Baseball Lifer

A very tough, and really an unacceptable loss for the Giants this afternoon.

The Giants had a 4-0 lead going to the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Marlins put up a sudden four-spot in the the bottom of the fifth to tie the game. The Giants offense then sputtered and remained lifeless the rest of the game, and after Tyler Rogers was sent out to pitch his second inning in the bottom of the ninth, he melted down, and the Marlins won it, 5-4.

GAMEBALL:

Logan Webb

People who didn’t watch the game and only looked at Webb’s line will think I’m nuts for giving Webb the Gameball, but he really was solid this afternoon. He cruised through the first four innings, allowing just one hit, but then ran into trouble in the fifth. Unfortunately, his skipper impulsively pulled him with two outs in the inning. He deserved a lot better.

TIP OF THE CAP:

Jason Vosler: Vosler’s back up, and he put the Giants on the board with a solo shot to right in the third.

Joc: Joc’s always doing something, as he started the Giants’ three-run rally with an opposite-field ground-rule double.

Donnie Barrels: Yes, we have ourselves a new Donnie Barrels, as said by Sam Lubman of 95.7 The Game, and it’s Donovan Walton. Walton cleared the bases with an opposite-field double off the end of the bat in the fourth to make 4-0. Just another beautiful piece of hitting.

Camilo Doval: Nice 1-2-3 inning by our flame-throwing closer. Too bad it had to be in the bottom of the sixth.

Jake McGee: Another nice 1-2-3 inning by McGee in the seventh. Hey, our bullpen is actually looking better.

Tyler Rogers: Rogers lost the game in the ninth, and I don’t care. He did his job as far as I’m concerned. He set down the top of the lineup in order in the eighth, and Kap; well, he shouldn’t have had him in there for another inning.

Craw: Kinda went unnoticed, but nice afternoon by Brandon, who went 2-for-3 with a triple and a double.

JOKER:

Kap

Yup, it’s Kap. Sorry, skip.

Just horrendous managing, and I mean horrendous managing. Pulling Webb with two outs in the fifth for John Brebbia? Are you kidding me? I don’t care that Webb has having a rough inning; leave your ace in there to face at least one more guy.

People are talking about how the Bullpen is really struggling, and not what it was last year. It is what it was last year, and we still have one of the best bullpens in the game; it’s just that Kap is not giving these guys consistent roles, Bullpeners tend to like consistent roles. They want to know roughly when they should expect to pitch, and when they’re thrown out of their routines, it can really mess with them. Last year, Kap mostly had consistent roles for the pen, and that’s why we had six relievers with ERA’s under three. In 2020, when he mixed and match like he’s doing this year, the bullpen struggled, and ended up costing us our season.

Now, Kap has his strengths, and he has been a solid manager. He’s been great at leading the clubhouse, and he’s made some shrewd moves late in games. However, his handling of the pen has been atrocious this season.

You can’t expect your manager to be perfect. Hell, even for as great as he managed from 2012 to 2015, Bruce Bochy completely over-managed and made some of the worst decisions from 2007 to 2011. I sincerely think that was the second-biggest the Giants missed the Playoffs in 2009—the biggest being the Rockies most likely cheating with un-humidified baseballs when they were down late in games.

I have tremendous respect for Kap, just as I did for Boch. However, when I feel that consistent poor decisions are costing us, I’m going to call you out on it. Giving the bullpeners consistent roles would very likely make our bullpen the dominant force it was last season. I’m just saying.

SMACK OF THE STICK:

John Brebbia: Talk about a rude welcome. Comes in for Webb with two out and two on, and six pitches later, BAM, game tied.

Joey Bart: Yikes. Went 0-for-3, and his average has dipped to .156. I really am feeling bad for him. He’s a very smart man and a great ballplayer.

Boch talked about how some players need codling, and others need discipline. Codling is not a bad thing for guys who are head cases, like Joey and myself. We need to feel some love, and get a boost in confidence; and I am very happy that the Giants are sticking with him.

Though, if Bart falls below .500, it’s time to bring in Jobu to wake up his bat.

Dave Roberts and/or Andrew Friedman (Since we don’t know who really is managing): Giving up and putting in a position player to pitch only down by FIVE with an all-star lineup??? WHAT THE MOTHERFUCKING FUCK?????

I mean, as a Giants fan, I appreciate this, but as a Baseball fan, I find this disgusting and repulsive. At least he was stopped by the new rule this season that a team must be up by at least six runs in order for position players to pitch

C.B.: I get that it’s a new rule this season, but as the crew chief, C.B. Bucknor has to know the rule, and enforce it properly. Thankfully, he corrected his error, but for a guy getting his first taste of being a crew chief over these last two years, this is bad.

FLIP OF THE FINGER:

Rob Manfred: Yup, our favorite commissioner is back in the news after Ballpark Pal did research showing that there was a sudden spike in home runs starting just about three weeks ago. The league started using heavier baseballs at the beginning of the season, but it appears that Rob has changed the balls midseason for the fourth time over the last seven-plus years.

I don’t get how this is not a massive scandal. This is the Commissioner of Baseball tampering with the balls without the knowledge and consent of the players. This has probably cut a few pitchers’ careers short over the last seven years. In my opinion, this is worse than the Steroid Scandal, because this is being done by the Commissioner.

Also, the average attendance for games this year is 24,937, even lower than 1995, when Baseball returned from the strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series. Now granted, I’m sure COVID has a little to do with this, and I imagine that we’ll see attendance go up over the Summer. However, it mostly has to do with how the game has been run in recent years: outrageous prices for tickets, water, food, parking, merchandise, etc.; insane idiotic rule changes that have fakened the game—I know, not a real word; blatant tanking; and the Lockout.

The fact of the matter is that we have to admit that Baseball is in the exact same shape and situation it was when the strike ended in 1995: people are pissed off at Major League Baseball, and have no desire to watch or go to games. It is because of this sick and twisted man, and old, greedy and out of touch owners who don’t give two shits and a fuck about the game or the fans. If this doesn’t show just how much trouble the game is in right now, I don’t know what will.

Stephen