We're Still In This Thing

Nevermind that the Giants are sucking and that not only are they far behind the Rockies in the wild card race, there are now three teams in front of them in that race. Nevermind that the elimination number stands at three. We're still in this thing.

On Booing Your Own Player

In a commentary about the booing of Benjie Molina, Grant at McCovey Chronicles explains what it means for fans to boo their own players:

At the risk of repeating myself, one of the most important things that fans and players alike can remember is this:

When fans boo players or curse them out, it is almost always an editorial comment on the decision by the front office or manager to put the player in the position he’s in.
There are exceptions, of course. Armando Benitez was just an unlikable tub of goo. There are players who don’t try their hardest, don’t run out groundballs, or who curse the fans out. Those players earn their boos. Most of the time, though, a player is getting razzed because he shouldn’t be out there. When Marvin Benard would break in, back, up, and then back again to run after a fly ball, the boos didn’t translate to "Marvin Benard is a bad human being, and I object to his presence on this planet", it translated to "Jeez, guys, can’t you scrounge up a better centerfielder?"

I tend to agree with this assessment. Does this apply to fans in Philadelphia?

Giants Loss Projection Through September 15

September 1 through September 15, 2009:

L 72-60, 74; W 73-60, 73; L 73-61, 74; W 74-61, 73; W 75-61, 73; L 75-62, 73; W 76-62, 73; L 76-63, 73; L 76-64, 74; L 76-65, 75; L 76-66, 75; W 77-66, 75; W 78-66, 74; W 79-66, 74.

Giants Pitching Is Changing The Timing Of Restroom Trips

When the Giants come to town, it's bye, bye, baby. So says the song. Historically, the Giants have been more of an offensive franchise than a pitching franchise. Mike and I were talking about this earlier this year. It's always been more exciting to watch the Giants hit. So, traditionally, both Mike and I have always watched the Giants bat and have planned our trips to the restroom while they were out in the field.

Now that the Giants couldn't hit their way out of Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out, but have the best - and most exciting - pitching staff in baseball, Mike and I have inverted our scheduling so that we hit the head when the Giants are at bat. Neither of us can bear to miss an inning with a Gigante on the mound. If they just happen to score while we're in the men's room, we can hear it on the radio.

Ballpark Drive-By's

Last weekend my family drove to San Diego for some time away. It was a bummer that the Padres weren't home, but the R&R was more important. (At the end of our trip they were up here in San Francisco. Hey, let's get home!) But, I did endeavor to make three ballpark drive-by's. On the way down, I turned off the freeway (I-5) a few blocks and drove up to the Dodger Stadium parking lot entrance in Elysian Park. The one next to the Police Academy - yes the one in the Hollywood comedy! There was a game that night, and we were a few hours early, and a line about 10 cars deep were there. We still got a good view from left field in across to the stands on the first base line.

Our four year old loves baseball, so he gawked in wonder as I said, "Here's Dodger Stadium, where the Dodgers play." Then about an hour later we passed Angels Stadium (or whatever they're calling it this year). It is clearly visible from the freeway (I-5), just a few blocks down the boulevard, but a bit obscured from recent construction. The "Big A" in the parking lot with the halo around it is very red and can't be missed.

And while in San Diego, we drove downtown and made several circles around Petco Park on the city streets. Tours were available, and the kids fun lot was open behind left field, but our plans couldn't include those. Mrs. Scott and I have a special place in our hearts for Petco Park, since we used to vacation in San Diego all the time (and I had several business trips there) and got to see the construction of it progress from dirt to a completed ballpark. We saw a game there in its opening year, 2004.

I love looking into the open end of ballparks and seeing the huge bowl of seats and decks, flags flying, light towers above. We also saw Angels Stadium on the freeway on our way home (a better view while driving north) and the top of Dodger Stadium is visible from the freeway going north. Even without a game, the drive-by's were fun.

Giants Loss Projection Through August 31

August 16 through August 30:

L 63-54, 75; W 64-54, 74; W 65-54, 74; W 66-54, 73; L 66-55, 74; W 67-55, 73; L 67-56, 74; L 67-57, 74; L 67-58, 75; W 68-58, 75; W 69-58, 74; L 69-59, 75; W 70-59, 74; W 71-59, 74; W 72-59, 73.