No Giants News!

Well, maybe a little.  Hector Sanchez, beloved El Magneto, was signed to a minor league contract.

But I keep scouring the innertubes for news.   While doing so, I came across a tribute to Matt Cain that I wanted to share.  Anyone remember El Lefty Malo?  A fine blogster on the Giants, real name Alex Lash.  He now has a new gig, the Frisc.  This is from the Frisc.  Because if you can't read about the Giants' future, you might as well read about their glorious past.

THE GIANTS ARE IN FIRST!

As the wise men said, " Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!! "

The psychotic, but lovable, 2010 San Francisco Giants laid a major whoopin' on the feeble doggers, 10 - 2, and took over FIRST PLACE in the NL West. In one of the sweetest victories of the season, every aspect of the team put on a show. Think about it. On the pitching side, Jonathan Sanchez continued his climb into elite status with a true gem (game score 75!): 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, ZERO walks and a blistering TWELVE strikeouts. It was especially gratifying to see him show some real signs of growth, for example, a relatively low pitch count and he didn't get rattled in the few tough spots he had.. A couple low end bullpen members even chipped in perfect innings. On the offensive side, the fog didn't keep the balls from flying. Huff, Posey and Guillen homered. Three RBI's from FSanchez. But the real jaw dropper is Edgar Renteria: 4 for 5, including a triple, and two runs scored. Who knew? Well, I guess Bonehead did since he stuck him in the leadoff spot.

According to Flemming, The Giants are alone in FIRST PLACE in September for the first time since 2003. That deserves a good old fashioned

WOO HOO!!!!

--JC Parsons

Sanchez on the block?

Lots of rumors about our boy Jonathan. Peter Bendix of FanGraphs has a piece about our young lefty titled "Breakout candidate." (There's also a piece on Fred Lewis.) A lot of this stuff is fantasy analysis for people in roto-leagues, but it can be useful when thinking about trade value. The lastest rumor involves Jorge Cantu. I know we are desperate for a 3B, but I don't think he's enough for Sanchez. We actually have some options at third, like Kevin Frandsen or even Pablo Sandoval. I like to see power hitting, but numbers like "29 HRs" don't translate well at our park and in our division. Cantu's not a bad player, and may improve, but he doesn't seem like the right type. We have to find hitters that hit a lot of line drives and get on base a lot, and not be mesmerized by HR totals.

And we'd be foolish to give away a guy--a lefty--who averages a K per IP.

Thoughts?

Tardy Tim

I have just returned from the wonderful isolation of the Humboldt Redwoods. I guess I needed a break from this season but I sure did miss Tim! Just think of what a nice road trip that would have been if we get Tim a couple runs. Jeez, a 1-0 game at Coors Field is a true testament to the power of humidity. I was a little worried that Tim might suffer from my inattention. Yeah right.

Here's some help from my concise bro:

I waited in vain for Jon's Lincecum report, so I'll do it for him:

Same Old Same Old Tim. Seven shutout innings, yadda yadda... okay, whatever. More excellence, leads the world in quality starts, etc. One thing I want to write about is the last play of the game. Good throw from Lewis, "He's out!" Taschner goes wild, but no, the ball's sitting there on the grass, not in Molina's mitt, game over, Rockies win. Oh my god. But it was wonderful anyway, wasn't it? I love baseball.Which brings us to today's game. Sanchez stinks up the joint, but it's a typical Coors Field day and the Giants offense goes off, so Bochy can afford to leave Sanchez out to finish the fifth, and he barely does, and he ends up with a W. So now Sanchez actually has a better team win record than Wonderboy, even though there's no dispute who the better pitcher is. Sometimes it's better to be lucky. Oh, and did you catch what Sanchez did at the plate? FP called him "Babe Sanchez." Ya gotta love it.

****Again, I know this is a little late, but a must read for all Lincecum lovers. This slick article comes to the charming conclusion that Tim is ...well....perfect. Who knew?

****How about this news item? Rafael Rodriguez and Angel Villalona...if we still know these two names in four years, we will probably be very happy about that!

****Look, even the the largest and oldest living things are Giants fans!!! We can't be a stupid as we seem!!!

¡Sanchez es Fabuloso!

El Lefty Bueno showed his stuff tonight: 10 Puds got the full-on K-treatment! Outstanding! The highlights--other than ELB--were Fred Lewis' game-saving catch-and-throw, Taschner's relief of Valdez in the 8th, and Daniel "No More Lefty-Loosie" Ortmeier's winning hit. Overlooked: Bengie's leadoff hit in the 9th and tag-out at home on Lewis' throw (good thing it was Edmonds running). He's a gamer, baby, that Bengie Molina. Señor Clutch! Bocock continues to impress. Frightening when a single-A rookie shows better plate discipline than our free-agent CF, but that's quibbling, eh? A WIN IS A WIN, especially against a division foe.

I was furious when Bonehead let Sanchez pitch the 7th. The kid just threw 6 innings of 1-hit, 10-strikeout ball, 90 pitches, and Bonehead didn't sit him down. I said at the time "nothing good will come of this." JCP is my witness! Thank goodness for Fred Lewis saving the inning. THERE WAS NO GOOD REASON TO PUT HIM OUT THERE! He'd been brilliant. He wasn't going to finish the inning anyway. That's why you have Valdez and Threets and Taschner. Not only that, relief pitchers do better when they START innings, fer chrissakes. Bonehead move, Bonehead.

Best start of the new season. Let's hope we see more like tonight from El Lefty Bueno.