A realist could have, should have written this title a while ago. A delusional fan who witnessed this piece of shit game could now not help but agree.
Madison Bumgarner was on the mound. He threw 117 pitches in 8 innings, struck out 7, walked 3 and gave up 2, only 1 of them earned. That's pretty good, but a perfect 9 would have netted him exactly nothing. Rubby DeLaRosa, Cy Young candidate that he is, held the Giants to 1 fucking hit. ONE. Buster Posey added one with Brad Ziegler on the mound in the 9th.
So this is how our season as reigning world champions ends - not with a bang, with a game that makes a whimper sound loud. We might not wind up in 2nd place. Madison Bumgarner will not get his 20 wins. The Arizona Diamondbacks have now beaten the Giants in 7 out of 8 meetings in OUR OWN PARK this season. Fuck. I can't wait for this season to end.
13 comments:
Whoa. Zo's got a potty mouth! I mean, what the cuss? Why don't you tell us how you really feel?
Yeah, I feel ya. I came to this realization a while ago. I just hope the Giants don't try to build the team the same way as this season... Ya know... Thinking that they did done 'pretty good'and "if only we had a few less injuries..."
Nah. Negative. Build It Better. Co-ace. Elite. More depth. Younger. The great news? Cost savings from the ascension of Duffy, Tomlinson, Heston, and Osich should help. A LOT. My money says Byrd stays. Casilla, too. Petit, Aoki, and De Aza probably don't. Affeldt's not returning either. Leake? Probably re-signed. Oh wait. That all adds up to pretty much "standing pat." Oh shit.
This season, which truly is a bit of a fooking nightmare, will always be remembered for the avalanche of injuries. And the WTF lineups that those injuries have since produced. Come on, you guys are all hardcore fans, think of how many times we have had someone in the lineup (usually two or three someone's) that you have no clue about. Basically, never saw him before he shows up in Orange in the starting lineup! Am I the only one that finds that a bit unnerving? Or the lineups where someone is thrown into the fire probably way over their head ( which clearly does not include Matt Duffy who only hits 3rd everyday ). I love watching new guys, and we have a pipeline of them, but this season has pushed that too far.
So I definitely feel your pain Zo, but I'm having trouble generating much anger at this point. More pity and regret... I guess we are just in different stages of grief
I think that's it, Jon. The math behind a Giants surge that would mean anything was devastating a while ago, I guess as soon as that road trip to Chicago/St. Louis played out. I am mad at this game though - at losing to Arizona, at losing to Arizona in our park, at losing in this feeble, feeble manner to a team I hate in our park. Were it LA with Kershaw on the mound, you might say, "Well, it's Kershaw, he's a stud." Somehow, it feels worse than 2011 and 2013. Is that just time, distance and another ring? I don't know, maybe. Maybe it is the greater potential of the team this year - it seemed like everything was coming together - emergence into offensive forces from the Brandons, a new leadoff hitter, a solid rotation, a stud young second baseman and a surprise cherry on top in the form of Matt Duffy. Even Tim Lincecum threw a few good games at the start of the year.
You had to love that moment when Boch ordered Bum to walk Goldschmidt. Bum just refused to believe it, and it looked like he tried to talk Buster out of it, and finally glowered at Boch in the dugout (who kept his poker face and didn't move a muscle) before the four wide ones. And then Bum said something to Goldschmidt that cracked him up. Probably something like "Ah'd pitch to y'all if my manager wasn't a dang pussy." Obviously you had to walk him there, but you had to love Bum's reaction.
Losing Pence, Panik, Pagan, and then Crawford were too much to overcome. And even if all were healthy the lack of starting pitching really doomed the club. It would have been closer, but I think LA's rotation might have been enough of an edge.
Next year the Giants will still have the best infield in baseball and super-sub Kelby T will add the necessary depth. The pitching questions are still there--much depends on Matt Cain.
So now Belt is apparently hurt (removed last night with "concussion like symptoms."
