Stat of the Day

Happy Opening Day, everyone. Oh.

BATTING LINES:
Giants' lineup: 5 hits, 4 K, 2 BB, 0 R
Jake Peavy: 1-1, 1 hit, 1 sacrifice fly, 1 BB, 2 RBI

Friction Between Big 3 and Bench?

Interesting blog post by Janny Hu over at SFGate. When she interviewed Jackson after tonight's let down, he commented on the lack of bench contribution.

"We got to get somebody that you don't expect to show up to show up some nights...We need somebody on the bench to get us going, to help us these last couple of games."

We've seen this problem throughout the entire season. Harrington's been spotty. Azubuike faded from his strong performances at the beginning of the season. Barnes looks like a one-hit wonder (the Portland game notwithstanding). I don't remember any Warrior personnel, except Nellie, publicly critiquing the bench this season, so maybe Jackson's comments might help a bit.

Okay, here's the interesting bit about Pietrus and his injury:

"Hopefully he sucks it up and comes back and thinks about the team and fights the injury a little for us. But at the same time, we got to go with what we got, and I feel confident enough that we can get the job done."

Does anyone get a weird vibe from this? I think Janny detects something, since she adds that Pietrus' injury isn't helping "his standing with his teammates."

The Warriors seem too much of a chummy, one-for-all brotherhood for a locker room divide like this, so maybe they just want Pietrus to hurry up and start contributing again and Jackson just got his words garbled a bit. I hope there isn't any actual tension, since the Warriors already have a tall order of winning back the 8 seed.


Note: I originally posted this at GSoM.

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet Victory

Sharks 3 - 1 Ducks
Pacific Division Champions
Second best record in the league
Second seed in the Western Conference
Home ice for the first two rounds (and the Stanley Cup Finals, provided they reach)
Another banner to hang from the rafters

Different

Lots of new stuff going on over at ATT Park. According to Damon Bruce of KNBR, the strawberry shortcake is delicious. There's a party suite on the right field wall. All traces of Barry Bonds are completely eliminated. Wait, what?

Everything. The 756 banners are gone. The "Giant Among Legends" and "Road to History" lettering on the left field padding is gone. The home run counter is gone. The rubber chickens are gone.

Only one memorial remains to remind us that Barry Lamar Bonds once trotted around the bases at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. And it "might be" a plaque or a painted seat to indicate where home run 756 landed. That's it.

The Giants are handling the post-Bonds aftermath the same way they let him go: cold, awkward, and mismanaged. The chase for 756 was so last year, but to completely remove any reminder that Bonds donned the orange and black for 15 years? The Giants want to assert that they are moving in a new, different direction in 2008. Fine. It's the way that management is presenting these actions that makes it so uncomfortable. Instead of rallying the fanbase to the new "grit and hustle" standard, the Giants have alienated and divided it.

I don't know. Maybe the Giants are saving up their fireworks and banners for a huge "Support Barry Bonds Day." Probably not.

Maybe they'll wait until this whole thing blows over, and then we'll see a bit of Barry trickling back into the stadium.

I hope so.

Dub-ya Tee Eff Just Happened Here?

Stephen Jackson, that's what.


Golden State 115 - 111 LA Lakers

A Wild One at the Shark Tank

• First off, congratulations Sharkies! The Sharks clinched a playoff spot by sweeping the season series against the Wild 4-3 (SO).
• Curtis Brown got back on the ice for the first time since breaking his arm against Detroit in January. He notched a goal and an assist and will be a valuable presence as the regular season winds down. I like the way Yahoo Sports puts it:

  He will be key for the Sharks' late run, but not for yours.

• The game's first goal of the night was a pretty one.

  Brown led a three-on-one rush with Patrick Marleau and Jeremy Roenick and they created a picture-perfect tic-tac-toe play for the lead. Brown fed it up ice to Marleau, who dropped it back to Brown when he crossed the blue line. Then the puck moved back over to Marleau on the left and across to Roenick on the right side and he tapped it in.

