It's a little early for this, but I decided that, since I already got a real one in the mail and since I am on Thanksgiving break and therefore have more time, that it would be appropriate. 

This post is intended to be a collection of Christmas Card style life updates.  I figured that since the community at the MCC is so friendly, personal and close-knit, as far as internet communities go, that we should have our own Christmas Cards.   I'll start.  The only problem is that my family hasn't taken Christmas photos, yet. 

Continue reading this post »

I was waiting to post this for when Brian Sabean was not retained.  However, it then occured to me that regardless of whether he was kept or let go it was a good time to try and sort out Brian Sabean's legacy here in San Francisco. 

Continue reading this post »

Dear Baseball Gods,

Continue reading this post »

Dear Diary,

I've been thinking this one over for a little bit.  I just knew there had to be something I was missing.  It just shouldn't make sense.  It's never gonna happen; because it shouldn't make sense.  But it seems to.  At least to me....

Continue reading this post »

Dear Diary,

We discuss a lot of baseball here.  We also snark a lot; photoshops (I've seen quite a few in my time), lolcats, jokes, memes...if it's silly or goofy we do it.  I join in just as much as anybody (I might not be as funny as most, but I have just as much enthusiasm as anybody).  The status quo here is to try to be lolier than thou. 

But this post is quite serious.  It is also not about baseball.

Today is Mother's Day.  And, even though we should acknowledge our mothers every day, it is important to have a day set aside just for them. 

So do something nice for your mom.  Even if you hate her.  Seriously.  I know that not every mother/child relationship is great.  But even if the only thing your mother ever did for you was to bring you into this world, that's still something.  Regardless of how little talent it takes for conception and regardless of whether it was responsible or not to conceive you, she gave you a chance.  And that is a lot.

I know some mothers don't have any relationship at all with their child.  I may not be a mother, but I am a parent.  And I know the unique attachment that a parent and a child has with each other.  Even if it lies dormant, it is there within your mother.  It is the single most important aspect of our humanity.  So do something nice for her, if you can.  There is no guarenteed fairy tale ending.  But it will make the world a better place.

Happy mother's day to all you MCC moms (wait, nevermind.  There are no women on the internet).

P.S.  It is two in the morning and this post might not be as eloquent as Mother's Day deserves.  I just wanted to express my belief in the importance of this day (or, at least, the concept behind the day).

Dear Diary,

The temptation has been there pretty much since Spring Training.  But I have kept it at bay by repeating the mantra "It's too early" over and over again.  Small sample sizes and spring training performances are no reason to get too high or too low. 

But this Giants team doesn't evoke the melancholy that last year's team did.  I have quite a love/hate relationship with this team.  Sure, there are parts of this Giants team that evoke a "meh."  But, mostly this is a strong emotion relationship. 

Take Aaron Rowand, for instance.  I really hate this guy.  His stupid batting stance.  His throws to the infield (though, they haven't been egregious so far this year).  His playing time (whenever I grind my teeth at Schierholtz lack of playing time, the tooth dust falls on the floor and spells Rowand's name).  His contract.  His lack of production. 

All things I hate. 

Yet, there's also Timmy, Matt, Dirty, the Big Unit, Sandeeval (for some reason I've taken to saying his name like a little kid might), Ishikawa (yes, I love him.  And I'm not ashamed), Molina, FLew, Winn and Schierholtz. 

Well, it's May and I can not keep the temptation at bay any longer.  This fanpost might look ridiculous very soon.  It might even look ridiculous now.  But I must pass judgment.  Both good and bad.  So here goes:

THE GOOD

Sandoval:  We were all thinking it.  But he proved us all wrong.  He's a hitter.  There's nothing more to say.  Oh, except maybe "passable defense!"

Lewis:  Yeah, the strikeouts.  Yeah, the defensive blunders.  But this guy has arrived.  If he can figure out a couple of things (e.g. how to keep his discipline from leading to excessive strikeouts) then this guy might just have himself a breakout. 

Affeldt:  Affeldt this might happen.  He's pretty darn good.  And the puns!

Wilson:  The blow up and the 3-2 counts aside, he's looked good this year.  I say he still continues to prove delorean wrong.

Barry Zito?:  Somebody told us he was back.  His stuff is looking better.  He's actually pitching well right now.  Will it continue?  I expect no.  I hope yes. 

