Tag Archives: Phillies

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 14, 2018 · 1:53 PM

Episode #143: It Could Be Worse

 

shark

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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by | July 31, 2012 · 11:08 PM

Giants Not “Pence”-ive as a Free Agent “Hunter”

Right park, different uni (manginphotography.net)

First of all, I apologize for the title, but I was in the NY Post spirit with the Mets in town.

Hunter Pence is the player that many Giants fans have been drooling over for quite some time, and in all honesty, the Giants didn’t give up as prized of a prospect as they did last year as they jettisoned Zach Wheeler for a Beltran rental (btw, can we have him back, now?)

It’s not generally recommended to react to trades completed by your divisional rival, but in this case the Giants had to put at least one more bullet in the chamber as the Dodgers put a few (Ramirez, Victorino, and almost Dempster). Alas, the gaping bleeding hole in their lineup is a right handed bat, and much as I like him, Brett Pill ain’t the medicine for that ailment. Pence is a nice fit, an energetic player with pop and speed. He reminds me a little of Eric Byrnes; very awkward in the field, not majestic in his mechanics, but god damn if he doesn’t just get the job done, he does it better than most.

Shierholtz had a nice tenure with the Giants; a player that always aspired to do more, yet was solid in his contributions, despite not getting as many opportunities as he’d hoped for. His comments in the Chronicle a few weeks ago essentially put an “X” on his back regarding trade bait. His comments may not have been detrimental to the clubhouse, but perhaps you want to change the scenery for that player in the interests of both parties. Heck, he’s even reuniting with one of his best buds, Kevin Frandsen, who was recently promoted from AAA. Frandsen was even in Shierholtz’s wedding. Tommy Joseph is a promising talent, but the Giants are flush at catcher, a position that teams generally have a paucity. San Francisco still has Hector Sanchez, Andrew Susac, and some guy wearing number 28.

Unfortunately, the Giants will have to deal with arbitration with Pence this offseason, and if Beltran is any indication of how he feels that AT&T Park is a black hole that just sucks power numbers away from any bat that lingers near its center, Pence may come to find that the next 30 odd games played in this pitcher’s haven are not kind to the stat sheet. Nonetheless, if they get into October, he could smell the allure of a triples record next year?

-Chad King, @chadk21

 

 

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by | July 21, 2012 · 6:59 PM

Mitch Williams has a 23 year old grudge against the Giants

ImageToday’s game felt like a lock for the Giants after Cain went deep, even after Hamels matched him in the next inning. That in itself, was entertaining, the first pair of pitchers to go deep off each other since 2002. I just re-read that last sentence, and it sounded dirty. I’m too lazy to re-construct that pseudo-erotic writing. However, after Howard put the Phillies ahead, I figured that might be it, “eh, they’ve had a good road trip, guaranteed .500, I need to forage for a warm beer anyway.”

I suppose this year has a different vibe than last year. The pitching is still there (sans Lincecum, plus Zito), but the offense has improved, despite their situational hitting failures (although they’ve been excellent since the break). So, a few sips into my warm cerveza, the Giants indeed pulled off the comeback, starting with solo Melk delivery in the 8th. Cain really only made one big mistake (to Howard), which was three out of the 5 runs. Take that away, and his line is great. Nevertheless, he kept them in the game with 8 innings, despite his un-Cain-like 3 homeruns given up.

Posey is a beast, he is “en fuego” with an accelerant added on top. Over his last 9 games, he’s hitting at a .531 clip, with 2 homeruns and 13 RBI. His average has soared from .288 to .314 in that span. He’s hitting the ball to all fields; much like my son throws objects to all corners of my house. Tonight, he was 4 for 5 with a homerun and 3 RBI. He also read a suicide squeeze correctly that Blanco did not, and he was hung out to dry.

Casilla is a man of mystery. He doesn’t always save games, but when he does, he does it with torture. After blowing 5 of his last 8 save opportunities, and stirring the trade speculation pot, he allowed a one out walk and a streaking rocket to Theriot at second to end the game. Not a masterpiece, but something to build his confidence on, as baseball is a fickle game. Maybe Casilla plays fantasy baseball. I miss Brian Wilson’s torture.

Even if the Giants lose tomorrow, they have secured a 4-2 road trip, the antithesis of their previous road trip that closed out the first half at 1-5. If they can muster a sweep tomorrow, the Giants will be 5-1 on this road trip and 8-1 since the break. Even if they lose tomorrow, 7-2 is slightly passable.

Let’s hope Kemp and Either don’t heat up too much.

– Chad King

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