Tag Archives: Buster Posey

by | April 3, 2015 · 7:43 PM

SF Giants preview: The regulars

Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants

Photo via AP Images

Well here we are. The 2015 San Francisco Giants season is upon us. I thought I’d take this time to preview the season and throw out some predictions. I’m sure you’ve read the “big boy” publications and what they forecast for the season so I’m not going to even mention the fact that none of them are giving the Giants a chance to do big things this season.

Nope. Won’t mention it at all. That whole odd year thing? I won’t mention that either.

I previewed the starting rotation yesterday. Today I’m looking at the starting 8. Well, truthfully, it’s the starting 9. Even though Hunter Pence is out until sometime during April, I’m going to include him here. It’s not like he won’t be back and frankly we all love him.

So here are the starters. I’m not going to go by batting order because Bruce Bochy has already said that he will mix it up. Some days Angel Pagan will hit 3rd, others he’ll hit 5th. I’m going to go around the diamond starting with LF and ending with the catcher position. I’m choosing which stats from last season I want to highlight with each player because, well, I can do that. So sit back and enjoy a look at this year’s Giants starters. All slash lines are batting average, on base percentage, and then slugging percentage.

Nori Aoki

2014 (w/ Royals): .285/.349/.360, 132 G, 549 PA, 22 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 63 R, 43 BB, 17 SB

It looks like Aoki is the new leadoff man. He’s entering his 4th year in the league. Nori is 1 of 2 new starts for the Giants this season. If he’s going to be in that role I’d love to see those walks improve. After 2 years with the Brewers he was on the AL champion Royals last season. You may remember them. I’m not sold on his arm out in LF. In fact, “noodle arm” is a term I’ve used to describe him on multiple occasions throughout spring training. But he’s not here for his defense. Aoki rarely strikes out and can be a key if he shoots the gap towards triples alley. If he does that, he made lead the league in triples this season. Continue reading →

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by | February 23, 2015 · 11:05 PM

Episode 80: Jerry Rice

You can download this episode here, or

Stream it below:

[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2015-02-23T23_03_20-08_00.mp3]

Yes, Jerry is a 49er, but we covered him at the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach this month, so it sort of, by proxy, regionally counts to fit our jersey-number-title-thing that is dying. So, here’s a video of Jerry leading the group “Buster Hug” that we caught on film earlier this month.

The boys are back in Arizona! Timmy reunites with his dad, Pablo is still fat, Cain is throwing wild and free, Ben and Chad review their experience and interviews at Media Day, Bochy’s heart had a scare, Sheilds rejected a larger offer from the Giants, Moncada signed with Boston, and the first radio broadcast of a spring training game is next week, March 3.

Can’t you just smell the fresh cut grass through your media player of choice?

You can follow us on Twitter @TortureCast and like us on Facebook! All of our podcasts and video and audio San Francisco Giants player interviews can be found here or YouTube.com/TortureCast.

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by | February 11, 2015 · 10:15 AM

Giants vs 49ers Chevron Charity Shootout at Pebble Beach

 

Matt Cain tees off on the third hole at Pebble Beach on 2/10/15.

Matt Cain tees off on the third hole at Pebble Beach on 2/10/15.

Yesterday exceeded my own expectations. Pebble Beach was gracious enough to let our non-golf-covering outfit cover the shootout yesterday, as we do cover the Giants. The PGA also threw in a “behind the ropes” pass, which enabled me to essentially mingle and walk with the players during their five hole shootout, which gave me the opportunity to capture some great photos of all of the Giants and 49ers playing in the event, which included Buster Posey, Matt Cain, Bruce Bochy, Javier Lopez, Duane Kuiper, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Brent Jones, Dwight Clark and Harris Barton.

My favorite moment of the day was the group “Buster Hug.” As KNBR’s Brian Murphy roasted all of the players, he had nothing bad to say about Buster, so he just happened to mention that he might be best known for the “Buster Hug.” Following that, Jerry Rice and eventually most of the Giants and 49ers embraced him. The video is below:

The weather was as impeccable as the jovial attitude along the course. I was able to interview Steve Young and chat with Cain, Bochy, Rice and others. Most of the questions by all the media were light and engaging to match the atmosphere. Probably the most engaging personality out there was Jerry Rice. The Hall of Famer danced, smoked a cigar, and mingled with  fans all day long. Buster was his usual reserved self and really didn’t talk that much, even to his partner, Matt Cain.

