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San Francisco Giants

Odds and Ends: What if no one signed Bonds next year?



Very nice… how much?

We’re trying to ignore it as much as we can but Barry Bonds is inching closer to Hank Aaron’s homerun record and he’ll likely break it next season if he decides to play. Well, today, the owner of the Giants said that he’s going to delay making a decision on Bonds until the end of the season. Now, it’s unlikely that the Giants won’t resign him if Brett Favre Barry Bonds wants back in but what if… what if the Giants didn’t resign hi and nobody else in the league stepped up. That’s one way to end his home run chase.

In other news…

[ebay]: ebay fun: dress worn by Jose Lima’s wife up for auction. “It is 13” across at the bust. Obviously, there is considerable stretch and give in this material.”

[Deadspin]: Remember the SNL skit saying you could hire the Black Eyed Peas for your bar mitzvah? Dead on. Is there anything these guy won’t do for a buck?

[Railbird Central]: Hey look, a record crowd got to see how washed up Brett Favre is. (Yes, we realize that’s the second shot at Favre this post.)

[The Hater Nation]: Holy crap, Brenda Warner doesn’t look like a man anymore… sorta.

[There’s your Karma Ripe as Peaches]: Mrs. Manning is not doing her son Peyteypie any favors

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San Francisco Giants

August 22 in Sports History: Baseball’s ugliest brawl


In 1965: The ugliest brawl in baseball history took place at Candlestick Park in a game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Upset that Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax would not retaliate against Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal for hitting two Dodgers, catcher John Roseboro took matters into his own hands. When Marichal stepped to the plate, Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax by barely missing Marichal’s head. Marichal said something, and a 14-minute melee ensued when Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with the bat. Roseboro needed 14 stitches to close the wound. Marichal, one of the best pitchers of the sixties, was suspended eight games and fined a then-record $1750. The brawl also cost him election into the Hall of Fame on his first two ballots. Check out this story for more.

In 2000: At Coors Field, Colorado Rockies’ catcher Brett Mayne became just the third position player in history to win a game on the mound. Having already used an NL record 10 pitchers, the Rockies sent Mayne to the mound, and he worked a scoreless 11th inning. He got the win when the Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6. Also, in San Diego, Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell of the Mets mopped up on the mound in a 16-1 loss to the Padres. He didn’t fare as well, giving up three hits, three walks and four earned runs. (baseballlibrary.com)

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MLB General

The Full Count: Cardinals open a can of whoop ass


1. One team show: The St. Louis Cardinals showed yesterday that they aren’t ready to give up their stranglehold over the NL Central division. Playing on the road against the second place team, the Reds, St. Louis blew them across the Ohio River. They won 13-1, knocking out Reds starter Elizardo Ramirez in two innings. Ramirez allowed 7 runs, while St. Louis starter Jeff Weaver had his best start since joining the team. Weaver had an 8.68 ERA coming into the game but held Cincy to one run. The Cardinals offense gave him all the support he could get. Scott Rolen went 3-3 with a homer, while Pujols added three runs and two RBIs. The rout extended the Cardinals lead to 4.5 games, and their overall winning streak to 3 games after an eight-game losing streak crumpled the team.

2. One man show: For some reason, the Giants’ Jason Schmidt just knows how to defeat the Diamondbacks. After getting the win last night over Arizona, he is now undefeated in his last 15 starts against the team. The streak dates back to 2003. Last night Schmidt improved to 9-7 while hitting his first homer of the season. That was one of 5 dingers on the night for San Fran, including two by Pedro Feliz and one by newly acquired Shea Hillenbrand. The loss for Arizona coupled with a Dodgers win knocked them back to third place in the NL West, while the Giants are still in last. It’s worth noting that LA has won 10 straight games while the rest of the division is on snooze control.

3. Make it double digits: Somehow, someway, the Tigers just keep finding a way to win. The team even could beat Francisco Liriano of the Twins. Liriano had allowed two earned runs or less in 11 of his 13 starts on the season, but the Tigers got to him and knocked him out in four innings, his shortest start of the year. In all fairness, “Fan”-cisco was hurt. He missed his last scheduled start due to forearm soreness, and he said that he wasn’t feeling well by the second inning. Either way, Detroit ousted their divisional rivals 9-3, while the White Sox lost again. Chicago is now 10 games off their divisional rivals’ blistering pace.

