Manny in Dodger Blue -- for 2 months

The Dodgers finally pulled the trigger on a 3-way deal with the Pirates and Bosox. They'll rent Manny for two months.

In my fantasy, I'm hoping he goes on the DL after Tommy Lasorda stabs him with a spaghetti fork for cutting in line at the buffet

Tim Flannery = stupider than stupid

"To call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I've known sheep that could outwit you. I've worn dresses with higher IQs." -- Wanda Gershwitz in "A Fish Called Wanda"

I'm still stunned at the stupidity of the Giants third base coach, who decided to send Jose Castillo -- not exactly Rickey Henderson when it comes to baserunning -- home from second with two outs in the 9th on Randy Winn's short single to left. That's how the Giants preserved Chad Billingsley's first MLB shutout and kept their scoreless string of 23 innings alive.

With two out in the 9th and the Giants down 4-0 on the road at Chavez Latrine, what's the point of killing the only rally all night -- when the Giants need at least two more hits to even tie the game? This is the kind of coaching gaffe that people call "stupid" in co-ed softball games. My guess is that Flannery had a dinner or drinking date that he wanted to go to. What a brainless dingbat! I realize that it's still a bit of a longshot that the Giants could tie but Castillo was actually the only guy in the lineup to put good wood on the ball all night and Winn's single was hit reasonably hard. So it's not completely out of line to think that maybe the Giants could get two more hits, particularly with Molina and Rowand due up next.

It was so stupid that even Flannery called it stupid. Who cares? I'm not impressed and I want him fired. As long as the Giants are making their fans suffer by hiring incompetents to coach, why can't the team hire someone who actually played for the Giants?

Speaking of Molina, it looks like the Yankees moved on from trying to get him and traded instead for Pudge. So now the Giants are stuck with a fast-fading 34-year-old catcher when they could have cashed in some prospects. The best thing I can say about this horrific game -- we're one day closer to Brian Sabean being fired.

Speaking of stupidity, it turns out that the Dodgers were interested in Manny, but got nowhere because Ned Colletti's perceived as a running a front office that's "a mess," according to Newsday

Sabean for Beane?

The SF Chron's Ray Ratto, who I've criticized in the past, has turned out an entertaining column that says the Giants and A's would be well-served if they swapped GMs. I'm sure that Sabean could get the A's screwed up in short order and Beane would do a great job for the Orange and Black.

A disgusting shutout by a third-rate pitcher

Tonight's disgraceful loss at the Ravine was the eighth shutout thrown at the Giants this year as they got only five hits off the marginal Jason Johnson, who hadn't won a game in two years. The offense consisted of two singles by Winn, two by Aurilia and one by Rowand. Winn killed one rally by getting thrown out by a mile at third on an overthrow. The best thing I can say about this one -- Brian Sabean's one day closer to getting fired.

Matt Cain was also the losing pitcher last month in this 4-0 shutout by Rich Harden and the A's.

With the trade deadline a day away, the SF Chron's Henry Schulman's making it look like Sabean's not willing to trade anyone -- even the 34-year-old Molina, even though the Giants drafted a catcher (Buster Posey) with their first pick. Posey still hasn't been signed. Sabean's an incompetent and a coward.

A bit shaky, indeed

Giants Win takes it hat off to Andrew Baggarly for continuing to blog about John Bowker during today's 5.4 earthquake from his hotel room in Pasadena. He was making the very good point that you really can't play all the rookies all the time --

John Bowker is a good example of what the Giants are facing. The team took infield after batting practice yesterday, something that teams phased out in the 1980s but the Giants plan to do at least once a series. Bowker worked on all sorts of plays and threw to bases. But when Juan Pierre put down a bunt in front of the plate in the fifth inning, Bowker made a bad decision and charged it. It was an easy scoop and throw for Bengie Molina, but he had to hurry with Pierre running and didn’t have time to look up to make sure someone was covering first base. (Really, he had no reason to suspect anything else.) So what do the Giants do? Take infield again today? Make everyone run laps? Get J.T. Snow on the first Southworst flight out of ….

Then the quake hits --

Holy crap, as I’m typing this, pretty significant earthquake happening. I’m in a hotel in Pasadena. Still going. Shoud I get under a desk? Wow. OK, totally lost my train of thought. More later.

UPDATE: Thanks for the concern, I’m fine. Pretty good jolt and roll. At the ballpark now. Nearly the entire team is on the field for early work. Emmanuel Burriss is taking fly balls in the outfield.

Giants luck out -- so what?

Sweet sweet sweet watching beachball-obsessed Dodger fans suffer the indignity of watching the Dodgers gag away a winnable game.

The Giants got the benefit of several close calls tonight at the Ravine, such as Martin's tag on Bowker and Kemp's catch in RF. The fact that the Giants may not have deserved the win makes it all the sweeter. On the way home, the Dodger Talk guys complained some more about how part of the Dodgers' problem are because JD Drew opted out of his deal and decided to 1. play for more money and 2. play for a team that had a decent shot of playing in the World Series. I wanted to call up and say, "Can I send you some cheese and crackers to go with that whine?" but I figured that they wouldn't let me on the air.

Adios, Richie?

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that the Cards are interested in Aurilia. The paper's list of possible Card targets includes Brian Fuentes, Ron Mahay, George Sherrill, Eddie Guardado, Will Ohman and Brian Giles.

Giants ready to deal?

Take this with a big grain of salt: MLB Trade rumors -- the same site that gave out the speculation after the All-Star break that the Yanks were moving toward signing Bonds -- is now reporting that the Yanks want Winn and Molina and that the Giants are ready to deal. Aurilia and Walker are also mentioned with this caveat --

It is anyone's guess as to why anyone in their right mind would be interested in acquiring Walker, but GM Brian Sabean could insist that he be included in any deal. Patience with Walker is growing extremely thin, especially after blowing what would have been wunderkind Tim Lincecum's 12th win. Lincecum struck out a career-high 13 without issuing a walk, exiting after the 7th inning with the Giants leading 3-2.

Zito gets the lead back

Barry Zito proved again today that he's the worst free agent signing ever, getting hammered by the Dbacks -- who aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut -- for six runs and five walks in five innings. So he's now tied his own record for losses.

The most disgusting game stat of today has to be the Giants scoring just two runs on -- count 'em -- 14 hits, including four by Fred Lewis. I've said it again and again and again -- this lineup is as badly constructed as any you can find. Winn, Molina and Rowand have to be among the worst 3-4-5 combo in MLB right now.

Zito now leads the MLB in losses with 13. He'd been tied at 12 with Carlos Silva of Seattle and Joe Blanton of Oakland/Philadelphia.

