Framegrab from the KPIX helicopter flying over Oracle Park, showing the new bullpens nearing completion.
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
Things are tough in the nation right now. From the pandemic to civil unrest, there are many more important things happening than a podcast about baseball and the Giants. Yet, Eric and I decided to go ahead with our recording, as we only do so every two weeks at this point. Perhaps our conversation can be a distraction from these troubling times.
There have been a few developments in the negotiations between the owners and players, but both sides seem to have their feet planted firmly. The owners want to pay the players much less than previously agreed to, with fewer games played, and the players want a prorated salary and more games. They are currently very far apart, and the chances of having a season seem to dwindle with every passing day. But, there is some hope that we’ll see baseball some time this year. We also chat about Vegas reopening, bullpen completion and new dimensions at Oracle Park and more!
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday the only path for sports to return this summer includes no fans in attendance and players being kept in quarantine for the duration of their seasons. (Photo by Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
We’re back to talk about developments in a plan that may bring baseball back in some form by June. Currently, the plan is to essentially put all players and personnel in a bubble, test them for the virus every week, and make sure they only travel to and from the stadiums and hotel. However, the PPE and test kits required would put a huge strain on medical resources, and there are players with families that are unwilling to be away from their families for five months or longer. Adding families to the bubble would raise the costs and stakes far too much. This plan is questionable, at best, but may be our only route to a form of baseball.
Baseball Reference is simulating the 2020 season with the game, OOTP 21, and currently the Giants are in 4th place at 7-10. Hunter Pence is 1-3 in the players’ league, playing MLB The Show ’20, but he had an epic walk-off Buster Posey homerun in his last game. You can view his games on his Twitch channel.
Stay safe out there, and if you have a quarantine story to share with us, drop us a line at chad@torturecast.com!
Clayton Kershaw contemplates what happened after another postseason implosion. Kershaw gave up back to back homeruns on consecutive pitches in the 8th inning, tying the game at 3. The Dodgers later lost the game 7-3 in 10 innings. (Credit:Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
Schadenfreude (/ˈʃɑːdənfrɔɪdə/; German: [ˈʃaːdn̩ˌfʁɔʏ̯də](listen); lit. ‘harm-joy’) is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another.
This is what us Giants fans experienced on Wednesday night. Despite seven consecutive NL West titles, despite a club-record 106 wins, despite setting a record for homeruns, the LA Dodgers somehow did NOT win the World Series. Clayton Kershaw, the anti-Bumgarner of the playoffs, entered with a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning of game 5 versus the Nationals and promptly gave up back to back homeruns on consecutive pitches, the second time he has done that in the playoffs. He’s never done that in all of his years of the regular season.
As we dance on the graves of the 2019 Dodgers’ season, Eric and I also review the first round of the playoffs and check it against our predictions. One thing to note, including the two wildcard games, 5 of the 6 contests (4 LDS) came down to ONE GAME. So, that said, I ended up getting 4 of 6 correct, Eric 3 of 6. We also preview the LCSs and we’ll be back to record episode 185 right before the World Series.
Go Nats?
Chad
P.S. I will be leading a scientific expedition to explore the deep sea off the coast of California next week. You can watch live video from the depths from our remotely operated vehicle at www.nautiluslive.org. We should be in the water from Monday through Thursday night. I will be audible on the coms between 8-12 both in the AM and PM (2 shifts).
Bruce Bochy became only the 11th manager in MLB history to win 2,000 games. He will be sorely missed as one of the greatest coaches in Bay Area history. He is a certain Hall of Famer.
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
We weren’t sure if it was going to happen, but it did. Bochy reached 2,000 wins in his managerial career, with the help from a certain Yaz. Chad and Eric talk about Bochy’s magical milestone and the week that was in Giants’ baseball. Yaz hit a homerun where his grandpa hit homeruns. A rookie won in Atlanta where the veterans couldn’t.
Chad will be at Oracle Park on Wednesday against the Rockies with @SportsHosts. They have $9 tickets for Wednesday night. Reserve your tickets at http://www.sportshosts.com.
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!
Mike Yastrzemski watches his third homerun of the game leave the yard in the 11th inning of a 10-9 Giants victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both teams hit 6 homeruns each, 1 shy of the MLB record set just a month ago. Photo by Getty Images.
