Willie, Ben and I had the delightful opportunity (did I just use the word, “delightful?”) to interview the Social Media Director for the San Francisco Giants, Bryan Srabian. We could have easily talked to him for many hours (and we wanted to), but we still squeezed in about 50 minutes of very interesting talk about how social media is used as a marketing tool for the Giants and other Major League teams.
We hope you enjoy listening to this interview as much as we did!
We welcome in the new year with our first TortureCast of 2013. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t make tonight’s recording, but Willie and Chad discussed the recent deals to avoid arbitration for Posey, Pence, Blanco, Arias, and Mijares. We also bitch about the BBWAA and the injustice of not a single player being voted into the Hall of Fame, as well as pimping FanFest on Feb 9, the excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb 12, a banana in an unfortunate hole, and we dream about the possibility of Bruce Bochy driving Jim Harbaugh down Market Street with another championship trophy for THE City.
Talking Points
Buster Posey ($8m) and Hunter Pence ($13.8m) sign one year deals to avoid arbitration
Giants control Posey through 2016 and will probably seek a long-term deal sometime this year
Other Giants that signed one year deals to avoid arbitration: Arias ($925k), Blanco ($1.35m), Jose Mijares ($1.8m)
Only arbitration-eligible player left is Romo, who filed for $4.5 million and the Giants countered with $2.675 million
BBWAA chose not to vote in Bonds and Clemens, in fact, NO ONE made it in
We will be interviewing the Giants “Social Media Consigliere,” Bryan Srabian this Saturday to talk to him about his job and FanFest!
Pitchers and catchers report Feb 12!
Tweet At Me, Bruh
SFG10032: @TortureCast – Turns out Hunter Pence is a pretty hardcore Blizzard gamer. Pretty cool. http://t.co/ZZK9rsab
We Should Hate This Guy
Willie and Chad dish out serious hate for the BBWAA who “made a stand” against the PED users. It’s an F-ing game, and you are not holier than any of these athletes that you help to create. Baseball ignored the issue, you voted them as MVP and Cy Youngs, STFU.
Why We Will Win It All
Willie – Wrapping up the last big pieces from last year and didn’t fall in love with guys who won’t help, Sabean is making all the right moves and there’s no reason to think he won’t make the right moves at the trade deadline either.
We shake off the World Series hangover with an episode to review the Giants’ moves in the offseason thus far, and we even challenged ourselves with listening to our season preview episode that we recorded at The Public House (at AT&T Park) with Thomas and Danny from Two Guys, a Glove and a Coke Bottle.
Talking Points
Scu-Scu-Scutaro signs 3 yrs/$20 – We all like this one, even if he sucks at age 40
Pagan signs 4 yrs/$40m – Thank the baseball gods that he signed one day before Victorino signed with Boston for 3/$39m!
Affeldt signs 3y/$18m – Quality signing, he likes the stability of the Giants
Pence will be signed, probably for $13-$14m in arbitration, Giants not seeking long term contract, though
Torres is Back! 1 yr, $2m
Blanco is arbitration eligible, probably won’t cost that much
Sabean and Bochy contracts extended through 2014
Dodgers with the largest payroll in MLB history at $225m
Melky gets 2/$16m from Blue Jays who are loading up for a run at it
The BIG Question
What will happen with Brian Wilson? We all concur that the Giants had to make the business decision that they did, and that frankly, Wilson is being a whiny douche if he’s hurt by their non-tender. He doesn’t deserve $7 million for a year after his second Tommy John. In fact, he earned $8.5 million last year for two appearances before he went on the shelf. Suck it up, sign an incentive-laden contract with the Giants and we’ll all move along as a happy family.
