Tag Archives: San Francisco Giants

Episode 43: The Dave Dravecky Episode

This dude is inspirational and will forever be a Giant

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We welcome in the new year with our first TortureCast of 2013. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t make tonight’s recording, but Willie and Chad discussed the recent deals to avoid arbitration for Posey, Pence, Blanco, Arias, and Mijares. We also bitch about the BBWAA and the injustice of not a single player being voted into the Hall of Fame, as well as pimping FanFest on Feb 9, the excitement of pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb 12, a banana in an unfortunate hole, and we dream about the possibility of Bruce Bochy driving Jim Harbaugh down Market Street with another championship trophy for THE City.

Talking Points

  • Buster Posey ($8m) and Hunter Pence ($13.8m) sign one year deals to avoid arbitration
  • Giants control Posey through 2016 and will probably seek a long-term deal sometime this year
  • Other Giants that signed one year deals to avoid arbitration: Arias ($925k), Blanco ($1.35m), Jose Mijares ($1.8m)
  • Only arbitration-eligible player left is Romo, who filed for $4.5 million and the Giants countered with $2.675 million
  • BBWAA chose not to vote in Bonds and Clemens, in fact, NO ONE made it in

Coming Up

  • FanFest is Feb 9 at AT&T Park
  • We will be interviewing the Giants “Social Media Consigliere,” Bryan Srabian this Saturday to talk to him about his job and FanFest!
  • Pitchers and catchers report Feb 12!

Tweet At Me, Bruh

lomotweet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • SFG10032: @TortureCast – Turns out Hunter Pence is a pretty hardcore Blizzard gamer. Pretty cool. http://t.co/ZZK9rsab

We Should Hate This Guy

  • Willie and Chad dish out serious hate for the BBWAA who “made a stand” against the PED users. It’s an F-ing game, and you are not holier than any of these athletes that you help to create. Baseball ignored the issue, you voted them as MVP and Cy Youngs, STFU.

Why We Will Win It All

  • Willie – Wrapping up the last big pieces from last year and didn’t fall in love with guys who won’t help, Sabean is making all the right moves and there’s no reason to think he won’t make the right moves at the trade deadline either.

Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

We also have a new TortureCast Mug for sale on Zazzle!

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Episode 42: The Jackie Robinson/Hot Stove Episode

it burns…like a Brian Wilson non-tender

We shake off the World Series hangover with an episode to review the Giants’ moves in the offseason thus far, and we even challenged ourselves with listening to our season preview episode that we recorded at The Public House (at AT&T Park) with Thomas and Danny from Two Guys, a Glove and a Coke Bottle.

Talking Points

  • Scu-Scu-Scutaro signs 3 yrs/$20 – We all like this one, even if he sucks at age 40
  • Pagan signs 4 yrs/$40m – Thank the baseball gods that he signed one day before Victorino signed with Boston for 3/$39m!
  • Affeldt signs 3y/$18m – Quality signing, he likes the stability of the Giants
  • Pence will be signed, probably for $13-$14m in arbitration, Giants not seeking long term contract, though
  • Torres is Back! 1 yr, $2m
  • Blanco is arbitration eligible, probably won’t cost that much
  • Sabean and Bochy contracts extended through 2014
  • Dodgers with the largest payroll in MLB history at $225m
  • Melky gets 2/$16m from Blue Jays who are loading up for a run at it

The BIG Question

  • What will happen with Brian Wilson? We all concur that the Giants had to make the business decision that they did, and that frankly, Wilson is being a whiny douche if he’s hurt by their non-tender. He doesn’t deserve $7 million for a year after his second Tommy John. In fact, he earned $8.5 million last year for two appearances before he went on the shelf. Suck it up, sign an incentive-laden contract with the Giants and we’ll all move along as a happy family.

