Bobby Thompson, iconic hero of the all-time accomplishment in baseball history, died this year.  No team wins the pennant like the Giants win the pennant because of this man's scorching line drive into the left field bleachers of the Polo Grounds in 1951.  Every Giants fan grows up hearing Russ Hodges bleating "The Giants win the pennant!  The Giants win the pennant!  I don't believe it!  I do not believe it!" and it is seared into the mind as a reminder of what once was, and what we have missed since moving west.

The Scottish-born Thompson passed this year in the middle of the worst stretch of baseball this team would play.  When I learned of his passing I couldn't help but feel a deep loss.  I never met the guy, and have no idea what his character was like, but Thompson's "Shot Heard Round the World," represents so much of why I am Giants fan.  The  '51 Giants rallied from way back in late August (this team 2010 was down quite a bit in late August). They kicked the Dodgers' ass (which we like to do any year we can).  They captured the attention of the entire nation (like ours has with our freakish collection of rag-tag personalities)...  without Bobby Thompson we may not have San Francisco Giants baseball.  Without the NY Giants success in 1951, maybe they would have moved to Minneapolis in the late fifties instead of San Francisco.

The Giants won the pennant in 1951 because of Bobby Thompson.  And the Giants won the pennant 59 years later, in the year of his passing.  Bobby Thompson, thanks for crushing the exhausted Ralph Branca's lazy fastball into the cheap seats of the Polo Grounds.  We won this one for you.

I've been playing baseball my entire life and I'd even consider myself to be fairly adept at baseball statistics (though not nearly on the same level as most of you).  Matt Cain walked 3 and gave up two hits today.  Brian Wilson gave up one hit and no walks.  The Giants had no defensive errors.  For me, that means there were 6 total Philly base runners.

So how did Philly leave 11 guys on today?

Rest is invaluable during this time of year.  I'm very happy that the Giants won yesterday because it gave everyone some much needed rest.  But I am a little worried it may be a bit too much.  Especially for Sir Tim of Lincecum.

Lincecum is going to start on Saturday with a full 8 days rest! That's not normal for most starters.  He could be as crisp as ever, but I could also see how he might be a little rusty, because that much rest is not part of Lincecum's routine.  He's very much a routine/rhythm guy.  If I were Righetti or Bochy I'd make sure Lincecum threw a simulated game TODAY.  This would do two things.  First, it would keep Lincecum closer to his normal routine of mental and physical stress.  Also, some of the struggling parts of this team could get some work facing one of the best pitchers in baseball.  Throw Panda, Ishikawa, Rowand, Whiteside, and Nate up there to face Timmy in a simulated game.  Let Huff, Posey, Uribe, and Burrell rest because they need it.  But I'm not sure 8 days of rest is going to help Timmy.

On the bright side... Halladay will be on the same rest.

My friends and I play this road-trip game that we simply call , "The Baseball Game."  It's a name game.  You go around in circles and name Major League Baseball players from any era as long as they played at least one game in the majors.  I start with someone like Will Clark.  Next guy to go has to use the First letter from the last name to start the first name of his player with.  For example, if I saw Will Clark he might say Charles Johnson.  The next guy can go one with the same formula and say Jason Isringhausen or he can do a double letter (JJ) to send it back the other way (i.e.: Jose Jiminez).  Each player gets three strikes before they are out.  You get a strike for repeating someone already said or not coming up with anything in a decent amount of time.  Now you have a fun game to play on road trips.

The real reason I am posting is because this game always comes down to a few letters.  X is a bitch, and Z is terribly hard.  One time I said Zolio Versalles and no one believed me!  I got a strike because my awesome answer was too obscure.  The only reason I know him is because my dad's glove in college was the Zolio Versalles model by MacGregor.  It was made out of kangaroo leather, and it was heavier than any glove I have ever held.  It was awesome!

So I was mad that no one knew him when in fact everyone should know him.  He has to be the WORST selection for MVP in the history of the award.  I mean, come ON!  Look at these numbers! http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/versazo01.shtml  It's almost as if every hitter in the AL in 1965 fought in Vietnam for a season.

Can you guys think of another nominee for this fake award I'm making up?  Worst MVP EVER!

I come to this site more than once every single day going on nearly five years now.  Most of the time I find your comments witty and funny.  Sometimes I find them negative and bitter.  Mostly I have no idea what you're saying.

Can you please, please, please give me some heads up on this stuff?

What is "Shift-A"?

Does "This" mean that you agree?

What is "banning" and if it's what I think it is, does it really matter?

Who is Grant's boss?

