Finis

The 2020 baseball season ended last night with the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 3-1 in Game Six of the World Series. LA takes the crown, four games to two. Manager Kevin Cash of the Rays will be answering the "why did you pull Blake Snell?" question for the rest of his baseball life, I suppose. The Dodgers celebration was tainted by a positive COVID-19 test on Justin Turner who had to be removed from the game. MLB had gone almost two months without incident, and the playoff bubble had appeared to work beautifully, so the news was a bit of a shock. The virus has a way of defeating the best laid plans, it seems.

The Rays were a spirited and determined opponent and their bunch of "no-names" made some noise on the big stage. Game Four was one of the most fun and interesting post-season games I've ever watched. In fact, it was a good, competitive contest overall and showcased some great baseball. This is a Giants site and I've no enthusiasm for a Dodgers win but I will say that is a very familiar team. I feel like I know every player on the roster! Not just from the regular-season games these last several years but from all the playoff exposure, too. Anyway, I have a lot of friends who root for the blue and I am happy for them. Watching your favorite team win the World Series is a great thing.

I'm not one to put an asterisk on a record or a season. MLB and the MLBPA sat down and figured out the rules for a 60-game season. The Dodgers and Rays dominated that format. MLB and MLBPA sat down again and hammered out a post-season schedule. The Dodgers and Rays dominated that format as well, with LA coming out on top. All a team can do is navigate with the road map they are given regardless if it looks like last year's map or not. The Dodgers are the legitimate champions of baseball.

--M.C.

Old and New

The Giants dipped a toe into the Asian baseball market by signing Korean free agent Jae-gyun Hwang to a minor-league deal. He's a slugging 3B/SS type, is 29 years young, and has ten seasons of KBO experience. This looks like a high reward/low risk venture for the Giants: power bat, infield depth. Could be a fresh face on the big club this year--we'll see what happens with Ehire Adrianza, Kelby Tomlinson, and Jimmy Rollins. I've been expecting Conor Gillaspie to be the hot corner backup and/or platoon partner for Eduardo Nunez, but a good showing by Hwang in Spring Training could mean a shake-up. I will not attempt to guess at what this guy can do, but we know that Korean ballplayers are serving notice in MLB and it's exciting for Giants fans to get in on the action. Not to mention Hwang is coming from the Lotte Giants! They sport orange-and-black and play in Busan. History buffs may recall the "Pusan Perimeter" from the Korean War--that was the previous Westernized spelling of Busan, a port city in southeast Korea. "Lotte" is a multinational conglomerate, teams in Korea are named for the businesses that own them. He looks good in the colors, wouldn't you say?

 

One of the stalwarts of our team's recent run of success has been outfielder Gregor Blanco who became a free agent after this past season. He signed a minor-league deal with Arizona last month. Blanco was an average hitter at best but a defensive wizard and his speed on the bases and little-ball skills made him a very valuable guy. He made important contributions to two World Series teams. When the Giants lost left fielder Melky Cabrera to a suspension in 2012 the unsung Blanco took over and made the transition seamless. In 2014 he took over center field from the injured Angel Pagan and delivered once again. He made a lot of great plays but the most famous one of course was snagging a ball to save Matt Cain's perfect game. I'd say he earned his rings. Good luck, Gregor, and thanks for everything!

 

Twenty days until pitchers and catchers report.

--M.C.

+500

That's the line at Bovada for the Giants to win the 2016 World Series. You want to make 500 bucks? Put down a hundred on San Francisco and if they pull it off you get your hundred back and a nice little five hundred profit. Another way to say it is 6-to-1. The Chicago Cubs are also 6-to-1 to win the Series this season. That's what you call "playin' the favorites." I still have a betting slip from 1989 when my brother-in-law put down fifty smackers on my behalf for the Giants to win it all at 7-to-1. They came close as you may remember. But this year the Giants are favored. That's not The Giants Way™, man. We are more into the plucky underdog thing, the surprise team, the dark horse. Will the lads and The Boch be able to handle this new role? The pressure, man. Can we handle it?

It's a brave new world, me buckos.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

25 in 2012

I've got the 2012 World Series on DVD of course and just finished re-watching the whole thing. I thought I'd do for the 2012 team the same thing I did for the 2010 club. Current Giants are in italicized bold. Starred players were on the 2010 post-season roster.

The Giants carried 12 pitchers on that squad:

*Jeremy Affeldt: retired.
*Madison Bumgarner: signed through 2017 with options for '18 and '19.
*Matt Cain: signed through 2017 with an option for '18.
*Santiago Casilla: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
George Kontos: first-year arb-eligible
*Tim Lincecum: a free agent.
*Javier Lopez: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Jose Mijares: a free agent.
*Guillermo Mota: retired.
*Sergio Romo: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Ryan Vogelsong: signed with Pittsburgh for 2016.
Barry Zito: retired


Two catchers:

*Buster Posey: signed through 2021.
Hector Sanchez: signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox.


A whopping seven infielders:

Joaquin Arias: signed a minor-league deal with Arizona.
Brandon Belt: third year of arbitration.
Brandon Crawford: signed through 2021.
*Aubrey Huff: retired.
*Pablo Sandoval: with the Boston Red Sox.
Marco Scutaro: retired.
Ryan Theriot: retired.


Only four outfielders:

Gregor Blanco: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Xavier Nady: a free agent.
Angel Pagan: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Hunter Pence: signed through through 2018.


