Tag Archives: Jeff Samardzija

by | February 27, 2020 · 2:16 PM

Episode #190: Spring has Sprung

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Photo of the winning team for calf roping at a rodeo in December. Yes, the man on the right is Madison Bumgarner. The story broke earlier this week, exposing MadBum, who competed under the alias “Mason Saunders.” This is so Madison Bumgarner. 🙂 (Photo from Rancho Rio’s Facebook page).

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

The crack of the bat, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the warm rays beating down on the fans. Baseball is officially back as spring training and the cactus league is a week into the 2020 season. Eric and I chat about our impressions of the first week of Giants’ baseball, and to be honest, although this team may not be that good, what if they surprise us. No, not playoff surprise, but maybe a 75 win season? Time will tell.

We also dive into “who is Mason Saunders?”, revisit the Houston Astros cheating scandal, Aubrey Huff, possible playoff expansion, and we even have our first music break, with a song sent in by a listener. Enjoy “Baseball always brings you home” by Shel Krakofsky and Dave Dresser.

Chad

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by | February 11, 2020 · 7:02 AM

2020 San Francisco Giants: The Pitchers

Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants

Johnny Cueto of the San Francisco Giants (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Today’s the day! San Francisco Giants players are in camp. Workouts for the 2020 season will start tomorrow as pitchers and catchers have now officially reported for Spring Training.

Baseball is here!

Opening Day is only 44 short days away.

There’s a ton of players in camp this season and first up in our 2020 Spring Training Preview is the pitchers.

Last season, the San Francisco Giants pitching staff was pretty average, finishing in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories. They had a 4.38 ERA, 15th in baseball out of 30 teams. Their batting average against was 12th best, and HR’s allowed were 14th best in all of baseball. Other than that, the Giants didn’t strike a lot of guys out, only averaging 8.4 K’s per 9 innings, 23rd in the league. Continue reading →

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by | August 26, 2019 · 1:55 PM

Episode #177: Longo Saves the Week

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Bruce Bochy and gang take the Bay Bridge Series trophy in his 4,000th game managed on Sunday. They were apparently very happy with it.

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

After a sweep at the hands of the Cubs essentially eliminated any chance the Giants have of making the postseason, Evan Longoria had a great weekend against the A’s, enabling the Giants to take the Bay Bridge trophy and climb back to 4 games out of the wild card. But, if they had just taken one game in that crazy series against the Cubs, they’d be 2 out right now. With precious little time remaining, the Giants have to step on the gas…now!

Eric and Chad review the 2-3 week and talk about players’ weekend, Bochy’s 4,000th managed game, Cueto’s rehab, Pablo’s TJ surgery, who’s hot and not and more!

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by | August 12, 2019 · 11:37 PM

Episode #175: I Feel Good?

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Will Clark shortly after it was announced that his #22 will be officially retired in 2020. Photo by Ryan Leong (@ryanleong).

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

It’s been a wild two weeks of Giants baseball. The Giants went 5-8 since we last recorded, but they only dropped from 2.5 games back to 3.5 games back. Alas, their playoff chances keep plummeting (down to 3% per fivethirtyeight.com). In episode 175, we covered the trade deadline, the fact that both Bumgarner and Smith will be with this team through the end of this season, Panik getting DFA’d, the losing streak, the 1989 Giants’ reunion, Will Clark’s #22 getting retired next year, Will Smith’s first AB, hit and RBIs…literally we couldn’t have chosen a worse regular season stretch to miss our weekly podcast. Nevertheless, Chad and Eric are back with a vengeance in an extended episode to catch all of us up on the happenings of Giants baseball.

I Feel Good.     ish.

Here’s the video the Giants streamed of the 1989 celebration on Sunday. We opened this podcast with the first minute of this segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvQ4QprPUU

Here’s the video from “Inside the Clubhouse” about the 1989 Giants:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQAkKHRLrYw

Thank you to @ryanleong for the audio and photos that were included in this podcast.

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by | May 6, 2019 · 2:35 PM

Episode #164: The Comeback Kids

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Buster Posey hits a 3 run homerun against the Reds. This was a game-tying homerun in the 6th. Brando Crawford won the game in the 9th.

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

The Giants could have had a much worse week if it weren’t for the fact that they came back from 8 runs and 4 runs down in two games in Cincinnati. They took 2 of 3 against the Dodgers and split 4 in Cincy. The Giants lead the league with a 9-2 record in one run games…that’s good but not good considering their lack of ability to put teams away.

Their win after an 8 run deficit is the 5th time they’ve done that in Giants history and the first time in 30 years. They followed that up with a 4 run deficit win against the Reds, and that is a miracle of its own. We celebrate Eric’s 40th birthday and Willie Mays’ 88th birthday in episode 164.

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by | April 22, 2019 · 10:50 PM

Episode #162: At Least the Hitting was Better this Week?