4. Road-sick: Who has the worst home record in the majors, you might ask? Is it the Royals? Nope. The Pirates? Na. The Cubs? Wrong again. It’s the Braves, whose struggles at home have highlighted their downfall from divisional power. They are 22-29 at Turner Field after losing there last night to the Phillies. The Royals (23 wins) and Cubs (25) are both slightly better than Atlanta at home winning. The Braves are now tied for 9th in the NL Wild Card standings, and after a hot end-of-July run they have stumbled back to their June struggles. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has looked very good as of late. They have won 7 of their last 10, and last night Ryan Howard hit his 39th homer and 101st RBI. Both lead the National League and are just off David Ortiz’s major-league best pace.

5. Comeback Nominees: The nominees for the MLB Comeback Player of the Year award were announced yesterday. The finalists ranged from the highly publicized to a few unheralded players. For the American League, Jim Thome, Corey Patterson, Magglio Ordonez, Curt Schilling, Frank Thomas, and perennial All Star Rafael Soriano were the nominees. Thome, who has 34 homers, 85 RBIs, and a .304 average, appears to be the far-and-away favorite. The National League finalists include Carlos Beltran, Nomar Garciaparra, Johnny Estrada, Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen, and Joe Borowski. This one’s a little tougher. Beltran has blown everyone away with 33 homers and 97 RBIs, but Nomar had been among the batting average leaders the entire season. Don’t count out All Star selections Rolen and Renteria either. Our choice would be Beltran right now.

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San Francisco Giants

Bonds could get suspended

According to the Washington Post, Bud Selig is considering suspending Barry Bonds should he get indicted next week by the federal grand jury for tax evasion, money laundering and perjury charges.

Being indicted doesn’t mean you’re guilty but come on.. this is Bonds. The whole third stage of his career practically reeks of guilty. Steroids? Guilty. Tax evasion? Probably guilty. Money laundering? Probably guilty. Perjury charges? Guilty. Being an asshole? Guilty.

There’s no precedent for Bud Selig suspending Bonds for an indictment and former commissioner Fay Vincent doesn’t think any suspension would stick. However, some say this might just be a ploy by the league office to get Bonds to leave the game on his own accord. If Bonds says he won’t be back next season (and therefore not threaten Hank Aaron’s record), the talk of suspending him will just magically disappear.

They really should have called his reality show “Everybody Hates Barry”.

Links:
[MSNBC]: MLB might suspend Bonds if he’s indicted

[International Herald Tribune]: Bonds snaps back as legal case nears

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MLB General

The Full Count: Cain isn’t able to finish the job

No-no not quite: Matt Cain of the SF Giants came close to throwing a no-hitter against the Angels last night in San Francisco. Cain went into the eighth inning without allowing a base hit until Chone Figgins lashed a clean single up the middle. Cain did give up an unearned run in the first; he walked Figgins and allowed him to steal second, where he scored on a throwing error. He struck out 10 batters, while walking four and leaving after the eighth inning of the 2-1 Giants victory. It was the fourth time in the past month  a pitcher has flirted with a no-hitter. Chris Young of the Padres (twice) and Carlos Zambrano of Cubs also flirted with destiny, only to fall short. There has not been one in the majors since Randy Johnson’s perfect game against the Braves in May of 2004.

Team Turmoil: Speaking of the Angels, what exactly are they doing out there this year? Not only are they in last place in AL West, which is possibly the worst division in baseball, but they‘re looking really bad doing it. They are last in defense in the AL with 56 errors on the season and are giving up close to one unearned run per game They recently benched Chone Figgins for lackluster play (and possibly for a reported scuffle with Adam Kennedy) and they need to find him a permanent position in the field and in the batting order. Rookie pitcher Jered Weaver, who has won his first four starts, had a 1.37 ERA and was by far the Angels best starting pitcher the past month, was sent down to the minors in favor of his older brother Jeff, who is 3-9 with a 6.02 ERA. They are sitting seven games behind the A’s and Rangers and haven’t won more than four games in a row all season.

All good things must end: The Oakland A’s ten-game winning streak took a Holliday last night. Colorado’s Matt Holliday paced the Rockies with a home run and two RBI and four Rockies pitchers combined to keep the sizzling A’s off the board, 7-0 at Coors Field. The A’s managed only seven hits and hit into four double plays. Has there been anything more predictable in baseball over the last few years than the Oakland A’s? They follow the same formula every year: get off to a horrible start, then heat up with the weather and go on some ridiculous winning streak (they once won 20 in a row), and battle to the last week of the season for a playoff spot. This all despite having a payroll in the lower half of baseball. They’ve been right on cue in 2006 as the hottest team in June with 15 wins in 18 games; and they now sit tied with the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West.

World Series preview? Despite the lack of  interesting interleague match ups this week, a possible October preview could take place on the South Side of Chicago starting Tuesday. The Cardinals, who have been holding their own without the injured Albert Pujols, meet the defending champion Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The White Sox trail the Tigers in the AL Central by two games, while the Cards lead the Reds by five in the NL Central. Unfortunately, Chris Carpenter and John Garland will not be available to pitch in the series.