Chad put out an over/under of 92.5 wins for the Giants and EVERYONE LAUGHED AT HIM
The group reset the over/under to 87.5 wins, and everyone took the over, except the self-titled “realist” Thomas
Chad also put the over/under for games Freddy Sanchez plays at 100 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
What does Crawford have to hit to be worth it?we all said .230, he hit .248 and played dazzling D down the stretch, I say he surpassed expectation
Thomas says Blanco will not be on the roster by the All Star break
Hamate bone was a freak injury – thomas
Danny says now that steroids are over…
Danny says top offensive player won’t be Posey or Pablo
How high would we go for Cain extension? The highest we said was 125 over 5, he got 127 for 6 with an option for 7 that could bring it to 141
Willie wanted to win a WS and defend with the exact same team. Well, he’s pretty much getting his wish
Why will the Giants win it all? (asked in April, 2012)
Willie predicted that the Giants would win it all because they weren’t going to have a freak injury
Ben – rotation getting better
Michael (from The Grubby Glove) – Dbacks won’t come together, Bumgarner steps up big time, says division winner
Chad – dumb luck!!! hahhaha
Danny – second wild card
Thomas – “we won’t, I’m a realist”
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Bryan Murphy @Every6thDay: Obviously, the Giants will have to raise ticket prices significantly to afford Andres Torres, but that’s what happens w/ a break-even team.”
“Miss Erin @Love4PatTheBat: Brian Patrick Wilson, you quit your pouting and come back to those who love you and tolerate your insanity! @BrianWilson38 #SFGiants”
Our New Favorite Guy
Chad – Brian Sabean for signing Pagan a day before Victorino signed with the Red Sox
Willie – Duane Kuiper for his joke during the parade, asking Affeldt to take a swing after he called a homer for Pablo and say Swing and a miss!
We Should Hate This Guy
Willie – Magic Johnson, go muck up basketball if you’re gonna get all ridiculous in a sport, although basketball is pretty screwed up already
Willie, Ben and Chad get together for a NLCS review that just blew everyone’s pants off, followed by questioning the meaning of life and how the frick the Giants pulled off 6 consecutive elimination game wins. Oh yeah, we talk a little World Series Preview and about that Verlander guy…he’s pretty good.
Talking Points
Um, how’d that happen?! 3 consecutive wins vs Cin, and 3 consecutive wins vs STL, first team to win 6 consecutive elimination games to reach WS
The Week In Review
Giants won their 5th consecutive NLCS (62, 89, 02, 10, 12)
Hunter Pence’s magical triple-double
Where were you during NLCS Games 5-7?
The BIG Question
Can the Giants hit Verlander?
Will Bumgarner do well, if not, Giants could be down 2-0.
ArmChair Manager
Lincecum in pen? Rotation: Zito, Bum, Vogey, Cain.
Tweet At Me, Bruh
@hankschulman: Seriously, folks who still insist Gs should add Melky now need to study his departure and what the team has done since, or just stop talking
Our New Favorite Guy
Zito: Chad
Scutaro: Willie
We Should Hate This Guy
Chad: Most of the national media, who continually put the Giants as the underdog.
Beat Verlander like Lee and Halladay in 2010, and in the previous 3 World Series that featured an LCS that swept vs a team that won in 7, the team that went 7 won all 3 times. LA vs Oak 1988, Cards vs Tigers ’06, Red Sox v Rockies ’07
Didn’t think this would be happening. Courtesy of The City Graphics.
The three of us finally get together since they clinched the NL West, and it appeared that this would be a post-mortem episode they way the Cincinnatti series started. Alas, the black and orange comeback kids have extended their season against another magical comeback team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Willie, Chad and Ben review the NLDS, criticize Dusty Baker for his managerial moves or non-moves in Game 5, and discuss how the Giants won the series, despite getting out-hit and out-pitched.
All 3 of us predict the Giants will beat the Cardinals in 6, but Chad thinks the series may go 9 games due to the nature of both teams’ inability to quit.
With magic on both sides, it may be Harry Potter vs. Voldemort.