Revisiting our 2012 Pre-Season Predictions with GiantsPod (4/1/12 @ Public House)

  • Chad put out an over/under of 92.5 wins for the Giants and EVERYONE LAUGHED AT HIM
  • The group reset the over/under to 87.5 wins, and everyone took the over, except the self-titled “realist” Thomas
  • Chad also put the over/under for games Freddy Sanchez plays at 100 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
  • What does Crawford have to hit to be worth it?we all said .230, he hit .248 and played dazzling D down the stretch, I say he surpassed expectation
  • Thomas says Blanco will not be on the roster by the All Star break
  • Hamate bone was a freak injury – thomas
  • Danny says now that steroids are over…
  • Danny says top offensive player won’t be Posey or Pablo
  • How high would we go for Cain extension? The highest we said was 125 over 5, he got 127 for 6 with an option for 7 that could bring it to 141
  • Willie wanted to win a WS and defend with the exact same team. Well, he’s pretty much getting his wish
  • Why will the Giants win it all? (asked in April, 2012)
    • Willie predicted that the Giants would win it all because they weren’t going to have a freak injury
    • Ben – rotation getting better
    • Michael (from The Grubby Glove) – Dbacks won’t come together, Bumgarner steps up big time, says division winner
    • Chad – dumb luck!!! hahhaha
    • Danny – second wild card
    • Thomas – “we won’t, I’m a realist”

Tweet At Me, Bruh

  • Bryan Murphy @Every6thDay: Obviously, the Giants will have to raise ticket prices significantly to afford Andres Torres, but that’s what happens w/ a break-even team.”
  • “Miss Erin ‏@Love4PatTheBat: Brian Patrick Wilson, you quit your pouting and come back to those who love you and tolerate your insanity! @BrianWilson38 #SFGiants”

Our New Favorite Guy

  • Chad – Brian Sabean for signing Pagan a day before Victorino signed with the Red Sox
  • Willie – Duane Kuiper for his joke during the parade, asking Affeldt to take a swing after he called a homer for Pablo and say Swing and a miss!

We Should Hate This Guy

  • Willie – Magic Johnson, go muck up basketball if you’re gonna get all ridiculous in a sport, although basketball is pretty screwed up already

Why We Will Win It All

  • Chad – They’ve brought the gang back (mostly)

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We Are THE CHAMPIONS – per Ashkon Music

Ashkon is one talented musician. He brought us the rally cry cover of “Don’t Stop Believin‘” in 2010, last year’s “Feeling Like a Giant,” which is our opening tune, and now today, he debuted this pearl that got some of us all teary-eyed.

 

From 2011:

 

From 2010:

 

Let’s hope something is in store for 2013!

– Chad

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Episode 40: The MadBum Episode and WORLD FREAKIN’ SERIES Preview

Pence’s magical triple double in Game 7

Willie, Ben and Chad get together for a NLCS review that just blew everyone’s pants off, followed by questioning the meaning of life and how the frick the Giants pulled off 6 consecutive elimination game wins. Oh yeah, we talk a little World Series Preview and about that Verlander guy…he’s pretty good.

Talking Points

  • Um, how’d that happen?! 3 consecutive wins vs Cin, and 3 consecutive wins vs STL, first team to win 6 consecutive elimination games to reach WS

The Week In Review

  • Giants won their 5th consecutive NLCS (62, 89, 02, 10, 12)
  • Hunter Pence’s magical triple-double
  • Where were you during NLCS Games 5-7?

The BIG Question

  • Can the Giants hit Verlander?
  • Will Bumgarner do well, if not, Giants could be down 2-0.

ArmChair Manager

  • Lincecum in pen? Rotation: Zito, Bum, Vogey, Cain.

Tweet At Me, Bruh

  • @hankschulman: Seriously, folks who still insist Gs should add Melky now need to study his departure and what the team has done since, or just stop talking

Our New Favorite Guy

  • Zito: Chad
  • Scutaro: Willie

We Should Hate This Guy

Why We Will Win It All

  • Beat Verlander like Lee and Halladay in 2010, and in the previous 3 World Series that featured an LCS that swept vs a team that won in 7, the team that went 7 won all 3 times. LA vs Oak 1988, Cards vs Tigers ’06, Red Sox v Rockies ’07
  • Sloppy Joes at Zeke’s cannot lose

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Episode 39: The Roberto Kelly Playoff Special

Didn’t think this would be happening. Courtesy of The City Graphics.

