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KTE: They Might Be Giants...but they're not...

DocTee Jun 01 2008 07:57 PM

KTE: They Might Be Giants…but they’re not The Mets roll into the City-by-the-Bay after a Sunday evening tilt with the LA Dodgers at Shea. They’ll be greeted by the vanilla-crème-clad San Francisco Giants, a team that—like the Mets last opponent—is celebrating a half century in California. As a NY transplant to the Golden State myself, I find some affinity with this group of pioneers. Not. I will, however, be in attendance on Monday night for “Irish Heritage Night” http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ticketing/group_special_events.jsp taking the transbay ferry to and from the stadium, where I will enjoy too many garlic fries (don't knock them until you've tried them) and Gordon Biersch beers. This is among the first of many ethnic events for the team, whose motto is, appropriately enough for the community they represent: “All Out, All Season!” At first blush, the Giants appear respectable. They are middle-of-the-pack in their division, but then one realizes that they play in the pathetic NL West. In fact, although they currently sit in third, their record would land them solidly in last in most other divisions. Indeed, while they are better than division foes Colorado and San Diego, only those two squads, Seattle and Kansas City are having poorer seasons. Make no mistake about it—this is a bad team. At 24-33, the Giants are just the kind of team the Mets must pound to regain some legitimacy, which means we probably get swept. Luckily for the Mets, we miss the top starter in the SF rotation, as Tim Lincecum started Sunday. Another potential ace, lefty Noah Lowry is currently on the Disabled List. In their place we get these guys: Jonathan Sanchez: 3-3 4.26 61.3 IP 56 H (6 HR) 63/33 (K/BB) .338 (BAA) Sanchez ended a streak of five consecutive winless starts last Wednesday in an 11-3 triumph at Arizona. Barry Zito: 1-8 5.53 57 IP 70 H (7 HR) 32/31 (K/BB) .389 (OBA) Zito pitched respectably in his last outing but received a no-decision in a 4-3 victory at Arizona. Justin Upton, mired in a 1-for-29 skid, homered and lashed an RBI triple to nag Zito, who lasted six innings and allowed three runs for his fifth quality start in 11 outings. Zito excelled last year against the Mets, who reportedly were interested in him when he became a free agent following the 2006 season. He won both of his starts against New York, recording a 2.08 ERA. Matt Cain: 2-3 4.38 74 IP 67 H (11 HR) 65/35 (K/BB) .322 (OBA) Cain struggled in the third frame of his previous outing, allowing three runs against the Padres, but ended up lasting through the seventh without surrendering another score. Not bad, considering he was hit on the right forearm in the first inning by a Brian Giles line drive. Alas, he had nothing to show for his effort, leaving with six strikeouts but no decision. It was the third time in 2008, and the sixth time since 2006, that Cain faced Greg Maddux, against whom he has an 0-3 record. The right-hander has allowed three runs or less in six of his last eight outings. While the giants have some promising young arms, elsewhere they are old. SS Omar Vizquel is just now back from a lengthy injury, but he has passed the mark for most games played by a MLB SS. Fellow Venezuelan and former record holder Luis Aparicio was on hand to honor Vizquel on Friday. Manager Bruce Boche has tried to work some youngsters into the lineup, and the franchise has tried hard to put the Barry Bonds era behind, removing all references to the HR leader from the stadium. The Giants regular lineup looks like this: 1B Rich Aurilia 5 17 .245 .710 (OPS) 1 SB 2B Ray Durham 2 15 .277 .753 (OPS) 5 SB 3B Jose Castillo 4 19 .255 .742 (OPS) 1 SB SS Omar Vizquel 0 5 .188 .498 (OPS) 1 SB LF Fred Lewis 4 14 .274 .822 (OPS) 10 SB CF Aaron Rowand 8 35 .340 .956 (OPS) 1 SB RF Randy Winn 4 19 .292 .783 (OPS) 10 SB C Benji Molina 6 36 .323 .860 (OPS0 0 SB Bench: Not much. Three of the more dependable subs—Dan Ortmeyer, Kevin Frandsen and Dave Roberts are currently DL’d Bullpen: Keeichi Yabu 2-2 2.25 32 IP 21 H (2 HR) 20/14 (K/BB) .276 (OBA) Vinne Chulk 0-3 2.92 24.6 IP 21 H (4 HR) 13/7 (K/BB) .284 (OBA) Brian Wilson 0-1 4.44 24.3 IP 23 H (2 HR) 28/12 (K/BB) .336 (OBA) Tyler Walker 3-3 5.70 23.6 IP 24 H (4 HR) 22/6 (K/BB) .300 (OBA) Jack Taschner 2-1 3.32 19.0 Ip 18 H (2 HR) 19/10 (K/BB) .361 (OBA) Let’s Go Mets!

OlerudOwned Jun 01 2008 08:04 PM

For winning's sake, I'm glad we miss Lincecum's turn in the rotation. But from a loving-to-watch-talented-young-pitching standpoint, it's a bummer.