THE BAD

Aaron Rowand:  I touched on this guy before.  Remember that month last year?  I really wish that Rowand showed up more often.  He's a frickin' offensive drain.  That's not good coming from the highest paid offensive player.

Burriss:  I think Grant covered him just fine.

Bochy:  Everything relevant has been said about him ten times over.

Howry:  He hasn't exactly looked great so far.  And he keeps going out there almost every game.  I'm not expecting good things from him. 

THE REALLY GOOD

Lincecum: Yeah

Cain:  I've said this a couple of times already.  His secondary stuff looks better than I've ever seen it.  He still needs to work on his control (it haunted him in his game today).  But I think it's time we got real and admit that Cain might be it.

Johnson:  Besides the outing before last, he's looked really good.  The only question for me is his durability.

Sanchez:  I'm one of the biggest fanboys around, so you know he has to be in this category. 

THE UNDECIDED

Renteria:  He's looked bad.  He's looked good.  Which is the true Renteria?  Hell if I know. 

Winn:  He's looked bad, mostly.  Except in the field.  Classy, there.  I don't know if age has caught with him or if it is just a slow start.  I am reserving judgment for now.

Ishikawa:  This guy confuses me.

THE VERDICT

That's a lot of sentence fragments.  Also, more positive than negative!  I think the Giants could actually be above .500 this year.  I really do.  I could see the starting pitching continue to dominate all year.  I think we've seen what the Giants offense will do.  And it's been enough. 

After that horrible six game stretch, the Giants have gone 9-4.  And two of those games, the Giants really should have won.  I think 85 wins isn't out of the question.  There are still a lot of things that have to go right.  But I am much more optimistic about this season than I have been for a Giants season in four years.

Dear Diary,

It is now officially Spring.  The equinox has come and gone.  The clocks have been changed.  I am on Spring break for the next two weeks.  Blossoms are on the trees.  The weather is getting warmer.  Spring training is here. 

And I am itching for baseball.  I am ready for games that mean something. 

This year has been kind of tough.  Being a first year teacher is tough.  The school district I am in is pretty messed up.  The kids, the administrations, the district office, all of it.  And then there is the uncertainty of where I will be working next school year.

And so, with two weeks off I am ready to watch Lincecum and Cain and Sanchez throw again.  I am ready to see Randy Johnson in a Giants uniform.  I am ready to see Sandoval hit again.  I am ready to see Ishikawa and Bowker and Frandsen and Lewis try and make something of themselves.  I am ready to see Rowand miss the cutoff man.  I am ready to bitch about Bochy's stupid veteran fetish.  I am ready to marvel at Molina's incredible sloth-like baserunning. 

I am ready for the stream of non-sense of gameday threads. 

But I will not get real baseball during spring break.  For some stupid reason, the baseball season does not start until April 5th this year.  The Giants do not play until April freakin' 7th (or the second day back from Spring break).  Whose genius idea was this?  The playoffs already darn near go into November as it is.  Now they are probably going into mid-November. 

I feel I am pretty safe to say that I speak for pretty much all baseball fans when I say "We don't need to wait an extra freakin' week for baseball.  Go back to the way it was.  Baseball is supposed to start at the beginning of April.  Whoever was responsible for this (probably Bud), you have just made all of our lives that much bleaker for one more week.  Thanks."*

*  The preceding rant was purely self-indulgent and meaningless.  Of course, if the season starts a week later, it just means that the season will go a week longer at the end.  So this is simply thehavenot expressing his bitter, bitter disappointment at not being able to participate in gameday threads and watching real baseball for a whole extra week, at which point he will be working again.

Dear Diary,

16 games left in the 2008 season and what we have to look forward to is watching Sandoval, Lincecum, Ishikawa and a couple others give us individual performances.  When watching a bad baseball team (the 08 Giants are even bad at getting good draft position), it sometimes helps to escape into non-reality.  We often do that here so I decided that it would be kind of interesting to look back at some of the hypotheticals from this past season that ended up not coming about. 

Every move that was either rumored or wished for that I can remember will be examined.  I have no idea if I am remembering all of them but that's why there are other people in the world; to do my dirty work. 

Pat Burrell

Was the rumor really Benitez for Burrell?  Could you have imagined that going down?  I realize that it was last season that this one was from, but still.  That trade would have been an unbelievable steal.  This makes me think it was never really realistic. 