A Sabean success story

Here's one good thing that Brian Sabean's done -- his protege Ned Colletti has managed to do as bad a job as Sabean as the Dodgers' GM, what with the signings of Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones. Bill Shaikin of the LA Times says Colletti's on thin ice, even though the Dodgers are in playoff contention.

And Peter Gammons spreads some nasty speculation about the structure of the Dodgers deal for Casey Blake (thanks to Dan!) -- ESPN's Peter Gammons blogs, "The reason the Indians were able to get Carlos Santana, a very high-level prospect, in the Casey Blake deal is that the Indians took on all of Blake's remaining $2 million salary. Several general managers around baseball wonder whether L.A. doesn't have cash flow problems."

Tyler torches away a win

Tyler Walker gas-canned another potential victory tonight in a 5-3 loss, which featured 13 strikeouts by Lincecum. I'd say Walker's trade value -- which wasn't that great in the first place -- just plunged. I'm impressed that he fessed up, though. I get the feeling it won't be the last time.

Deal or No Deal

SF Chron's Henry Schulman reports on Giants holding firm in the trade market. I guess Brian Sabean is trying to drive the prices higher for Bengie Molina and Randy Winn by saying he'll only listen to "good" offers and he wants to win next year -- whatever that means. I guess he means the offer needs to be as good as the Durham trade, which didn't evoke too much negative reaction.

With a 43-59 record, the Giants season projects to 64-98. The team would need to go on an extended winning streak to contend in this unimpressive division. Hasan at Orange Black and Blue had a great comment about all this before tonight's game --

Call me crazy, but I think the Giants will sweep and stand pat at the deadline under the auspices of being contenders. I remember when that was a good thing.

The Newark Star Ledger says the Yanks may want Winn.

The Count weighs in on Lincecum

Rather than discuss tonight's return to reality -- a 10-2 thrashing by the Dbacks, who knocked Sanchez out in the 3rd -- let's look forward to Tim Lincecum's start Saturday. Chris Haft at MLB.com interviewed John Mountefusco about how much he enjoyed pitching for the Orange and Black and concluded with a nice comment about watching The Franchise pitch:

"He's got some great stuff," Montefusco said. "If he can keep the ball down, he can be even better than he is now."

He may not win a lot more games, though. After scoring 12 runs in the first two games against the Nats, the offense has gone stone cold again. The 3-4-5 hitters were 0-for-11 tonight and are 2-for-20 for the last two games. Aneel at Trapped in LA had a nice statistical tidbit on Tuesday when Molina homered twice -- * The streak is over! Bengie Molina’s two home runs last night (from the #4 spot) were the first by a #3 or #4 Giants hitter in 41 games. No team has endured a longer streak of homerless games from its #3 and #4 hitters since 1980. Go Giants!

The Giants have scored 405 runs -- less than anyone except the Nats, Pads and Mariners. Nice going, Brian Sabean!

Collusion on Bonds may unravel

Hank Steinbrenner says the Yanks will discuss employing Barry (seeing as Richie Sexson is probably not the answer). And according to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, the MLBPA will file a grievance if he stays unsigned. Shaikin says it will be difficult to defend against the collusion allegation.

Matt Cain guts it out

Matt made do with a single run and shut out the Nats this afternoon in one of the quickest games of the year. That gave the Giants a season sweep of the Nats -- three in SF and four in DC. Unfortunately, the Giants are 36-58 against everyone else. It's the first shutout thrown by a Giants pitcher since Noah Lowry did it over two years ago.

And for the second game in a row, the Giants came up clutch in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth. Here's how:

San Francisco -- Bottom of 8th
Tim Redding pitching for Washington
S Holm singled to left.
E Velez ran for S Holm.
M Cain sacrificed to pitcher, E Velez to second.
D Roberts singled to center, E Velez scored.
D Roberts caught stealing second, catcher to second.
J Castillo struck out swinging.
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors

Washington - Top of 9th
Matt Cain pitching for San Francisco
J Flores hit for T Redding.
J Flores struck out swinging.
W Harris reached on infield single to second.
C Guzman doubled to left, W Harris to third.
R Zimmerman flied out to right.
A Kearns flied out to right.

A little blast from the past

"That was really a lot of fun" -- 50ish fan saying goodbye to his seatmates after tonight's game, which was only the sixth win in the last 20 home games for the Giants.

Serious fun tonight at the yard as Rich Aurilia and Omar Vizquel recaptured the magic that made them frontline players in their primes. Rich had one of the great at bats of the year, fouling off 4 2-strike pitches in the 8th before blasting a double into gap to change the score from 4-3 Nats to 5-4 Giants. And Omar has apparently remembered how to hit again. He had three hits, the final one coming in the 8th to drive Rich home and make it 6-4.

How long has it been since the Orange and Black won back to back? Nearly a month, when they hammered the A's in Oakland. How long has it been since they've won more than two in a row? Try seven weeks, when they completed a four-game sweep of the Nats. That's the one thing the Giants have done right this year -- they're 6-0 against the Nats, a team that's apparently even crappier than the Giants.

A great night for the Orange and Black

As a Giants fan, Tuesday night was nearly ideal -- decent pitching by Zito, two homers by Molina, an RBI by Omar, fine defense all night and a 100 mph heater by Wilson to close the game. Also notable was ex-Dodger Paul Lo Duca looking awful. I was asked by my nephew at one point why people were booing Lo Duca and told him, "He used to be a Dodger, so he's tainted."

It was only the fifth win in the last 19 home games. The SF Chron's Henry Schulman reports that the useless Dave Roberts will start tonight. Let's hope we can fob him and his $6 million salary for 2009 off on the Bosox.

Andrew Baggarly of the Merc-News reports that Vizquel, Aurilia and Taschner are being showcased.

Frandsen may be back in September

Intriguing news via the San Jose Merc that Kevin Frandsen may be back by the end of the season.

I always thought he had enough upside at age 25 to be at least a good backup. Maybe we'll find out sooner rather than 2009.

Omar may stay in SF

Henry Schulman of the SF Chron points out that there may not be much point to trading Omar since there isn't much of a market for shortstops who hit .160.

Orlando Cepeda immortalized

Five Giants on their way to be part of the 1962 All-Star team -- Felipe Alou, Jim Davenport, Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda. Photo by Hunter.

The Giants have announced that a statue of Orlando Cepeda will be unveiled in September at the Second Street entrance to Mays Field AKA AT&T Park.