The three of us finally get together since they clinched the NL West, and it appeared that this would be a post-mortem episode they way the Cincinnatti series started. Alas, the black and orange comeback kids have extended their season against another magical comeback team, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Willie, Chad and Ben review the NLDS, criticize Dusty Baker for his managerial moves or non-moves in Game 5, and discuss how the Giants won the series, despite getting out-hit and out-pitched.

All 3 of us predict the Giants will beat the Cardinals in 6, but Chad thinks the series may go 9 games due to the nature of both teams’ inability to quit.

With magic on both sides, it may be Harry Potter vs. Voldemort.

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TortureCast Goes to the PressBox…wait…WTF?! And “Bonusode” 38.5

Just your standard Willie-Chad lineup in the Giants dugout

Click above, right here, that little arrow, to play our “Bonusode” 38.5 from 9/20/12.

The article below, written by Chad King, summarizes his thoughts about the TortureCast’s trip to the Giants’ press box during the Rockies/Giants game on September 20, 2012, 2 days before the Giants clinched the NL West. Excuse the USA Today writing style, but it was written and submitted to a local newspaper.

The podcast embedded above was recorded by Willie and Chad right after the game.

Enjoy!

 

Confessions of a Press Box Rookie

Chad King

So why was a marine biologist suddenly thrust into the world of sports journalism? Much like George Costanza followed his lust for a woman who was worried about a beached whale in “Seinfeld,” I was coerced by my love for writing, podcasting, and the Giants.

Podcasting is a relatively new form of media. Anyone with a recording device and an internet connection can record and upload spoken words for the potential of millions to listen to. Many are trying and become the next Walter Cronkite or Ryan Seacrest (laugh track). I aspire to become neither. I follow my passion for parenting, gaming and the San Francisco Giants through podcasting. A trained sports journalist or radio DJ, I am not. Neither are most of those who occupy those professions, however.

As a co-host of “The TortureCast,” we’ve always had a passion for the Giants. A passion that has taken me and my two co-hosts to commit hours of pre-show research and preparation, hour long recordings, and hours of audio and website editing. There’s something to be said about the passion of the knowledgeable fan.

The San Francisco Giants recognized something within this passion and granted media credentials to the three of us to cover the Giants-Rockies game on September 20. Typically, Major League Baseball teams only grant media passes to “legitimate” media. We were officially legitimate media, if only for a day. With copious notes from hours of research, we hit the press room like kindergartners on the first day of school. We didn’t ask questions of manager Bruce Bochy in the pregame conference in the dugout nor the postgame conference, and pretty much relegated ourselves to scoring the game, tweeting satirical updates while consuming massive amounts of free caffeine. We gawked at KNBR broadcasters taking seconds in the media dining room, and tried to take “illegal” photos with our smart phones in the press box while skirting Major League Baseball’s official media dress code.

And yet, this was more of a service to the fans than what I saw around me as nine innings of baseball unfolded within the confines of the press box. First, I saw some journalists playing solitaire over several innings, many seasoned professionals reporting incorrect statistics, and found the “TortureCast” crew answering questions rhetorically asked by 30 year veterans such as, “how many homeruns did Buster Posey have coming into today?”

Although this day will be one of the most memorable in the “sports” section of my gray matter, one of the reporters left me with this little nugget: “The only thing that separates the sports writer from a truly knowledgeable fan is the credentials.”

Maybe George Costanza was more qualified that we give him credit for.

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Episode 38: The Brian Wilson Episode

It’s magic alright

Chad finally podcasted without sleeping children upstairs, so he was a little boisterous in this one.

We talk about the Giants’ recent success, Dodgers recent failures, and the cautious optimism for the Giants clinching their 2nd NL West title in the last 3 years.