  With his 507th goal, Roenick tied Jean Beliveau for 3rd for career goals.
• Scary collision: Kurtis Foster and Torrey Mitchell were racing for the puck for a touch icing call. Both of them crashed into the boards, with Foster getting the brunt of the damage. It wasn't a dirty play, but rather the result of the NHL's rule for touch icing (which Drew Remenda campaigned against while the medical team attended to Foster).

  Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster's broken left leg is the latest gruesome reminder of the dangers of touch-up icing in the fast-paced NHL.
  
  Foster will miss the rest of the season, including the playoffs, after crashing hard into the boards Wednesday night during a race to the puck with San Jose rookie Torrey Mitchell. Foster had surgery Thursday to repair a displaced fracture in his femur, and a stabilizing rod was put into his leg.

  I really hope he has a speedy and full recovery and can hit the ice again.
• The game went into shootout after the Wild tied 2-all on a 6-on-4 power play near the end of the 3rd period.

  After Pavelski and Burns scored on the first round of shots and Marleau and Gaborik were turned aside on their attempts, Roenick netted his shot through the glove side of Backstrom. Mikko Koivu took the final shot for Minnesota and Nabokov snatched the shot with his glove. After making the save, the winning goaltender threw the puck in the air and drop-kicked it in celebration

A French Moustache? More Like a Bay Area Beard

Thanks FTB and Reverse

Hop on over to Fear the Beard and check out their interview about Boom Dizzle with the French basketball magazine Reverse.

If you took French at any point of your life, then congratulations, you can read the article. If not, you’ll have to rely on amateurs like me.

Here’s the commentaire I wrote on FTB:

First paragraph: Since 2005, he controls the Golden State Warriors as a baron runs his fief. He is the undisputed leader of a franchise in renewal. Baron Davis commands respect in all things. Music, politics or cinema: the Californian leader is also comfortable with the counter-attack.

Second paragraph: Baron’s game-winner against Boston (the counter-attack?).

Bottom of second paragraph: Do you believe in the Warriors now? Since the playoffs passed, nobody doubts anyway. The key to this revival? The point guard made in California, the renegade of the New Orleans Hornets in 2005, and one of the unmistakable leaders and representatives of the NBA.

Last paragraph: And then a little bit about his life in LA and UCLA.

Poll Closed: Where is the Swagger?

1 (25%) In the battle for 4th outfielder
1 (25%) In the battle for backup catcher
2 (50%) In the battle for 2B
0 (00%) Check under the couch

Giants fans: We want Kevin Frandsen and Ray Durham to duke it out!
Bochy: All right, all ri- (Sabean pulls Bochy into his office)
Sabean: I'm paying Durham $7.25 million this year.
Bochy: So you want Frandsen to play 2B at a cheaper price?
Sabean: (glares) Durham has been in the league for 13 years.
Bochy: So you want Frandsen to play more because Durham's hammies might blow out?
Sabean: (glares more, yells) Can you not see Durham oozing veteran savviness? He's covered in it! It's like a perfume! I call it "The Essence of Warrior Spirit."
Bochy: So you want Frandsen to gain Warri- oh. OHHH. Okay, gotcha.
Sabean: Good. You know what to do.
(Bochy steps outside office)
Bochy: Franny. Shortstop. Now.
Giants fans: Dammit!

Cain is Just an Old Soul

7-16. 3.51 run support. 3.65 ERA. Giants fans are too familiar with these numbers, but so are Brandon Webb and Jake Peavy. It says something when two of the best pitchers in the NL take notice and include you in the top tier.

Webb, on Cain's tough season:

"I definitely feel for where he's at," said Webb, whose Diamondbacks lost 111 games in '04. "There were a lot of errors behind me, a lot of unearned runs. It's tough, but you've got to battle through and trust the next year will be great."