Fman99 Jun 02 2008 05:26 AM

I think we match up good against the Gints. My biggest complaint is all the 10 PM start times. I will not be able to stay up past the first 3-4 innings of most of the games this week.

metirish Jun 02 2008 07:43 AM

Giants are playing better of late , like the mets. From the promo. ] Irish Night I presented by O'Neill's Monday, June 2 - Don't miss out the first Irish Night of the 2008 season. This event is arguably the most anticipated and successful special event of the Giants season. With pre-game and in-game entertainment this is sure to be a fun night at AT&T Park! Enjoy the spirit of the Irish while you watch your San Francisco Giants battle it out with the infamous New York Mets! Be sure and get your tickets early as this event is known to sell out! The giveaways at this event are always the most sought after so don't miss your chance to experience the Irish Heritage Night for yourself. For only $20.00 you will get a seat in the Irish Night section AND a souvenir shirt as a reminder of the evening. It's one thing to see it on television and another to be there and experience it all!

DocTee Jun 02 2008 08:03 AM

Wednesday is a gay dame-- 1235 PST. Some other items: Did you know... The NY/SF Giants are the winningest franchise in professional sports? Ex-Factor: um....Moises and...

metirish Jun 02 2008 08:14 AM

X-Factor - Tyler Walker

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 02 2008 08:15 AM

The Giants are better than we think they are. Yabu the other night induced a triple play: SD's Kouzmanoff smashed into a 5-4-3 TP.

DocTee Jun 02 2008 08:34 AM

He got three outs on his first pitch! But I disagree with your opening statement. Four games above .500 against their division, thirteen below elsewhere.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 02 2008 08:54 AM

My first statement is based entirely on the Giants' 3-game series at Philly, which was the first and only time I'd seen them play all year. They lost 2 of 3, but all 3 were 1-run games and 2 went to extras, and it was agreed that they'd pretty much outplayed the hosts but got unlucky. Fun Fact: Vinnie Chulk's real first name is Charles: It would be cool if he went by Chuck Chulk.

metirish Jun 02 2008 08:55 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 02 2008 09:17 AM

Giants are 6-4 in their last ten games , same record as the Mets.

seawolf17 Jun 02 2008 09:14 AM

Plus the Mets are going out there jetlagged after the late start last night. If they lose tonight, we'll all be ready to jump off the bridge again.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 02 2008 09:19 AM

Well, if you're going to jump off a bridge, San Francisco is a lovely place to do it.

Gwreck Jun 02 2008 09:25 AM

seawolf17 wrote: Plus the Mets are going out there jetlagged after the late start last night. If they lose tonight, we'll all be ready to jump off the bridge again. I don't buy it. They fly in the lap of luxury, on a chartered plane -- they should arrive in SF by 3 or 4 AM; they stay in a five star hotel; the game starts at 7 that night. Let's say -- generously -- that they need to be in the ballpark by 2:00 that afternoon, that's still plenty of rest and recovery time.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 02 2008 09:28 AM

Fred Lewis is fun to watch. He hit a game-tying two-run triple off Trevor Hoffman yesterday then scored the winning run. The Pods had just taken a 2-run lead in the top of the 9th. I thnk rookie John Bowker is the starting 1Bman vs. RH pitching.

Fman99 Jun 02 2008 09:30 AM

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Well, if you're going to jump off a bridge, San Francisco is a lovely place to do it. Somebody made a [url=http://www.us.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/]fantastic documentary[/url] about just that behavior. Well worth watching.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 02 2008 09:44 AM

And jet lag flying west over three time zones is pretty inconsequential. (I'm just worried about the effect that six hours or so in the air will have on Ryan Church's head.) You're far more likely to have jet lag be an issue when you're flying from west to east.

DocTee Jun 02 2008 09:55 AM

]Benjamin Grimm wrote: Well, if you're going to jump off a bridge, San Francisco is a lovely place to do it. Somebody made a fantastic documentary about just that behavior. Well worth watching. There was a pretty lengthy thread about that issue here last year, before you graced us with your neck-punching presence. I agree, it's a powerful film about a powerful subject. Until this country is as comfortable talking about suicide as we are about breast cancer, this will be a problem that plagues us. (off soapbox....now.)

metirish Jun 02 2008 10:08 AM

I was trying to find the Mets record at whatever that park is called now , IIRC it's pretty good and Delgado IIRC likes hitting there.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 02 2008 11:23 AM

metirish wrote: I was trying to find the Mets record at whatever that park is called now , IIRC it's pretty good and Delgado IIRC likes hitting there. Oh, come on! There's a web site out there that has all that kind of stuff: http://ultimatemets.com/parks.php?ThisPark=35 Check it out!

seawolf17 Jun 02 2008 11:27 AM

Ooh! What a neat site! We should invite the owner in for a chat.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 02 2008 11:28 AM

Nah. I know someone who knows his cousin, and he says that that guy's a jerk.

metirish Jun 02 2008 11:35 AM

Obviously I have a bad memory , Mets record not good there at all. I checked out that site but I got distracted and didn't see the opponents and Ballparks link.

Gwreck Jun 02 2008 11:40 AM

Perhaps you were remembering that Delgado leads all players not named Barry Bonds in [url=http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ballpark/splashhits.jsp]home runs hit into McCovey Cove[/url].