Talking Points

  • On May 26th the Giants were 7.5 games back. Since then, they’ve gone 57-39 and reversed this margin +.5 game. Not. Too. Shabby. Conversely, the bums are 43-54 since lighting up the easiest schedule in the west early.
  • Even if LAD went 19-0, the Giants would have to go 13-6, not impossible. If the Giants play 9-10 ball, Dodgers have to go 16-3 to tie
  • Dodgers are 28-35 vs West, Giants are 9 games better

The Week In Review

  • Giants take 2 of 3 from LA, could have been a sweep
  • Giants dominant on road again, winning 12 of their last 15, and 21-7 since break

The BIG Question

ArmChair Manager

  • Would you sit Vogelsong for a start? 9+ ERA in last 6 starts, even he thinks he’s pitching like crap

Tweet At Me, Bruh

  • “Brandon McCarthy @BMcCarthy32: With this sweet new haircut and homemade Bane mask I’m off for a big day of yelling at tourists in Union Square.”
  • CSNBaggs: Well-traveled Scutaro ‘would love to’ re-sign with Giants: When Marco Scutaro first learned of his trade from Co… http://t.co/9fhyVeTb

Our New Favorite Guy

  • Aubrey Huff for a couple of nice PH singles in COL, jovial enthusiasm in the dugout when he hurt his hand slapping Theriot in the ass.
  • Jeff Kent, he’s on survivor yo!
  • Ryan Vogelsong, because Josh Farenbaugh won a contest

We Should Hate This Guy

  • Aaron Rogers for backing out of a bet with Boyz II Men. He was supposed to wear a Niner jersey this week
  • Matt Kemp, because…Matt Kemp.

Why We Will Win It All

  • No collapse in the last 19 games, take care of the Reds, repeat Cody Ross in NLCS and get the Blarney Stone flown over to SF for the World Series?
  • National’s General Manager Mike Rizzo
  • THIRTEEEEEEEEN

 

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What’s Does “Pivotal” Really Mean Anymore?

Where’s the pivot?

Listening to the talking heads on radio, TV, and print can be quite amusing. The word “pivotal” is a cliche thrown around for every game and series against the Dodgers….and the third game of the last Padres series.

Was it pivotal that the Giants set the tone with an opening game victory? Well of course. However, after seeing many tweets out there proclaiming the Giants had won the west, not so fast. I would actually say that today’s loss versus the Dodgers was the pivotal game in the series. Okay, yes it’s the middle game, where pivots tend to be placed, but hear me out. If the Giants had locked down today’s game, which they should have considering Cain was going against Capuano, Kemp was out, they were leading in the 8th, etc., they would have been 6.5 games up heading into what most people would bet is a loss tomorrow with Zito versus Kershaw. Now that Affeldt slumped again in the 9th allowing a triple and double in succession, the Giants find themselves up 4.5, but with the likelihood that they will only be 3.5 ahead after tomorrow. Taking the last two games of this series will give the Dodgers confidence, and as long as they are within 3 games going into the last series against the Giants in LA, they have a chance.

Also, for those of you making fun of the LA trades this year, two of those acquisitions were responsible for the go-ahead run in the 9th. Well, a few million bucks just bought them a 2 game positive swing in the standings. If the Giants are not careful, the trades could still pay off for the Dodgers.

Here are my keys to the rest of the season:

– win tomorrow, win tomorrow, win tomorrow
– deliver the home cookin’!! The Giants are 8-15 in the last 23 at home, yet 19-6 in their last 25 on the road.
– if they split the last 4 games against LA, all they have to do is go somewhere around 11-8 against the rest of the west (19 games), and most likely the Dodgers wouldn’t make up 5 games in the loss column unless they played at an unGodly clip (15-3 or better).
– the Giants have a favorable schedule (SD, AZ, COL), the Dodgers still have 9 games vs the Cardinals, Nats, and Reds.
– take it easy on my liver

Chad
@chadk21

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Episode 36: The Gaylord Perry Episode

Cheater cheater, PED – eater!

Melky, why? Why did you do that? What the crap dude? We’re super mad and we tell you why.