Please fill me in on your inside jokes because I have paid my dues on this site.

I thought this site could use a bit of optimism regarding our long term future.  I was just taking part in the ESPN.MLB poll about which first baseman (not named Albert) will command a higher salary after the 2011 season.  I voted Ryan Howard out of the available choices of him, Adrian Gonzales and Fielder.  I think all were good choices but I think that Howard coming from a high exposure team, winning an MVP or two, and having average defense is a good choice to lock up ridiculous amounts of bread.  But that got me thinking...

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I started my first job in baseball today.  I'm now the pitching coach for the Kingsborough Community College baseball team.  One of my first assignments is to bring around this one kid.  He reminds me of someone, I just can't pin it down.  I need some of your help to jog my memory, or steer me in another good direction.

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Pitching Surplus + Offensive Defecit + Defensively Adequate = Giants Organization

Offensive Surplus + Pitching Defecit + Defensively Inadequate = Rangers Organization

The Rangers ALWAYS suck at pitching and defense, though they do have a few guys that win gold gloves from time to time.  The Giants have a ton of pitching to deal, and they hit like Special Olympic Bowlers [If you take offense with this comment, take it up with the President of the U.S.].  Can't the two sides better themselves with a trade?

Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres for Ian Kinsler and Josh Rupe.  Someone make it happen.

How about a little bit less insulting, and a little more thought invocation?  Of course we know Jonathan Sanchez, Bengie Molina, and possibly Randy Winn are hot trade commodities for the Giants.  I'm wondering what the trade values are of a certain few players that I would be willing to part ways with, were I Brian Sabean.  What would you guys grade the trade values of some Giants players?  Assuming A+ being Matt Cain, and F- being Barry Zito...

Emmanuel Burris -

Kevin Frandsen -

Nate Schierholtz -

Fred Lewis -

Alex Hinshaw -

Dinner with Willie Mays -

Brian Bocock -

Extra Credit:

After you give your grades, pretend to be a GM and offer up some trades.

It's been a while since I have been to McCovey Chronicles.  I got pretty sick of it.  For me it became an S.A.T. Word Analogy.  McCovey Chronicles is to Baseball as Christians are to Christianity.  Most of the Christians I come across believe in the right stuff, but go about it the wrong way.  Doom and Gloom.  Much like the McCoven.  They root for the team that is obviously the RIGHT team, but go about it the wrong way.  Protestant self-loathing and Giants fandom have striking similarities.  Anyhow... I've decided to give it another try.

I was wondering if any of the McCoven plays the old school board game APBA.  I haven't played it in years, but I kind of want to get back into it.

The McCoven is a savagely loyal group.  How many games will you watch next season between live games, tv, and internet feeds?

I just read a very good ESPN.com column by J.A. Adande.  Basically, he lays to rest any claims that the Celtics are a black un-friendly franchise.  This got me thinking...

First, are there teams out there that are still hung-up on these kinds of things?  One thing I have always loved about my Giants is that they are very interracial and always have been (you know... since they let black people play).  Can there still be pro sports teams out there that hire players based on their ethnic background?  Probably the Mets...  Maybe the Padres...  Red Sox?

Secondly, why is it that certain teams never change?  Think of the Yankees.  They basically always acquire the best talent and spend gobs of money.  The Bears = Run-Defense.  The Steelers = Run up the middle + Run-stop Defense.  The Cubs = Lose as much as possible.  Celtics = Win a lot

What is your opinion?

This is Keith Law's Blog on ESPN.com and my responses to it:

Rowand's not a Giant upgradeposted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The fact that the addition of Aaron Rowand probably makes the Giants a better club in 2008 should not be seen as an endorsement of the signing (When do we endorse signings then? When they make teams worse?). We're talking about a lineup where the fourth-best hitter is the "VACANT" sign hanging on third base.  (I don't even know what that means.  Is he saying Feliz was our 4th best hitter?)

Rowand is a dead-fastball hitter (true) with a complicated, high-effort swing (also true) that produces a lot of sound and fury, but a lot of swings and misses as well (true). His power is part real and part the effect of the hitters' parks where he's spent his entire career (56 homers at home versus 37 on the road) [I'd venture to say he doesn't have any real power at all... but that doesn't mean he's a bad hitter]. He's not enough of a contact hitter to predict high averages, and his batting average has fluctuated accordingly throughout his career. He is not patient, going after the first fastball he sees (or thinks he sees) [This is a completely unjustifiable statement.  Keith Law has no idea about Rowand's approach.  It's pure speculation.], never drawing more than 44 unintentional walks in a season (He swings a lot, yea... we get it). He's now moving to a bigger ballpark that's about as unfriendly to home runs as Philadelphia's park is friendly to them, and he's not going to make up for the loss of that power with good OBPs.