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
Eric said the Giants needed to go at least 4-2 this week, and well, they did. Although, we were hoping for a 5-1 week, Bum laid an egg in the last game vs Arizona. We recap a solid week of Giants baseball which saw Mike Yastrzemski hit 3, yes, 3 homeruns in a game. Last time that happened was Jarrett Parker…where is he now? We also saw the MLB debut for Logan Webb, Pillar light it up, Belt’s granny, MadBum’s masterpiece vs Oakland, and Will Smith’s meltdowns.
We review the week in Giants’ baseball, stroll down memory lane, cover transactions, the upcoming series, and bring back “Guess that Giant!” Hope you enjoy episode 176, we did!
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
The Giants playfully dressed as Pablo Sandoval before their flight to Philadelphia. If this doesn’t speak to team chemistry, nothing else will.
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
The Giants keep surprising everyone. 4-2 this week with all 4 wins by one run, and 2 were extra inning. Two games were single-handedly won by Pablo Sandoval, as he hit two game winning homeruns this week. As a part-time player, he leads the team with 13 bombs. They are 26-10 in one run games and 11-2 in extra inning games. They keep pushing the narrative that this team can win, and will win close games. It’s torture. It’s classic Giants baseball, and Bruce Bochy thrives managing this team.
Eric and Chad talk about the last week in Giants’ baseball and the impending trade deadline that is less than 24 hours away as this is typed. Most likely, they Giants will NOT be trading away Bum and Smith, and in fact, may be adding small pieces. Although this could hurt their long-term prospects, we agree that Zaidi has proven that he can adapt to a changing team and will be able to cope with a lack of trade return. And the reality is…the players don’t care about what this team will look like in 2-3 years. Most of them won’t be on the team then. They care about now. This is Bochy’s last season. Although their playoff chances are predicted between 7-12%, that is irrelevant to the clubhouse. They believe, and that’s all that matters. It’ll be an interesting concluding two months of the season.
On a somber note, I (Chad) live in Gilroy, and we opened this show discussing the tragic events that transpired at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday. Although my family didn’t attend that fateful day, plenty of my friends and their kids did, serving in the volunteer capacity at various food booths and such. Literally dozens of my friends and the friends of my 13 year old daughter had to run from goddam bullets, saw people shot, one was grazed by a bullet. It’s left an indelible mark on my town of Gilroy, but we will persevere
. Please consider donating to various funds, including the GoFundMe page for the 6 year old boy that was senselessly gunned down. Donate blood at the Red Cross. Do what you can to help our little town recover. It’s been a rough 36 hours, but it was important to me to record a show today.
San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey hits a grand slam during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Friday, July 12, 2019, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
The Giants have won 9 of 11 and lead MLB in homeruns for the month of July with 22. You read that right. They lead the league in homeruns this month. Did this team find their true identity, or is this just a phase like a cranky teenager going through a growth spurt? Eric and Chad talk about the series win in Milwaukee and recorded this during the Giants’ 19-2 demolition of the Rockies in the first game of their day-night doubleheader today.
To the surprise of everyone, the Giants are one of the hottest teams in the league. All the more surprising is the fact that they are winning on the strength of their offense. The team is 9-2 in its last 11 while averaging 8.5 runs per game. Suddenly, they’re just 4 games back of a playoff spot. At 750/1 to win the NL Pennant, there would be value betting on the Giants to squeak into the playoffs and make a run. However, Farhan Zaidi is still likely to sell at the deadline, so bettors wouldn’t actually be wagering on this Giants team; they’d be wagering on a team that may be without the likes of Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith. The guys at Sports Betting Dime think there is value betting on the Giants to squeak into the playoffs and make a run.
Joe Panik, pictured here, after his game-winning 2 RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to defeat the Braves 4-3…or he’s about to karate chop Duggar and Shark. This was the only joy this week in a 1-6 homestand. Photo: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press
You can download the episode here, or stream it below!
The Giants went 1-6 since our last podcast, and have completely taken the season in a different direction, being outscored 55-19 in the process. In addition, they gave up 15 unearned runs this week, which is almost half of the season total of 32. They are dead last in hitting and fielding percentage, and 3rd worst in the NL in ERA, a spot they were third in just a few weeks ago. They’ve lost 5 in a row, 6 of 7, and are on pace for 97 losses. Mac Williamson was DFA’d again, Carl Yaztremski’s grandson was called up and got 3 hits, and the only win of the week was so improbable, with the Giants being down to their last strike 8 times. Baseball is weird. We talk about it in episode 167 of the TortureCast!
The TortureCast 