Chad and Willie almost cry over spilled Melk. As Giants fans, we feel betrayed and lied to, and much of the Giants organization feels the same way. It’s not just that he took PEDs, it’s that him and his camp tried to cover it up with a ridiculous fake supplement website plot. WTF WERE YOU THINKING MELKY!! At least the Giants had time to cancel 20,000 t-shirts with his likeness on it.

Chances are that we’ll never see him in black and orange again (well, except maybe the Orioles), even if the Giants make the postseason.

The Week In Review

  • Giants are 4-1 without Melky, suck on that
  • MadBum’s wicked start in LA
  • Scutaro is hitting .330 with SF, 18 RBI in 91 ABs

The Big Question

  • Bochy: “It’s time for Lincecum to be Lincecum”

Armchair Manager

Who should the Giants play in LF? Blanco v righties, Christian v lefties? Reported today that Theriot is taking practice in LF. Belt with Posey at first and Sanchez at C? Xavier Nady? Should they go after anyone? (Francoeur, Cody Ross, Scott Hairston, Rick Ankiel, Burrell?) How may September callups affect this?

Tweet At Me, Bruh

  • ‏@TheFakeESPN: Melky realizes he should have just presented YouPorn instead of fake website as cause of boosted testosterone.
  • ‏@DodgersGM: Juan Uribe’s PEDs didn’t work because he bought them off MelkyCabrera’s fake website.
  • @CSNBaggs: Bochy asked Theriot how he felt after working out in LF: “He said, ‘I’m fine The only thing I’m having trouble with is fly balls.'”

We Should Hate This Guy

  • MELKY FREAKIN’ CABRERA

Why We Will Win It All

  • The Giants somehow make the playoffs, Melky juices while he’s suspended and comes back and carries them to the WS title…or not…
  • This whole Melky thing actually galvanizes the locker room.  The Giants love to feel like underdogs and now they really do.

Remember to follow @Torturecast and us individually. Also, you can like us on Facebook!

Willie Gregory – @williedills

Ben Fried-Lee – @friedduck

Chad King – @chadk21

 

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Spoiled Melk

This news doesn’t taste good (from gotbrainy.com)

The Melk has spoiled.

In a magical season for Melky Cabrera, a career year, All Star game MVP, the adoration of Melkmen and Melkmaids, and one that has helped propel the Giants to the top of the division, the team and the public were notified today that he tested positive for testosterone, a banned substance.

Not that it matters much, but Melky immediately admitted he took a substance “he knew he shouldn’t have,” and apologized to the team and the fans. It’s certainly better than other players that have denied use of PEDs, attributing their positive test to a supplement, or even worse, a delayed FedEx delivery (looking at you, Braun). Personally, it’s not much of a reprieve of the blow the Giants will take, and their chances of pushing towards the playoffs. Fifty games is fifty games, no matter if you deny it or accept responsibility. There is no additional punishment for denial.

The Commissioner’s office has also confirmed that he will be eligible after 4 games into the postseason, should the Giants make it. So, if they do make the divisional round, he could see action in games 6 & 7 and afterwards, or potentially 5-7 if they have a one game wild card playoff.

Although this news cracked the wires less than an hour ago, there’s already twitter chatter about how this will affect his contract next year. Many stating that obviously he made a mistake not negotiating a contract with the Giants earlier in the year, which is predicated upon the fact that his monster year will garner up to or over $15 million per year on the open market. Sorry to say, Melky, that number was at least cut in half, in my opinion. It’s not only because of your new record of testing positive, but now there will obviously be questions about how the testosterone improved your performance. Assuming he’s off of it next year, how will his numbers change? Will he be a .350 hitter with 15 bombs? Since this is a career year for him, and it happens to be during a time he was taking PEDs, I would say, probably not.

That doubt will now linger in the minds of the Giants front office, the other 29 clubs, and especially Giants fans, much like when you gamble with a carton of milk that’s a few days past its expiration date with the “sniff” test.

Chad King

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