That's it for the Champs

7 games back.

Losing 2 must win games.

Scoring a grand total of 3 runs in the final 2 games.

It looked like a magical repeat season was going to happen in San Francisco, but I suppose it was the Law of Averages kicking in.

All of those walk off wins and 3-2 nail biters went their way all through 2010 and the first four months of this season. Now they broke the other way.

This team isn't going to make up 7 games. That's a week of games with 3 weeks to play.

Best keep this core together, let Beltran go and hope Posey is back and can hit in 2012.

Anyone who had the Diamondbacks winning the west, I want to hear from you.

Giants fans... it's time to shut up about the Buster Posey injury

Let me get this out of the way at the top.
The Giants are my second favorite team. (Oh I'm sorry... that would the DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPION Giants are my second favorite team.)

I basically made a video love letter to them this off season.

I am raising one of my sons as a Giants fan.

I would love to see them win the West and the NL Pennant again. And short of a Red Sox - Giants World Series, wouldn't mind seeing them repeating.

But the reaction of the Scott Cousins collision is getting to be absurd.

Yes. It was a devastating injury. I get it.
Yes. I understand the Giants lineup isn't deep enough to withstand a loss like this.

But a lot of Giant fans are crossing a strange and frankly annoying line.

Some of my friends have posted this picture where they are studying the trajectory of Scott Cousins path to the plate.

They are literally being some sort of a half assed Jim Garrison with this analysis.

I keep waiting for a friend of mine to insist there was a second slider and Scott Cousins was just a patsy.


Yes it sucks that Posey got hurt. I don't think a bang - bang play at the plate in extra innings was part of a conspiracy.


Which brings me to Brian Sabean. It's one thing for some drunk knucklehead to call the collision premeditated and cause for retribution. It's another thing when the General Manager of the Giants does it on the record.

In the wake of the stupid violence that went on against a Giants fan this year, isn't it ironic that the call of retribution came FROM the Giants' front office?

The injury last week put a damper on the year long love fest that has been the Giants World Series defense. But virtually EVERYTHING went right last year... this is some adversity.

The main thing is to fix the roster now and get a player who can replace Posey behind the plate and another bat. Now I wonder whose job that is...

SABEAN! So quit putting vendettas out there and do your damn job! Being the loon who claims collisions at the plate are "malicious" and the rest of the nonsense that foamed out of your mouth on KNBR might not exactly put you at a strong position to negotiate with other teams.

You better hope you don't have to make a deal with the Marlins!
Act like you've been there before, because YOU HAVE!

And finally a message to some other Giant fans...

Then there are my many Giant fan friends who can't stop bringing it up in mid conversation.

Remember how Lily Taylor kept writing songs about the boyfriend who dumped her in the movie Say Anything? Everyone was just super annoyed that she couldn't shut up about the guy.

That's what a lot of Giants fans are turning into.
The first few days. OK. But how long is this going to go on? The rest of the year?

Do you want to know the best revenge?
Winning.

And guess what the Giants are doing?
Winning.

They are the first place Giants. They've had a few dramatic wins in just the last few days. They are getting contributions from rookie Brandon Crawford and big power behind Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff.

And look at the Division they play in. The Dodgers are a joke. The Padres are rebuilding. Do you REALLY think the Diamondbacks are going to do this all year? And so far, the Giants have won 6 of 9 against Colorado and they go after them again today.

Even with NO Posey, the Giants have as good a shot as any team in the National League to win the pennant with the exception of Philadelphia. And guess what? The Phillies are not invincible.

Put the Giants staff in a short series against the Marlins? The Braves? The Rockies? The Reds? The Brewers? The Cardinals? Wouldn't you pick the Giants every time?

And speaking of the Cardinals, remember 2006?

They not only lost Mark Mulder but they lost their closer Jason Isringhausen before the playoffs. They had to slap together a playoff staff that included rejects (recently released Jeff Weaver) and untested rookies like Adam Wainwright.

Did they whine? Did they bitch and moan?

Nope.
They shut their mouth, injected their HGH and won the Damn World Series.

Take a page from that Giants.
Say "Yeah that sucked... but guess what? We're going to win anyway."

Because right now? You are bordering on Miss Havisham's territory.

Yeah that's right. I made a Charles Dickens reference in a baseball post.

