The defense of the World Championship by our San Francisco Giants started with a decided lack of defense and The Franchise, Tim Lincecum, got pinned with an Opening Day loss.
Although Tim pitched very well - 7 innings, 5 hits (all singles), no earned runs, 3 walks , 5 strikeouts - he probably wishes he that he got a few more outs on his own. Strikeouts eliminate the middle man, and letting the ball go in play can lead to scary things, as Tejada demonstrated with a key error in a crucial situation. Of course, if your teammates really want to give it away they don't have to wait for you to let it get hit, as Posey (shock!) demonstrated moments later with a horrible throw that was a really BAD IDEA (turns out it was Sandoval's idea, but still...Buster, what happened?) Unfortunately, the disgustingly impressive Kershaw did not make the same "mistake" as Tim by getting nine strikeouts with only one walk. Kid's good, what can you say?
"Tip of the Hat" to Brandon Belt on hit #1...kinda ugly but it counts. More importantly, congrats on a bunch of high quality at bats against a super tough lefty. I can't wait to see what you can do!
"Wag of the Finger" to Santiago Casilla, who looked like he wasn't ready to go when called upon. Maybe it was nerves, but it took him until pitch #15 before he had any velocity or command. Needless to say, by then the doggers had the run that ended up being the winner.
10 comments:
If Lincecum had just been a better pitcher and had more of a winner's mentality he would have prevailed. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he matures and whether he can develop some veteran savvy clutchness. Sometimes your ace has to pitch a complete game shutout and frankly he just didn't "man up" last night.
Giants extend Freddy Sanchez. I guess that means the Youth Movement is over. Sorry, Charlie.
The TV guys were just dumping all over the Panda for calling for the bad throw by Posey. Seriously, guys call for potentially ill-advised throws all of the time. Posey has to be able to size up that situation & hold onto the ball. It was in his hands &, as it turns out, the ball should have stayed in his hand. The Tejada error was the key, though. That looked really amateurish. I guess that we'll have to allow for a handful of those throughout the season. We knew that he was no defensive star. Icky loss.
I agree, it's Posey's bad on that play. Savor it, it will probably be the only mental error he makes as a pro. Even if he hadn't made the physical error (lousy throw) it would have been a mistake to throw the ball anyway.
I'm still in shock over that lapse. It's so un-Posey.
Tejada's error was the key to the inning. And our inability to hit the ball hard off Kershaw.
I thought Tim looked like crap, for the most part. And yet there's a long string of goose eggs on the scoreboard. The fact he went seven full with no earnies is amazing to me.
You could see how mad Buster was at himself after that bad throw. If it had been a good throw(and I don't mean it ever had a chance to make an out), nobody would have thought it was stupid. They would have admired his hustle, or something.
Sandoval's at bats were somewhat shocking. Still flailing away at everything. He was just a joke to the announcers, "Yuk yuk the ex-fatty who swings at everything."
I did not think that Posey's throw was a bad idea, except in retrospect. Kemp was not paying attention, it was an easy out at third (and, just to reiterate, the inning should have been over before then). Maybe Posey was at fault for the throw and for wanting to help his pitcher a little too much. I also saw a lot of flailing at the plate - Tejada, Sandoval, Burrell (can't come down too hard on him, he did contribute 100% of our offense), Torres, Huff. I find it hard to believe that opening day jitters were the cause after the awesome spring the Giants put up. Except that didn't count. The tv guys - you mean Orel Hersheiser and Bobby Valentine? Did you hear Bobby Valentine's comment about how MLB had to rescue the smog-suckers because they bring up the franchise value of other teams???? If you listen to a horse's ass, you are likely to hear a bunch of crap.
p.s. I thought Tim looked great to throw up zeros when he did not have his A stuff.
p.p.s. I already miss Joe Morgan.
Got to disagree with several of you about Posey's throw. Catchers are taught to throw to bases according to cues from the infielders. I know this because I coached my infielders and catchers this way. The catcher is too busy corraling the pitch to be able to judge if the runner is too far off the bag, so the infielder must communicate the info, most often by waving off the throw. Pablo clearly called for the throw so he must share in the mental part of that blunder. It sure looked like Pablo was apologizing in the dugout later. I sure don't agree with Zo...he looked like he was on the bag and the throw even if it had not been terrible would have been useless. A truly ugly play that is better forgotten.
I think we lost because of Casilla as much as the error. He looked way wrong and never should have faced Loney. Why have a loogy if you don't use him?
Posey is The Captain. He don't have to throw nowhere. The infielders can wave all they want. I want Posey to be in charge. He's the one with the head for the game. I doubt he will ever make a throw again that he knows he should not. Mike Sciosia may be a Dodger scum, but he said something (as a manager) that I remember: "encapsulate the game." That is, focus on the part that YOU are responsible for and do that. That way you will avoid trying to do too much and making plays that don't exist. Kemp was lagging off the base, and has a rep for losing focus on the bases, and Pablo thought he could pull a fast one. News for Pablo: major-leaguers don't get caught that way. It was a so low of a percentage play as to be pointless. I've no doubt Buster knew the moment he threw the ball that it was a mistake.
Message to Pablo--catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball. Remember Crash Davis: "don't think, you'll only hurt the ballclub."
Message to Buster--take charge. Don't put up with any bullshit. Give the fucking orders, don't take them.
And yes, Bobby Valentine is an annoying fucking shill. But he is also a very smart baseball guy. He was impressed by Belt, esp. during his AB in the 9th. If a guy who has been around as long as Valentine can be wowed by a 23-year old's debut, then we have a special player.
LET'S KICK SOME DODGER ASS AND QUIT WHINING ABOUT ONE FUCKING LOSS WHEN WE GOT 161 MORE CHANCES!!!!
And Tim pitched very well. Gimme a break. Zeros are why we pay him, and zeros he delivered.
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