This is what's known as taking advantage of your assets. In other words, when you have lemons, make lemonade. In this case, what the Giants have is a glorious past. Cepeda won the MVP in 1961, then got one of the key ABs in that historic rally on Oct. 3, 1962 in Game 3 of the playoff against the Dodgers, who choked away a World Series berth in a few minutes. After 50 years of fandom, this is still my favorite inning:

Top of the 9th, Giants Batting, Behind 2-4, Ed Roebuck facing 9-1-2
Matty Alou pinch hits for Don Larsen batting 9th
M Alou Single to RF (Line Drive)
H Kuenn Groundout: SS-2B/Forceout at 2B
Willie McCovey pinch hits for Chuck Hiller batting 2nd
W McCovey Walk; Kuenn to 2B; Ernie Bowman pinch runs for McCovey
F Alou Walk; Kuenn to 3B; Bowman to 2B
W Mays Single to P (Line Drive); Kuenn Scores; Bowman to 3B; Alou to 2B
Stan Williams replaces Ed Roebuck pitching
O Cepeda Flyball: RF/Sacrifice Fly; Bowman Scores; Alou to 3B
E Bailey Wild Pitch; Mays to 2B; Intentional Walk
J Davenport Walk; Alou Scores; Mays to 3B; Bailey to 2B
Ron Perranoski replaces Stan Williams pitching
J Pagan Reached on E4 (Ground Ball); Mays Scores
Bob Nieman pinch hits for Matty Alou
B Nieman Strikeout Swinging
4 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 3 LOB. Giants 6, Dodgers 4.

Bottom of the 9th, Dodgers Batting, Behind 4-6, Billy Pierce facing 1-2-3

M Wills Groundout: 3B-1B

J Gilliam Flyball: CF

Lee Walls pinch hits for Larry Burright batting 3rd

L Walls Lineout: CF

0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Giants 6, Dodgers 4.

RIP Jerome Holtzman

The author of "No Cheering in the Press Box" has passed away at the age of 82.

Bruce Bochy is a real idiot

I just got the postgame alert from the Giants web site about today's 7-4 nightmare loss. The best thing I can say is there was a nice comeback effort with two runs in each of the last 2 innings. As much as I despair about this team (now 40-58), it's always a pleasure to see them not roll over and die at the end of games.

What I'm baffled about is why Lincecum, who's now 11-3 as a result, was still pitching in the 7th -- long enough to rack up 121 pitches. I'd taken the dog for a walk after I saw Tim had thrown 110 pitches after 6, assuming that while I was gone, the pen would gas-can the game away. Instead, here's how the top of 7th nightmare went ...

Tim Lincecum pitching for San Francisco
R Weeks hit by pitch.
J Hardy singled to center, R Weeks to second.
R Braun homered to left, R Weeks and J Hardy scored.
A Hinshaw relieved T Lincecum.
P Fielder struck out looking.
C Hart popped out to second.
R Branyan flied out to center.
3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors

Look, I'm no genius but even I could figure out that after the HBP, you pull the guy. Then Hardy singles and you have an All-Star at the plate. WHY WAS TIM STILL PITCHING TO BRAUN??????????????? What is Bochy trying to prove, other than the fact that he can mis-handle the best player on the team? It's not as if there aren't plenty of guys out in the pen -- including Geno Espineli, who entered in the eighth and became the 12th Giants' player this season to make his major league debut.

The AP points out that the Giants have the worst home record in MLB at 17-30, including 4-14 in the last 18. It looks like it's time for me to make another trip to Mays Field, where I'm 2-2 this year. I'll try not to boo Bochy but I am pondering up showing up in a T-shirt saying "Fire Bochy and Sabean now."

Well, now that I've gotten that off my chest, it's time to project how the Giants will wind up the season -- 61-101. Yes, the recent cold streak has them on pace to become the second SF Giants team to lose 100 games. What a fine way to celebrate the 50th anniversary! It's a good thing that Mike Krukow's in the booth to provide perspective on what it's like to be on a team (the 1985 Giants) that loses that many games.

Ray Durham's gone

ESPN's reporting that it's a done deal. Durham for Steve Hammond and Darren Ford is what Buster Olney is saying. Ray's been on the team longer than anyone, going back to the start of 2003. The original four-year signing was pretty decent but the subsequent two-year deal was a disaster last year and was a major factor in keeping the Giants out of contention in 2007. That leaves Kevin Correia as the longest serving Giant, also back to 2003 when he came up in July.

But Rich Aurilia is in his 11th season as a Giant.

Durham deal near with Brewers?

Both the SF Chron and the Milwaukee papers are reporting that a deal for Ray could come as early as today. Taschner may also be gone. It looks like the Giants will get outfielder Darren Ford, 22.

"This is a very irritating inning if you're a Giants fan"

That was Duane Kuiper's reaction to Keichi Yabu being pulled off the mound -- amid plenty of booing -- after helping the Brewers go from a 4-1 deficit to a 5-4 lead. Here Jonathan Sanchez was set to get his 9th win and ran out of gas. Then Keichi Yabu gas-canned the game away. the Giants middle relief is a monument to Brian Sabean's incompetence, as if you didn't know already.

Here's how the inning went --


Jonathan Sanchez pitching for San Francisco
P Fielder lined out to left.
C Hart hit a ground rule double to deep left.
B Hall walked.
M Cameron walked, C Hart to third, B Hall to second.
K Yabu relieved J Sanchez.
C Hart scored, B Hall to third on wild pitch by K Yabu, B Hall scored, M Cameron safe at second on throwing error by catcher B Molina.
J Kendall hit by pitch.
C Counsell hit for B Sheets.
C Counsell flied out to center.
R Weeks doubled to deep left center, M Cameron and J Kendall scored.
J Hardy walked.
O Matos relieved K Yabu.
R Braun flied out to right.
4 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors

So why is this guy still pitching for the Giants in crucial situations? With the team at 40-57, why aren't we seeing as many young guys up from the minors as possible. Why hasn't this 38-year-old guy who's no damn good anymore been DFA'd? Henry Schulman points out that he's been pathetic lately -- The tying and go-ahead runs scored on Rickie Weeks' two-out double off Yabu, who is not the same pitcher he was before a June 22 game in Kansas City. Starting with that 11-10 Giants defeat, Yabu has allowed 18 hits, three walks, five hit batters, two wild pitches and 11 runs in his last 8 1/3 innings.

Brian Wilson, Levitator

During the All-Star break, the Giants closer gave a fine interview recently to the NY Daily News. You may have heard that he claims he can levitate. He also ends it on a great note --

TB: You talked the other day about the FIFA video game. Have you ever played as yourself in a video game?
BW: Yeah, I played one game. I played the San Diego day game during our season, in the morning, and I came in and I blew the game, and later that night I played the real game and blew it. So I threw the game away - this is never happening again. And it didn’t.

"Let's go, Giants!"

