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[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2015-03-24T00_10_18-07_00.mp3]or, download it here
Spring Training has not been kind to the Giants. They own the worst record, by far, in all of MLB. Hunter Pence got broke, and Bochy is actually worried about his team’s performance.
Chad, Ben and Eric try and talk each other down from the ledge, and bring some levity to the foreboding results from the Giants’ practice games thus far.
Hey, it’s an odd year, afterall.
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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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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
Javier Lopez uses an iron to drive towards the green at Pebble Beach
Buster Posey tees off on the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.
Today we were able to snag interviews with eight Giants at Media Day at AT&T Park, including Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Matt Cain, Brandon Crawford, Travis Ishikawa, Joe Panik and Casey McGehee. Some of the players we had exclusive time with, others we shared questions with other reporters.
We’ll also be covering the Giants vs. 49ers charity shootout at Pebble Beach on Tuesday, 2/10!
All 8 interviews are below separately, the first one however, is the master playlist, and here is the playlist directly on YouTube.
Three rings in five years and currently the longest-tenured general manager in MLB, and he still can’t win over some Giants fans this offseason.
Many Giants fans have not been satisfied with the lack of moves for the San Francisco Giants this winter. Actually, they’ve made moves, just not “sexy” moves. No Lester, no Panda, no Scherzer, no big names.
But, is that necessarily a bad thing? Clearly we’re heading into an odd-numbered year, so if the mystical powers have their way, the Giants will find themselves out of the playoffs and tuning up for another magical ride in 2016. Let’s review, by the numbers, if the Giants will actually be worse off than they were in 2014.
Let’s remember that the Giants WON THE WORLD SERIES with a team that, credit to getting off to a historic start of 41-20, rode through tremendous slumps catalyzed by a series of injuries. Brandon Belt could find no luck, breaking his hand and then getting his coconut smacked by a fellow player who was already on the DL. Of course, that player is Marco Scutaro, and his comeback lasted all of 11 at bats in 2014, which brings us to the horrendous situation on second base for the better part of the year, in which the Hicks/Uggla/Adrianza experiment failed miserably. Then you have Pagan in center, who couldn’t avoid another string of injuries, Morse, who was out for most of the last two months, Cain’s bone chips finally caught up with him…Jesus as I write this, how the hell did they even finish above .500?!
Many critics point out that Aoiki had only one homerun last year and Casey McGehee only four. Granted those power numbers undoubtedly will not go up playing at AT&T Park. But do they need to? The Royals came within a run or two of winning the World Series with the fewest home runs in the league, remember. Although those power numbers are down over the Giants corresponding position totals from last year, both Aoki and McGehee got on base at a much higher clip, and as a result, could score more runs (dependent on the lineup behind you, different for every team). Yes, McGehee is a downgrade from Panda, but the contract money saved has been spread in other areas, specifically Aoki, Peavy, Romo and Vogelsong. We also have to consider what the Giants could get back for close to a full season in 2015. Granted, this all relies on the bastard variable called “health,” but IF Cain and Belt can stay healthy, that means more production from first base and a starter, not to mention Peavy is in for a whole season. These in combination with a full season from Joe Panik at second base, to me, more than offsets the losses in left field and third base. Take a look at the projected numbers for Aoki, Belt and Panik, based on a projection of 550 at bats. McGehee is static at the 616 at bats he had last year:
Yes, please yell at me as you note the RED all over the power department, with dips in the 20 to 40 percent range. However, this can be tempered, to a degree with all the GREEN showing a projected rise in on base percentage, batting average and stolen bases. Runs are dependent on who’s hitting behind them, so I’d throw out the projected 8% drop in run production.
Bottom line, the redistribution of salary may have cost power, but that investment could potentially be reaped in other areas, such as men on base and contact percentage.
I know, but chicks still dig the long ball, right?
Chad
PS – We’ll be covering “Media Day” at AT&T Park on February 6, 2015. Be sure to look out for video and audio interviews with many of your SF Giants. If you have any specific questions for the players that you’d like to send in, email to chad AT torturecast DOT com.
You can view past video interviews from Media Day 2013 and 2014.
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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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!
You’ll be conjuring the name “Ishikawa” until the Giants move to London in 2134. (San Jose Mercury News)
Travis Ishikawa.
The guy who wore jeans to the 2010 World Series ring ceremony (in 2011).
The guy who bounced around on the Brewers, Orioles, Yankees, Pirates, and spent most of this year in AAA.
And he’s our starting left fielder in the NLCS?
