Wednesday, September 14, 2016

We Are Owned By the Worst in the West

The San Diego Padres are our daddies.  They totally own us.  Say it.  Say it out loud.  How does that feel?  Does it feel good?  It feels sort of like your stomach when you have a case of food poisoning.  Can you name the starting pitcher for the Padres from Monday when we were shut out (without looking)?  Can you name today's starting pitcher?  No and no.  We beat this team 9 games out of 9 before the half, and have lost to them all 6 games since then.  And it is not because they have gotten much better.  Jesus fucking christ.  Just when we finally, finally get some momentum, something positive from this utter shit-pile of a 2nd half, we come home to look just as bad as imaginable.  Can we get shut out by nobody pitchers?  Can we get a couple runs and then give them up with 2 strikes and 2 outs in the 9th inning?  Can we repeat our offensive ineptitude with our ace on the mound?  Yes, Yes and Yes.

Madison Bumgarner pitched.  106 times, to be exact, for 6 2/3 innings.  He gave up 3 earned runs, walked 2 and struck out 5.  So what?  The Giants lost 3 - 1.  Pence, Belt, Panik and Gillaspie, 1 hit.  Each.  Span, Pagan, Posey and Crawford, 0.  Each and collectively.  I am sick of these games where the announcers are talking about the Giants in the pennant race.  They're hunting nothing.  The Giants are aiming at their own feet and can't even hit those.  I am sick of seeing minor leaguers put in games because the regulars are so irregular.  If this team was somewhere about Rockiesville, that might be enjoyable.  As it is, it only reminds me of very far from contention we are, regardless of what the standings say.  If the doggers were anywhere near competent, this would not be any kind of a race at all.  The Cardinals are the next team to be invited into our stadium to rip into our soft underbellies.

9 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

Regression to the mean, bra. Giants go 9-0 that means they'd paid off the Baseball Gods. 7-2, 6-3, you could get away with that. But 9-0? Payback's comin', yo. I knew that the Pads would get their licks in, but I did not expect six-zip. As you say, it's like food poisoning. It tastes way better goin' down than comin' back up!!

Giants are still capable of winning the whole thing. But it is increasingly difficult to believe. We'll see if they elevate their game v. Redbirds.

Zo said...

Capable? I presume you mean they are not mathematically eliminated, which is true. Regression to the mean means nothing. Each game is a new one and teams that are headed for the playoffs are winning games at this point in the season.

I can no longer believe in this team, I simply do not know how to do it. When they are up towards the end of a game, I expect them to lose. When they are at bat, I expect them to go down without scoring. If they made the wild card, I would expect them to lose. If they somehow won, I would expect them to lose the division series. If they went up 2 - 0 and had a lead late, I would still expect them to lose. If they scored 8 runs a game, I would expect the offense to disappear the next time out.

It ceased to be any fun some time ago, even during the occasional victories. I'll go farther - at this point, I hate the 2016 Giants. I don't hate any of the players, or the coaches, or the announcers. I hate the product. I'd rather watch the players in commercials (which I rather enjoy) than on the field.

JC Parsons said...

Whoa there big fella! Crossing the hate line is a big step ( not really but it sounds like it ). I feel your pain and share most of what you said, but try to push back the anger. After all, this team has been a wonder for quite some time and given us tons of thrills. Aren 't we all perhaps a bit spoiled? It now gives us horrors and an amazing variety of disappointments. Something is horribly wrong, that can not be denied. But as you would with a loved one, respond with compassion and concern. Not anger. The Parson has spoken.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Indeed. I'm disappointed by this team, that's for sure. And I can certainly hate watching them--it's painful, esp. in the late innings! But like the Rev. JC says, I feel your pain.

carmot said...

Whoa, Zo, why don't you tell us all how you REALLY feel? Sorry, I'm just trying to bring a bit of levity to a miserable condition. I actually appreciate you being forthright and upset. The Giants have set the standard pretty high over the past several years (excepting those odd years).