That's what fans were chanting in the bottom of the 9th inning tonight at the tail end of a humiliating 9-1 loss to the Brewers. They were loud enough that Duane Kuiper noted it during the broadcast and said, "God bless 'em." He and Dave Fleming interspersed coverage of the 9th -- which saw Fred Lewis and Ivan Ochoa go down before Winn got a single and Molina popped out to right -- by discussing the Crazy Crab promotion and mentioning the delicious crab sandwiches available at the park. "I could have eaten 12 of them," Fleming said. I was getting hungry just listening to him. Kuiper said the Crazy Crab bobbleheads were probably too scary-looking for young children.

When a team's this bad (40-56), what else can the announcers do?

I might as well go through my usual Brian "Stupid" Sabean bashing, too. With only a dozen days left before the trade deadline, Sabean hasn't managed to unload any of the Giants vets -- even though Durham, Aurilia, Taschner, Winn and Molina would likely bring in some badly needed prospects. Instead, teams like the Brewers appear to have lost any interest that they might have once had, if the SF Chron's Henry Schulman is to be believed.

Barry Bonds in pinstripes?

The rumors have picked up steam in the last 24 hours, given the Yankees' lack of offensive options in the wake of Matsui's injury. Here's what one poster had to say in response at MLB News Online --

Just like Clemens last year, it'll happen. The Steinbrenners will stop at nothing to make the playoffs. As much as I would hate to see Barry in 'stripes there is no denying that in 30 some games left at the Stadium he'll take advantage of that short left porch. Although pitching is the root of success, the Yanks aren't scoring runs and Barry is a (short term) solution for now.

Mays, Mantle and Hamilton

Joe Posnaski has a fine piece about how his boyhood desire to get autographs turned him into the writer that he is today and how Mantle wound up getting too much of that kind of attention. It's his way of explaining why there's not much to be made of Mays appearing to snub Josh Hamilton at the All-Star Game intros in order to keep talking with Fukadome.

Here's the video, posted at Major League Jerk. One response said Mays was disrespecting Hamilton, which is a silly conclusion. Another poster had this to say -- Dude, Willie is pretty old. I don’t think he did it on purpose. Haven’t you ever tried to get an old person’s attention when they’re in the middle of something? It’s damn impossible.

Joe Buck = dingbat loser

You would think that Joe Buck would try a little harder to sound interested after embarrassing himself by saying he doesn't really like baseball on July 2. You would be wrong.

I complained about Dave Campbell's kiss-up to Sabean but to his credit, Campbell never sounds anything but fascinated about baseball. Buck, on the other hand, sounded consistently bored during the All-Star Game -- especially as it headed into deep extras, he kept sounding like he wanted the game to end ASAP. Check out this thread on McCovey Chronicles. What is Fox thinking?

A reason for Zito's crappy year?

Alyssa Milano says she's no longer dating MLBers -- including Barry Zito -- because they're too immature.

Here's Alyssa's blog. Maybe this is where things went wrong for Zito -- she's a Dodger fan.

The most depressing inning of the All-Star game

It had to be the top of 7th tonight --

J Nathan relieved J Duchscherer.
R Braun struck out swinging.
N McLouth flied out to center.
R Martin flied out to center.
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors

Nathan only needed eight pitches. Dave Campbell, who was on the ESPN Radio broadcast, noted that Nathan already has 188 saves and doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he plays in a smaller market. The he said something like, "I really respect Brian Sabean but that was not a good trade for the Giants."

Thanks, Dave, for the insight and for perpetrating the mistaken notion that Sabean is competent. My guess is that this shows that 1. baseball people stick together and 2. Sabean must have decent schmoozing skills, because his player evaluation skills are embarrassingly bad.

I don't really care that the AL won. The NL might have won if Clint Hurdle had not decided to pull Brian Wilson after two batters in the 8th. Fine with me. Let's hope Wilson racks up 50 saves by the end of the year --

B Wilson relieved E Volquez.
C Quentin flied out to center.
C Guillen hit for J Crede.
C Guillen struck out swinging.
B Wagner relieved B Wilson.
G Sizemore singled to right.
E Longoria hit for M Bradley.
G Sizemore stole second.
E Longoria doubled to left field, G Sizemore scored.
J Morneau grounded out to pitcher.
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors

How's that for timing?

If Tim Lincecum had to get sick with the flu, it's amazing that he wound up doing it right before the All-Star game. The SF Chron's report out of New York says he may not even make it to the game. Get well soon, Tim!

Bobby Murcer and Bobby Bonds

The always interesting Joe Posnaski of the KC Star has a fascinating column about the 1975 trade of the recently deceased Bobby Murcer for Bobby Bonds. (It strikes me that this must be one of the few Bobby for Bobby trades). His thesis is that the trade hurt both players, both who were top-line guys and both who were booed a lot for a variety of hard-to-fathom factors such as what appears to have been the sin of making the game look too easy (Carlos Beltran looks to be the latest victim).

Bonds got traded again and again and again; the Giants moved Murcer after two pretty good seasons to the Cubs for Bill Madlock, who was a key factor in the resurgence of 1977 and 1978 for the Orange and Black. Here's a key part of Joe's piece --

I’ve thought before that if San Francisco had not traded Bobby Bonds, he might be in the Hall of Fame today. I’ve thought before that if Bobby Murcer had come along at a slightly different time, he might be there with him. I’ve thought that in some ways they were both cheated a little bit by the baseball fates.

Hasta la vista, Ray and Jack?

Chris at Bay City Ball has an excellent analysis of which Giants are the most likely to be traded with Ray Durham leading the list at 75%, followed by Taschner at 70%, Aurilia at 55%, Winn at 50% and Walker at 25%. Unfortunately, the team's stuck with Dave Roberts (1% probability or as Chris puts it a "sunk cost.")

Chris thinks Durham could fetch a decent return -- For Durham, I’d love to get a C+/B- prospect and I’d even eat a little salary if it resulted in a better prospect.Potential Destination: The Brewers, Mets, and Cardinals could all upgrade at 2B with Durham. The Brewers have declared that they’re going for it this year with the Sabathia pickup and might look to add some more pieces as Rickie Weeks has struggled this year. The Mets are currently using Damon Easley at 2B because Luis Castillo is injured. Even though Easley has done decently, Durham has better numbers and the Mets could shift Easley back to a utility role. The Cardinals aren’t getting much from Adam Kennedy and might want to upgrade. On the surface, the Brewers seem like a nice match.