Just your standard Willie-Chad lineup in the Giants dugout
Click above, right here, that little arrow, to play our “Bonusode” 38.5 from 9/20/12.
The article below, written by Chad King, summarizes his thoughts about the TortureCast’s trip to the Giants’ press box during the Rockies/Giants game on September 20, 2012, 2 days before the Giants clinched the NL West. Excuse the USA Today writing style, but it was written and submitted to a local newspaper.
The podcast embedded above was recorded by Willie and Chad right after the game.
Enjoy!
Confessions of a Press Box Rookie
Chad King
So why was a marine biologist suddenly thrust into the world of sports journalism? Much like George Costanza followed his lust for a woman who was worried about a beached whale in “Seinfeld,” I was coerced by my love for writing, podcasting, and the Giants.
Podcasting is a relatively new form of media. Anyone with a recording device and an internet connection can record and upload spoken words for the potential of millions to listen to. Many are trying and become the next Walter Cronkite or Ryan Seacrest (laugh track). I aspire to become neither. I follow my passion for parenting, gaming and the San Francisco Giants through podcasting. A trained sports journalist or radio DJ, I am not. Neither are most of those who occupy those professions, however.
As a co-host of “The TortureCast,” we’ve always had a passion for the Giants. A passion that has taken me and my two co-hosts to commit hours of pre-show research and preparation, hour long recordings, and hours of audio and website editing. There’s something to be said about the passion of the knowledgeable fan.
The San Francisco Giants recognized something within this passion and granted media credentials to the three of us to cover the Giants-Rockies game on September 20. Typically, Major League Baseball teams only grant media passes to “legitimate” media. We were officially legitimate media, if only for a day. With copious notes from hours of research, we hit the press room like kindergartners on the first day of school. We didn’t ask questions of manager Bruce Bochy in the pregame conference in the dugout nor the postgame conference, and pretty much relegated ourselves to scoring the game, tweeting satirical updates while consuming massive amounts of free caffeine. We gawked at KNBR broadcasters taking seconds in the media dining room, and tried to take “illegal” photos with our smart phones in the press box while skirting Major League Baseball’s official media dress code.
And yet, this was more of a service to the fans than what I saw around me as nine innings of baseball unfolded within the confines of the press box. First, I saw some journalists playing solitaire over several innings, many seasoned professionals reporting incorrect statistics, and found the “TortureCast” crew answering questions rhetorically asked by 30 year veterans such as, “how many homeruns did Buster Posey have coming into today?”
Although this day will be one of the most memorable in the “sports” section of my gray matter, one of the reporters left me with this little nugget: “The only thing that separates the sports writer from a truly knowledgeable fan is the credentials.”
Maybe George Costanza was more qualified that we give him credit for.
Chad finally podcasted without sleeping children upstairs, so he was a little boisterous in this one.
We talk about the Giants’ recent success, Dodgers recent failures, and the cautious optimism for the Giants clinching their 2nd NL West title in the last 3 years.
Talking Points
On May 26th the Giants were 7.5 games back. Since then, they’ve gone 57-39 and reversed this margin +.5 game. Not. Too. Shabby. Conversely, the bums are 43-54 since lighting up the easiest schedule in the west early.
Even if LAD went 19-0, the Giants would have to go 13-6, not impossible. If the Giants play 9-10 ball, Dodgers have to go 16-3 to tie
Dodgers are 28-35 vs West, Giants are 9 games better
The Week In Review
Giants take 2 of 3 from LA, could have been a sweep
Giants dominant on road again, winning 12 of their last 15, and 21-7 since break
The BIG Question
What’s going on with Panda? 3 XBH in a month since coming off the DL. 0-10 in COLORADO
Melky, why? Why did you do that? What the crap dude? We’re super mad and we tell you why.