When did this exactly happen? I know they say “all hands on deck” in the playoffs, but for the Giants, it’s almost as if Bochy asked Sabean, “Hey, got any stale donuts left in the break room? I’m looking for just a morsel to keep me from eating my large cap.” Yet, these seemingly stale morsels: the Paniks, Duffys, Perezes, Ariass (that looks bad there), and of course, the Ishikawas, may not be your first choice for a fresh pastry, but dammit THEY WILL FEED YOU!
And in a pivotal, uncharacteristic moment (for Bochy and this team), Ishikawa misplayed a ball hit to him in left, and as it sailed over his head for an RBI double, you could literally hear the moans escape from AT&T. The redditors and others just screaming, “SEE, I TOLD YOU ISHI CAN’T PLAY OUTFIELD, CLEARLY JUAN PEREZ IS THE ONE AND ONLY GATEKEEPER TO THE WORLD SERIES….DUMB BOCHY!”
No sense screaming about any and all mistakes made in June and July when they were in the trough of the big leagues. Much like the collective screaming of millions of not-Ishikawa-jersey-wearing Giants fans were abated a bit by the fact that Bumgarner minimized the damage to that one run. They were in the game.
Then Panik, who hadn’t homered since he grew pubic hair, yanked one just fair to put the Giants ahead.
Wait, the Giants hit a homerun? Ok, so Crawford and Belt have done it, I guess it’s been long enough. When do we get the run scored via the “ball-stuck-in-Pierzynski’s-orbital-socket,” a misplayed ball by the Cardinals because the ball literally split in two after a broken bat fragment julienned it, or the wild buffalo sacrifice at second base? Apparently that well dried up tonight, and the baseball gods smiled upon the black and orange masses to give us a game for the annals of Giants lore. Not only did Bumgarner give up a homerun to a lefty for the first time since April, but the third string catcher also launched one off of him in the third. It appeared that the devil magic was bubbling from the Cardinals side.
I myself was pessimistic. No matter how many improbable comebacks this team has made, you figure they can’t win EVERY GAME in dramatic fashion…..right?
Enter Michael Morse. After both starters settled down and cruising, the 8th inning came like a well-lubricated freight train. Morse was actually on deck in the 7th to pinch hit for Bum, but since they went so quickly, and with Bum wanting to pitch one more inning, Morse came back out with his neon orange cleats in the 8th against one of the best setup men in the game. Morse has had two ABs all NLCS and hasn’t played beyond that for more than a month. Of course. Because it’s the Giants. Neshek is nasty, but he hung a slider, and Morse jumped on it, tying the game at 8.
Again, where’s the ball off the seagull for a run?
After a 9th inning that left me guzzling Pepto and wailing on my children, (THANK YOU AFFELDT!), the bottom of the 9th unrolled the carpet to Michael Wacha, last year’s NLCS MVP. However, he hadn’t pitched since September 26, and with Rosenthal in the pen, I thought it to be a curious move in such a high leverage situation, both mentally and physically.
After a Sandoval single and Belt walk with one out, it set the stage for either a) a double play, b) a walk-off 3 error Benny Hill title sequence, c) walk off homer.
HAHAHA go the fuck home, you’re drunk, option c).
Oh, and why don’t you replay this 45 times in honor of Ishikawa’s jersey number
The Giants, who scored 10 runs without a hit over their last 5 games, scored all 6 via the long ball tonight.
The Giants really are trolling the baseball world right now.
Dammit I love this mother f’n game, don’t you?
Chad
Post Article Notes:
Great images from the game by the mercury news
Bumgarner has been the only true ace of the playoffs. (USA Today/Getty Images)
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[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-10-13T23_15_41-07_00.mp3]A special mid-NLCS episode of the TortureCast finds the Giants and Cardinals knotted at 1 game a piece in this 7 game series. Now, the scene shifts back to our park in China Basin for games 3, 4 and 5. Willie, Ben, Chad and special returning guest, Eric Nathanson, break down games 1 and 2, including what went right (bullpen) and what went wrong (bullpen, BA w/RISP). Although the walk-off HR was soul-crushing for about a minute, we all were inspired by the tenacious Giants coming back throughout the game, including the dramatic 9th inning.
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Giants tried to sweep the Nats today, but ended their 10-game postseason winning streak with the loss. Alas, SF still leads the series 2-1.
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[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-10-06T22_20_44-07_00.mp3]Since we last recorded, the Giants beat the Pirates in the Wild Card game and took a 2-0 lead in the NLDS against Washington. However, as the Giants looked to sweep the Nats with MadBum on the bump today, it didn’t work out, and the Giants move onto Game 4 with a 2-1 lead and Vogey on the mound. Chad drives this podcast solo to talk about how the Giants are playing with house money, and how they might clinch this series before the dreaded game 5 possibility in Washington. Because, no one wants that.
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