Here's part of what Chris says about Agent Jack -- The Brewers were rumored weeks ago to be interested in Taschner but any team that needed a lefty in their bullpen might give him a look-see. Because Taschner is 30-years-old, he has minuscule upside and the Giants might already have a better LHP in their bullpen in Alex Hinshaw.Potential Destination: The Brewers have been linked with Taschner and that would be a good fit. Taschner is originally from Wisconsin. The D-Backs could be interested as they have only one lefty in their pen, Doug Slaten. Slaten has struggled some this year and has an ERA of 4.44 with a FIP of 5.06. The Cardinals have a pair of struggling lefty relievers in Ron Villone and Randy Flores, they could be interested in Taschner

It looks like that's it for Barry Bonds

His agent's now saying that he doubts Barry's going to get another shot.

Let me say again on behalf of Giants fans everywhere -- thanks, Barry, for all the excitement over the years.

And for those of you who think there's no evidence of collusion -- David Eckstein was Toronto's DH in Sunday's game.

Back Up the Truck

That's Leo Durocher's deathless phrase when asked by Horace Stoneham about what to do about the 1948 Giants. Part of the solution was to trade for Eddie Stankey and Alvin Dark; part was to let Sal Maglie come back after the Mexican League suspension; part of it was to sign Monte Irvin and Willie Mays. Three years later, the Giants would make it the World Series and six years later would sweep an Indians team that had gone 111-43. (Actually, there were plenty of key players who were on both the 1948 and 1951 teams including Whitey Lockman, Dave Koslo, Larry Jansen, Wes Westrum and a guy named Bobby Thomson)

It's also the title of a fine blog posting by Warren Greshes at the Merc-News, who argues that there's no point in not dumping useful veterans (Aurilia, Winn, Durham, Taschner, Walker) for prospects when a team is as bad as this one. I strongly disagree about Warren's contention at the end of the piece that "It's not Sabean's fault and he should be given a chance" -- to which I say Blownitez, Zito, Dave Roberts, Edgardo Alfonzo, Joe Nathan, Jeremy Accardo, Ryan Klesko, Sidney Ponson and Neifi Perez. What is it about covering the Giants that makes reporters lose their congnitive powers? Other than that, though, he makes excellent points. Boldface is mine ---

-- I realize that if the Giants traded most of the veterans they would be fielding a team of young players who might be a lot worse (ie, Velez and Schierholtz). To this I say, “So what.” What’s the difference between 68-94 and 58-104, except that you end up with a better draft pick? By the way, was anyone talking about John Bowker before this season: No and he happens to lead the team in HR’s and Slugging %. You never know what you have till you try.

-- On a contending team a player like Winn would be used for what he’s best at; his versatility (a switch-hitter who can play all three outfield positions). On the Giants he’s being asked to be a middle of the order hitter and right now is on a pace to hit 9 hr’s and drive in 67 batting 3rd in the lineup. This is not exactly production that can’t be replaced.

-- Do I think Sabean can get top prospects for our veterans: NO WAY!!!! But, when you consider, that he obtained Travis Denker for Mark Sweeney, I don’t see why he couldn’t get some decent mid-range prospects for Winn, Durham, Aurilia, Taschner and Walker, who are FAR more useful than Sweeney. Hey, Alex Hinshaw wasn’t considered much of a prospect before this season. I’ll bet there are plenty of other teams that have an “Alex Hinshaw” or two lying around.

-- Look, if you start to stockpile enough decent to good young prospects you can eventually package them together with one great prospect to get the one great player that might put you over the top. What do you think Milwaukee did to get CC Sabathia; one great prospect (Matt LaPorta) along with 3 low to mid-range prospects. In 2003 when the Giants needed to put together a package to obtain a starter to get them over the top the best they could come up with was Sidney Ponson (I’ll never forget that big stiff choking away a 3-0 lead in game 2 against the Marlins).

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

The stamp's available on Wednesday

Thanks to Jay's Giants Blog which has this info from the Sunnyvale Public Library Reference Division

Tim is truly the man

He ended the nightmare of a 6-game losing streak with another stellar performance that included 9 strikeouts in 8 innings. He even hit a triple. That's what an ace does, you know.

Giants sign 16-year-old Rafael Rodriguez

The future's looking a bit brighter. This deal's been rumored for several weeks.

The Giants' showcase strategy

Henry Schulman of the SF Chron reports that Bochy will play the vets for now while the rooks sit because the Giants still see themselves as contenders despite the 39-55 mark.

My take is that they're saying that but not really meaning it. What's really going on is that playing the vets is a way to showcase them for trade. As John at Only Baseball Matters points out, if the Giants really did want to get an upgrade to their pathetic offense, there's one available for $400,000 with Richie Sexson.

The brighter side of another brutal game

I was stunned that the Giants got off the mat from a 7-0 deficit and tied it up in the 9th. Always great to see the Orange and Black battle back, especially when it's obvious that this is a bad team in a bad stretch.

Aneel at Trapped in LA has a particularly fine note that the 3 and 4 hitters in the Giants lineup have now not homered in 36 games -- a feat matched by only three other teams. Three more games and they'll tie the 1989 Braves for longest ever.

The best part of today's game? It was particularly great to listen to Cubs announcers Pat Hughes and Ron Santo whine about how the Giants kept the 9th inning going -- particularly Santo. I know he's overcome a lot with diabetes -- good for him -- but how's that an excuse for being both obnoxious and uninformative?

Hughes and Santo had been so sure of a Cubs win that they spent the top of the 7th talking about what a great football player Dick Butkus is after Butkus had stopped by the booth. I don't care about when Butkus played (1965-73) and how feared he was. It was a totally unprofessional performance by Hughes and Santo. No word about this being Ivan Ochoa's first MLB at bat and next to nothing said about the outs that followed by Fred Lewis and Emmanuel Burris. I kid you not -- there was barely an acknowledgment that the Giants were batting. Instead, it was clsoe to 100% Butkus Time in preparation for his crappy singing on "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." That's how little regard opposing announcers have for the Giants offense.

In any case, it's no surprise that the Giants offense immediately shut down in the 10th and 11th and that the home plate ump gave the Cubbies a break -- tie goes to the runner, I guess -- on the game-ending play at the plate.

The Giants are now 16 games under .500 at 39-55. Fortunately, the Dodgers also lost in the 11th tonight and are now 45-49 -- crappy enough so that the Giants still might finish ahead of them if the Big Three can get some occasional run support if one of the rooks (Bowker, Burris?) catches fire. Given the incompetence of the front office, that's an unlikely scenario but it's the best I can think of.

Another MLB debut for the Orange and Black

It's Ivan Ochoa this time -- I believe that will be 11 MLB debuts this year for the Giants. Andrew Baggarley of the Merc-News notes that Ochoa's been raking (at least for a SS) in AAA. And he's right.

Denker was sent down and it may be that Omar is finally done. He may be doing more sitting soon. He's batting .153 and is 3 for his last 32.