I've gotten all sorts of insults and whatnot from most Giants fans over the years... Just for speaking that I hold a high standard of expectation. I think the point should be recognized that you still CARE- that's why you're upset. Why 'everybody' seems to "buys into" the company line about whatever... They're fine, still in it, there is no magic bullet... I cannot understand. Be upset, be very upset. It beats the alternative- being disinterested and dispassionate. Many teams cannot draw fans' attention, their product has been so bad for so long.

We have a talented core of players in their prime years. We SHOULD want them to be great. I don't want to re-hash history too much here... But it's a shame when we begin WS defending seasons without knowing who starts at 2B or 3B or LF. One solution was to platoon Blanco and Torres? Miguel Tejada, really? Re-signing Jake Peavy when we already had boatloads of questions about Cain. Wish we'd spent on Andrew Miller instead of re-signing Romo a year later. No Cespedes? *sigh*. (My apologies for the rant...)

The math says they aren't out yet. But their performance doesn't match the math. We'll see. I'm already starting to wonder if the Giants would spend to get Shohei Otani if he jumps to MLB for next season. I think there is a slightly better than 50% chance of it happening. Bum - Cueto - Otani - Moore would be SICK. Cheers.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/181062/
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/the-legend-of-shohei-otani-grows-after-throwing-fastest-pitch-ever-in-japan-001630360.html

Ron said...

Please allow me to introduce what, for me, is an important intermingled element in my own despondency over the Giants this year. This may have something to do with Zo's experience, or, perhaps, it does not. It is certainly weighing very heavily on my nerves.

During the last several years, closely following the Giants offered a light-hearted respite from weighty matters of the world. Now, in 2016, the predominant weighty world matter is the US Presidential Election. In late July, the Giants had the best record in baseball, & people seemed to finally be on to the lifetime of bullshit & sleaze that constitutes Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton, while no Saint, is still the choice of those of us with a partially functioning brain.

Since late July, coinciding exactly with the Giants' crash-landing from the heights of Division leadership to what appears to be a desperate dogfight for the chance to play in the Crap-Shoot Game, somehow, millions of people in this Country have apparently decided to ignore 69 years & 10 months of reprehensible behavior by one of the sleaziest individuals to ever walk this planet. They appear to have been deceived by 2 months of mildly 'disciplined' behavior (i.e. resorting to all of the usual Republican voter-wooing lies & poorly-thought-out proposals) by a bigoted, misogynistic, evil reprobate who clearly cannot be trusted. Voters have decided to overlook a lifetime of good deeds by an intelligent Woman who has devoted most of her life to public service, & are ready to vote for an unprepared & dangerous person who has made a career of swindling & demeaning people. I never thought that I would ever write these words: this guy makes George W. Bush seem intelligent & having integrity.

So, I'm sorry to say that, when the Giants blow yet another late inning lead, I cannot escape to the refuge of reading about a fairly comfortable Hillary Clinton lead. And, conversely, when I am depressed that this Country may be about to make the most significant step backwards any Country has ever taken, I cannot escape to the refuge of watching a comfortable Giants' lead, because I am certain that they can & will blow it with alarming regularity.

I have a loving Family, great Friends, & a good working environment - those things certainly sustain me. Regarding baseball &, more importantly, the future of the Country & the World, I am a basket case right now. My regular sources of diversion are scaring the shit out of me these days.

#1 - An Increasing Clinton Margin in the Polls Leading to a Resounding Victory!
#2 - Restoration of Giants Pride & Competence!

Brother Bob said...

Right on Zo and Ron. I say FUCK Trump. If he and the Dodgers both win I'm applying for asylum somewhere. Do they play baseball in Costa Rica?

M.C. O'Connor said...

Don't they manufacture baseballs for MLB in Costa Rica?

campanari said...

Ron, everything you say, I second happily and loudly. And there's more to it, in that there's a widespread perception that he Giants lack energy, hunger, full commitment, and grit; and the lack of energy, hunger, full commitment, and grit seems also what marks the population of voters who ought to be rabid for Clinton and appalled by T. This isn't a matter of comparing baseball with the choice between national steps forward and catastrophe, but of a kind of harmonic overtone of despairing frustration, of sapped hope, that afflicts my spirit, at least, and maybe that of the rest of you.