1989 San Francisco Giants 30th Reunion

source: AP
Will Clark

This afternoon at Oracle Park,  members of the 1989 National League Champions San Francisco Giants held their 30th reunion.

For me, 1989 remains forever etched in memory, specifically, October 17. Game 3 of the Bay Bridge World Series.

At 5:04 pm, the Loma Prieta Earthquake happened. Jeff took me to the airport earlier in the day for my flight to Columbus.

Among the former Giants who attended today's reunion: Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, Mike Krukow, manager Roger Craig, former owner Bob Lurie, Robby Thompson and Will "The Thrill" Clark. Current Giants CEO Larry Baer announced Clark's 22 jersey will be retired after the 2019 season. In my opinion, it was long overdue.

Clark follows legends such as Willie Mays, Mel Ott (4), Juan Marichal (27), Willie McCovey (44), Orlando Cepeda (30), and most recently, Barry Bonds (25).

If you missed it earlier, here's today's ceremony:

Madison Bumgarner - 2 starts, 2 wins, 2 home runs

source: Deadspin

It wasn't enough for San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner to attain 2 post-season MVP's in 2014.

This past week, Mr. Incredible/Paul Bunyan/John Wayne hit 2 home runs in his last 2 starts. His 2015 season-to-date total = 5. It's the most home runs hit by a pitcher since Carlos Zambrano (Chicago Cubs) in 2006.

Oh, and he won both those games too. For Giants fans that can't get enough, here they are:

August 16:


August 21:


Gotta love his home run trot too. Head down, no flash. Barry Sanders would be proud.

2013 GIBBY Award Winner - Pitching Performance of the Year - Tim Lincecum, SF Giants

image source: MLB.com

A big congratulations to San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum as winner of the 2013 Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards (GIBBY) - Pitching Perfomance of the Year.

Timmy pitched the no-hitter on July 13, 2013.
As was noted in my blog entry on that date, it was the 7th no-hitter in San Francisco Giants history (15th in franchise history) and the first no-hitter in San Diego's Petco Park.

Buster Posey, who caught Tim's game, also caught Matt Cain's June 13, 2012 perfect game. Buster is the only catcher in Giants franchise history to catch 2 no-hitters.

And, if you're so inclined to watch, FlyingHellFish99 was kind enough to put San Francisco's broadcast of the game on YouTube. In HD too.

Max Scherzer, Detroit Tigers pitcher, 21 wins

image source: ESPN

Before the current era of specialized relief pitching, a starter with 20 wins earmarked whether or not you had a very successful season. If you had 30 wins like Dizzy Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals did in 1934, or Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers with 31 victories in 1968, it was phenomenal.

Today's era of pitchers are categorized into specialized roles. They include starter, long relief, setup, and closer. There's also the 100 pitch limit teams usually restrict to a starter. If he's taken out because of the pitch count and hasn't completed 5 innings yet his team wins the game, the starter cannot be credited for the victory. So if a starting pitcher wins 15 or more games now, it's a great season.

And this is why another Detroit Tigers pitcher, Max Scherzer, who earned his 21st win last night is remarkably special. Congratulations, Max. Good luck to you and the Detroit Tigers in the post-season. Your brother Alex would be very proud. 

A Freakin' Fantastic Outing - Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

image source: SBNation.com

Tonight, Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants pitched his first no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Final score: Giants 9, Padres 0.

Timmy's no-hitter is the 7th in San Francisco Giants history (15th in franchise history) and the first no-hitter in San Diego's Petco Park. The previous no-hitter was Matt Cain's perfect game on June 13, 2012. Buster Posey caught both games and makes him the first catcher in Giants history to catch 2 no-hitters.

Backed by some terrific defensive plays from right fielder Hunter Pence and 3rd baseman Pablo Sandoval, it took Tim 148 pitches to complete his game. He walked 4 and struck out 13 batters.

Here's video of all 27 outs and the on field celebration.



Two Cy Young Awards, 2 World Series Championships and now, a no-hitter. Pretty impressive for someone who just turned 29 last month. Way to go, Timmy. I'm sure your dad Chris couldn't be any prouder.

