Thursday, September 29, 2016

NL West is Heating Up!

The MLB season is winding down over the next week.  My last few posts have been pretty negative on the SF Giants.  The fact is, I'm just bitter.  They were supposed to be so much better this year than they have played.  Don't get me wrong, the baseball season is a long one and it is extremely difficult to maintain momentum for the full season, but that is the mark of a successful and winning team.  This is simply not the Giants year and that is fine.  It is an even year and it should have been (as superstitious yet equally silly as that sounds), but it looks like another team will take home the trophy this year.  For a current look at the standings and wild card predictions, go no further:  NL West Wildcard.  Perhaps we do have a chance, but I'm not holding my breath.  I will do my best to keep calm.


Monday, September 19, 2016

The Giants Are Terrible

I can't watch anymore.  Too much torture is okay when you're winning, but the Giants have simply found a way to outdo themselves.  So unless they sweep the Dodgers this week, they can pretty much kiss their season goodbye. In what was supposed to be a promising season with key pitcher acquisitions (Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija), the Giants seemed to have given up.  I am losing hope, so much that I actually was invited to go to a Dodger/Giants game this week at Dodger stadium and declined.  Don't get me wrong - I love the Giants and always will.  I'll never love another baseball team more than the Giants, but I just can't watch them anymore this season.  Right now, they are probably snickering in their locker room about how they're going to win the rest of the games this season and show everyone how little faith we have.  I wish that were so, but if so, why be so dramatic?  Just win regularly like every other winning team.  It's much easier to stomach their season.  The Giants Are Terrible.

Oh, and by the way, it's time to bench Santiago Casilla!  He has been horrible!!


Somebody read my mind!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Right Where We Want You

I admit that I'm an optimist.  I filter out the bad and look for anything good that can be used to explain why something may or may not happen.  Why focus on negativity when all it will do is bring you down.  Ok, so now that all of that is out of the way, I want to focus on the 2016 San Francisco Giants.  My favorite life-long team, I have followed them through thick and thin since I was a child.  From 1B Will Clark to LF Barry Bonds to C Buster Posey to SP Madison Bumgarner, there have been some legends to don the black and orange.  I even omit Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey from this conversation because they were a bit before my time.  So the question is, where are the Giants going this year. At the All-Star break, the Giants seem destined to win another World Series in what would be their 4th since 2010.  Something superstitious about even years, having won 2010, 2012 and 2014, the Giants were devouring every team in their path, leading the majors with a 57-33 record in the first half.  Since then, they have fallen out of first place by going 20-32, and that is after just sweeping the last place Arizona Diamondbacks.  What has happened to them?  Their roster is solid and they still lead the wildcard, but they have seemingly lost their balance and their mojo.  Their offense stalls when they need to score a run and their bullpen falters when they have the lead.  They have lost too many 1-run games in the 2nd half and just have not been able to find the answer.  The Giants are simply slumping and have lost their way.  Or have they?  The Giants usually like to torture their fans when they win.  Why win convincingly when you can make the games more interesting?  Who will be the guy to step up this year?  Their last 3 titles were won because of gritty performances from unexpected contributors.  From my vantage point, I think the Giants have the national league right where they want them.


Saturday, September 3, 2016

Year 2 with D'Angelo Russell

I have high expectations for D'Angelo Russell in his 2nd year as the PG of the Los Angeles Lakers.  I totally get how a starter/bench role can lead to inconsistent and/or inconclusive results.  Sure, Byron Scott had his reasons, and it was pretty obvious the kid was quite immature given the trust issues with certain of his teammate(s).  But year number 2 will give Russell the opportunity to start and to lead this team, which struggled in its worst year ever last season. No Kobe to hog shots and no old school coach to limit minutes.  It's time for Russell to step up and show Los Angeles what is has been waiting for -- a new leader to rise post Kobe-era.  Russell, along with Clarkson and Randle, form a promising future.  Coupled with high-priced veterans in Mozgov and Deng, and a young dynamic coach in Luke Walton, the 2016-17 season expects to be exciting.  We may not win very many more games than last season, but it sure will be fun.  More on D'Angelo Russell here.