You can view the initial photo gallery over on our Facebook page. No, you don’t need a Facebook account to view them, but if you have one, would you give us a “like” while you’re there?

Here’s a video of Buster teeing off with an iron at 17, just because

Speaking of the tournament, Cain and Posey took the first hole (there were four teams of two), but the 49ers won it in the end during a chip-off at the 18th hole courtesy of Dwight Clark’s chip that ended up closest to the hole. Serendipity helped out as the chip off happened to occur right in front of where I had been standing, so below is a video of Cain and Posey’s chips. There are more videos and photos to come.

-Chad

Bruce Bochy puts for par on the second hole at Pebble Beach

Bruce Bochy puts for par on the second hole at Pebble Beach

Javier Lopez uses an iron to drive towards the green at Pebble Beach

Javier Lopez uses an iron to drive towards the green at Pebble Beach

Buster Posey tees off on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.

Buster Posey tees off on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.

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by | February 2, 2015 · 11:54 PM

Episode 79: Football is Over

We don’t care. You must see Pat Burrell save every drop of his “protein shake” in this slip ‘n slide. Yes, we all still want to be Pat the Bat.

Right Click here to download the podcast or

Click the arrow below to stream it!

[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2015-02-02T23_45_07-08_00.mp3]

We regretfully dedicate the first portion of this episode of TortureCast to the Super Bowl and the bad? call at the 1 yard line. Willie, Chad and Eric catch up on all of the signings by the Giants, including Casey McGehee and Nori Aoki, and reminisce with our man-crush on Michael Morse, who is now a Miami Marlin. We will also be at Media Day on Feb 6 to interview as many Giants as we can, so if you have a question you want us to ask, let us know at torturecast AT gmail DOT com or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

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by | December 30, 2014 · 10:37 PM

Top 14 SF Giants moments from 2014 part 2

SF Giants win 2014 World Series

Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports

If you missed it, I covered the San Francisco Giants regular season in Part 1. Time for the good stuff.

As I mentioned yesterday, there are no ground rules for this list and everything is listed in chronological order. Moments can stick out for different reasons. The rough draft was literally me sitting on my front porch drinking coffee and just thinking about the playoffs. I really miss baseball.

At least 10 different things jumped out at me. For instance, I thought the Hunter Pence homer in Game 1 of the World Series was a huge moment. Then as I kept adding things to the list it got bumped down. So it gets an honorable mention. Others that just missed the cut were Hunter Strickland striking out Ian Desmond in Game 1 of the NLDS and Randy Choate throwing it away in Game 3 of the NLCS.

After some more beard scratching and coffee drinking on the front porch, here’s my 7 best moments of the Giants 2014 championship run.

October 1 – Crawford’s grand slam of silence and Bumgarner’s first shutout

Were you as nervous as I was heading in to this game? I hate coin-flip games. Anything can happen. Randomness can determine a ball game. So when the top of the 4th inning of the NL Wild Card game began to unfold we were all unsure of what would happen.  Continue reading →

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by | December 29, 2014 · 4:01 PM

Top 14 SF Giants moments from 2014

Photo: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Photo: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

As a San Francisco Giants fan, 2014 was a great freaking year. They won the World Series for the 3rd time in 5 years and cemented a dynasty in the modern game. There was a fast start to the season, a rut in the middle, and then a Fall surge to the title. We got to watch it all. Whether you saw them in Scottsdale, spent time on the shores of McCovey Cove, or just watched from the couch at home, all Giants fans will remember this past year as something special.

Here’s where I get to be corny. I’m going with the original idea of the 14 best moments from 2014. I know, I had to stretch far for that one. Someone else may have already beaten me to it, I don’t care. I want to relive what happened and I suspect you’ll enjoy reliving it too.

I have no ground rules for this list. A moment can be anything I want to shoehorn in just for the fun of it. It was just that kind of crazy, wonderful year. This will be split in to 2 parts. Today will be the regular season, Tuesday will be the playoffs. Everything will be in chronological order. All clips courtesy MLB and /or Youtube.

Click here for Part 2: The Posteseason.

March 31 – Opening Day comeback

The Giants wasted no time making the 2014 season exciting. Right away the team put together a comeback victory. After falling behind 6-2 and 7-3 to Arizona they put together a couple of rallys and started the year on a positive note. You didn’t want to look too much in to one game, but it felt like this team knew how to win right out of the gate.