Also, while Burrell>>>>>>>>>>>>Benitez, it's worth noting that Burrell is only hitting 252/369/509 with a 124 OPS+ in a hitter's paradise.  It's still way better than what we put out there at first all year, but it's nothing great. Also, Ishikawa would have gotten even less time here in September.

Carlos Gomez

Could you imagine the gnashing of teeth and wailing that would have gone on here in May and June had Sabean traded Sanchez for this guy like it was rumored?  Yikes.  Nothing like trading someone who finally showed signs of putting it all together for somebody with a 72 OPS+.

Lastings Milledge

Regardless of how he's done this year, I still wish the Giants had been able to get him.  I don't really know what it would have taken to get him but if it was comparable to what the Mets gave up, it probably would have been okay with me.  He's still just 23 with a bunch of talent.  I wouldn't have traded Sanchez for him but several lesser  pieces would have been fine with me.  Probably not with the Mets, though.  So the point is moot.

Elijah Dukes

I doubt the Giants were ever interested.  I didn't even really hear any rumors about this guy.  But he was somebody who I thought the Giants should go after.  He's kind of a creep and all but he was had very cheaply and in his first 417 at bats in the majors he's put up 237/353/451 with 21 homers and 69 walks.  And he's been getting better lately.  I would take him on our team in a second.

Nick Johnson

He got hurt again.  He's the Rich Harden of first basemen.  Of course, in his short time playing he put up a .415 OBP...

Wily Mo Pena

I feel ashamed that I thought the Giants should try and get this guy...

Alex Rodriguez

Dude's putting up 308/388/598 line with a 158 OPS+!!!!  At a position of need for our team!!!!!  I can't believe nobody around here said we should try and get this guy!  We really dropped the ball on that one.

Dear Diary,

Giants' baseball hasn't been that fun, lately.  I mean, I still really like baseball and I still really like the Giants, but I don't like Giants' baseball.  Oh there's some aspects of Giants' baseball that I like.  Lincecum, for some reason.  Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez too.  Wilson, Hinshaw, Romo and Matos.  Bowker and Lewis (even with Bowker's horrible July).  Those guys represent various shades of flash that briefly illuminate the darkness. 

But overall, it hasn't been fun.  We haven't had cable for a while and usually I would be going crazy if I missed this many games.  I love watching baseball.  But this season, I have been able to handle it.  I think it has to do with the enormous suck of the Giants.

So, I just thought it'd be nice to escape into alternate realities that will likely never come to pass. 

Predictions are fun.  It is fun to go back and see the ridiculousness that is flung around.  Good examples of this are the community projections of various Giants' players.  So here, any and all predictions are fair game. 

How many losses for the Giants in '08?  '09?  '37?  Will Barry ever play again?  When will Bumgarner be up?  How many Cy Youngs for Lincecum? 

They don't even have to be baseball related.  Obama or McCain?  Third party darkhorse?  Who wins the gold in fencing?  How many mutations for the Olympic rowing teams from Beijing waters?

Since I started this thread, I should give some predictions myself.  So.

-Bowker will hit more than 20 homeruns this year (risky, this one, what with his recent struggles)

-Freddie Lewis will never hit more than 20 homeruns (not so risky, this one)

-Freddie Lewis will have one season with an OBP over .400

-Bumgarner up in 2010, which is the same year the Giants finally have a good manager (I'm not up to predicting who)

-The next good Giants team in 2010.

-Villalona up in 2012.

-Fairley never makes it to the majors :(

-The Red Sox win the world series again this year  :(

-The Rays win the world series next year

-Giants get the 3rd pick in the draft next year.

-Sandoval becomes a regular next year and wins rookie of the year (my bold pick)

-Molina ends up falling off a cliff, production-wise, and gets a bad attitude to boot, putting him squarely in Sabean's dog-house.  This leads to a dump-him move ala Livan, Benitez, Morris, Pierzynski, etc.

-Matt Cain wins more than 10 games next year.

-Sanchez gets roughed up the next couple of starts and the Giants finally shut him down for the year.

-Correia finishes the year making gradual strides and then has a good year next year.

-Henry Sosa has a healthy season next year.

-thehavenot makes way too many predictions and most people don't bother to try and scroll down to the reply buttons, so no one replies.

So those are mine.  They are all mostly serious.  I probably could come up with some more.  But I should save some for later.  Plus less reading of mine means more predicting by you!  Let's see what your inner eight-ball says about the future!

-