Baseball Lifer

The Gameball and Joker is a write-up of Giants games I used to do on GIANTSBOARD.com way back in the day. I succeeded Chris, the website’s founder and genius who created these write-ups. All these years later, I am deciding to give this another shot.

As I said, all the Giants needed to do was get healthy, and they’d get hot again; and that is exactly what has happened as the Giants spanked the Cardinals, 8-2, for their sixth-straight win.

Logan Webb struggled a bit, just as he has been as of late—most likely due to a mechanical flaw—as he allowed a run in the first without giving up a hit, but he managed to go six innings, just giving up a run. Luis Gonzalez started the scoring with a beautiful opposite-field base-hit in the second, and Make Yastrzemski hit a two-run double to left-center to give the Giants a 3-1 lead in the third.

The Giants then blew the game open with a five-run eighth, capped off by a two-run double off the bat of Evan Longoria, and a two-run home run by Curt Casali, who appears to be locking down the everyday catching job.

GAMEBALL:

Logan Webb

Logan deserves it tonight. He has been struggling as of late; and he ran into early trouble tonight in the bottom of the first, when he went 0-2 to a walk against Tommy Edman, allowed him to steal second, and then allowed him to reach third on a wild pitch. After going 0-2 to 3-2 against Paul Goldschmidt, Belt took away a hit from Goldy, and that allowed Logan to settle down a bit.

Webb ran into a bit of trouble in the second and third, as he was still shaky, but he was able to get out of it each time. Believe it or not, he took a no-hitter into the fifth inning; and even though he found himself in trouble again in the fifth and the sixth, he was still able to go six innings, while just giving up a run, and getting the win.

TIP OF THE CAP:

Luis Gonzalez: I have no clue why Kap had him hit eighth tonight. Nevertheless, Gonzalez continued to stay hot, as he collected a pair of hits, including a beautiful opposite-field base-hit to tie the game in the top of the second. Just a nice easy swing to get the run in, and it is nice to see more players shortening their swings and playing the game the right way this season.

Yaz: Yaz continues to swing the bat well since coming back from COVID. First, he took one for the team to start the rally in the second. Then, he hit a two-run double to left-center to give the Giants the lead in the third. He also drew a pair of walks, and scored twice. Not a bad night.

Longo: Longo went 0-for-5 in his return on Wednesday, but it’s hard to fault him for that. His spring training was a week with the River Cats, and Wednesday was his first time facing major league pitching this season, so of course he was going to be a bit rusty. Kap put him up in a pinch-hit spot in the eighth, and he drove a sinker the other way to right-center for a two-run double for his first hit and first two RBIs of the season.

Curt Casali: Curt seems to be locking down the everyday catching job. He called a solid game behind the plate, and hit his first home run of the season in the eighth.

Jarlin Garcia: A nice 1-2-3 ninth to end the night, and his ERA remains at zero. It probably wouldn’t be the worst idea to give him some appearances in the seventh inning, while Jake McGee is on the IL.

Goldy: Just gotta give it to him; the guy knows how to torch the Giants every time.

JOKER:

Joey Bart

Joey’s getting long in the tooth with me. He’s a helluva a ballplayer, but his attitude sucks. The biggest reason the Giants won three championships in five years, and had the season they did last year was clubhouse chemistry. It can take just one guy to fuck that all up.

Bart got thrown out of a Spring Training game in 2020, and he had problems with Johnny Cueto later that season. Who the hell has a problem with Johnny Cueto—well, other than Doug Eddings?

After getting pinch-hit for on Monday, he took his gear, and left the dugout, even as the Giants were in the middle of a rally. I’m sorry, but that pissed me the fuck off. I don’t care when you get pulled, you stay in the dugout the rest of the game with your teammates, PERIOD.

SMACK OF THE STICK:

Phillies: Thanks for getting the job done, guys. But, uh….next time, don’t fucking blow it in the ninth.

Logan Webb: Great game, kid, but you’re really gonna wear long sleeves on a muggy night in St. Louis?

Nolan Arenado: Hey, at least we neutralized the other Giant killer tonight.

Reds: The Reds have now won six of their last eight. Yeah, good for them, but they need to not only lose, but lose 120-to-130 games, so it will be impossible to deny what an obvious black eye tanking is to our great game.

FLIP OF THE FINGER:

Rob Manfred: Because, why the fuck not???

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Teams go through slumps, and we just experienced our first in two years. I saw it coming when we lost everyone to COVID. We were depleted. However, I said at the beginning of the slump that when we got healthy again, we’d be the same powerful team we’ve been these last two years.

However, with Joey Bart, we may need to seriously consider moving him. As I said about him above, it can take just one player to completely ruin a good clubhouse chemistry. Our clubhouse chemistry remains very strong this year, but I sensed some tension during the slump last week, and he very well could have had a lot to do with it.

As I said, it only takes one guy, and Kap has to get him in line, which will test Kap’s strength as a manager. I don’t care if Bart turns out to be the greatest player who ever lived; guys with attitudes like that don’t often win championships. Kap has to tell him that he either gets in line, or he’s gone. We have another young catching phenom in Patrick Bailey, and Curt Casali can easily hold the fort for the next year or two.

Anyway, get ready, kids, because we are in for another wild pennant race this season.

Stephen