Jerry Crasnick just named the Giants' lineup (without Rowand) the worst in the majors as currently constructed, and lack of on-base skills is a major reason [The lack of hitting ability is the other major reason]. The Giants' offense revolved around Barry Bonds, who certainly won't be playing in San Francisco in 2008, leaving the Giants with a sort of baseball anemia. Bonds drew 132 walks in 2007; the rest of the Giants drew 400, with no one over 53. In fact, the Giants put fewer men on base in 2007 than any other NL club but Arizona, and that's including Bonds and his .480 OBP. If you don't put men on base, you don't score. Signing Rowand doesn't help the Giants on this score.

Here's what I have to say:
Rowand was not the best CF available in the free agent pool, but of the CF picks he was probably the best signing.  Andrum Jones is basically more of a liability than an asset, and Torii is just way too expensive.  Rowand is probably the highest value, even at his riddiculous signing price.  He plays CF better than anyone that was available, and that alone would have won the Giants 5 more games last year.  My hatred of Dave Roberts defense in CF is well documented.

Rowand is pretty quick, has a great glove and arm in CF, is only 30 years old, and is about the easiest guy to cheer for in the Bigs.  That guy plays balls to the wall every day.  He is well-known for firing up his teammates with his play and with his attitude.  The Giants maybe didn't need a 17th out-fielder, but they did upgrade defensively and got a spark plug on the bench.  I really do not disagree with signing him.  Let Rowand roam around in CF and let Roberts platoon with Schierholtz in LF.

It seems to me that there may not be a GM in baseball that is better at keeping his dealings secret than one, Brain Sabean.  I can think of a few examples of when the Giants were not even mentioned in obtaining a player on the block or on the market, and then the Giants nail him.  Joe Carter, Moises Alou, Mike Matheny...  These were all good moves, in my opinion.  And more importantly, I didn't know they were coming.

This winter has been extremely calm.  It could be because other GMs are jacking Sabean off with Cabrera/Rios type Lincecum-Fantasy trades, or because Sabean is up to his usual tricks of pulling off a major deal or two under the radar.

Sabes has had to put up with some pretty nasty hate mail from the McCoven in the past year or more (mostly warranted), but I have always liked the guy.  I think he may be a little behind the times, but for awhile, I don't think anyone was better at putting decent talent and chemistry* together to make contenders.
(*I mean really... the last time I saw a franchise with more over-the-hill black guys was the Globe Trotters)

If Sabean can put together a trade, or free-agent deal that is under the radar, and mixes well with a rebuilding mentality maybe he can secure his spot for another few years.  Or maybe he'll do the same, out-dated BS he's done for the last 4.  I don't know... but from the calm on the waters we're feeling as a Giants nation, I think Sabean is due to make some viscious waves.

p.s.:  How did you guys like my attempt at Passan's high-school-like use of metaphors there?

Understandably, teams were very weary of signing Bonds to begin with, but now I don't think anyone is willing to risk signing an aging veteran slugger who has both potential for injury and potential for jail time.

My question is this...

If Bonds, who is not a member of the Players Association, wants to, could he not strike a deal with a team on a game-by-game pro-rated basis?  Somewhat similar to Clemens pro-rated deal, but in reverse.  Like a deal that says, "I'll play for $10 million a year, and that's based on my career average of games per season.  Then if I miss any games below that, you don't pay me for games I haven't played."

I realize that the union would not allow something like this, but since Bonds is not a part of the Players Assoc. is it even possible?  Not that he would...

Feliz Injustice...

Chipper Jones can't believe Wright won Gold Glove
Sunday, Nov 11, 2007 8:00 am EST

Getty Images
A report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week said that Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones can't figure out how David Wright of the New York Mets won the NL Gold Glove.

"When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time," Jones said. "Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn't win it." The report also quoted Jones as saying, "I wouldn't have been disappointed had someone like [Pedro] Feliz or [Aramis] Ramirez won it. I'm a little confused by the final tally, that's a head-scratcher for me."

Wright told The New York Post: "I don't take anything he says to heart. Obviously I think I can be better defensively. But I have a Gold Glove, and that's the bottom line, and that's something I'm very proud of, and I feel like I'm getting better and better defensively, and obviously managers and coaches have seen that."

Source: New York Post

I've been thinking since week 3 that Feliz has had a lock on the Gold Glove.  Chipper Jones solidifies my sentiment with this quote.  Who votes on these things, anyway?