Mo goes down again

Moises Alou -- still a productive hitter at 42 -- is now gone for the season due to a torn hammy and may retire. Mo was one of Brian Sabean's very few decent free agent signings.

Meanwhile, Barry Bonds continues to generate no actual interest despite a number of teams needing offense. When teams like the Mets fail to sign Barry Bonds at junctures like this, it's a big go-to-hell to fans....particularly since Jack Cust, Ryan Franklin, Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen, Jerry Hariston, Paul Lo Duca, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Derrick Turnbow, and Greg Zaun are all still playing despite being named in the Mitchell Report.

The Dodgers say they don't want Barry, which shows how stupid the Dodgers are, given that their offense is almost as bad as the Giants -- which makes sense since GM Ned Colletti is Brian Sabean's protege. They lost again tonight to the Fish, 3-1 (notice how I used the teal color in the link to the Marlins game?).

The road trip from hell

The Giants are going out of their way to establish that they're not contenders, not even in the NL Worst. Today's 3-1 nightmare at Wrigley followed the pattern of many of the Matt Cain games of 2007 -- Cain pitches magnificently, one of the marginal pen guys (Walker) coughs up a 3-run homer and there's a late rally that closes the gap but only enough to make it less embarrasing.

The team got 5 hits today, giving 14 in the last four games. Henry Schulman notes in his game story for the SF Chron that the top four slots in the lineup had gone 3-for-52 in the four games before Durham doubled and Molina singled in the 9th. Best things to say --

1. Cain is as good a starter as anyone in MLB when he's on
2. Brian Sabean's one day closer to being fired

Getting off the Barry Bonds Hate Train

Richard Justice writes for The Sporting News that he wants Barry Bonds back in uniform and admits that he was wrong to wish that Bonds would stay away. He misses the spectacle and concedes that it's hypocritical to single out Bonds for steroids. Mostly, though, he says he wants more stories like this one:

Hours before the 2003 All-Star Game, there was a fascinating conversation between Billy Wagner, John Smoltz and Barry.
Barry is telling Billy that if he hits one of his 100-mph fastballs out of the park, he should be allowed to stand there and admire it.
"Sure, you can," Billy tells him, "but guess what I'm going to do the next time you come up?"
Barry gives Billy one of those Barry stares.
"I know, I know," Billy tells him. "You'll come out to the mound and you'll probably kick my butt right there in front of the entire world. But what if I got a lucky punch in? What if I knocked you down? Think of that, Barry. You'd have to play the rest of your career with people saying, 'There goes the guy that got beat up by the smallest player in the game.' "
Fast-forward a few weeks. Billy has just ended a game by striking out Barry on a 100-mph fastball.
Billy gets a tap on the shoulder and is told, "Barry Bonds is on the phone. He wants to speak to you."
Barry told Billy he appreciated the fact that he wasn't afraid of him, that he challenged him, that he made it one great player's best against another great player's best.
"But," Barry added, "don't throw me one 99 mph. I'll hit it so far no one will ever find it."
I want another moment like that. I want Barry back for one last run.

So let's fast forward to April 2006 to a game I attended at Mays Field. Mets are up 7-4 and bring in Wagner to close. Here's how the inning went --

O Vizquel Single to LF (Ground Ball)
J Vizcaino Strikeout Swinging
R Winn Defensive Indifference; Vizquel to 2B; Strikeout Swinging
M Alou Reached on E5 (throw) (Ground Ball); Vizquel Scores
Barry Bonds pinch hits for Steve Finley batting 5th
B Bonds Home Run (Fly Ball); Alou Scores/unER; Bonds Scores/unER
L Niekro Strikeout Swinging

The Giants lost 9-7 but I still can see Bonds taking Wagner out of the park and the stunned hysteria that followed. Scott Munter gave up 2 in the 11th. Here's how the game ended--

B Bonds Lineout: CF (Deep CF)

Zito doesn't lose his 13th

The Giants scored 3 runs today but the Mets scored 7 as the pen imploded. Dodger killer Fernando Tatis did the major damage as the Giants got swept by the Mets with a pathetic 3 hits in each of the 3 games. Most interesting part of the AP story is at the end --

Zito got a no-decision and avoided becoming the first pitcher to lose 13 times before the All-Star break since Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman and Mike Maroth in 2003. Denny McLain holds the major league record for losses by the All-Star break with 15 in 1971. ...

What's good to say today --
1. Zito's become a viable back-of-the-rotation starter
2. Winn's enhancing his value as a tradeable player
3. Brian Sabean's one day closer to being fired
4. Aaron Rowand's upset over the team's crappy play

Why Zito didn't sign with the Mets or Yanks

Henry Schulman of the SF Chron has an interesting piece about Zito saying he wasn't THAT interested in a New York team because of the tabloid exposure. Which begs the question -- wasn't that something that the Giants front office could have figured out? Why was it necessary to mortgage the Giants' future with a $126 million, 7-year deal?

You know the answer

The answer is Cleveland, Seattle and San Diego

The question is -- which are the three teams with fewer wins than the Giants, who are now 39-52 with a projection for a 70-92 season following tonight's 5-0 disaster in The Big Apple. For the second game in a row, the Giants got only three hits while a young stud starter (Sanchez) got cuffed around. As usual, the only good thing that comes to mind after a demoralizing loss like this is that Brian Sabean is one day closer to being fired.

Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus says the Giants are only interested in trading Aurilia and Durham. In reaction, Anthony at Bleeding Black and Orange has a great take as to why Sabean should be canned. Here's part of it --

I’m at a loss. Reports are saying that Sabean is waving off any trade inquiries except for ones involving Rich Aurilia and Ray Durham. Because, I’m guessing here, Randy Winn, Barry Zito, Bengie Molina, Omar Vizquel, Jack Taschner, Kevin Corriea, Keiichi Yabu, Billy Sadler, Tyler Walker, Jose Castillo and Eugenio Velez are ALL going to be integral parts of the next Giants’ playoff squad. Right? Because why would we want to net any good prospects for Randy Winn when he can just sit there and block Nate Schierholtz for another full season? Why wouldn’t we demand a king’s randsom for Bengie Molina from any of the catching-anemic teams in the playoff chase? Why not see if we can strip the Brewers of what remains of their farm system for Jack Taschner? Oh, that’s right, because Sabean’s a MORON.

Re-arranging the deck chairs at Chavez Latrine

The LA Times reports that the Dodgers are about to fire their "hitting" coach Mike Easler to get Donny Ballgame the job. It's their 8th batting coach in a decade.

And yes, Giants Win hates the Dodgers.

Paging Barry Lamar Bonds

A Phoenix paper reports that the Dbacks have had internal discussions about a signing. It sounds as if Bonds may still get to play this year.