That's a dozen players still with the team. All of them, in fact, are important pieces for 2016. Speaking of 2016 I don't see much more happening on the roster/trade/free agent front. The Giants grabbed two big pieces in Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto during the Winter Meetings and ought to feel good about a job well done.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

--M.C.

Across America with the Giants

The 2014 World Series was a unique experience as my wife and I were traveling and we enjoyed the entire event while on the road. We watched Game One in Santa Clarita which is, surprisingly, the third-largest city in Los Angeles County. It was only recently incorporated (1987) and is composed of several former separate communities like Newhall, Saugus, and Valencia. At 1200 feet elevation it sits on the southern edge of the Transverse Ranges before the descent into the San Fernando Valley. It is probably best-known for Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. We had planned to avoid the downtown LA traffic by crossing the city later in the evening and hoped to stop somewhere along I-5 to watch the game. If you have ever driven to Southern California along that route you know there's not much to choose from. I had identified a likely spot, a sports bar called the Tilted Kilt, which turned out to be in one of those boulevard lined mega-shopping complexes that are no more attractive than the box store strip malls that blight our country's mid-sized towns. The restaurant itself was big and clean and horribly modern with over two dozen televisions. The food was the usual fare but decent overall and the beer selection was passable. It's a "guy" place with scantily clad cute waitresses in tartan halter tops and mini-skirts. Madison Bumgarner and the Giants kicked ass so it was really quite pleasant despite the characterless setting. And we missed the infamous LA rush hour and made it to our South Bay destination in good time. We noticed one or two other Giants fans in the place who actually left before the end. No Dodgers fans seemed to be present--at least none were sporting their blue, and no one else seemed particularly passionate about the event.

Game Two we spent in the home of our dear friend BRZ in Lomita and that was good as the Giants got a whipping by the Royals. It's always nice to have true fans around to commiserate with. We endured Fox and Joe Buck as best we could and had a splendid visit before our train trip. Taking walks around the area we of course wore our caps but LA fans had already forgotten their season and had turned their thoughts to the myriad of other distractions that abound down there. Game Three happened while we were on the Southwest Chief heading to Chicago and we had to depend on text updates from JCP and various bits of info from other passengers. We didn't encounter any real baseball fans although one of the dining car attendants made a point of lamenting the tough loss with us the next morning. I was not prepared to fully follow the action but I was relaxed and philosophical about the disconnect as that is very much part of my travel outlook. Spontaneity and serendipity are really what journeys are all about. We pulled in to Kansas City the morning of Game Four and I saw a few Royals caps on people in the station but once again did not encounter any baseball fans on the train. That evening after we were settled in our hotel in Chicago we took a walk around the neighborhood and discovered Kitty O'Shea's Pub and Restaurant in the ground floor of the Hilton just across the street. We ate dinner and drank to excess and had a grand time watching the epic come-from-behind Giants victory. We spent the first half of the game talking with a lively gentleman whose mother was a devoted Royals fan. He was an intelligent student of the game and knew quite a bit about the Giants and their players. He left before the onslaught but the bartender, who was from Dublin, had a rooting interest for KC. It seems he won a bet from his "bruddah" on the Super Bowl and rather than a payoff had doubled down on the Series. I love the Irish version of the "th" sound in English--you get everything from "t" to "d" and lots in between. Let's just say if an Irishman calls you "tick" it's not a compliment.

Game Five we watched in our room after a long day of walks exploring the city. Madison Bumgarner was sensational of course, and we got to enjoy it in comfort. We wore our Giants gear around town but there was a Blackhawks game happening that evening and the sports fans around seemed focused on the young hockey season. We did talk to a couple in Grant Park earlier in the day who saw our colors and knew we were tourists and gave us some pointers about where to go and what to see. We were on the train for Game Six and had to rely on text updates once again. No one had any interest as far as we could tell which was fine as that contest was decided early as the Giants were trounced. We made it to Philadelphia for Game Seven after an exhausting journey and once again watched it in the comfort of our room. The Giants were brilliant (that Bumgarner fellow was pretty good again) and we celebrated quietly together before collapsing from our extended travel ordeal.

Philadelphia, we found out, is a real baseball town. Strangers would see our SF garb and say "congratulations" or "you guys must be pumped" and whatnot. It was fun. Lots of people wanted to talk about Madison Bumgarner, Panda, Hunter Pence, and even rookie Joe Panik. There was still a buzz about the Series even though the long season was over and there was little or no rooting interest in either team. At NoirCon (the crime writing conference we were there for) we met one of my literary heroes, Eddie Muller, who is from San Francisco. He saw our caps and came over to gush about the championship. We enjoyed several fun and fruitful conversations with Eddie over the next few days. He was charming and approachable as well as a passionate and intelligent fan. Several of the conference attendees were also baseball types and we would chat in the elevator in the hotel or at breaks in the proceedings. Drinking beers (and eating pirogies) with the British writer Richard Godwin and his wife after the conference ended was great as he was very interested in Raising Matt Cain and wanted to know what I attributed the team's spectacular run to. For an Englishman he had a fair interest in our national pastime and knew more than I expected. I told him about the great job the team had done drafting amateur talent, the wisdom of picking Bruce Bochy to be the field manager, and the club culture of valuing players and their contributions. It was a thumbnail sketch and off-the-cuff but I think I hit the key points. Obviously it has been a lot of fun to bask in the glory of the orange-and-black.