Ken Griffey Junior and Senior

image source: Seattle Times
Ken Griffey, Junior (L) and Ken Griffey, Senior (R)

As we reach the end of Father's Day, there have been many sweet, touching pictures and stories of fathers and sons. Anyone who's been a regular reader on my blog for the past year has probably wondered which father and son I'd feature from baseball or bowling.

Bowling, without a doubt, hands down, it's Pete Weber and his dad, Dick Weber. I'm a big admirer of the elder Weber. As for Pete, let's just say I respect his accomplishments tremendously and leave it at that.

In baseball, it'd be easy for me to pick the most well-known father and son in the San Francisco Giants organization, Bobby and Barry Bonds. They both wore the same number, 25. I've got a lot respect for both of them, but I don't have an emotional connection with either of them.

So why Ken Griffey Junior and Senior? I grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan at the height of their Big Red Machine days in the 1970's. The number 2 batter and right fielder in that lineup was Ken Griffey (not yet known as senior until his son came up to play in the majors). He was fast, strong, and played his position well. To me, Senior looked more like a running back in football than he did an outfielder in baseball.

When Junior made his sensational start for the Seattle Mariners, it was so easy to like him. I rarely saw him play without a smile. He looked like the grown up little leaguer out there having fun. His home run power AND his extraordinary ability to shag flies must have made opposing teams cringe.

In the 1990 and 1991 seasons, Junior and Senior played together for the Mariners. They fulfilled the dreams many fathers and sons have - to play next to each other in Major League Baseball. They hold the MLB record for father-son career hits, at 4,926. It's my guess this record will hold up for awhile.

Here's a YouTube video clip highlighting some of their time together, which includes a back-to-back home run for father and son.

SF Giants' Angel Pagan, Walk-off Inside-the-Park Home Run

in photo left to right: Marco Scutaro, Angel Pagan and Andres Torres
image source: Jeff Chiu, AP

In baseball, scoring a walk-off run is always exciting. For those not familiar with the term "walk-off" run, it means the home team scores the winning run in the bottom inning to end the game before finishing the inning. The home team can "walk off" the field immediately afterward.*

A lot rarer and perhaps more exciting is an inside-the-park home run. It is usually a hit well placed beyond reach of the outfielders. By the time the ball is retrieved and thrown back to the infield, the batter has touched all bases and made it to home plate to score.

For the first time since Rey Sanchez of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays did it in 2004, my beloved San Francisco Giants accomplish both feats this afternoon. It comes from leadoff hitter Angel Pagan.

With the Giants down 5-4 to the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the 10th inning (Giants were down 4-0 in the 4th inning, Giants tie game 4-4 in the 7th, Rockies take lead 5-4 in 9th), Pagan hits a deep driving shot to right center field that bounces off the outfield wall. The rest is history.

A heart-pounding finish I'll never forget.

Here's the video (web only):



*information source - Wikipedia

Baseball Box Scoring

image source: Wikipedia

In less than 12 hours, my team for the past 29 years, the San Francisco Giants (and defending World Series Champions), will visit Chavez Ravine to begin the 2013 season to play longtime arch rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

My interest in baseball began around the age of 7. It took me about 3 to 4 years for me to understand the finer and more nuanced points of the game (balk, double steal, sacrifice fly, past ball, wild pitch, etc.).

This was also the time I became acquainted with box scoring, mostly out of necessity. I'd listen to games on radio and hear an announcer call a 6-4-3 (shortstop-2nd base-1st base) double play. It drove me nuts not to know what that term meant.

For many of you who already follow baseball, the above diagram is nothing new. Those of you that don't, the diagram lists all fielders and their position numbers when a team plays defense. For example, a left fielder catches a fly ball for an out. This would be scored as "F7".  Other scoring examples can be found from this link at MLB.com.

Starting pitchers on 2013 Opening Day - Matt Cain for San Francisco versus Clayton Kershaw for Los Angeles. Time to play ball. Go Giants - BEAT LA.