At least the Dodgers lost

Little good to say tonight other than this --

1. Tim Lincecum was due for a lousy game
2. He admitted that it was his fault
3. Aurilia got a single (one of 3 that the team got) to help maintain his trade value
4. Brian Sabean's a day closer to being fired
5. The Dodgers got hammered and fell out of first.

The White Flag trade

Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle does a nice job of recapping the 1997 deal that brought Danny Darwin and Wilson Alvarez to the Giants. He believes Durham, Aurilia and Omar are the most likely to be moved.

How Royce Clayton managed to have a long career

Steve Treder at Hardball Times has a long but highly entertaining post in his series about the worst hitters in a particularly lineup slot. The latest edition has Royce Clayton's 1995 season as the sixth worst season by a No. 6 hitter since 1957. And you may wonder what the hell was a banjo hitter like Clayton doing in the 6 hole, where he had a .305 OBP and a .336 SLG? Read on --

What's in a name? Royce Clayton's name was fluid and elegant. It just sounded like a strong, graceful, gallant star shortstop's name.It was the sort of name you expect to find on a daytime soap opera: Dr. Royce Clayton, dashing chief of surgery at City Hospital. Or a tuxedoed 1930s movie star, romancing Norma Shearer in shimmering black-and-white. Or perhaps at the State Department: "Ambassador Royce Clayton today announced a breakthrough in the difficult negotiations."It's the name of a winner. It doesn't sound at all like the name of a dime-a-dozen journeyman.

The Giants were sure convinced. They confidently stuck the young Clayton in the starting lineup, sat back, folded their arms and awaited the blossoming. When it didn't happen after a few years (the dreary final one of which we see above), the Cardinals were only too happy to trade for Clayton, so he could be their stellar shortstop. When that failed to materialize, the Rangers were eager to get hold of him.And so it went.

Eventually, nine—count 'em, nine—different major league teams would deploy Clayton as their first-string shortstop, despite the fact that he never posted an OPS+ as high as 100, and was typically in the 70s-to-low-80s, while delivering nice-but-hardly-great defense. Clayton simply wasn't good enough to justify 2,100 major league games, and 8,100 major league plate appearances, but that's what he got. He ought to have had a career as a good utilityman, with intermittent stretches of regular duty, but nothing close to the sumptuous opportunity he was given.

Thus one is left to ponder: If instead of Royce Clayton, this guy's name had been, say, Ed Gray, or Bengie Guzman, or Vern Hershberger, would all those teams have been so sure that he was just what they'd been waiting for at shortstop?Consider me skeptical.

My two cents -- Royce had what looks like his best year in 1993 when he drove in 70 runs and had a .330 OBP for the Orange and Black, far above his career norms.

The Giants can win without Winn

Warren Greshes writes in the Merc-News' Giants Talk blog that it's delusional to think of the Giants as a contending team and that the time is now to trade vets like Durham, Aurilia, Walker and Winn to actual contending teams. He's under no illusions that this team can make the postseason -- unlike Ann Killion’s column in which she writes “That’s why Bochy talks with enthusiasm about getting veteran outfielder Dave Roberts back” -- because all it means is benching Fred Lewis so Roberts can play at a time when the team's already 11 games under .500:

"The one silver lining in this “we’re in it” cloud is that I really believe Brian Sabean understands this too. He has already stated that he won’t be looking for any rent-a-players at the deadline and seems to be making the kind of noises that indicate he’ll be a seller. I have to laugh when he says he’s not interested in trading Randy Winn. I’m hoping that’s only to try to pump up his value. Winn is the least productive #3 hitter in the NL. Among regular #3 hitters he’s last in HR’s, Slugging, OPS and Rbi’s. He’s a corner outfielder with no power and the worst RF arm in baseball (does he ever throw anyone out at the plate? For that matter, does Rowand?). He’s an outstanding left-fielder who could be of real value to a contender (a real contender), who could use a lead-off hitter or a great #4 outfielder."

Snubbing the snub with an extra start for Tim

That's how Andrew Baggarley of the Merc-News explains Bruce Bochy's decision to move Lincecum up a day in the rotation so he can make 2 starts before the All-Star break. Apparently, the Giants believe Tim won't be asked to start at Yankee Stadium so they might as well get the extra start in....as long as they still have a shot at winning the division (try not to laugh, OK?)

The first of many All-Star selections

photo of Brian Wilson striking out Ryan Howard by ramblin photoger

photograph of Tim Lincecum by Mr. Weber

No suprise that Tim the Enchanter makes the All-Star team; little bit of a surprise that Brian Wilson is in, given the obsession with big-market teams. The Cubs and Bosox got seven each, including Jason Varitek -- probably the most undeserving selection this year.

I don't really care much if either Tim or Brian plays. Given their first-time selection status, they probably won't see much action.

It's still Sabean's fault

My first reaction to today's nightmare 5-3 loss to the Dodgers was that this was one of these unfortunate games where a starting pitcher (Matt Cain) didn't have his best stuff. But look at the box score and see how the 3 through 6 hitters (Winn, Molina, Rowand and Castillo) performed -- they went a combined 1-for-15.

Winn got a hit and Molina drove in a run on a groundout in the first and Rowand got a walk. That was the sum total of the contribution of the middle of the order. What kind of insane general manager assembles a team with a lineup in which -- day in and day out -- each and every one of these hitters belongs in slots (1, 2, 7, 8) that are far more suited to their actual capabilities? Hint -- his initials are BS.

The only good things today --

1. Aurilia continues to mash, upping his trade value
2. Burris continues to hit, showing he may be a decent MLB shortstop
3. The pen performed well
4. We are one day closer to Sabean getting fired

"This is the kind of guy I remember being"

Zito wins again, strikes out 10 and hits 89 mph on the gun. So no Dodger sweep!

Tim Kawakami of the Merc-News has a sensible reaction and says "Let's not get carried away." Still, if he does this 10 more times this year, it would go a long way toward ending the stink of the 0-8 start.

Fun on the Fourth

The wonderful Artolog has a couple of great shots from yesterday's game. The first is titled "American Girl," followed by "Winn steals second..while Lewis stole home. Here, Jeff Kent is just coming down with the ball. He's got his eye on home, where Fred Lewis is about to score, and is trying to transfer the ball from his glove to his throwing hand."

Here's the link to his photostream on flickr.com

Larry King: Bonds wants to play

Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle gets a good scoop from Larry King, who says Bonds wants to play but believes it's probably not going to happen. I'm surprised that Schulman left out the details that Bonds has offered to play for free and the MLBPA is investigating collusion due to his non-signing.

Here's why Bruce Bochy should be fired

Let's take a close look at the top of the 5th inning of today's nightmare, shall we?

