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The MLB 2010 Season Thread

Silencio said:
What a fantastic game from 21 year old rookie Madison Bumgarner last night. Eight shutout innings, the Rangers never looked like scoring. Wish he could've gotten the complete game and been the first rookie to do so in the WS since, IIRC, Jim Palmer.

He and Buster Posey made the first all-rookie World Series starting battery since 1947. Who says the Giants are grizzled retreads? None of the previous contending Giants teams I've seen in 30+ years have relied on rookies in such critical roles. They are special young players.
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And Lincecum is not exactly old, either persisting in the battle between him and Lee in the most important Game 1. Actually the most important game is the 4th winning game for a team, but after that the opening is huge.

That being said, I still think under what we have seen whoever won game 1 would have bragging rights, but it would still be 3-1 Giants.

Now the Giants have to finish the job. We already know they are not bad at getting into the WS as the "San Francisco Giants", but they have to at least win one like the five the Giants did as a New York team.

Lee has talent but he's been overused with lack of rest and that's why people hit off of him. He's human. But putting him in after the terrible game 1 is not the best idea and with the prospect of losing what can be the final game of the WS.

Over a career, I can see Lee getting the same strikeout percentage and Cy Youngs as Lincecum, and maybe after the end of both their careers, Lee will be a legend as Lincecum is most likely going to be. But it's not smart for Texas to put all this on Lee.

If I were Texas, I would put a rested pitcher with a solid record for tonight's game, and use Lee in San Francisco. I would also not hesitate to walk certain Giants and also switch out pitchers.

I know Washington is a smart manager, and he's not going to go down without a fight and playing smart baseball.

This WS is not over yet, and if there is a team to come back from 1-3 and to be the first in 26 seasons, it's Texas. While I don't see them as a team who can blow out the Giants they can win close games by playing smart, conservative baseball. That will have to be the Texas plan.

The Giants are clearly in the driver's seat and I expect them to be hitting very well again and hitting big. The Giants, whether this is good or not, have developed some major power hitters and hitters for average, so they are going to win big if they win tonight. They are in their peak right now and were only getting warmed up in the early postseason when they won by small margins.

I once saw the Giants coming in with powerful flashy baseball, and a conservative and careful team named the Angels beat them in the World Series. However, an all out, showy team named the As beat the Giants in the WS in 1989.

The Giants with their new found superheroes and intense media coverage cannot change who they are since they did score 20 points in the first two games unlike any team in baseball history, but I hope they can play an incremental and safe game tonight if that's what they have to do. They can't rely on Posey or Lincecum and win it all. A player no one expects to produce will have to step up tonight if the Giants are to win. Just my 2 cents (which have pissed off fellow Giants fans who I meet).
 
iJohnHenry said:
Careful, you edging closer to chest-beating, like a New Yorker. ;)

Be gracious, oh, and I called the Giants in 5, but only in my head. :p
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You guys in NY can chest beat (Yanks, NY Giants, Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers) and Bills and Giants and Jets in football with good teams and streaks and plenty of hall of fame types. Oh and you guys did well with Syracuse in college basketball a few years back. That was a good one.

But the SF Giants, unlike the legendary NY Giants of old, have a curse on them.

We had a little chest beating moment with Barry Bonds, and while that was incredible, we still need a SF Giants WS title. Heck, even the bay area's basketball team Golden State Warriors won the big one in their sport.
 
iJohnHenry said:
Careful, you edging closer to chest-beating, like a New Yorker. ;)

Be gracious, oh, and I called the Giants in 5, but only in my head. :p
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God help me if I become like a Yankees or Red Sox fan. :D But seriously, I was only discussing Bumgarner and Posey, and I really haven't seen their like in San Francisco in a long time, if ever. We don't have a history of growing major league stars in our farm system.

Have to agree with pretty much the entirety of your post, 63dot. I don't see these Giants abandoning the style of baseball that got them this far. Maybe in Game 3 they took the wrong approach at the plate, being distracted by all the runs they scored the previous two games, the travel and all the various ways playing on the road sucks your focus and energy, &c. (And something is wrong with Jonathan Sanchez mechanically; he lost 3-4 MPH off his fastball.) However in Game 4 they played within themselves once again and produced a more Giants-like result.