Can you believe the number of head injuries?? And Belt was having another excellent season. He's a funny cat--when he is slumping he looks like the worst hitter in baseball. I mean he waves at pitches a foot outside and takes pitches right down the pipe. But when he is "in the zone" he ropes anyone's best pitches. He digs out nasty breaking balls and turns on the high, hard ones and can also slash it to left with power. Overall he's a really fine hitter and a solid fielder. He's just got that dorky, gangly style that would be distinctive and noticeable if he wasn't on the same team as the Ultimate Mr. Weird, Hunter Pence. Yes, it's been a disappointing season but I'm proud of the club for putting up a good fight. And I'm excited about 2016.
Hey look! Matt Cain is pitching!
We're losing again, 4-0, but what the hey.
I was going to say something similar about all the concussions but you beat me to it. Next year if we do keep Byrd, is it possible that Pence goes back to playing centerfield? Cain is the big question mark. If Cain was the good Cain this year, even with all the other injuries, we would still be in this thing. With so many good young relievers, it is hard to see how Lincecum will be coming back, but a close eye on his health, may make all the difference. If somehow he recovers, and his hip starts to swivel like it did 5 years ago, we may have something. Right now I see a rotation of Bumgarner, Cain, Leake (if Kept) Heston, and either a prospect making it, or perhaps a signing of a free agent or a trade. Remember next year Cain will be the same age Greinke is this year, and prior to this season, their stats looked as if they were attached at the hip, that is except for wins and losses. Giants seem to have a glut of 4th outfielders, and even without Arias, seem to have a solid infield if healthy. The team is just so much better with Panik in the two hole, just like it was with a healthy Scutaro. I think with advancing age, it might be a good idea if Pence did not cork screw his body into the batters box on every swing. If he could just tone down his approach by 5 percent he may be able to stay a tad more healthy.
And who the f is catching? Trevor Brown?
I realize I sometimes upset people with my opinions, and that isn't ever my intention... But... I'm willing to completely accept Cain's poor performance(s) right now. No, I'm not rooting for his abject failure- far, far from it. Especially not on a Giants' blog site using his namesake. But here's the thing. What if he were stellar right now?
Would it REALLY be a good idea for the Giants to place high "expectations" based upon maybe 15 innings of work down the stretch? LOL. This situation right now *has to* place some shred of reasonable doubt into the minds of the brain trust. GOOD. Go sign Price. Don't be complacent and "stand pat." As I see things, *if* Cain can return to his fine form, then that only helps us. A LOT. Gravy. But to count on it? If we say "Cain is our #2 and Leake our #3?" Ruh-roh, no realistic way of knowing for 2016.
Oh. That running game on Cain/Brown. 3 SB's in one inning. Sheesh.
Cain is a huge question mark, I don't see how anyone cannot think that. Obviously we can be realistic about the potential for disaster, a la Timmy, without losing our rooting interest. I think the odds of his recovery and him finding a way to be an effective starter again are good. But it would behoove the FO to have a fallback plan!
Yup, agree w/ you M.C. Thanks for saying so.
FUCK. Shut out two consecutive games. At home. Trying to hold onto some shred of playoff contention. Bum pitched. Leake pitched. Some 3rd and 4th and 5th stringers playing. $175 million dollar payroll. Reigning World Champs. All of two hits last night? Zero walks today? Dang. Corbin had 80 pitches in seven full innings. Doh. Meanwhile, not one single Giants' pitcher had a clean inning. Did 8 of the first 13 batters reach safely against Leake? And this is the NL. Well, gee golly.
Maybe it's semantic niggling to say this, but signing Leake (or a Leake-equivalent) plus signing a top-notch pitcher isn't in my mind the fallback option. Relying on Cain is the fallback option. Even if it involves losing the draft pick which, as the Giants lose game after game,starts looking juicier, we need to start out with a rotation, I think, of Bumgarner, Top-Notch, Leake or L-equivalent, and two of Peavy, Heston, and Cain. This arrangement has room to allow for the likelihood that Peavy will even more than now be a five- inning starter, Cain will still be puzzling over his mucked-up mechanics, and the growing "book" on Heston will make him keep receding from the promise he seemed to show for a long time this year.
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