O Matos relieved J Sanchez.
N Garciaparra safe at first on error by left fielder F Lewis.
J Loney fouled out to third.
A LaRoche walked, N Garciaparra to second.
D Young hit for D Lowe.
D Young singled to right, N Garciaparra scored, A LaRoche to third, D Young to second advancing on throw.
M Kemp struck out swinging.
A Ethier doubled to right, A LaRoche and D Young scored.
R Martin doubled to deep left center, A Ethier scored.
J Kent doubled to deep left, R Martin scored.
A Hinshaw relieved O Matos.
A Jones struck out looking.

The question is -- why is Matos still in there pitching to Ethier, Martin and Kent when the team needs only 10 more outs? He wound up throwing 30 pitches and had already walked the marginal LaRoche and given up a hit to the marginal Young. AND IT'S ONLY HIS SECOND GAME IN THE BIGS. What in the world is Bochy trying to prove, other than the fact that he's an idiot?

The best part of the game -- Andruw Jones continued to be the second worst free agent signing after Barry Zito and struck out 4 times in his return to the lineup.

SI is right -- He's the real deal

Photo of Tim Lincecum from April 16 by Dinur

Here was my favorite inning yesterday

Chicago - Top of 4th
Tim Lincecum pitching for San Francisco
A Ramirez struck out looking.
J Edmonds walked.
G Soto struck out swinging.
M DeRosa struck out swinging.

Memo to Bud Selig -- get rid of Fox

If MLB commissioner Bud "Stupid" Selig had any brains, he'd demand that Fox get rid of lame broadcaster Joe Buck, who thought he'd be funny and said he'd rather be watching "The Bachelorette" rather than MLB on a recent interview.

Since Bud is brainless, this won't happen. Which is a shame, because Fox should be made to feel unwelcome when it comes to telecasting baseball -- to the point that it loses its appetite for being handling national telecasts and blows off bidding for the next contract. Fox has always been a disaster at broadcasting games due to its lame choices of broadcasters combined with its obsession with using the games to hype their other dumb shows. At the very least, Fox should get rid of Buck, who usually sounds bored during telecasts, or at least make him watch Jon Miller doing a Sunday night telecast on ESPN.

For sale -- utility infielder with decent power

That would be Rich Aurilia, who hit a 3-run pinch-hit HR tonight to recapture just a bit of the glory that was his back in the early part of the decade when he was as valuable as Jeter. The 7th inning blast put the game away after The Franchise lived up to his billing following the SI cover. Hopefully, someone will be willing to trade prospects.

Henry Schulman's story was bizarre in that Brian "Stupid" Sabean actually said that he wouldn't trade Lincecum, Cain or Sanchez -- clearly the three most valuable properties in the Orange and Black these days although an argument could be made that Angel Villalona is as valuable. Glad to hear you're not a complete idiot, Brian. Schulman said Aurilia, Durham and Vizquel are the likely candidates, though I'm baffled as to what's the point of keeping Randy Winn when Nate Schierholz is raking in Fresno.

Despite The Big Three, the Giants are still 38-48. Projected record -- 72-90. Thanks for signing Zito, you idiot.

Correia as in competent

Kevin Correia's emerged as a decent end-of-the-rotation guy and pitched OK (translation: better than Barry Zito) tonight. But the bullpen went up in flames, giving the Giants a disastrous 15-26 home record -- THE WORST IN MLB. Let's sift through the smoking wreckage to pick up a few positives:

1. John Bowker put one into the water in McCovey Cove.
2. Ray Durham hit a homer, possibly increasing his trade value and
3. Most importantly, any Giants loss must be viewed as an event that moves the firing of Brian "Stupid" Sabean one day closer.

Tim makes the SI cover

Sports Illustrated has a cover article on Lincecum with Tom Verducci hammering away at the point that Tim's on the smallish side -- though it seems strange that he's not only one of this size to excell. Pedro Martinez, Roy Oswalt and BIlly Wagner come to mind. Still, it's a pretty good read. These two points kind of jumped out at me --

-- In 40 starts through Sunday, he was 16-6 with a 3.30 ERA and 264 strikeouts in 256 innings. Only one starting pitcher in baseball history, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets in the mid-'80s, has won 70% of his decisions over his first two seasons while logging more strikeouts than innings.

-- He is one of only seven pitchers since 1956 to throw 30 quality starts in his first 40 games.

Osiris Matos?

Andrew Baggarley of the Merc-News reports that he'll be the 10th Giant to make an MLB debut this year; he and Eliezer Alfonzo are replacing Steve Holm and Billy Sadler, who got bombed during the 9-2 loss to the Cubs on Monday.

It turns out he's going to be the first Osiris to make the bigs. He's also been lights out at the Double A level this year.

The Giants Web site story only mentions Alfonzo. Henry Schulman of the SF Chron mentions Matos at the end of a story suggesting that Brian Wilson might make the All Star team.

Why do I love Giants fans?

The answer is simple -- because of the way they responded in the bottom of the ninth as Brian Wilson nearly blew the game and then blew away Ryan Theriot to end the game on some serious high heat. Listening to the game on XM, I could tell that these are the true fans that still support a team with a 14-25 home record on July 1. The way they yelled as the game ended reminded me that Giants fans know that nothing's for sure with this team -- which makes tonight's 2-1 win over the Cubbies all the sweeter.

Strangely enough, the NL West is so bad right now that the Giants are only 5 games out of first. With the Big Three (Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez) coming of age this season, the NL West clearly would have been winnable if the front office hadn't done such an incredibly crappy job of assembling the rest of the team.

John at Only Baseball Matters -- one of the very best Giants blogs -- has a great post about Zito in which he puts it succinctly: it's time to think about shutting him down for the rest of the season: He’s gonna lose 20 games, and is doing nothing to help the team. In fact, he’s hurting the team in every way, between his inability to throw strikes, or keep his team in the game; his complete destruction of the season has reached epic proportions. The Giants are 11 games under .500, and Barry Zito (3-12) is fully nine games of that eleven. Even worse, with his 0-8 home record, (the team has lost all 9 of his home starts), he is the entire reason the Giants (14-25 at home) are a sub .500 team at home. I understand that the Giants are a poor offensive team, and that playing at PacBell limits them even more, but, come on. In 43 innings at home, Zito has given up 42 runs. Seriously, how can the team ignore this? How can Sabean not consider calling Rick Peterson, under whom Zito enjoyed his greatest success? How much longer can they allow him to be the anti-Carlton? The simple fact is this; the Giants can now lay claim to two major free agent accomplishments, the best free agent signing ever, and the worst.

My two cents -- Send him and Peterson to Fresno. Giants fans have suffered enough.