Thursday, June 09, 2005

A sucky game...in a good way

Notes from the game I attended June 8th between the Giants and Royals:
  • These are both bad teams. After Jeff Fassero took 54 pitches to get through the first two innings (innings where they both scored), what did the Royals do in the 3rd? Get retired 1-2-3 on...six pitches. The Giants, not to be outdone, took only four pitches to retire themselves in the 5th. Horr-freaking-endous, and they're both MY favorite teams? Sheesh.
  • Anybody who watched Fassero's something-like 12 pitch at-bat against Runelvys Hernandez and wasn't in stitches by the time it was over has no sense of humor. Fassero, a young 42 years old, hitting with a man on 1st and two outs, tried a drag bunt to get on base, and when that didn't work, decided to foul off 11-eventy thousand pitches before hitting a weak grounder up the middle that he seemed determined to beat out. That ol' man can still scoot just a bit...
  • What in the name of all that is Good and Holy is wrong with Pedro Feliz? He's on the superhighway of Regression, looking silly in plate appearance after plate appearance, always on changeups or breaking balls, over and over again. Lay the f--- off those pitches, Pedro -- you...cannot...hit...them. If Feliz is thought to be shopped at all, Brian Sabean had better do it now before the tape of this game circulates throughout the league.
  • And if nobody else has said it, let me be the first to say the bloom is officially off the rose of Mike Matheny. He ain't doing better than we expected anymore, with his .231 batting average and now below .400 SLG, his OPS has also fallen below the OPS-Mendoza line...which for me stands at 700. After yesterday, Matheny is at .691. Doesn't look like I'll be eating that crow on this particular subject after all. Matheny is back to his non-hitting ways.
  • I was telling some of the fans sitting around me that if the Giants didn't touch up Hernandez before he left, the game was all but over, because the Royals bullpen was nasty. Thing is, I said it and actually meant it, and I believe it to be true. Many of you saw Jeremy Affeldt and Mike MacDougal pitch for the first time...the Royals have three more arms in that bullpen with stuff almost as nasty, and Mike Wood isn't a slouch in the 'pen, either. I'm telling you all, the bullpen is the strength of this team and shouldn't be touched in any trade.
  • Jason Ellison continues to be the only bright spot I look to perform day after day. He seems to find a way to contribute almost every day. Some have said trade him while his value is high, to which I say...dumb shit. The Giants have an opportunity to possibly have a very good centerfielder patrolling SBC/Mays Field for...league freaking minimum. Do you understand why Elly is a gamble Sabean must take? He needs to be able to save money somewhere for 2006 and beyond, and if Elly even close to as good as he's played thus far this season, centerfield is the place to do that.
  • By the way, the reason stated on the above bullet is why Lance Niekro shouldn't be traded. What, do you expect J.T. Snow to continue his great defense/singles parade for another few seasons? The Giants need a slugger, and Niekro just might be one. Another position where Sabean could save tons of money for 2006 and the subsequent seasons.
  • The Royals are just comfy with Triples Alley, aren't they?
  • To me, the similarities in the hitting approaches (if you can call them that) of Feliz and Angel Berroa are frighteningly similar. Swing at the 1st pitch, and if the at-bat is to continue after that, look for fastballs only and flail away at anything else, hoping to get lucky. Those two are totally feast-or-famine hitters.
  • Buddy Bell's ejection drew a curious reaction from the Giants fans on the 3rd base side of the park: confusion. Nobody seemed to feel Bell deserved it, and wondered what he could've done to get himself thrown out in the very first inning.

I could go on, but I think that'll be enough.

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