I remember telling many of the folks we discussed the season with that I pinch myself every morning about the recent dynastic success of our beloved ballclub. It's an amazing time to be a Giants fan and a great payoff for decades of loyalty. It's particularly rewarding because I started this blog near the end of the 2007 season and the team's ascendancy coincided perfectly with us hitting our stride as bloggers. I hope I have thanked all of you who have been reading along with us enough over the years for being a part of RMC. It's nice to know people are reading when you write something and the discussions and arguments and everything have been great. Some of you out there in comment land are my friends and we've shared the ups and downs over the years. Some of you I only know virtually from our internet encounters but I feel we've been through a lot together and I hope some day to buy you a beer and shake your hand if we ever meet in the real world!

We are just at the start of our cross-country train journey back home to California. And there's wifi! What's up with that? Where was this connection when I needed it?

I'm sure we'll have much to talk about in the off-season, like always, but I'm going to take it nice and slow and put some energy into my other projects over the next few months. I hope my fellow authors will chime in and post up their opinions on the things the team needs for 2015 and beyond.

GO GIANTS!


--M.C.

It's On!!

After 4 it is 3-2 Giants.
Panik's DP is the play of the game so far.
Two great PAs from DH Morse as well.
Affeldt got the outs he needed to get in relief of Huddy.
Bottom of the 5th and in comes Madison Bumgarner.
Perez (and Wotus) save a run!
Blown chance for Giants.
Big hitters for KC in the 6th.
Wow, another great display from MadBum.
Six innings down, three to go, Giants clinging to a one-run lead.
Davis puts up a zero.
MadBum back out for the bottom of the 7th.
Another zero with help from the Panda!
Giants can't solve Davis and MadBum is back out for the 8th.
He does it again and it's on to the 9th!
Holland gets it done for KC.
Boch is going for all the marbles with MadBum!




GIANTS WIN!!!!!!!

Game 3 : KC Bullpen Lives up to the Hype

"Hola pal looks like no tv or wifi on the train so i hope you can send me text updates!! I obviously wont be able to post so maybe you can do that? Regardless Go Giants!! Kick some KC ass! We are arriving Albuquerque right now."

So that is why I got stuck writing about this kinda close, kinda depressing World Series loss, 3-2, in Game 3 at AT&T Park.  I had the dubious honor of texting almost every detail of the bloody thang and I sure don't want to do that again. Unless it is a game we win, of course. Like tomorrow.

Anyway.  Tonight will be called close and I suppose that can't be denied. Yet, I never really felt much of a glimmer of impending magic. Quite the opposite. We got KC'ed. They got an early lead and did their bullpen from heaven thing. And, yes, their bullpen does look very strong, especially Wade and Holland, who made our best hitters look very bad. Of course, so did Joe Mediocre Guthrie, their starter. In fact, our top four hitters went 0-15 with 1 walk and 1 lame RBI.  So it was hard to tell if they pitch well or we just suck at the plate. Both, I suppose.

Anyway.  Can Ryan Vogelsong recapture the magic? Will Buster ever hit an extra base hit again?  Will we get the thrill/terror of a Tim Lincecum performance?  Can I watch our offense without getting nauseous?  These questions and more will be answered tomorrow. Or not.

Taken behind the woodshed . . .

 . . . for an old-fashioned whuppin'. Stephen Strasburg was as good as advertised, quieting the Giants with both power and precision. Ryan Vogelsong was hit hard early but finished six only behind 4-1. With Baseball Jesus on the mound it looked grim for the home squad. I was surprised when they let Vogie start the 7th especially with Denard Span raking him the first two times. He promptly fell apart and George Kontos put some gas on the fire and that was that. Final tally was 9 hits and 2 walks over six--that's a 1.8333333 WHIP.

Madison Bumgarner tonight against Doug Fister. You remember Doug Fister pitching against Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco before, don't you?

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

1954

Sixty years ago the New York Giants won their fifth World Series in franchise history by beating the Cleveland Indians in a four-game sweep. It ended a run of five straight titles by the Yankees. The Brooklyn Dodgers would get their first championship the next season, and the Milwaukee Braves would grab their first in 1957. The one thing all those clubs had in common were African-American stars. Willie Mays was the MVP in 1954 and played alongside Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson. Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella (the 1955 MVP), Junior Gilliam, and Don Newcombe led the Dodgers. And the Braves, of course, had Hank Aaron (the 1957 MVP) and Eddie Mathews. The Indians, led by Larry Doby, also had Luke Easter, Dave Hoskins, Dave Pope and Al Smith on their roster, making the 1954 Series a notable one for the presence of so many black ballplayers. Robinson's breaking of the color line in 1947 also made it possible for dark-skinned Latino players like Sandy Amoros and Ruben Gomez to make it in the bigs as well. Ernie Banks, just to mention another great former Negro Leagues player, made his debut in 1954.

Bill Madden chronicles that season and its impact on the game in his latest book 1954: the year Willie Mays and the first generation of black superstars changed Major League Baseball forever. Mr. Madden covers a lot of ground, from Branch Rickey and Bill Veeck to Leo Durocher and Walter O'Malley. Along the way we follow the 1954 season from the perspective of the underdog Giants and the powerhouse Indians, a team that set a record with 111 wins. Legendary New York sportswriter Dick Young gets a lot of ink as well, for this was a time when newspapermen were the main link--other than radio broadcasts--between fans and their favorite teams. TV was just beginning to make inroads into the game, and the Giants were on the forefront as they featured a pre-game show with Laraine Day, the glamorous former MGM actress and wife of the mercurial Durocher.

