now just 72 behind All-Time Giants record of 206 by Rob Nen. So I guess that maybe this season is a little early to get close to that, but…. when can we start talking about it? It’s gonna happen soon.

#4. Andres Torres gets Golden. Andres Torres needs a Golden Glove like I need a cup of coffee right now. The fact that Jeter got one last year and Torres didn’t just proves that it is nothing to really brag about. This guy is the heart and soul of our team he needs something for his mantle. 

#5. Barry Zito Dominates. I don’t know how he will do it? I don’t know why, but all I want for next season is for Zito to rip through batters and re-prove himself. I know that this will not happen, but I am contented to think that it can happen though. Let’s see that snappy 12-6 curve come back and that pinpoint control. A great year for Zito would bring him that much more respect, and me an ounce of pride for cheering him on. 

Possible Giants Slogans For The 2011 Season (Part 2)

While you could always go with “We Won Bitches” I figured we could taunt a little more.

Here is my second shot at a possible Giants slogan for next year. 

It was either this picture of Andres Torres saving another run with his excellent defense or it could have been this picture. 

I love this one, but I feel like it dwells a little too much in the past. 

Andres The Giant

Giants shake the curse beating the Padres 7 to 6

Screenshot of the game

The Kuiper placed picture of Kirk Rueter in the dugout. 

Did the picture win the game for the Giants?…… maybe it was Renteria taking out the lineup before the game? …. possibly it was the lineup card taped to the roof of the dugout?….. Nope…. it was the group of scrubs that are currently dominating the Giants lineup. With contributions from Rowand and Uribe, the fantastic four of the evening were Torres, Downs, Whiteside, and Velez. That’s not even mentioning that Uber-scrub Ryan Rohlinger got the 2 out rally started in the 12th and that Schierholtz had the first RBI of the game. 

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4 out of 5 Neukoms

- only 1 walk

- a nice outfield assist from Torres at 2nd base

- no GIDP

- 5 for 13 with RISP

- a misplayed ball by Uribe in the 12th inning scared me. 

- but a magnificent play by Whiteside behind the dish going over a mini-retainer-wall-o-death to get the 2nd to last out. 

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The David Award (hero) goes to Andres Torres who went 2 for 5 with a clutch HR and an outfield assist. 

The (ironic) Goliath Award (villain) goes to David Eckstien……. why… because it will ALWAYS go to him when we play the Padres until he retires. HATE that guy!

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Other pics:
not much going on here, It was a REALLY late game for me. 4HR means that I am up until 2am over here in Brooklyn. After midnight I stopped taking screenshots and started dozing off. 

I kinda like Andres Torres’s new batting stance twitch…. where he windmills the bat around towards the pitcher.

Eli Whitesides shows the Padres what he thinks of their team/park/fans

I was going to dedicate a whole post to Velez’s “scrappy-doo” style but now that Kruk and Kuip have mentioned it on the air, I kinda feel like I would be biting. Maybe I will… but for now here is visual evidence of his wacky untucked style

Full pocket untucked steez!

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

Bonus Downsy pic! “don’t make me run back around 2nd base to get to the dugout!!!”

Giants Give Astros Long and Excruciating “Nuggie”

Giants stay perfect against the Astros 4 to 3

Screenshot of the game

OK so maybe it’s not a screenshot…. but I feel like we are taking out all our agression on the Astros this season….. whatever though.

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3 out of 5 Neukoms

+1 for this nice play by Huff at 1st.

-1 for Pablo’s mishandled ball in the 9th (which I’m sure had NOTHING to do with the fact that he was blowing a bubble a 1/2 second before the ball got to him)
+1 for more Walks taken than Given out

+1 for Andres SB
+1 for Andres taking home on the WP
-1 for not chasing the pitcher

+1 for no errors (even though Pablo had on in the 9th)

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The Kevin Arnold Award (hero) goes to Andres Torres who has been putting on his seatbelt and strapping himself into the left field position perminantly. 

The Wayne Arnold Award (villain) goes to Carlos Lee for thumping a HR over the left field wall….. and for being a big whinny bitch.

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Extra notes.
- I kinda don’t want to watch the next series against the Padres. The last three Padres games practically sucked the damn life out of me. If I don’t post please don’t be angry, I just want to keep my sanity. 
- anyone want to guess who we will be bringing up from AAA when DeRosa goes on the DL?
-looks like pablo might be pulling out of his slump, even though he only had one hit he had some solid contact today. 


- is this the jersey of the future?WTF LOL LMAF ……etc…..
-see ya’ll in hell (SD)-

Aaaaahhhhh…… That felt good.

After you get your assed kicked by your older brother there is only one thing to do…. And that is beat someone up that is smaller than you. 

Giants route the Astros 8 to 2

Screenshot of the game. 

Andres Torres was tearing it up yesterday, let’s hope that this is a more common occurrence.

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4 out of 5 Neukoms

5 Walks taken vs. 2 Walks given 

5 for 15 with RISP vs. 1 for 4 with RISP

No steals taken off of us, 

No Errors commited. 

12 hits.

But the Neukoms really go to for Torres’ hustle double in the 5th and his taking of home in that same inning. Torres was showing why he is valuable to this team. 

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The James Bond “Moonraker” Award (hero) goes to Wellemeyer for finally putting it together for more than one game at a time and getting a nice sac bunt down. And it also goes to Andres Torres who put on a fundamentals clinic on the basepathes. 

The Hugo Drax Award (villan) goes to Jeff Fulchino for throwing at Pablo Sandoval’s back foot and possibly injuring him in the 8th inning. …… not cool dude. 

another angle of the crime

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In other news:
here are some other game shots
Can you guess why I am happy about this picture….? …………. MUSTACHE IS BACK!

Nice….

Haha, their 3rd base coach gets tagged by a line drive.

Schierholtz took a cue from the Padres and took 2nd base.

Check the target from the catcher……

He still got a hit. 

Also…. after searching long and hard the Giants trainers finally found out what is wrong with DeRosa’s wrist. 

OK Now You CAN Be Mad….

Giants lose to the Padres on Eckstien’s walk-off HR 3 to 2. 

Screenshot of the day.

What exactly are “The Fundamentals?”

Is it working a pitcher for a walk (1 BB taken)? Is it taking an extra base when you can (above)? Is it calling off the other outfielder on a fly ball (above)? Is it getting to a ball in the corner so someone doesn’t take 3rd base (above)? Does it extend to, getting a runner home from third with less than two outs? Because we did SOME of those things. And for that reason I give this game a…

3 out of 5 Neukoms rating.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Awards (heros) go to Matt Cain for being a quiet leader who is continually taking punches to the stomach every 5 days, and to Jazz Hands for making this game more exciting in the 9th and not leaving it up to Torres to get a run in…… I think we know how that has gone. 

The Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale Awards (villans) go to David (fucking) Eckstien for being a short little prick!!!! who has now officially hit %50 of his HRs this year, and Clayton Richard for becoming another mediocre pitcher to look amazing against Giants hitting. 

Don’t blame Affeldt…… what are the chances that Boris hits one out? (1 in 300ish)

Andres Torres Has an Itch

Itch Itch Itch Itch

oooooh thats an itchy!

Seriously the whole at-bat he was playing with his junk.