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Buster Posey hits his first homerun since June of 2018 (237 ABs), which was also his first career HR against the Pirates. It was a 3 run HR that gave the Giants a 3-2 win. Photo by Gene S. Puskar

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

The Giants raised their team batting average over the last 6 games from .199 to .209. The bad news is that the Giants’ pitching staff ERA went from 2.75 to 3.22. Christian Yelich hit 8 homeruns…this week. The Giants have 13 homeruns…as a team….all season. Eric and Chad talk about a 2-4 week during this road trip, dropping 2 of 3 each to the Nats and Pirates. But, in almost every game, a single play was the difference. The Giants are, well…competitive. They truly are. A few hits here and there and the Giants could be .500 or better. They are not getting crushed. They just can’t win most of the close games, which is, well most of their games. At least Buster Posey won a game single-handedly with a 3 run jack to defeat the Pirates 3-2. He also applied the tag to Kang to record the final out at home that game. So, there’s that. But, that’s exactly what the Giants need. And more times than once every 23 games. Also, why can’t the Giants score in the first inning? They are dangerously close to setting the MLB record for not scoring the first to open the season. They are at 23, while the record is 28. Hell, why not? Who cares? BTW, they are hitting .096 in the first inning. All 7 hits are singles. I want to see them score that first first inning run via the little league homerun with like 7 errors on an infield hit.

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by | April 15, 2019 · 2:21 PM

Episode #161: Pillar Power

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Kevin Pillar hits a grand slam against the San Diego Padres. The Giants’ centerfielder hit 4 homeruns this week, propelling them to a 4-3 record. (Photo: SF Examiner)

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

Where would the Giants be without Kevin Pillar? He dominated the week, hitting 4 homeruns with 12 RBI. In fact, no other Giant had more than 1 RBI for the week! The Giants sit at 7-10, 4 games back of the Padres, but it would be much worse without Pillar’s contribution. That said, he’s only hitting .155 on the season, so he’s getting timely hits. How long will this last?

We talk about Pillar and the week in review on episode #161, including the insane 18 inning win against the Rockies, surprising pitching from the Shark, and how the bullpen leads all of baseball with a 1.77 ERA. However, they also are at the bottom of the NL with a .199 batting average, and have mustered only 10 homeruns, which is the same as Kris Davis! Eric also introduced a new segment called “Guess that Giant,” which Chad performed poorly in. Let us know in the comments if you guessed this Giant faster than Chad did (we’re sure you did). This was a fun podcast to talk about a winning week. The Giants go on a long east coast trip, so their hitting has to come around at some point.

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by | July 12, 2018 · 2:55 PM

Episode #147: Walk-offs! Walk-offs! Walk-offs!

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Buster Posey knocks in the game-winning run in the 13th inning against the Cubs on July 11, 2018. It’s the 8th walk-off for the Giants this year, which leads all of baseball. © Stan Szeto

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

The Giants took the rubber game of a three game set with the Cubs with a 13th inning walk-off hit by Buster Posey. This was the second walk-off in the series and the eighth walk-off of the year, which leads all of baseball.

Chad and Eric chat about the current homestand, Crawford and Posey’s selections to the All-Star game, the timely pitching of Dereck Rodriguez and Suarez, the return of Johnny Cueto, the trade of Gearrin and Jackson, more trade rumors and more!

Friend of the show Ryan Leong passed along this youtube video, it’s a good watch. “The Giants Story, A Tale Of Two Cities” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDNdb2xHxCI

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by | June 22, 2018 · 3:54 PM

Episode #145: Giants Refuse to Quit

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Madison Bumgarner earns his first win of the year with a 3-0 victory over the Padres. He pitched 8 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 walks and struck out 8. Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images

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

We’ve had a string of real-life incidents get in the way of recording the last 3+ weeks, including Memorial Day, the death of Chad’s dog, Eric’s car breaking down, and a hair appointment (long story). Alas, Eric and Chad get back together to talk about what we’ve missed and where the Giants are. They are .500, 4 games back, and quite frankly, in a position to win the west, now that they have MadBum, Panik, Williamson, Hanson, Melancon and others back on the roster. That said, they’re missing Strickland to a self-inflicted hand injury, and Longoria also breaking the same 5th metacarpal that both Strickland and Bum broke. It’s like whack-a-mole with injuries this year. Get one back, another one goes down.

They’ve won 3 in a row, 4 of their last 5, and Bum had a classic dominant performance last night against the Padres. This is the point. The Giants can’t keep giving away games. Just one or two games a month equates to 6-12 for the year, which can make the difference in a season. The Astros won like 13 in a row, including many close games that they didn’t give up. That’s the mark of a championship team, like the Giants were for their 3 World Series rings.

Eric and Chad talk about who their pick for team MVP is so far this season, drafting Joey Bart, who’s hot and who’s not, injuries and more in this packed episode #145 of the TortureCast!

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by | May 14, 2018 · 1:53 PM

Episode #143: It Could Be Worse

 

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The Shark got bit again on this road trip, much like most of the starting staff, giving up 10 runs in 9.2 IP. Photo: Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press

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

How could losing 6 out of 7 be worse? Well, if the rest of the NL West played well, that’s how. The Giants, coming off a sweep of Atlanta, were only 4 games back of division-leading Arizona. Although they went on to lose 6 out of 7 this week, they find themselves only 4.5 games out. Arizona got swept, LA got swept, Colorado didn’t play very well. So, at 20-21, the Giants return home to face the Reds in a critical series to stay in the hunt until MadBum and Cueto can return to aid this team.

Chad and Eric talk about the starting staff that just got absolutely wrecked in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and their astronomically high strikeout ratio.

Fellow fans, there are silver linings to everything, and this podcast has a very thick lining.

 

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