I'm not sure Mr. Madden makes his case in 1954 that baseball was changed "forever," but you can certainly say a critical mass of African-American stars emerged during that time, and they paved the way for even more men of color to participate in the national pastime. The Yankees would be the last team to integrate, but they managed to stay at the top (Series winners in 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962 and runners-up in 1955, 1957, 1960, 1963, and 1964) despite their intransigence. Certainly integration was a pivotal time in both the game's and the nation's history, but I don't know if any particular year was more important than any other. The relocation of the Dodgers and Giants to California, followed by expansion and then division play had huge impacts as well. Perhaps nothing was more momentous than free agency and the two strikes it precipitated, and the flood of television dollars that has been unabated in the last few decades has certainly made the modern game very different.

Nonetheless 1954 is an interesting book and baseball buffs like yourselves will enjoy all the great stories of the old-timers. Giants fans, in particular, will enjoy anything about Willie "The Greatest of Them All" Mays and his place in team and baseball lore. I particularly liked learning more about Alvin Dark, who managed the talented but unlucky San Francisco teams in the 1960s. Giants fans will also appreciate some history on Al Rosen, a star for those same Indians, who later of course was the Giants GM from 1985-1992.

--M.C.


p.s. Thanks again to Kristina DiMichele and DaCapo Press for the review copy. I've got another book from them about the 1991 World Series that I'll get to later.

The 2014 Season Starts Now

The World Series is over, thus marking the end of 2013. Hope springs eternal for 2014. The Giants have a piece of unfinished business, and that's signing Javier Lopez. The guy has been lights-out in his role of Super-LOOGY, and despite being 37 years old shows no sign of slowing down. His walks per nine (2.7), strikeouts per nine (8.5), and his hits per nine (6.9) were all career bests. He's faced 605 batters in his San Francisco tenure, striking out 121, walking 54, hitting three and giving up two, yes two home runs. In 147-1/3 innings, he's allowed 120 hits and 42 runs. According to Baseball-Reference, he's been worth 3.5 WAR since his 2010 debut in orange-and-black. We all know this guy's a stud, and even though he's a specialist, he's a very, very good one, one of the best in the game. Let's keep him in the fold.

The Boston Red Sox, possessor's of the game's mightiest offense, won the World Series scoring a mere 27 runs with a paltry .621 OPS. But their pitchers allowed only 14 runs to the NL's best offense, giving up just 10 extra-base hits and striking out 45 in 53-2/3 innings. Two superb starts apiece by cagey veterans John Lester and Jon Lackey and excellent bullpen work from Brandon Workman, Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, and regular-season starter Felix Doubront neutralized Cardinals bats. St. Louis featured a spectacular quartet of flame-throwing youngsters, starter Michael Wacha and relievers Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez, and Trevor Rosenthal, as well as a legit ace (Adam Wainwright), but it wasn't enough. In a short series, anything can happen, and Boston had everything go their way in Busch Stadium after losing Game Three on the now-famous obstruction call. I thought, after blowing Game Two in Boston, the Sox would likely come home down 3-2, but the dramatic wins in Games Four and Five sealed the Cards fate. It was a weird series with some sloppy play and odd, hard-to-defend managerial moves, but in the end none of that matters because flags fly forever.

Boston went from last to first, and that's the lesson. Things change quickly in the modern game. Whether it's the meteoric rise of rookies, the impact of free agents, or the comebacks from injured players, last season means less and less in the big scheme. What the Giants (and everyone else) do now is what matters most. The team obviously has some holes to fill and moves to make, and I think we will see some action this winter. What do you guys think the team should do? Let's get the discussion started!

--M.C.

The Arc of Cain

Tonight encapsulated Matt Cain. Brilliant early, he teases us by retiring the first eleven. Efficient, and in command, he gives up a fateful run late, and all looks lost. Cain'd again, we think. Then the team pulls off a miraculous comeback, there's a chance for a victory and a Matt Cain chance for that most elusive of prizes, the pitcher-win. Then it all looks lost, like it will all fall apart, but there's redemption in the end. In one game, a career. Speaking of careers, check out the starting pitchers tonight:

IP          H   R  HR  BB   SO HBP   BF ERA+
1660.2   1384 663 145 566 1392  47 6848  119

1517.2   1360 613 180 383 1436  35 6193  123

That's Cain on top, Cole Hamels on bottom. Neither includes tonight's stellar work. They have similar careers. Cain was the 25th pick of the 2002 June draft, Hamels the 17th. Cain debuted at age 20, in August of 2005. Hamels was 22 in May of 2006. Cain has 256 starts (plus eight in the post-season), 15 complete games, and six shutouts. Hamels has 233 starts (plus 13 in the post-season), 12 complete games, and six shutouts. B-R says Cain is worth 31.2 WAR, Hamels 30.6 WAR. Their most famous matchup was Game Three of the 2010 NLCS, the Giants winning 3-0 en route to a pennant and a World Series championship.

