Thursday, August 19, 2004

 

Neifi Landed

I don't get it. How can one organization trade for Nomar Garciaparra and then sign Neifi Perez in the same month? Jim Hendry must be schizophrenic. Or a Giants fan.

Is it any coincidence that the Giants are on an absolute tear since the Neifarious one was shown the door? I know what I think, and no arguments will sway me.

Jefferson 2:43 PM

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Friday, August 13, 2004

 

Neifi Gone

The Giants released Neifi Perez today.

That is all.

Heh.

Heh.

*stifles glee*

Jefferson 3:38 PM

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Wild Wild Wild Card

Jason Schmidt? He's the man, man.

This whole season is just strange and bizarre and frustrating. Depending on the day, the Giants are either sucktastic or breathtaking. We all know the Giants are deeply flawed. They can't pitch, which puts a lot of pressure on the defense, which is pretty bad all around. (Except for President Mohr.)

But a playoff spot is well within reach. That doesn't mean the Giants are good, though. The Cubs are on pace to win 88 games and get the wild card. Here's how many wins recent NL Wild Card "winners" had:

2003 -- 91 (Florida, dammit)
2002 -- 95 (San Francisco)
2001 -- 93 (St. Louis)
2000 -- 94 (New York, dammit)
1999 -- 97 (New York)
1998 -- 90 (Chicago, dammit)
1997 -- 92 (Florida, dammit)

That covers all the seasons since the National League expanded to 16 teams. At this rate, the 2004 NL Wild Card will have the weakest record in the current era. That wild card could be the Giants. It's possible the Giants could finish with 85-86 wins and still get into the postseason, despite all their flaws. Unlikely, but possible.

Wacky.

Jefferson 9:17 AM

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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

 

Insanity

Tonight Felipe Alou managed his team into a loss.

One of the classic definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting to get a different result each time. By that definition, Alou's handling of the bullpen is insane.

Let's go through the pitching changes tonight.

In the seventh inning, Alou brings in Jim Brower. Brower retires the Pirates in order, impressively. So far, so good.

In the eighth inning, Brower comes back out. He gets Jack Wilson to meekly pop up, thus retiring four batters in a row. Rob Mackowiak then singles rather softly to right field. Then Brower throws the double-play ball, only to have Cody Ransom whiff on it. Two on, one out. Then Brower comes back to strike out Jason Bay.

By all measures, Brower is pitching well.

With the left-handed Tike Redman coming up, though, Alou has to tinker. He knows that his bullpen has been awful. He knows that Brower has good stuff right now. He has no idea what kind of stuff Jason Christiansen might have. But he pulls Brower anyway, and puts in the left-hander, following the robot's book of managing.

Of course, Christiansen blows up. He has nothing. Double, single, three runs in, lead is gone. Christiansen records his one out after that.

Michael Tucker saves Felipe's and Cody's asses in the ninth with a huge two-out solo homer. Game tied!

Going to the bottom of the ninth, the slate is clean. If only the Giants can hold the Pirates scoreless...

So of course Alou brings in Matt Herges. The very guy who they fired from his ninth-inning assignment because he was simply incapable of pitching a scoreless inning. The guy who was replaced by Dustin Hermanson, who has looked quite sharp out of the bullpen. And who is nowhere to be seen in the most important inning of the entire game.

I don't have to tell you that the Pirates scored off Herges. It's a given. There's no other possible outcome when Herges takes the mound in a crucial situation. The man doesn't even deserve a roster spot, let alone a prime assignment like tonight's.

Felipe Alou knew that. And he ran the gas can out there anyway.

Insane.

Jefferson 7:09 PM

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Monday, August 09, 2004

 

Dustan Mohr for President

That catch was by far the best defensive play the Giants have gotten all year long. Game is on the line, maybe the whole season is on the line, and Dustan Mohr gets on his horse and runs that fly ball down. Diving onto the warning track like Superman going after Lois Lane, landing in a cloud of dust and coming up with the catch. Simply amazing.

Even more amazing was that you can't tell from the above description which of the TWO plays I'm talking about--the one to close out the 8th inning, or the one to end the game!

Dustan Mohr has had an electrifying week, where every time you see him he's busting his ass on an inside-the-park home run or something. You gotta think, and hope, that he's got Alou's attention now, and gets more playing time than Ricky "Ofer" Ledee.

Major props also to Noah Lowry, who as far as I am concerned is now our #2 starter. Major props also to Ron Wotus, for having the nads to skip the entire rest of the bullpen to bring in Hermanson with one out in the eighth. Major props to Hermanson, too, for pitching like a closer.

Definitely one of the most entertaining games of the whole year.

Jefferson 12:14 PM

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Saturday, August 07, 2004

 

Felix Rodriguez--Kicking Ass and Taking Names

Just for kicks, here are Felix Rodriguez's stats since we was traded to Philadelphia:

G 	GS 	IP 	H 	R 	HR 	BB 	SO 	

4 	0 	4.0 	3 	0 	0 	1 	5 	



K/9 	W 	L 	Hld 	Sv 	BS 	BAA 	WHIP 	ERA

11.25 	1 	0 	2 	0 	0 	.214 	1.00 	0.00

Larry Bowa's gotta be pretty happy about that.

Jefferson 9:21 AM

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Friday, August 06, 2004

 

Fork, Please

The sound you hear is the bullpen suffering an atomic meltdown.

Only the most optimistic of Giants fans can think they're going to turn this around now. The bullpen has been bad all year, and it's been getting worse and worse with each passing week. This isn't a mass slump, it's a massive lack of talent. You can only change that by changing the personnel.

And that's the problem. The bullpen in 2002 was headed by Nen, Worrell, Witasick, Rodriguez. Last year's bullpen was headed by Worrell, Rodriguez, and Nathan. All those guys are gone. The ones who are left are your LOOGYs like Scott Eyre and Jason Christiansen, or guys who have melted under the pressure like Herges.

It's just ridiculous that this team can score runs by bunches (5 runs a game for the whole season, including that horrible April) and still lose half its games.

Jefferson 9:21 AM

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