Peavy:

"He is as good as anybody in the N.L. on a given day. He's a big, strong kid who's going to hold up. He's going to eat innings. I love the mentality, the vibe you get when he's on the mound."

Peavy, on the Cain-Scot Hairston staredown:

"I love to see a pitcher stand up for himself and be a competitor on the mound. I totally get that vibe from him."

Cain:

"It's just not respecting the game when that stuff happens, and that's why I get upset about it. That's kind of my little area on the mound and I guard it. I don't want anybody to mess with it, and that's the way I take it.

"You want to own the mound and you want to own the plate, too. That's my mentality all the time."

"I just don't ever think I'm bigger than the game."

From the Merc.

Bad News

Just saw this on SFGate:

Durham’s Got Second: Ill-fated move to short may have cost Frandsen chance to unseat Giants' veteran.

I don’t see any insinuation of “youth” or “movement.” Way to go, Bochy. Way to set up your young players to succeed fail.

Finding the Swagger: Behind the Plate

In this installment of Finding the Swagger, TFRJ takes a look at the battle of backup catcher. Namely, Guillermo Rodriguez vs Eliezer Alfonzo. As you recall, Alfonzo was lost for half the season because of a nasty play-at-the-plate collision against he A's. The Giants called up Grod (after 10+ years in the minors) to backup Molina. He contributed some nice hitting with RISP for a while, but the sample sizes are so ridiculously small it's not worth delving into them.

Given that, I’m guessing that the Giants will give the job to whoever performs the best during spring training. Alfonzo is having a really rough time offensively (1-24, .042)*, so Rodriguez may have a slight edge at this point.




* Spring Training stats don't mean anything, but 1-24 really isn't good.

The Stretch Run

After dusting off the Atlanta Hawks 135-118, the Warriors look to extend their winning streak tonight against Jason Richardson and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Warriors cannot afford to drop any of this type of game, seeing as the Western Conference is tighter than Mr. Comiskey's wallet. The standings, through 3/5:

1. * San Antonio --
2. * LA Lakers --
3. New Orleans 2.0
4. * Utah 4.0
5. Phoenix 2.5
6. Houston 3.0
7. Dallas 4.0
8. Golden State 5.0
9. Denver 7.0
10. Portland 12.0

Precarious, no?

---
All right, here we go. The Warriors just lost to the Charlotte Bobcats (see: losing the night after notching a good win), but I won’t go into that. All I can say is, losing to the Bobcats certainly isn’t going to help the Warriors in the playoff standings tonight, as Houston is 46 seconds away from a blowout win, Denver is leading Phoenix through the 3rd, and Utah is on cruise control against the Wolves. The Denver/Phoenix situation is bi-faceted in that Denver will move up and Phoenix will move down, so take your pick.

I’ve broken down the Warriors’ remaining 22 games into three categories. If it starts to look like college admissions, then yeah, that is the analogy I am trying to make.

Reach (6): @ LA Lakers, LA Lakers, Dallas, @ San Antonio, @ Dallas, @ New Orleans
Target (9): @ Miami, @ Orlando, Toronto, @ Phoenix, Houston, Portland, @ Denver, Denver, @ Phoenix
Safety (7): Memphis, @ Sacramento, @ LA Clippers, @ Memphis, Sacramento, LA Clippers, Seattle

Winnable games are in blue, push games in orange, probable losses in plain text.

"Should" schedule: 12-4-6
"Should" record: 49-29 (+4 push games)

Of course, this chart is what “should” happen if we are talking about a normal team, but the Warriors MO is this: play to the level of competition. My guess is that we blow a couple games but win a few we don’t deserve. In any case, the Western Conference will be a thrilling competition for the last month and a half.

Questions: Will this be good enough to sneak into the Western playoffs?

Welcome, Brian Campbell

Contract extension. Now.

Finding the Swagger: In the Bullpen?

In our latest installment of Finding the Swagger, we take a look at the mixed assortment of relief pitchers, ranging from Rule 5 Jose Capellan to really old dudes in Bartolome Fortunato and Scott Williamson.