Tonight was an epic contest by two of the game's best. Both, interestingly, are having poor years. Both guys went eight, Cain giving up one run (Game Score 71) and Hamels none (Game Score 72). Somehow, the Giants scratched out two runs against Jonathan Papelbon to make it 2-1 in the top of the 9th. Sergio Romo loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 9th, but somehow held on for the win. Like I said, it was epic, and two of the best in the game showed their stuff. Did I mention Cain was a righty and Hamels a lefty? No? But you knew that already. Tonight right was right, and Matt Cain and the Giants pulled off a win and took the series in Philadelphia.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Helpless Team

Barry Zito had a magical run last season, and earned a spot in the franchise's pantheon with his start for the ages in Game Five of the LCS, and his gritty showdown with the game's best in Game One of the Series. But now he's done. Finished. Kaput. His career as a Giants pitcher will come to an end in two months, as it seems impossible to imagine the team offering him $18M to stay when they can pay him $7M to go. And it seems increasingly likely that he will miss some starts. Ol' Boch was cagey about that in the post-game interview, but you have to think they've already pencilled in a few extra rest days for the beleaguered lefty. Since beating Miami at home on June 22nd, Zeets has thrown 25-1/3 innings over six starts, allowing 39 hits and 21 runs, and the team's gone 1-5. He's still listed as the starter for Sunday's game in Tampa Bay, but if it were me I'd find a Mike Kickham, Eric Surkamp, or Guillermo Moscoso for that duty. The team is home against the Brewers right after that--why not give Barry-Z an extra day off and a chance to pitch in friendlier confines? His road WHIP is 2.352 and teams are hitting like Ted Williams against him. Literally, his road BAA is .406!

The Giants have seven wins in the month of July. They have a chance to make it eight today behind Chad Gaudin. They had ten wins in the month of June. They are 19-32 on the road. They are in last place, eleven games behind the Dodgers. What, exactly, are the Giants going to do at the trade deadline to change that? I'll tell you: nothing. They can't acquire any player or combination of players that will make a big enough difference. If they sell, they are building for 2014, not for the rest of the season. If they are going to salvage the last two months (57 games), they are going to do it with the hand they've got. You don't throw good money after bad in poker, and you don't reinforce failure in war. This team has players who can win baseball games. The fact that they are not winning baseball games does not change the truth of the first statement. If the Giants win 35 of their remaining games (.614 ball) they'll finish the season with 81 wins and a .500 record. If the Dodgers win only 25 of their final 57 games (.438 ball, exactly what the Giants are doing now), they will finish with 82 wins. That's what "11 games behind" means. Like I said before, the math ain't pretty.

C'mon, Giants. Win some goddamn games.

--M.C.

The new schedules are here! The new schedules are here!

That's just the kind of spontaneous excitement I've been needing!

I'm a pocket schedule kind of guy. Gotta have one in the wallet and one in the car. One for work, too. My lovely bride has one on the fridge. And a half dozen other places as well. After all, much of our lives from April to October are determined by the baseball schedule, so they ought to be scattered around for easy access. "So, hey, you guys going to the such-and-such social event?" That's the sort of thing I get all the goddamn time, and I have an easy answer: "Uh, lemme check the schedule." And I'm definitely not the smartphone kind of guy, I don't have a meThing on my person at all times, I have to dig out the billfold, unwrap the folded glossy paper and peer at the little orange and white boxes to see what my life holds for me. "Oh, man," I say, "big series in Philly comin' up, I just don't know." That gives me that "maybe," that little out, some wiggle room, so I can bail out of obligations when I need to. It's the perfect excuse to weasel my way past those things I feel like I gotta do but really don't wanna do if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

As you can see from the photo, the pocket schedule these days actually requires it's own pocket. It wasn't always so as I'm sure you remember. While we are at it, here's to those lovely retro pocket schedules, the ones we wouldn't leave home without when we were young, the ones you could get at any Chevron station or liquor store back in the day, the ones that used to be one-third the size they are now and squeezed all six months of the season onto one side. Of course, I didn't need 'progressive lenses' then, or maybe my arms were just longer. The new schedules are a little ridiculous now, requiring graduate work in topology to fold them properly, and containing far too much information (August 10: Fellowship Day!). But that's a quibble. It's great to have them around again, and the picture of Buster (tagging out Fielder in the Series) is priceless.

The new schedules are here, go out and grab some of your own.

New Contest!!

After the magical 2010 season, the Giants, per custom, were invited to the White House for a meet-n-greet with El Presidente. If you didn't follow the event, you missed a good one, as the Giants were, to a man, classy and gracious champions. Mr. Obama was relaxed and funny, clearly enjoying himself, and feted the team with appropriate ceremony. My favorite moment was when the President made a point to recognize Tim Lincecum and said "it just goes to show you shouldn't bet against the skinny guy." Another magical season is in the books, and the 2012 Giants are the new champions, and you figure they'll get another invitation to 1600 Pennsylvania and another schmooze fest with Obama. In the mean time, I've got prizes to give away, and a new contest for our faithful readers here at RMC.

Take a look at the photo below. Doesn't it just cry out for a caption? I mean, that's Willie Fecking Mays, mate, and he's got the ear of the Commander in Chief! What the hell is he saying? And how about Ol' Boch with his shit-eating grin, basking in the afterglow, wondering how his baseball career turned out so fookin' grand, to be hob-nobbing with such big-time celebrities and all. I love it. What a great time to be a Giants fan. So, write me a caption. Submit it as a comment on this post. I'll pick the three I like the best. You've got until Wednesday evening, the 19th, at 8:00 p.m. PST. You only get to enter ONCE. Your prize will be this fabulous World Series Champion Collector's DVD set from A&E. I can tell you it is very, very nice. You get all four World Series games plus Game Five of the LDS and Game Five of the LCS. These are complete games, no commercials, and with the choice of listening to the KNBR feed. You also get Matt Cain's perfect game and a bonus highlight disc, eight in all, very nicely packaged with box scores, stats, etc. The blu-ray quality is astonishing, even better than the HD broadcast I watched on my DishTV. (You can get standard DVDs as well). You want this. Of course, you could just buy them yourself, or download them for your iTunes, but you want, like the 2012 Giants, to WIN! So, sharpen your pencils and trim your nails and type me up something good!