Team Turmoil: Part Two: Ever have your boss call you out for poor work performance in front of your co-workers? That’s one thing, but how about your owner mentioning your name for no good reason in baseball’s steroid scandal? Ken Kendrick did exactly that to Luis Gonzalez last week, telling the Arizona Republic that there “have been whispers,” that Gonzo “must have been doing something,” because of the fact that he hit 57 homers in 2001 and has not hit more than 31 in any other season. Gonzalez had to call a press conference to defend himself, saying, “the damage has already been done.” Full Count has to ask: In the wake of the Jason Grimsley debacle (in which the D-Backs have gone 2-10 since), why add fuel to the fire by calling out perhaps your most popular player and World Series hero? Perhaps because, according to USA Today, Arizona has a club option for $10 million on Gonzalez for 2007 that he doesn’t plan on paying and needs a convenient reason to justify it, just as he did with Grimsley. Kendrick also made a baffling financial move, releasing pitcher Russ Ortiz and eating 22 million dollars.

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San Francisco Giants

Going to get a beer every time Bonds is at bat


CBP during Barry’s 715th homer

A few years ago, figuring out when Bonds was going to hit another 2 to 3 homers was pretty easy — just give him about a week. Well, he’s now 2 away from tying Ruth’s record and 3 from breaking it, and there’s a 3 game series at Philly over the weekend. He could do it in Philly or it could take him the rest of this month to jack up another 3. But unless he’s in the friendly confines or Willie Mays Park, there’s no telling the reaction he’ll get.

Philly is probably the last place you’d want to break the record if you were Bonds. Not only would you not get any cheers, you’d get roundly booed. Or, if some people get their way, you could hear a pin drop. Yes, some folks are saying that every time Bonds gets up to bat, the entire stadium should make a concession run. Theoretically, you’d have to start the mass exodus during Steve Finley’s at-bat. But you’re smart folks, you’ll figure it out.

If you truly think Bonds cheated and he doesn’t deserve to beat Ruth on the home run list, a deafening silence is more effective than any vitriol you can hurl Barry’s way. Hell, Barry loves being hated. If the stands were completely empty, Barry just might just curl up in a fetal position and cry. And that makes this potentially the most brilliant idea ever in protest. It would certainly make history.

Or, alternately, just start throwing feces onto the field.

Links:
[SI]:
Lidle: Bonds’ chase not ‘legitimate’
[Yahoo]: San Francisco Giants May Schedule

Categories
MLB General

Full Count for April 24, 2006: Wake us up for the fight



Alou gets tossed

1. ‘Extracurricular activities’: The Giants and the Rockies aren’t exactly heated rivals, but they played like they were on Sunday. Ejections started piling up in the first inning, when Giants pitcher Matt Morris was tossed after hitting his second batter of the inning. Manager Felipe Alou was ejected automatically, and pitching coach Dave Righetti was thrown out as well after arguing. Jose Mesa was ejected for the Rockies for hitting Omar Vizquel, who in 2002 wrote a book which included a criticism of Mesa for blowing a save in the ’97 World Series. The Rockies won in 10 innings, 3-2.

2. Un-Uribe-able: Juan Uribe powered the White Sox to their eighth win in a row on Sunday. He hit 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs in the 7-3 win by the Sox, who completed a series sweep of the Twins. However, Jim Thome failed to score a run for the first time this year, snapping a record 17 game streak. The White Sox are now a major league best 13-5.

3. Yanks improve to .500: Jason Giambi is probably off the juice right now, but he’s still pretty powerful. The slugger crushed Orioles pitching for 2 homers and 5 RBIs, both season highs. Yanks starter Randy Johnson rebounded from a terrible loss last week with only 3 hits allowed over 8 innings. New York is finally above .500 on the year at 9-8.

4. The big 4-0: Greg Maddux’s best years may be behind him, but he’s sure forgotten that so far this year. At 40 years old, he has a 4-0 record so far this year, supplying nearly half of the Cubs 10 wins. After shutting down Albert Pujols and the Cardinals to no runs over 7 innings, Maddux’s ERA dropped to 0.99, best in the National League. The Cubs became the 4th team to reach 10 wins in what will be a crowded NL Central division this year.

5. Victory…at last: The Royals have been an absolute disaster this year. They have the worst record in the majors, have terrible pitching problems, and their most expensive player is hitting .173. Adding to that, they had yet to have a starter win a game all season. Until last night, when starter Jeremy Affeldt picked up the win against high-powered Cleveland. Overall, the Tribe was held to only 1 run and 7 hits in the 5-1 loss.