SB Nation User Blog: jcb9

Be it a Unabomber-style shack or your mom's basement

jcb9 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:05:22 -0000

Show us from whence you write your hateful screeds, Buster Posey-related limericks, and butt-pee anecdotes.

I'll start with my desk - a place where I spend far too much time, seeing as how I work from home AND waste all sorts of my barely-existent free time talking to you lot:

via www.cajo.org

Featuring the following highlights:

- MacBook Pro!

- Family pictures!

- House plants!

- Vanity-stroking diplomas!

- Autographed photo of a young Willie Mays!

- Freaks and Geeks DVD set!

- Dengue Fever CD!

- Leftover tokens for amazing Sunday brunch at the Thai Buddhist Temple in South Berkeley!

- Journals from my high school years!

- Sri Lankan flag!

- ratty Doc Martens on the floor!

Out of frame to the left:

- Awesome stained glass art of the Golden Gate Bridge, made by my mother as a wedding present!

- Scenic view an exit sign on 24!

Who's next to invite the stalkers McCoven into their home!?

How did you become a fan?

jcb9 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:35:31 -0000

There's not really much of a story for me. My dad was from a small town in Montana and moved to the North Bay when he was ten or so - this was in the days of Willie Mays and before the A's left Kansas City, so of course he became a Giants fan. Before that, he had rooted for (shudder) the Yankees. He raised me right, so I became a Giants fan, too.

But I'm curious as to how other folks became fans - especially those of you who aren't from Northern California, don't live here, etc.

Classic Game #4: 1987

jcb9 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:09:37 -0000

I just watched some of tonight's CSN Bay Area Giants classic game - #4 on the countdown. August 10, 1987, against the Astros. It's over now, but I had a few thoughts to share:

- I really wish they'd show these games in their entirety, or at least edit them better. This one ended with a walk-off homer from Will Clark - it cut very abruptly from him arguing a strike call to him swinging for the home run. Didn't even show the pitch being thrown.

- MAN did Candlestick have a lot of foul ground. I knew this, but it really looks massive after being used to Phone Company Park all these years.

- I liked Chili Davis, even after he left the Giants, but I never realized until I looked up his stats just how good he was. .360 career OBP, 350 home runs, only had an OPS+ under 100 once in a full season in almost two decades - I'd kill for a player like that now.

- I had completely forgotten Don Robinson was ever a reliever - but he was for all of 1987 and most of 1988. I guess I mainly remember him from 1989.

- The announcers were Joe Morgan and a very young (well, relatively speaking) Duane Kuiper. It was interesting hearing Kuiper so early in his career - his voice has changed a lot, and I barely recognized him at first. Also, in the 9th, on a Candy Maldonado home run, he shouted, "Get out of here!" I can't imagine Kuiper being quite so straight-up a homer nowadays. I mean, listening to him, you can tell he's a Giants fan, but he's not so explicit as the nation's crumbier announcers.

- I'm still terribly fond of Mike Aldrete. He's probably my favorite mediocre Giant of all time. Mark Carreon's right up there, too.

- Uniforms were a lot uglier in the 80s.

The best baseball name of all time

jcb9 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:56:08 -0000

There have been many great baseball names through the years, from Hall of Famers (Early Winn, Three Finger Brown) to career minor leaguers (Stubby Clapp, Alejandro Freire) to former Giants (F.P. Santangelo, William Van Landingham, Tsuyoshi Shinjo) to players from the recent past (Rusty Staubb, Herm Winningham) to current players (Jarrod Saltalamacchia)

But who takes the title as having the single greatest name in the history of the game? For me, the choice is clear:

Rance Mulliniks.

And you?

Giants: 100+ innings without a home run

jcb9 — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:11:37 -0000

Following today's loss to the Padres, the Giants have gone 102 innings without hitting a single home run. The last one came off Bengie Molina's bat on July 22nd.

As a Giants fan, this seems sort of impressive in a perverse sense. But I have no idea how rare it is to go so long without a home run, and my Google-fu is failing me. So I'm turning to you guys: how long has it been since a team has gone over 100 innings without any home runs? What's the longest any team has gone in recent years?

East Bay Gathering: Arrangements

jcb9 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:51:00 -0000

I hate to start another fanpost on this, but the last one is well off the main page, so nobody would notice if I posted there.

Anyway, from the last thread, here's who's coming:

myself

delorean

groug

Giant Voodoo

tyrannoman

Sharksrog, Andy From DC, PacBellBoozer, and BaronVonCurrentEvents also expressed interest, but didn't commit to coming.

Anyone else? Also, will anyone be bringing a spouse or whatever (and for the record, my wife will likely tag along)? It would be helpful to get an approximate number so we can make reservations.

Tampa Bay wants Walker?

jcb9 — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:51:07 -0000

So says MLB Trade Rumors (see http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/rays-interest-1.html - they attribute it to Henry Schulman, but the link doesn't work).

I'm sure we wouldn't get much of anything in return (and MLB Trade Rumors agrees), but I'm firmly in the "yay, dumping veterans!" mindset, so I would shed no tears. I'd love to see guys like Randy Winn or Bengie Molina traded for actual value, but that's probably a pipe dream.

East Bay Gathering...again

jcb9 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:59:46 -0000

So, some time back, there was a Fanpost about putting together a gathering for the East Bay McCC contingent. We were supposed to agree on a date, but we failed utterly to do so. It was suggested, though, that it be held at McCovey's in Walnut Creek.

The season's a-wastin', so what say y'all we actually do figured out a date and such?

I'll start: I'm flexible, but weekend evenings work best for me. I could probably do a weekday evening. It would help if we could do it at a time when I have relatives in town to watch my son (they're all off on vacation at the moment - lousy teachers and their summers off!), but other than that, I should be fine. Doing something before the season ends would seem to make sense - more to complain about and all.

So, the rest of y'all?

Open 1993 thread

jcb9 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:16:49 -0000

CSN Bay Area is currently airing another Giants classic game - this one a Giants-Braves matchup from 1993.

So far, it's not looking so classic. It's 11-6 Braves in the fourth inning. Our pitching coach just gave up a 3-run homer. The game's being delayed because of Candlestick fans throwing giveaway balls onto the field. Ted Robinson's on play-by-play - it's been ages since I heard that voice.

BBC World Service Talks Dominican Baseball

jcb9 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:30:20 -0000

BBC World Service Talks Dominican Baseball

I just heard this program, entitled The Baseball Factory, through the BBC World Service's Documentaries podcast. It's no longer available through the podcast feed, but you can download it at the link above.

It's a 22-minute audio documentary about Major League Baseball scouting and development in the DR, focusing on the kids in the system and the effect on the local economy and culture. There's nothing specific about the Giants (Tampa Bay gets the most mentions), but it's still a fascinating listen and I highly recommend checking it out.