So that's it. The nice folks at A+E Networks Home Entertainment/MLB Productions want you to have a happy holiday season. And I'm happy to help them help you be happy over the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

--M.C.

p.s. Winners will need to send me (mcoc13@gmail.com) their snail mail addresses and I will forward them to A&E and they will send out the prizes. USA only.

p.p.s. ALEX--you have not yet claimed your prize from the anagram contest!

p.p.p.s. The photo is from the White House photographer and thus in the public domain.

p.p.p.p.s. links

* THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 2012 WORLD SERIES COLLECTOR’S EDITION BD:http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16148986&cp=2366583.2498442

* THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 2012 WORLD SERIES COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD:http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=16148976&cp=2366583.2498442

* MLB DVD is now on iTunes!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/official-2012-world-series/id580463903

  

25 for 16: The Scrubs

Every team's got 'em. Even World Champs have guys on the bench you'd rather not see out there. This post-season the Giants filled out their 25-man roster with three players who were really only placeholders. We'll start with Xavier Nady, former Cal star and late-season pickup. The X-Man has had a long career (11 years) and been reasonably productive over his 3199 plate appearances. B-R rates his career line (.270/.324/.432) at a 100 OPS+. The Salinas native has been mostly a platoon player these last few years and is likely, at 34, near the end. Nady played in four of the LDS games and went 0-6 with a walk and three strikeouts. He was on the field (in left) at the end of Games One, Two, Three, and Five. He had four putouts in his short stints, including two in the critical final innings of Game Three. I'm still amazed that the Giants won that game, and they closed it out with X in left instead of Gregor Blanco and Joaquin Arias at short instead of Brandon Crawford. They used five pitchers in that game and 12 position players (everyone except Hector Sanchez). The Reds used Xavier Paul as a pinch-hitter, and that might be the only time in MLB history with two Xaviers in one game! Like I said, I'm still amazed the Giants won that game. One has to wonder why Dusty Baker yanked Homer Bailey after seven innings (88 pitches, 1 hit, 10 K). Seems like that sort of thing happens with ol' Johnnie B in command. Makes you appreciate Bruce Bochy, who has a knack for pulling the right strings.

Next up is Aubrey Huff, 2010 hero. The Giants brought him back after his huge contributions to their first championship but he never regained his form. Like Nady, Huff is at that point in his career where it may not be worth continuing. Two rings in three years is not a bad way to go out, eh? Aubrey was strictly a pinch-hitter in the 2012 playoffs, making ten plate appearances and getting one hit, one walk, and striking out twice. His hit in Game Two of the LCS was a pop fly behind third base that Blanco would have caught but Matt Holliday could not get to. He scored on a hit by Ryan Theriot. I thought Bochy might use him at DH in Detroit, but Sanchez got the call in Game Three of the Series (0-3, 3K) and, of course, The Riot was the man in Game Four.

The last man is one of my favorites, Guillermo Mota, he of the Easter Island face. I love watching him pitch! WillyMo got in big trouble for PEDs after being a valuable mop-up man for the Giants since they acquired him in 2010. He turns 40 in July and has pitched in the big leagues (743 games, always in relief) since he was 25. He made three appearances in 2012, Games One and Two in the LDS and Game Four of the LCS. He was ineffective, yielding five runs and four hits in his 1-2/3 IP. It was a far cry from his 2-1/3 innings of shutout ball in the 2010 Series against Texas. I suppose it is the end of the line for the big Dominican, but he can go out, like the rest of the scrubs, with a shiny ring on his finger.

That's it! I've covered all 25 guys. Hope you enjoyed the look back at our team. Great news about Buster Posey getting the MVP. And I think signing Jeremy Affeldt for three years was a smart move. He's a valuable guy and the Giants know it. I will be sporting my brand new 2012 World Series Champions cap and T-shirt today at work. I get to look forward to a week off (after today) for Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday. Lots of much-needed relaxing and basking in the glow of our favorite team's great season.

Cheers, mates!

--M.C.

25 for 16: Super-Subs

Joaquin Arias made a name for himself all season long by filling in for Pablo Sandoval at third base and spelling rookie Brandon Crawford at shortstop. Both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference rate his contributions as worth 1.0 WAR. The former Rangers utility man made one of the biggest plays of the year when he completed Matt Cain's perfect game with a long throw from "deep third" (as Kuip called it) to get the ball to first and nail down the final out. B-R lists his closet comp ('similar batters through age 27') as Freddy Sanchez! In the playoffs he had his biggest day in Game Four at Cincinnati, roping two doubles and scoring two runs after a 4th inning double-switch with B-Craw (and Tim Lincecum). He saw action as a pinch-hitter in Game One (9th inning single and run scored), at short at the end of Game Three, and again at short in Game Four of the LCS. Otherwise he was Pablo's final inning defensive replacement at third base (eight games including the final seven). He handled all his chances (four putouts, one assist) flawlessly. The versatile right-hander from Santo Domingo is arb-eligible for the first time. I expect he'll be back in the same role in 2013.