Do you guys have any idea what the bull pen is going to shape up like for next year?  I'd like to see some tentative Depth Charts people!

It's a simple poll.  Feel free to comment.  The man is a Giant at heart, but he wants to play more.  The Giants could open up negotiations with him again, and then again... they could not.

I just looked at Helton's fielding pct. for this year.  .999  Doesn't that beat J.T.'s record for a single season?

Helton onlz had 2 errors in 153 games.  That's nutz.

It's been well documented on this site that I am a flight attendant that gives Dodger fans hell on my flights.  Well, those of you who were very disgusted by my last posting of such events may be a little more delighted with the outcome of my antics yesterday.

As I was boarding a flight from the Greater Los Angeles area, an old, regal-looking black gentleman walked right by me with a man that was obviously his son.  My first thought was, "WHOA!  Sonny Rollins!  One of my heroes! (You can tell from my name that I love jazz music)"  I continued my inner-dialougue, "I'll just wait till we level off, and service is done before I go annoy one of the best musicians in American history.

Well, during the boarding process it was my duty to make PA's.  I saw a few Dodger hats and bags and stuff, so I decided to rub in the walk-off homer that happened the night before.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard blah-blah-blah...  Good Dodger game last night, huh?  O.k.!  Who's a Dodger fan?  Raise your hand.  Ok, girls up front, see the people raising their hands?  Make sure they get no food or drinks the entire flight."

The crowd politely laughed.  Some boo'd.  All in good fun.

As I am doing the safety demo, the nice, old black guy says to me, "Hey.  Was that you giving the Dodger fans a hard time?"

"Of course!  I hate the Dodgers!  I'm a  Giants fan."

"Well, I'm a Dodger."

I take notice to how he does not say "fan" at the end of his sentence.

"I was ON the Dodgers."

"Wow," I try to say with my foot blocking anything from coming out of my mouth.  "What's your name?"

"Don Newcombe."

"Oh, cool.  I thougth I recognized you!"  I had seen a picture of him in a Brooklyn Dodger uniform just the day before.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you.  I'd love to talk baseball later on if it doesn't bother you too much."

I was embarrassed and flustered, but I rationalized my behaviour by telling myself, "Who cares if he was on the Dodgers and you made an ass out of yourself?  Am I supposed to be nice to Dodger players?"

So about an hour into the flight, he gets up to go to the bathroom.  When he comes out, I pounce on him (politely of course).

"I don't want to bug you too much.  Can I ask you a couple questions?"

"Sure."

"Well, tell me a little about the Giants/Dodger rivalry in your perspective.  Was it as intense with the players as it was with the fans?"

"Oh yea.  On the field, or course it was!  But it was only on the field.  Off the field, Mays, and Monte Irvin and some of us would run around New York together.  Go drinking together.  Chasing broads together."  He said the "broads" part as if he were bragging.  I laughed out loud.

Or course I did not have a tape recorder rolling so I can't tell you everything he said verbatim, but I also asked him about pitching to Mays.  He said something like, "Well, Mays was a first pitch hitter.  I told Willie, 'You ain't going to hit my first pitch because I'm going to knock you down with it."  He told me, "Fine, I'll hit the second one then."

He said the manager would fine anyone $50 if they let Mays hit the first pitch.

He alluded to the fact that Dodger fans now don't have the same passion that they once did.

My favorite thing he talked about was John Roseboro.  I stupidly asked him if he was on the field when Marichal clocked Roseboro with the bat.  He said no, of course, but he talked with Roseboro about that.  He was telling me how Roseboro had a black belt in karate and he asked him why he didn't kick Marichal's ass.  He said Roseboro was like, "Man, I didn't know where I was or what I was doing!  I just got hit with a bat!"

So, there you go, McCoven.  Some insight into our beautiful rivalry from one of its most prestigious members.

And as a side note, the little part about Sonny Rollins for any non-jazz nerds.  Sonny Rollins got the nickname, "Newk", because he and Don Newcombe were spitting images of each other.  They often got confused for each other when they were in New York together in the 50's.

Have you guys ever seen that movie?  The dorky, star-witness, surfer guy looks EXACTLY like Matt Cain.  Weird.  Let's see if Matt Cain's acting talents extend to him acting like Mark McGwire, again.

I like watching the Giants win, and I also like Zito pitching well.  Both happened last night.  I didn't watch the game in entirety.  I watched the condensed game on MLB.TV.  Zito's stuff looked nasty.  I think only two guys hit ropes, and everyone else was whiffing like idiots or chopping the ball into the ground like Frandsens.  This, I like.  The worst pitch I saw in the condensed game was obviously the hanger he threw Hawpe.  Nice catch by the fan, by the way.  I wish Z got the win, but at least he pitched well enough for him to get a win on any other club in the MLB that, you know, scores runs sometimes.

