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Post-Trade Deadline Thoughts
The Giants were sellers at the deadline. Gone are Doval, Tyler Rodgers and Yaz. The new faces are Butto (from the Mets for Rodgers), who is the only one on the current roster, and 7 players who reported to the River Cats. Was this a good deal? We won’t know for a while (and maybe not until next year). This is Buster building for the future and trusting in what he has now. Does that mean he has given up on this season? According to him and the rest of the brain trust even though the G-Men are in 3rd place in the NL West, 9 games behind LA, they still believe that with a successful August and September there is a shot at a wild card. Stranger things have happened and, as Hunter Pence pointed out, in 2010 they were further behind than this team, made the playoffs and we all know what happened then.
It’s August and we all wonder what is coming next.
The last three series have been, shall we say, complicated, which was the Avril Lavigne song played on the loudspeakers in Pittsburgh last night when the Bucs scored the winning run on a 9th inning hit and a contested slide into home plate around a tag by Bailey. That resulted in a series loss to the Pirates after taking a series against the second-place Mets (but after being swept by those same Mets and Pirates at home at the end of July).
The question is always which Giants team will show up – the one where Devers has a three-hit day, Casey hits a grand slam and the defense is tight, or the one where the pitching melts down, no one can get bat on the ball, and Devers lets a ball go between his legs at first base for a double.
It’s a challenge to watch this team because it seems like it changes every day. For example, there is a lot of good baseball to watch when Casey Schmitt, Matt Chapman, Logan Webb, Patrick Bailey and Jung Hoo Lee get going and a lot of angst when Verlander melts down (although he was good yesterday), Ramos can’t find the ball and loses focus in left field and we all wonder where he played his Little League Baseball.
The time has come for Buster to stabilize this team. Its August and the boys need to lighten up, play like they can, enjoy the game and bring us all the pleasure of summer baseball in a stadium where the sun shines, the crab sandwiches are crisp, the wine stand is stocked, the lemonade flows, the Ghirardelli sundaes melt in the summer sun and, in the late innings when the wind and fog descend on the park, the Irish coffee beckons.
Personally, I will relax and enjoy the summer. The G-Men have been on this roller coaster ride for decades, and it will not stop now. Buster, we trust you to bring out the best in the current crew and make a late-season run. GO GIANTS!
The upcoming series – Nationals, Padres, and Rays, Oh My!
The Nats are also in a rebuilding mode (they are last in the NL East, 19.5 games back). Expect this series to be a lot of fun because no one has anything to lose. The Nats just fired their manager and their GM and may have the worst offense in baseball, which is exactly why you can expect them to come into Oracle Park and play like the 27 Yankees.
The Padres are 3 games behind LA and headed for a wild card. We know this team and we know how tough they can be. If the G-Men can derail them, that will be a major step in the right direction for Buster’s wild card hopes. This series promises to be a dogfight.
The Rays are struggling in 4th place in the NL East with a 48% winning percentage and on a losing streak. The offense is a major concern, scoring one or fewer runs in their last 4 games (sound familiar?) and they are looking to their young players for relief, which we all hope they don’t get in the cold confines of Oracle Park.
On the Board ready for pick up are:
FRI 8/8 – (7:15) Nationals: (1) – I’m going
SAT 8/9 – (1:05) Nationals: (4) – Coca Cola Aloha Shirt
MON 8/11 – (6:45) Padres: (2) – I’m going
TUES 8/12 – (6:45) Padres: (4)
SUN 8/17 – (1:05) Rays: (1) I’m going
Let the torture continue.
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
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THE PROTOCOL: The firm has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. These are awesome seats directly below the press box and 25 rows behind the home plate on the left side behind the screen. It is foul ball territory for left-handed batters so bring your glove – I have collected 22 foul balls myself over 23 years and am looking for more. If we don’t use all the tickets ourselves (or clients and friends of the firm don't claim them by calling me and reserving a game), then my next step is to give the tickets TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO GETS BACK TO ME PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE SERIOUS. If you ask for the tickets and don't use them, you will be taken off the list unless there is a seriously good reason. There will be a waitlist.
When there are four seats available (we split up a lot of games) we will allocate the tickets two and two if the first people back just want two tickets. You can also go for four and might get them. I'm the Czar, my call.
Oh, and BTW, The Czar found the original Hinman & Carmichael brick from 2000 (after looking for it every year since 2000) and found H&C’s Gotham Club Founders Bat! If you are on the patio, or in the Club, look for the symbols of baseball!