Ryan Theriot carved out a spot for himself in all-time Giants lore by starting what proved to be the winning rally in Game Four of the World Series and scoring the go-ahead and ultimately winning run. His wild, car-wreck slide and ecstatic celebratory howl will forever be etched in our collective memories. The former Cubs shortstop was a 3rd-round pick from LSU but escaped from Chicago in a trade with the Dodgers in 2010 and then struck baseball gold via another trade with the 2011 world champion Cardinals. He signed with the Giants as a free agent this spring and I called him "Freddy Sanchez insurance." Sure enough, he was the everyday second baseman until the arrival of Marco Scutaro. Theriot was 0-2 as a pinch-hitter in the LDS, but worked a walk in Game One of the LCS in the same role. His other big moment was as a replacement in Game Two for Scutaro after the infamous Matt Holliday rolling tackle finally forced Marco to the bench. Ryan drove in two in the 8th with a line-drive single to make it a 7-1 lead and seal the deal for Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants. He had another pinch-hit RBI single in the 8th inning in Game Six as well. His final pinch-hitting opportunity came in Game Two of the Series but Drew Smyly struck him out. In Game Four he was the DH for the only time in his career, and delivered his biggest hit ever in his final at-bat. Phil Coke had struck out the previous seven batters he had faced before that single. The class clown of the Giants clubhouse was now the hero. (Good story by Baggs here.)

--M.C.

25 for 16: The Rooks

The Giants took a big risk early in the season when they traded away veteran backstop Chris Stewart for a rookie relief pitcher named George Kontos. That left them only Eli Whiteside as the backup to Buster Posey. Unless you were counting 22-year old rookie catcher Hector Sanchez, of course. Sure enough, the youngster from Venezuela managed to do a credible job in his 48 starts behind the dish, and he also found himself on the 25-man playoff roster. It wasn't the best post-season debut (1-11, 2 BB, 7 SO), but it was a bit of necessary seasoning for the kid who had only seen 87 games of big-league action. Hector looks like he has a good arm but is otherwise raw and unpolished back there. You figure that will improve with time and experience. He's a free-swinger (5 walks and 52 strikeouts in 227 PA this season), but did manage 61 hits (15 2B, 3 HR) so he's not useless with the bat. The Giants like guys who can put balls in play and Sanchez' .349 BABIP fits right in with that. Like his fielding, you have to think his hitting will improve. He made the jump from A-ball straight to Fresno where he only played 50 games before getting the call. He made three starts in the post-season, two behind the plate (Game Four win vs. Cincy and Game Four loss vs. St. Louis) and one as a DH (Game Three) in the Series. It will be fun to see how he develops in 2013. Kontos, meanwhile, emerged down the stretch as a strike-throwing stud and eventually replaced Clay Hensely as the first guy out of the 'pen. He also earned his spot on the 25-man roster, striking out 44 in his 43-2/3 IP while allowing 34 hits and 12 walks. His finest moment in the playoffs came in the 6th inning of LDS Game Five in relief of Matt Cain when he got Jay Bruce to ground out weakly on two pitches. He also pitched in Game Four and got a couple of big outs. Otherwise it was mostly mop-up duty (all three losses in the LCS) and the 9th inning of Game One of the Series. That was not pretty--he gave up a two-run HR to Jhonny Peralta--but it was the World Series. Nothing wrong with a little seasoning. Despite being 27, Kontos has only made 51 appearances in the majors. He spent six years in the Yankee farm system before Brian Sabean plucked him from obscurity. Raise your hand if Kontos was on your reliever radar. Yeah, me neither. Like I said about the other rook, it will be fun to watch him next season.

--M.C.

25 for 16: The LOOGYS

Jose Mijares had his two big LOOGY moments in two big 8-3 wins. The first was Game Four of the LDS in Cincinnati. The Giants were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 4th with George Kontos pitching in relief of an ineffective Barry Zito. There were two on with one out and Joey Votto coming to the plate. It was the perfect situation for the burly southpaw and he struck out the number three hitter on five pitches. Tim Lincecum came in after that, the Giants broke the game open, and the rest is history. Mijares got another chance to shine in Game One of the World Series when he was summoned to face Prince Fielder leading off the 9th. The Giants were thumping the Tigers 8-1 at that point, so it lacked the urgency of the previous appearance, but it was still the goddamn World Series and, as we've learned, every out counts. Mijares got the big slugger to hit two foul balls and then ground out weakly to third. Mijares also pitched in all three losses in the LCS.

Javier Lopez got his chance in the crucial Game Three of the LDS. The Giants were locked in a 1-1 elimination game duel in the bottom of the 8th after five strong innings from Ryan Vogelsong and two from Jeremy Affeldt. Santiago Casilla put a man on but got two outs. Jay Bruce strode to the plate and in came the slender sidearm-slinger who coaxed a pop fly on one pitch. He got Bruce again, this time in the clincher, Game Five. The Giants used five guys in relief of Matt Cain and kept the Reds at bay for the final 3-1/3 to advance. It took four pitches the second time and the result was a comebacker. Lopez had three appearances in the LCS but did not pitch at all in the Series. He was on the mound in the 9th inning of Game Seven against the Cardinals but could not quite finish the inning and thus missed his chance to be at the bottom of the dog pile. Sergio Romo got the call and induced the memorable last-out pop fly from Matt Holliday that landed, appropriately, in Marco Scutaro's glove.

The Giants believe in bullpen depth. They had three nasty lefties to get big outs and used them all effectively. They are willing to spend money on them, too--Jeremy Affeldt reportedly just signed a three-year deal worth $18M. Lopez is signed for 2013 as well ($4.25M). Mid-season pickup Mijares is arb-eligible for the first time. I expect he'll be back.

--M.C.