Madison Bumgarner started and only lasted 4 innings. He allowed 4 runs but amazingly none of them were earned because of 2 errors by the infield to start the bottom of the 4th inning. The comeback started in the top of the 7th as Michael Morse singled off Brandon McCarthy to lead off the inning. Five pitches later McCarthy had 2 quick outs and Joaquin Arias was on 1st after a fielder’s choice. Ehire Adrianza then pinch hit and hooked a 3-2 pitch into the RF corner to score Arias. It  began a streak of 5 consecutive hits with 2 outs. Continue reading →

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by | November 4, 2014 · 1:01 AM

Episode 77: We are the Champions…Again!

Buster Posey dishes out his third championship #BusterHug to Madison Bumgarner moments after Pablo Sandoval caught a foul popup to secure the Giants’ third World Series in five years (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Download the podcast here, or stream it below!

They did it.

Again.

For the third time in the last five years, the San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions!

Riding the superhero left arm of Madison Bumgarner, the Giants squeezed out a 3-2 win in game 7 of the World Series to down the Kansas City Royals.

Willie, Chad and Eric record our longest podcast of the year to discuss this memorable World Series; the heroes, the almost-goats, and what it took to fuel a remarkable run that has placed the black and orange in “dynasty” status.

Even if you have to listen to it in two parts, sit back, relax, and bask in the glow of three Commissioner’s trophies!

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by | October 30, 2014 · 12:19 AM

DYNASTY

You'll need to frame the third one, there on the left. Yeah, that one.

You’ll need to frame the third one, there on the left. Yeah, that one.

I really can’t write much. It’s been almost three hours since the impossible happened. Especially after that single-almost-turned-into-a-homerun took our collective breaths away.

But, Madison Bumgarner calmly stated, “I got this.”

After an improbable closing relief appearance, World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner earned the save with five innings of magical relief to preserve a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals that secured the Giants third World Series Championship in the last five years.

I really have no words.

And I need to SCUBA dive tomorrow.

Look for a giddy podcast sometime in the next day or two. I really have no idea what’s going on. A humpback whale might appear in the Mojave desert for all I care.

God dammit I love this game, this team, this City, and all of you fine people. And I’m not even drunk.

Chad

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by | October 28, 2014 · 12:32 AM

Episode 76: One. More. Win.

Buster Posey congratulates Madison Bumgarner after another magical performance: a complete game shutout in a 5-0 victory over the KC Royals that have put the Giants up 3-2 in the World Series and on the precipice of a dynasty. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Download episode 76 here, or stream it below!

[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-10-28T00_30_54-07_00.mp3]

One. More. Win.

And the San Francisco Giants will be World Champions for the third time in five seasons.

We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to talk about our favorite team, potentially on the eve of the clincher as the Giants head back to Kansas City up three games to two. If not tomorrow, then perhaps game 7. Even if they don’t win it all, this has been a hell of a ride.

Listen to episode 76 as Willie, Ben, Chad, and lucky charm guest Eric break down the first five games of the World Series and look forward to a hopeful clincher in either game 6 or 7.

These moments, right now, are why we do this show.

The TortureCast, the podcast by and for fans of the San Francisco Giants.

Good luck, and let’s bring it home, boys!

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by | October 21, 2014 · 12:37 AM

Episode 75: We’re Going to the World Series!

Unreal. The San Francisco Giants have won the National League Pennant and are in the World Series for the third time in the last five years.

Unreal. The San Francisco Giants have won the National League Pennant and are in the World Series for the third time in the last five years.

You can download episode 75 here, or stream it below!

[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-10-21T00_34_38-07_00.mp3]

Incredibly, our boys in black and orange have done it for a third time in five years! In a rousing 4-1 NLCS win over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Giants move onto the fall classic to face the young upstart Kansas City Royals beginning Tuesday night. Willie, Ben, Chad and guest Eric Nathanson review the NLCS, including the momentous homeruns hit by Michael Morse and Travis Ishikawa that have left indelible marks in Giants’ lore. In the last half of the podcast, we preview the Royals, their strengths and weaknesses, and how the Giants might exploit them. We also talk about Hunter Pence’s lack of geography knowledge, a horrible ESPN article, our favorite guys and we make series predictions (hint, all 4 of us take the Giants). Tune in for a jam-packed special World Series episode of the TortureCast!

 

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