And I have great expectations myself for this Giants team (see what I did?)

Your team is the defending champion.
Your team's name is the Giants.

Right now Giants fans, you are acting like neither a champion nor a giant.

Giants... Better make a move sooner than later

The Giants offense, save for a grand slam by rookie Brandon Crawford, looks beyond dormant in the wake of the Buster Posey injury.

Suddenly this season that was filled with walk off hits and post World Series mania could take an ugly turn.

In fact it already has.
The DIAMONDBACKS are in first place as I type this.

Read that sentence again.
How did THAT happen that Arizona is in first?

(More on that later.)

Make a deal, Giants. Give the team a positive bolt. I already suggested Jose Reyes (I think it is a no brainer to bring bring in Reyes.)

But make SOME move now... Something to bring a little positivity back to China Basin.

Jose Reyes should replace Buster Posey

The Giants lost their young budding superstar catcher Buster Posey to injuries for the rest of the season? Naturally the Mets shortstop should take his place.

I do not literally mean take Posey’s position of course. The Giants need to fill the catcher’s position but that is a short order. Eli Whiteside is a capable catcher and Bengie Molina, the man who Buster Posey made expendable, can be signed as a free agent. Both can split time behind the plate and call a good game. Maybe even Fresno’s Jackson Williams can catch a few games for the parent club.

Getting someone to squat and tell the pitchers what to throw is not an issue. His bat will be sorely missed. A team this offensively challenged can’t afford to simply remove Posey from the lineup. The combination of Molina, Whiteside and Williams can’t make up for his production.

But Jose Reyes can.

The Mets shortstop is healthy and contributing in the lineup. He leads the league in hits and triples. He has 17 steals and his OPS is in the .800s. And he is doing it in a miserable situation. If he could do that in the poisonous Mets culture, imagine how he could flourish in the positive environment of the defending World Champions!

The Mets are imploding, sinking in the standings, infighting with the management and selling off chunks of the team.

When a team is trying to find new investors (or maybe a new owner) and losing tens of millions of dollars, wouldn’t it behoove them to start cutting payroll? Especially when the team is a losing team in an empty stadium. Hell, Wilpon has already said his team stinks. Why not start dumping the bodies?

If the Mets can get two good prospects for Reyes, whose contract expires at the end of the season, then it makes sense for them. Getting two players who have already passed much of the minor league gauntlet might be a surer bet than the two draft picks the Mets would get after Reyes’ inevitable free agent departure. (Why would he want to come back to the Amazin’ Mess.)

The Giants are in a position to trade from strength. It is always risky to deal pitching, but with a rotation of Linecum, Cain, Bumgarner, Sanchez and even Vogelsong, the Giants have depth in the rotation. Wilson, Ramirez, Lopez, Romo and Mota give them the deep bullpen. If ANY team can trade a pitching prospect or two, it is the Giants.

Maybe dealing top prospect Zack Wheeler would be a stretch. And maybe lefty reliever Alex Hinshaw, who has some big league experience, might not be enticing. But first baseman prospect Brandon Belt could be intriguing for the Mets. 23 year old control artist Eric Surkamp could be spared. And slick fielding young shortstop Brandon Crawford won’t be needed. I am sure a package could be slapped together.

And it could even be easier if the Giants ever agreed to take on any more of the Mets payroll. Jason Bay is owed $35 million over the next two years. Johan Santana is owed $50 million. Send one of those contracts to China Basin and the accountants in Queens would be much obliged. Granted, the only stadium worse for Jason Bay’s talents than CitiField is AT&T Park. But imagine if Santana comes back to form? But I digress. This discussion is about Jose Reyes.

And the Giants have a spot waiting for him. Sorry, Miguel Tejada. The experiment to capture lightning in a bottle again after the post season success of Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe simply isn’t happening for the 2011 Giants infield. The bat speed is not there. The power is not there. The range is not there. He is aging the way 37 year olds USED to age.

Replace the lumbering Tejada with the spark plug of Reyes, rejuvenated after his parole from Queens and suddenly the Giants line up is a little more electric. He has gap to gap power and can stretch doubles into triples, making San Francisco the ideal park for his offense.

And playing for a potential post season run could not hurt his free agent prospects.