25 for 16: MadBum

Madison Bumgarner gave up TEN earned runs in two disastrous playoff starts: an LDS Game Two loss (4-1/3, 7 H, 4 R) to the Reds and an LCS Game One loss (3-2/3, 8 H, 6 R) to the Cardinals. Guys in red hats were tough on the young southpaw, in fact, they were tough on every starter not named Ryan Vogelsong. The Giants only lost five post-season games, two with Matt Cain starting, one with Tim Lincecum starting, and two with the Bumbino on the bump. But the bright lights of the World Series seem to fire up our slow-talking Southern boy--he's yet to yield a run in his two appearances. In 2010, he mesmerized the Texas Rangers for eight innings, and in 2012 he shut down the Detroit Tigers over seven, allowing only two hits and striking out eight. That's 15 frames on The Big Stage, all zeroes, and two big wins. His Game Two start in San Francisco was 0-0 until the Giants "broke it open" against starter Doug Fister and rookie reliever Drew Smyly. Rookie shortstop Brandon Crawford hit a double play grounder with the bases loaded to score Hunter Pence and that was enough. The Giants got the bases loaded again in the 8th and squeaked out another run, and with Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo doing a six-up six down thing on a mere 21 pitches, the Tigers went home in 2-0 hole. You have to figure Detroit manager Jim Leyland relied too much on his young southpaw in those critical situations, especially when he had the very tough and more experienced Phil Coke available. But this post is about Bumgarner and the Giants, who are, deservedly, the 2012 World Series champions. Much was made at the time about Mark Gardner and Dave Righetti "fixing" Maddy's mechanical problems in his side sessions. Those guys are getting quite a reputation as "hurler whisperers" these days, and who can argue with the results? Did I mention that Bumgarner, like Cain, is signed through 2017? No? Well, he is. That is, they both are, and that's pretty fucking awesome.

--M.C.

25 for 16: The Brandons

The Giants took a chance on two youngsters this season, and to their credit, showed patience and restraint with both of them. The result was a world championship and a couple of emerging stars.

Brandon Belt was not technically a rookie as he racked up over 200 plate appearances in 2011. Despite a decent .718 OPS the gangly lefty nicknamed "Baby Giraffe" failed to inspire the fans' confidence. Moreover, he still had "lost" stretches were he looked like a hopeless rookie. Fortunately the Brian Trust and Ol' Boch had faith in the kid and not only handed him the first base job for 2012 but stuck with him, mostly, for the entire season. He made 106 starts (102 at first base) in his 145 games played. It was a rocky road, with a solid April (.755), iffy May (.650), breakout June (.963 and his first four HR), scary July (.480, 30 K), impressive August (.887, 30 H), and clutch September (.881, 16 RBI). One of the most interesting things about Belt was his home/road split: a .906 OPS (232 PA) at AT&T and .662 (240 PA) everywhere else. In the playoffs, Belt was 1-13 in the LDS with 7 K, and 1-13 in the Series with 7 K. His one hit, though, was a booming triple that drove in Hunter Pence with the first run in Game Four. He sandwiched in a .304/.360/.565 line in the LCS (7-23, 2B, 3B, HR, 6 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB) though, proving he could deliver in the big moments. Four of those hits came in Games Six and Seven when the Giants put the final nails in the Cardinals coffin. The Giants like their first basemen to have range and good hands, and the big-wingspan Giraffe made several impressive grabs throughout the post-season to steal outs, stop hits, and finish infield plays. Belt turns 25 in April and looks, now, to be a mainstay of the Giants infield for many years. I guess the club can develop young hitters after all!

Brandon Crawford wasn't a rookie, either, as he also racked up over 200 plate appearances in 2011. He, alas, could not crack the .600 OPS line. The Giants had certainly seen his spectacular glove work, though, and were willing to risk his nearly non-existent bat (.204/.288/.296) in the lineup every day in order to keep that flashy leather flashing. Like their forbearance with Belt, it also bore fruit. Crawford committed what seemed like an error a week before the All-Star Game, but settled down in the second half and played arguably the best defense in baseball after that. His effortless acrobatics, soft hands, great range, and cannon arm at shortstop were more valuable to this pitching-dominated club than any 30-HR man. His left-handed bat was still a little weak for the bigs, but like his namesake above he saved the best for last with a .288/.351/.409 final month. He had holes in his swing (95 K in 476 PA), no doubt, but also flashed some power (33 XBH) and the ability to spray the ball to all fields. B-Craw dazzled the national audience with his fielding prowess in the playoffs, making a couple of good young NL SS (Zack Cozart and Pete Kozma) look like wannabes, and a solid veteran ALer (Jhonny Peralta) look like an old man. Yeah, he's that good. The future star also had 10 hits in the post-season, along with 7 walks and 7 RBI. His .603 OPS was higher than both Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence!

Here's what I said in April:

The most exciting story--other than the return of Buster Posey--is the emergence of Brandon Crawford. I really hope the Giants are patient with him. If they are really willing to put him in the 8-hole and let him ride out the rough spots I think they will find he will hit better than they expect. We all know his glove will save piles of runs--can't wait to see it everyday!

Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, and the rest of the staff deserve one hell of a lot of credit for their baseball smarts. They made the right decisions in the off-season and throughout the long 162-game haul. They got the right guys and put them in the right spots. They kept their heads during the crises and showed faith in themselves, their supporting cast, and their team. And they were justly rewarded for it with a second title in three years. Now they have a homegrown infield core the envy of all of baseball to go along with their marvelous pitching staff. I can't wait for next year!

--M.C.