Merkin Valdez
From GiantFan9 under Creative Commons license.
Closer: Brian Wilson

• Thanks to his shiny outings last September, Bochy guaranteed Wilson the closer's spot this season. Wilson is an ideal closer: confident in his stuff and unafraid of any tight situation. In a KNBR interview, he said that he'll mainly use his fastball "everywhere" and his cutter, which he described as a modified Robb Nen slider.

Set-up man: Tyler Walker/Brad Hennessey
7th inning: Tyler Walker/Brad Hennessey

• After a year of rehab from Tommy John surgery, Walker bounced back and pitched effectively as a late-relief man. If he can maintain his September form, then the Giants' late pitching will be a great asset.
• Brad Hennessey pitched valiantly as the interim closer after Armando Benitez left. He didn't have strikeout stuff normally associated with a closer, but he got by and converted a string of 14 consecutive save chances in a row.
  
• I highly doubt that Walker and Hennessey will have any competition from other guys, unless someone has a lights-out spring. Bochy will probably flip-flop Walker and Hennessey between set-up and 7th inning a few times this season because both guys are interchangeable in that regard.

Wilson, Walker, and Hennessey are assured as the main cogs in the bullpen, but what about the other guys?

In: Vinnie Chulk

• Chulk went down early last season to a rare circulatory disease, but he's back healthy this spring. He's likely assured a bullpen spot because he has decent stuff. Just one thing, though: don't ever, ever, ever let him pitch to Scott Hairston. Ever.

Halfway in: Merkin Valdez

• He has no options left and the Giants have put in a lot of time with him, so I suspect he'll get a great chance to make the team.

Halfway in: Erick Threets

• Threets doesn't have any options left and he's a hardthrowing lefty. He looked ready in AAA last season and earned a call-up in September.

Halfway in: Jose Capellan

• The Giants drafted him from the Boston Red Sox in the Rule 5 draft, so he has to be on the 25-man roster else he goes back to Boston. As per the Giants' philosophy, there can never be too many lefties in a bullpen. He'll also be given the best chances to make the team. Bonus factor: Capellan struck-out 71 while walking only 11 in 75.2 innings last season in low-A with Boston.
  

Got to impress: Bartolome Fortunato

• He's signed to a minor-league deal, so no worries if he doesn't make the team out of Spring Training. Low-risk, high-reward.

Got to impress: Scott Williamson

• Ditto.

Got to impress: [NRI pitcher]

• Ditto.
  

Expendable: Steve Kline

• Kline shed 40 pounds during the offseason, so he must have an inkling of what his current situation is. Capellan can basically do the same thing as Kline but in a younger fashion.

Expendable: Randy Messenger

• Giants fans heralded Messenger as "the-guy-in-exchange-for-Benitez." He showed flashes of nasty stuff when he first pitched for the Giants, but fell off a cliff when the season wound down. His stuff declined after he punched a water cooler and went on the DL for several weeks. There are also some murmurs of negative body language, so Messenger really has to impress if he wants in on the team.

Shuttle-busing: Jonathan Sanchez

• Bochy recently stated that Sanchez will stretch his arm and will be geared as a starter. After last season's confusion about Sanchez's place as a starter or reliever, it would be nice to see that he won't go through another episode of Who Am I. Correia is favored to win the 5th starter spot, so Sanchez can go to the AAA rotation.

Shuttle-busing: Pat Misch

• Misch will also stretch his arm, according to Bochy. Misch has a pretty wide arsenal at his disposal and could be an effective weapon in 2-3 innings of relief or even as a spot starter. He has options to go to the AAA rotation.

Shuttle-busing: Jack Taschner

• Talk about an oxymoron: a lefty specialist who shuts down righties but gets shellacked by lefties. Taschner had an inconsistent 2007 season, so if he doesn’t make the team, he has one option left to Fresno.