Chad and Willie almost cry over spilled Melk. As Giants fans, we feel betrayed and lied to, and much of the Giants organization feels the same way. It’s not just that he took PEDs, it’s that him and his camp tried to cover it up with a ridiculous fake supplement website plot. WTF WERE YOU THINKING MELKY!! At least the Giants had time to cancel 20,000 t-shirts with his likeness on it.
Chances are that we’ll never see him in black and orange again (well, except maybe the Orioles), even if the Giants make the postseason.
The Week In Review
Giants are 4-1 without Melky, suck on that
MadBum’s wicked start in LA
Scutaro is hitting .330 with SF, 18 RBI in 91 ABs
The Big Question
Bochy: “It’s time for Lincecum to be Lincecum”
Armchair Manager
Who should the Giants play in LF? Blanco v righties, Christian v lefties? Reported today that Theriot is taking practice in LF. Belt with Posey at first and Sanchez at C? Xavier Nady? Should they go after anyone? (Francoeur, Cody Ross, Scott Hairston, Rick Ankiel, Burrell?) How may September callups affect this?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
@TheFakeESPN: Melky realizes he should have just presented YouPorn instead of fake website as cause of boosted testosterone.
@DodgersGM: Juan Uribe’s PEDs didn’t work because he bought them off MelkyCabrera’s fake website.
@CSNBaggs: Bochy asked Theriot how he felt after working out in LF: “He said, ‘I’m fine The only thing I’m having trouble with is fly balls.'”
We Should Hate This Guy
MELKY FREAKIN’ CABRERA
Why We Will Win It All
The Giants somehow make the playoffs, Melky juices while he’s suspended and comes back and carries them to the WS title…or not…
This whole Melky thing actually galvanizes the locker room. The Giants love to feel like underdogs and now they really do.
Willie was recreating his vision of “The Color of Money” at a local SF pool hall and brought his jubilant intoxicating personality onto Episode 32 of “The TortureCast.”
We talk World Series 2010 rematch with the Rangers and 2 shutouts, Lincecum’s woes (and their amazing record without him), Panda’s return, “The Riot” is on fire, Vogelsong is da man, and overall the Giants are actually in a pretty good place. Listen to the decline in Willie’s attitude and rants about Lincecum and rude fans, he cares about the children, really, listen to it, it’s worth it.
Overall, Giants have played well since we last recorded, own 4th best NL record (34-27), 5 GB of LA, hold 2nd wildcard
Had won or tied 9 consecutive series until today
First shutout of season vs Rangers, one of last three teams w/o shutout this season
The Week In Review
Giants are 2-11 when Lincecum starts, including 8 losses in a row. ERA up to 6.00; is he finished? Do they need to skip a start or two? Do they need to install bongs in the dugout? Can’t stay away from the BIG inning. Has given up 3+ ER in one inning in 8/13 starts now.
Melky’s hamstring. Misses Rangers series and they’re shut out for the first time this season…twice!
Panda’s return and his wandering penis; SF went 21-14 w/o him.
Tweet At Me, Bruh
“Actually, a title from a blog post from McCovey Chronicles today, “”Source: Tim Lincecum Is Not Having a Good Season””
Our New Favorite Guy
Vogelstrong: dude is money, showing no signs of back issues; 2nd in NL ERA at 2.26.
Theriot: please give us a 2B man
Blanco: Like Pavlovic says…he just MAKES THINGS HAPPEN
Honorable Mention: Stony Brook Seawolves
We Should Hate This Guy
Josh Hamilton
All star game PR people
Craig Gentry
Why We Will Win It All
If Lincecum doesn’t pitch anymore (they are 32-16 when he doesn’t pitch, .667 best in MLB)
It’s a holiday podcast! Chad and Ben talk a lot of Lincecum, and a little Bumgarner, and start getting a little nervous…but then talk Melky, Posey, and Pagan and everything seems a little better. Who do we love this week? Who do we hate? How many awkward things is Ben going to say after having to work on a national holiday? Tune in to find out!
The TortureCast 