Hennesy's slider SUCKED!  He has nasty stuff, but he did not bring it with him last night.  Thank God for infielders.  All three outs were PEED on by the Rockies, but they were right at the Giants.

Is Frandsen ever going to take an outside pitch the other way?

Is Durham ever going to hit again?

Under the radar, we're now the hottest team in baseball!  8-2 in our last 10 games.  No one is hotter than us except the Pirates (also 8-2), and the Marlins in Reverse (1-9).

Any thoughts?  I see a 2007 NL Champions flag waiving high in the Big Phone next year.

On a side note, it turns out the Dodgers do really suck.

Ok, the headline was really lame, but he's really bad.  Seriously, what's the deal?  It seems like when he comes in to pitch, we're just conceding a few runs to the other team.  What is Bochy thinking?

"Well, I guess a few more runs for the other team won't hurt us THAT much."

I haven't seen a lefty be this bad for the Giants out of the pen since Alan Embree.  He was TERRIBLE as a Giant, but good for everyone else it seems.

As previously said, I am a flight attendant with JetBlue Airways.  Today, I did something that I could not wait to get home and tell the McCoven.

For starters, I went to work very hung over from a beer and scotch binge.  On my first flight of the day, I was trying so hard to not let out any of the toxic fumes that were brewing in my innards.

As my flight from Syracuse to New York City was boarding I saw some jack-ass wearing a UCLA football shirt and Dodgers hat.

"You have to remove that hat, sir."

"Why?"

"It's an FAA regulation."

"No, it's not."

"I know.  But I'm a Giants fan, and your face makes me want to vommit."

I didn't say that last part but I wanted to.  I did tell him I am Giants fan, however.

I didn't talk to him ever again in the flight.  I didn't ask him if he wanted a snack, or drink or anything.  And he didn't ask to get one.  It was as if he accepted the fact that I was a Giants fan, it's my flight, and Dodger fans are not appreciated.  But there's more...

When I was walking through the cabin collecting trash a foul wind was afoot.  I saw the tasteless and offensive blue cap was only a few rows ahead.  I held my stench in for a few more seconds, and as soon as I took one step past him, I let 'er rip.  My ass was directly in his ear, and I let out a good one.  I didn't look back to see if he noticed.  My guess is he did not notice initially because he was watching TV and his head phones probably muffled my fart, but if my bomb was even HALF the mega-tonage of my previous expulsions, he could not have helped but taste it.

Here you go, Ass Hole.  Here's some ass hole.

Well, I think I am officially stoked on Rajai Davis.  I have openly adored his outfield play.  I firmly think he'd save us 10-12 runs the rest of the season if he were starting over the haggard Dave Roberts. His arm is now the best we have in the outfield (Finally we have someone above a grade C arm out there!), and you'll never see him looking for fly balls with a portable GPS tracker like Roberts.

His hitting aproach leaves a bit to be desired, and it probably won't get better since Lefebvre is easily the worst hitting coach in the majors, but he's FAST.  I give him an A- to an A on speed.  I don't know if he's a base stealer, but man can he get down the line!

What is you guys' impression of the new guy?

YOUR San Francisco Giants!!! (Are pretty damn awful)

Some of the players can't play... but aren't some of these guys to blame?

We're going streaking!

Come on, everybody!  We're going streaking!

The Giants are losing again, and I paid good money for this ticket,

Let's Go Streaking!

You can come too, Mexican guy with a Giants sombrero on.

Streaking, woooo!

We're going through the Arcade, around the Cable car, and past the Cha-Cha Bowl place...

Come ON DAMNIT!  STREAK!

It's 1-0 in favor of the Nationals while Matt Cain is pitching.  We know the game is over!  Let's take our clothes off and run around!!!!

Streak like DiMaggio!  Streak!

We're streaking through the Garlic Fries line, and into the press box!  Then we're going to streak right up to Peter Magowan and show him some REAL young talent!  Our naked bodies!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Jesus Streaking Christ!  Why won't anyone STREAK with me!

Even the $19 per Soda Guy is streaking!  I hope that money is going towards better security to prevent STREAKERS!

WOOO!  If I were on Saved By the Bell I'd be Streak Powers!  WOOOO!

Come on!  Even Bengie Molina is streaking!  Look at him.  Oh!  Sorry, he's just running.

We're streaking!