These Giants don't have a truly intimidating bat in the lineup like a Bonds, Kent, Will Clark or Matt Williams. What they've come up with is a series of tough outs from 1-8 (or 9 in the AL parks), any of whom are capable of getting a big hit, and most of whom are capable of taking a pitcher deep into a count. They'll have to keep it up tonight to get to Lee - I'm definitely not expecting him to struggle again like he did in Game 1.

@63dot: there also is the small matter of five Super Bowl trophies sitting at 49ers HQ.
 
Silencio said:
God help me if I become like a Yankees or Red Sox fan. :D But seriously, I was only discussing Bumgarner and Posey, and I really haven't seen their like in San Francisco in a long time, if ever. We don't have a history of growing major league stars in our farm system.

Have to agree with pretty much the entirety of your post, 63dot. I don't see these Giants abandoning the style of baseball that got them this far. Maybe in Game 3 they took the wrong approach at the plate, being distracted by all the runs they scored the previous two games, the travel and all the various ways playing on the road sucks your focus and energy, &c. (And something is wrong with Jonathan Sanchez mechanically; he lost 3-4 MPH off his fastball.) However in Game 4 they played within themselves once again and produced a more Giants-like result.

These Giants don't have a truly intimidating bat in the lineup like a Bonds, Kent, Will Clark or Matt Williams. What they've come up with is a series of tough outs from 1-8 (or 9 in the AL parks), any of whom are capable of getting a big hit, and most of whom are capable of taking a pitcher deep into a count. They'll have to keep it up tonight to get to Lee - I'm definitely not expecting him to struggle again like he did in Game 1.

@63dot: there also is the small matter of five Super Bowl trophies sitting at 49ers HQ.
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The five super bowl trophies of the 49ers only make it harder for the Giants in SF. And at Giants HQ, there are five baseball trophies, too ('05, '21, '22, '33, and '54 I think), which were all earned before the 49ers got their first football trophy. Again, this makes it that much harder for the Giants. I think the Giants, as an organization, have more HoF players than anybody, too. This looms on the shoulders of tonight's players as they have to make the Giants proud.

It's funny when I saw the Giants this year and thought at best their lineup could maybe get a two or three points in a game (and that on a good game). Besides Posey, some of the other Giants have shown themselves to be better than just lucky streak hitters.

With all the talk about pitching in this World Series, so far it's been the big hits and frequent hits that have grabbed the headlines. The great pitching duel in game 1 was a great hitting duel with 18 points scored between the two teams. Many great pitchers pitched balls when they should have pitched strikes.

For Texas to win tonight, they should use Lee into the 5th inning at most, and rely on rested relievers to win the game. They can't take what has been known as a tired (and what some sportscasters say an injured) Lee and expect that somehow he will just pop up and pitch a no-hitter or similar type of game.

It could happen, but I say there's a reason for all those extra pitchers. Use everything you have in your Texas arsenal to get the job done. If you lose, Texas, there are no more games in this season. Use Lee to his best, and then bring in the finishers for innings 6-9. Again, Texas has to play smart baseball if they are to tame what has come to be a big hitting/frequent hitting team like this years Giants.

For the Giants to win, they need only keep their egos in check and realize that this years Texas team not only disposed of New York, but also eastern division winner Tampa Bay who had a spirited and successful grab for 1st in the AL east.
 
alansmallen said:
Timmy and Lee actually look like themselves tonight (unlike game 1). This is gonna be a good game
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Lee fell apart half way through in game 1 afaik.

The Giants have 2 hits on him already in 4 innings.

As Texas, I would keep an eye on Lee and the speed of his pitches and their accuracy. Lee usually starts out strong but when he slowed down and his curves weren't so J.Lo and all, the Giants went big.

Four innings and Lee is doing OK, but not great. Great would be no hits.

If Lee can keep the score to 0 through the 5th, Texas should not wait for the Giants to get a 3rd and 4th hit off of him since in Giants style, the next hit, or two, can be a triple or home run. The Giants now, this week and last, are or have become big hitters.

After five innings, retire Lee and bring in two strong arm relievers to keep the Giants to 0 points or at most 1 point.

I can't believe I am planning the Ranger's strategy to beat my Giants. ;)
 
alansmallen said:
Timmy and Lee actually look like themselves tonight (unlike game 1). This is gonna be a good game
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Lee fell apart half way through in game 1 afaik.