Hire or Fire Bobby Valentine?

Say what you will about Bobby Valentine's managerial skills (or lack thereof), the man has a sense of humor. His current occupation is sports related, but not in baseball. Wise decision.

Buster Posey did more than OK

After yesterday's impressive San Francisco 49ers playoff game versus the Green Bay Packers, it made me reflect for the umpteenth time on the San Francisco Giants 2012 season. To win 6 elimination games in the division and league series and then sweep the World Series. It's something that would be very difficult to repeat.

While deciding on what to write for my latest blog entry, I came across an article San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist John Shea wrote on May 29, 2011 ("After surgery, Buster Posey turns focus to 2012").  The above image contains my comments to Mr. Shea's article.  Remarks in the last paragraph include, "...Buster's going to do fine."

Fast forward to the 2012 season. Buster was more than fine. He broke out above and beyond most people's expectations. He started as the National League catcher in the All-Star game, won a Silver Slugger Award, became the National League's Most Valuable Player and played a HUGE part in capturing the 2012 World Series Championship for the Giants.

Buster: 2 full seasons = 2 World Series Championships.

Can't wait to see what he's going to do next.

Anatomy of a Post-Season, in Tweets - SF Giants 2012

image source: MLB.com

Series conclusion, San Francisco Giants - 2012. While they aren't as detailed as they were in the regular season (too focused on the games to be coherent), here are the tweets I wrote during their post-season run:

National League Division Series versus Cincinnati Reds:
October 7:
(1) would be nice if some of the 45 points Niners got today could be given to the Giants. Big fat goose egg after 4 1/3 innings.
(2) my, that was painful. Big kudos to "Red Sweatshirt" Dude Bronson Arroyo for an awesome pitching outing.

October 9: no broom today. Giants 2, Reds 1. Kept up hope, slim as it may be. Great pitching effort by Ryan Vogelsong to keep Giants in the game.

October 10: as Tug McGraw put it so eloquently, "ya gotta believe." Giants 8, Reds 3. Another great pitching outing from "reliever" Tim Lincecum.

October 11:
(1) Cheering for that 1st Giants run just now was painful. especially for the ears to hear.
(2) BUSTER POSEY! GRAND SLAM! OH MY!
(3) WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Way to go Giants! First NL team to overcome 0-2 deficit to move to NLCS.

October 12:
(1) keep watching over and over Buster Posey's grand slam, especially where Reds' catcher Ryan Hanigan looks away after Buster smacks it out..
(2) pack your bags Giants! Time to come home to the City by the Bay. Congrats to Mike Matheny and the St. Louis Cardinals for a great comeback.

------------

National League Championship Series versus St. Louis Cardinals:
October 16: Stayed up into the wee hours watching video of last night's NLCS game. Scutaro and Vogelsong: quiet, stoic and tougher than nails.

October 17: Holliday-Scutaro collision discussion needs to stop. We all agree it was a late slide. Focus on Game 3, as I'm sure Marco and Matt are.

October 18: Red and Gold score and no longer trail. Black and Orange deficit grows larger. Rally cap time for Giants.

October 19:
(1) agree with Laskey* (Bill Laskey, former Giants pitcher), the throwing error to 2nd base by Cards pitcher Lance Lynn was the pivotal turn for today's Giants win.
(2) did you ever have deja-deja-deja-deja vu? Clutch win SF Giants! Best pitching effort I've seen from Zito as a Giant.

October 21:
(1) and it's Game 7 for tomorrow! Ryan Vogelsong - wow wow wow wow wow wow. Sets new career high (9) in K's.
(2) now on MLB TV for at least the next 2 hours. Can't get enough of Giants win and praise from Mitch Williams (remember '89 NLCS?).

October 22:
(1) rain starting to fall again. It's less than 2 hours before game time! Rain needed but NOT NOW. Go away. Quickly. Please. Pretty please.
(2) In the pouring rain, the Giants win their 6th elimination game to go to the World Series! So happy Vogey and Scoots are in their 1st WS.