Deal a little of tomorrow for a chance to repeat today, Giants. You don’t need a catcher who can hit. You need a player who can hit.

Make the call. The Mets are DYING to shed some payroll.

Buster Posey is hurt. Naturally I see the glass half empty

I already talked about this today.
When I talked about Pedroia and the Red Sox, I said that I always expect the worst news.
And almost always the player comes right back.

So now I see Buster Posey, a player the Giants can't survive without, being carried off of the field.
And my first thought is "Man, such a promising career has been cut short."

He'll probably play on Friday.

Rookie of the Year Synergy Happens Once Every 3 Decades

Neftali Feliz and Buster Posey won the Rookie of the Year for 2010 and frankly the picks are spot on.

They both had great years, both look like future stars and both sparked their teams to the post season.

Voters made their selection before the post season began, so they had no idea that Feliz’s Rangers and Posey’s Giants were going to meet in the World Series. It was a nice coincidence. And it got me thinking… how often has the Rookie of the Year been awarded to players who faced off against each other in the World Series?

And we here at Sully Baseball can’t just have an idle thought like that.

The Rookie of the Year was first awarded in 1947. Jackie Robinson won it for the NL Champion Dodgers. Alvin Dark won it in 1948 for the NL Champion Braves.

Starting in 1949, both the American League and National League were naming their Rookie of the Year.

And since then, both rookies have faced off three times in the World Series.

1951

WILLIE MAYS - Giants GIL McDOUGALD - Yankees

Gil McDougald of the Yankees played against Willie Mays of the New York Giants. McDougald homered and helped the Yankees win. Mays struggled to a .182 average and no extra base hits.

1981
FERNANDO VALENZUELA - Dodgers DAVE RIGHETTI - Yankees

Dodger ace Fernando Valenzuela took his mania to the World Series against Dave Righetti and the Yankees. The two squared off in Game 3. Ron Cey hit a three run homer off of Righetti who only lasted 2 innings and got a no decision. Bob Watson and Rick Cerone homered off of Valenzuela but he settled down and went all 9 innings for the Series turning win.

2010

BUSTER POSEY - Giants NEFTALI FELIZ - Rangers

Feliz shut down San Francisco in Game 3, giving the Rangers their first World Series victory. But Posey and the Giants had the last laugh. He hit a home run in Game 4 to put the score out of reach and went 2-4 in the Game 5 clincher.


Don’t feel badly for Rookie of the Year, World Series runners up Dave Righetti and Willie Mays. They both had good Octobers this year.

Rags?
He finally got a World Series ring as a coach for the Giants this year.
And Willie?

Well he got to be part of the World Series celebration.

Stay tuned to see if the 2040 American League and National League Rookies of the Year match up.

Posey was out

Hey, I'm THRILLED the Giants won... but there is a sour taste in that they won 1-0... and the only run was scored by Buster Posey who was in scoring position because he stole second base...

And he was out.

The replay showed it.

Very easily fixable. The game pauses after a stolen base. The replay ump could have said "Hey! He was out. I just saw it."

Not that it was important... in a playoff game that ended 1-0.

Even the announcers said that second base umpire Paul Emmel wasn't in the right position to make the call.

It's not his fault that he wasn't in the prime place to call a stolen base with a catcher on first... but he missed the call.

Not an opinion. A fact.
And it lead to the only run in a playoff game.

I am still waiting for a logical reason to NOT have instant replay.

Stay focused, Giants

The Giants won their biggest game of the year yesterday.



They were just a few innings from going 1-9 against the Padres and falling 4 1/2 games out.



They were a few innings from losing a series at home against the very team they should be chasing down.



But they came back, played smart baseball, Posey took an extra base and AT&T Park went nuts.



Congratulations. Now dust yourself off and do it again today.



This is what makes baseball the greatest sport of all and the most pressure packed in some ways. If a team wins a football game like this, there's a whole week to get ready for the next game. Basketball and hockey usually have a rest game.



In baseball? Yesterday's extra innings thriller is already in the "What have you done for me lately?" file.



Lincecum is on the mound. A loss today and it will still be a series loss at home to the team the Giants are trying to catch.



A win and suddenly the Giants will be 1 1/2 games out...3 back in the loss column and tied with the most wins in the NL.



Focus... focus..