The Giants have 2 hits on him already in 4 innings.

As Texas, I would keep an eye on Lee and the speed of his pitches and their accuracy. Lee usually starts out strong but when he slowed down and his curves weren't so J.Lo and all, the Giants went big.

Four innings and Lee is doing OK, but not great. Great would be no hits.

If Lee can keep the score to 0 through the 5th, Texas should not wait for the Giants to get a 3rd and 4th hit off of him since in Giants style, the next hit, or two, can be a triple or home run. The Giants now, this week and last, are or have become big hitters.

After five innings, retire Lee and bring in two strong arm relievers to keep the Giants to 0 points or at most 1 point.

I can't believe I am planning the Ranger's strategy to beat my Giants. ;)

As for the Giants, Lincecum's pitching is pretty good but he won't get a no-hitter since Texas just got one off of him. Some of the balls have been somewhat wild and it could mean he may get tired. If a couple of more people from Texas hit off of Lincecum in the 5th and 6th, bring in Wilson and finish this series.

The Giants also have other relievers who can work with Wilson to close the door on the Rangers. The Giants should not let Lincecum get tired and sloppy.
 
Texas let Lee get tired and he got wild. 6 hits on him and a sacrifice bunt which proved lethal.

Not a good pitching job for Texas and now it's 3-0 late in the game.

Texas has to get with the relievers and hope for the best.

Lincecum is up for probably his last inning and he better not get tired like Lee just did.

UPDATE:

Darn, Texas homered and Lincecum is throwing them in the dirt and getting meetings on the mound. End of 7th and now it's 3-1.

Time to retire the guy and let the fresh relievers hold the 2 run lead.
 
Nice win by the Giants and the hippy to shut down the Rangers.
 
Thank you, hippy and blackbeard.

I am ancient but the Giants last win is even older than me. I hope it's not another 56 years until the next one. How about next year? :D
 
That just shows how unpredictable baseball is. Cliff Lee, undefeated in the postseason, defeated twice. Texas Rangers' unstoppable offense, shut down.

Although I wanted the Rangers to win and thought they would, I'm not disappointed the Giants won.
 
This has to bring Lee's asking price down.

p.s. Nolan Ryan can suck it.
 
TSE said:
That just shows how unpredictable baseball is. Cliff Lee, undefeated in the postseason, defeated twice. Texas Rangers' unstoppable offense, shut down.

Although I wanted the Rangers to win and thought they would, I'm not disappointed the Giants won.
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Agreed. Disappointed the Rangers lost, but can't complain too much.
 
glad the giants won. good young team with nasty pitching. :cool:

loved brian wilson's post game interview:

espn guy: "how do you feel right now?"
wilson: "i feel like I WANNA RAGE.. RIGHT NOW!!!" :D

edit:

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enjoy this, sf!
 
Hats off to the Giants (this from a very old Brooklyn Dodger fan-switched to the Yankees to "punish" them when the Dodgers broke my heart and moved from Brooklyn). They caught fire late in the season, had to fight to get a playoff spot and just continued to roll.
 
SF was clearly the better team in this series. I was hoping the Rangers would win, but you have to say hats off to the Giants who played great baseball.
 
rhett7660 said:
Classic. Dodgers who?
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Oh, you know, the team that won the Series in its second year in Los Angeles, instead of 53 years of trying like that San Francisco team. The World Series title count between LA and SF is now 5-1. Way to finally get on the board! :p

Seriously though, speaking as Dodger fan, congrats to the Giants fans. They deserved to win one eventually. It's a shame that players like McCovey and Marichal never won one, but I'm glad that Bonds didn't.

Enjoy it while it lasts because you never know how long the next wait will be!
 
aloofman said:
Oh, you know, the team that won the Series in its second year in Los Angeles, instead of 53 years of trying like that San Francisco team. The World Series title count between LA and SF is now 5-1. Way to finally get on the board! :p

Seriously though, speaking as Dodger fan, congrats to the Giants fans. They deserved to win one eventually. It's a shame that players like McCovey and Marichal never won one, but I'm glad that Bonds didn't.

Enjoy it while it lasts because you never know how long the next wait will be!
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long time coming but SWEET none the less.
 
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