-------------

World Series versus Detroit Tigers:
October 24:
(1) World Series begins tonight. Words to consider from the esteemed Tigers skipper, Jim Leyland, "It's not who you play but when you play 'em."
(2) 2nd night of terrible bowling, but it also resulted in another Giants blowout. A fair tradeoff ;)
(3) LOVE love Giants starting pitchers have RBI's in 4 consecutive games. See if the mighty Tigers starters can do the same.

October 25: Pitching duel to the end. Way to play small ball, G-men. Mighty Tigers manage only 2 hits. Giants 2, Tigers 0.

October 26:
(1) Vogey, WOW. Again. Bases loaded, 1 out. Then 2 pop flies* to end the inning. As I said about him before, tougher than nails. (correction, one of the outs was a strikeout).
(2) GREAT pitching (Vogey, Romo, Timmy) and defense (Crawford, Blanco), part VIII. Giants win 2-0 vs. Tigers. Now 3-0 lead in World Series.

October 27:
(1) gonna be a battle in the "driving mist" tonight. Reformed nail biters may fall off their wagons. Giants 3, Tigers 3, bottom 6.
(2) throat now cleared, cue music, fat lady is in her slow walk up to the stage...
(3) Tweet # 4100 - Sergio Romo strikes out AL Triple Crown King Miguel Cabrera! Giants 4, Tigers 3, in 10. SWEEP!!!! 2012 WORLD SERIES CHAMPS.
(4) so much respect for Detroit Tigers' skipper Jim Leyland. He said, "Congrats to the San Francisco Giants, This wasn't a fluke."

What a season. Thank you San Francisco Giants, for making 2012 another World Series never to be forgotten. I've never been prouder to be a Giants fan.

Ryan Vogelsong, resiliency continued

Source: Brant Ward, San Francisco Chronicle

On September 24, I blogged about the resilience of San Francisco Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong. In his first National League Championship Series game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he pitched 7 innings, walked 2, struck out 4 and gave up only 1 run, giving the Giants their first win, 7-1, in the series.

Tonight, Vogelsong got his second NLCS win with another stellar performance. As he did in Game 2, he pitched 7 innings and gave up 1 earned run. He walked only 1 and struck out 9 batters (a career high). The Giants win their second consecutive NLCS game, 6-1, to tie the series 3-3 with the Cardinals and force a final and deciding seventh game tomorrow night.

In 3 post-season appearances, Vogelsong has pitched 19 innings, gave up 11 hits, yielded only 3 runs, walked 6 and struck out 18 batters. Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, Vogelsong has been a dominant presence. This is someone who was pitching in Japan 3 years ago and released by 2 teams in 2010 before re-signing with the San Francisco Giants in 2011.

Ryan's journey continues to amaze me. Hollywood couldn't have scripted it any better. Go GIANTS!

Resilient - Ryan Vogelsong

source: Ezra Stone/Getty Images North America

I still have a huge grin on my face from last night's Giants win over the San Diego Padres to capture their second National League West Division Title in 3 years.  As I often do after Giants wins, I watch the post game show. Home games with Giants announcers Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, Jon Miller and Dave Flemming.

The first Giants player to be interviewed in the locker room was pitcher Ryan Vogelsong. You don't have to be a sports fan to appreciate Vogelsong's career. The Giants first drafted him in 1998, and then traded him in 2001 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He remained there for 5 seasons, underwent Tommy John surgery, and then pitched in Japan for 3 seasons. He lost twice as many games as won in his time with the Giants and Pirates (10-22, 5.86 ERA).

After playing in Japan, Vogelsong returned to the United States in 2010. He pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies AAA team, Lehigh Valley. They released him in mid-July. He then signed with the Anaheim Angels and was released again.

In 2011, under a minor league contract, Vogelsong returned to the Giants. He finished the season with an eye opening 2.71 ERA and won more games than he did in his entire major league career, 13. He became the poster man for the single word he said to Mike Krukow to describe this year's Giants team: resilient. 

Resilience, as described in Psychology Today:
"Resilience is that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes. Psychologists have identified some of the factors that make someone resilient, among them a positive attitude, optimism, the ability to regulate emotions, and the ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback. Even after a misfortune, blessed with such an outlook, resilient people are able to change course and soldier on."

Can't argue. Congratulations, Vogey, Buster, Matt, Timmy, Barry, Angel, Brandon, Brandon, Sergio, and the rest of the San Francisco Giants.

All-Time Gold Glove Team

A couple of days ago, Rawlings announced their all-time Gold Glove team. They are by position:

pitchers (tie): Greg Maddux and Jim Kaat

catcher: Johnny Bench

1st base: Wes Parker

2nd base: Joe Morgan

3rd base: Brooks Robinson

shortstop: Ozzie Smith

outfield: Willie Mays

outfield: Ken Griffey, Jr.

outfield: Roberto Clemente

As someone that's been around almost as long as Gold Gloves have been issued, I've seen at one time or another on TV all the players mentioned field their positions. And all of them (in my humble opinion) except one deserve to be on the team.

The one exception is 1st baseman Wes Parker. Why? While he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers his entire career, he only played for 9 seasons and received 6 Gold Gloves. Parker beat out Keith Hernandez and Don Mattingly, which I think either of them would have been a much better choice. Especially Hernandez, who won 11 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1978 to 1988. Even Mattingly had more Gold Gloves than Parker at 9.

Well, Rawlings, if you based the all-time team strictly on the number of Gold Gloves awarded, I'm not sure everyone mentioned would be on it, including Mr. Parker. Someone in his fan club really stuffed the ballot box.

Davey Concepcion

image source: ESPN

Today, the Cincinnati Reds announced they will retire shortstop legend Dave Concepcion's number 13.

As mentioned in previous blogs, I grew up a HUGE Cincinnati Reds fan. I was in high school when the Big Red Machine won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. The 1975 Series versus the Boston Red Sox was for me the greatest World Series ever played.

While I admired Davey a lot, my brother Sherman probably admired him even more. He played shortstop all but 2 seasons from 2nd grade through high school. Sherman's first year on the high school varsity team, he chose number 13 because of Concepcion.

Immediately after Sherman's first game, Dad made him choose another number because like many people, Dad thought the number "13" would bring bad luck.

Like the Giants' Omar Vizquel, Dave played baseball with joyous enthusiasm. I can't recall a game where I didn't see a smile on his face. Both men hail from Venezuela and chose number 13 in honor of their homeland idol, Luis Aparicio, who played for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

Davey's number will be officially retired on July 28, when the Chicago Cubs will be in town to play Cincinnati. Thanks for the memories, Dave.

World Baseball Classic

Yesterday, after an open house visit in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Thai Café. Once home, changed into lounge attire and turned on the TV to ESPN2 to watch the World Baseball Classic.

If you’re a baseball fan and haven’t heard about the WBC, then you must be on another planet right now. It’s a round-robin tournament of teams from countries such as Puerto Rico, Australia, Mexico, Korea, Japan and of course, the United States. Surprisingly, there are also teams from the Netherlands and South Africa (who recently lost to the U.S. 17-0 and had the mercy rule invoked after 5 innings).

One of the games I watched was Puerto Rico vs. Dominican Republic. On paper, the Dominican Republic has one of the strongest team rosters. Players include Albert Pujols, Adrian Beltre, Moises Alou, and Miguel Tejada. The Puerto Rican team, while not having the same magnitude as DR, had a few of their own name players. Their roster includes: Bernie Williams, Javy Lopez, Carlos Beltran and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

Going into the game, I really didn’t think Puerto Rico had much of a chance. José Cruz Jr., a lifetime .250 hitter in the majors, had 2 critical hits to help Puerto Rico dominate Dominican Republic, 7-1. This is what makes the WBC special for veteran players and baseball fans. The players get in place of spring training a fun and competitive way to prepare for the season the fans can go out to see. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

With guys like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Roger Clemens playing for the U.S., how can a baseball fan not watch? I hope it becomes an annual ritual. Play ball!!!

image courtesy of shop.mlb.com