Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Better Than Tim

What can I say? Some things in life just don't call for deep analysis. You know... sunsets, rainbows, pitcher's duels, that kind of crap. You certainly can analyze (and even explain) these amazing phenomenon, but it only dulls your appreciation of their special beauty. Therefore, as a lover of beauty, I will keep this short.
In today's game, a 1-0 loss to the doggers, Tim Lincecum threw a lovely rainbow of a game(game score 66):

7+ innings 5 hits one lousy run 4 walks 7 strikeouts

Only problem was that Clayton Kershaw came up with a double rainbow (OMG! What does it mean?) that had a leprechaun riding a unicorn under it (game score 87). It may have helped that our lineup was weakened by days off for Pablo Sandoval and Nate Schierholtz as well as a delayed flight for new-comer Jeff Keppinger (except for late PH duty). But there I go analyzing...

Have a great off day everybody. Get outside. Find some beauty of your own...the Giants variety will resume on Orange Friday against the Brew Crew.

11 comments:

M.C. O'Connor said...

Ah, so true: human PERFORMANCE will always, ultimately, defy analysis.

Baseball RESULTS, however, have no such aesthetic or cognitive barriers: 7/13/11 Giants RA > 7/13/11 Giants RS.



"Science is a description of nature, not an explanation."

--William S. Rothwell, Ph.D.
(from The Vocabulary of Physics)

M.C. O'Connor said...

Duh, I meant 7/20/11 Giants!!!

Brother Bob said...

There was a good article in the Bee this AM about Bill Neukom's master plan for building the Giants, based on developing a core of talent and keeping it. None of this was news, but in the context of constant clamoring for a blockbuster trade to bring in a big bat, this was a reminder to not hold your breath, that's not how we do it anymore. So expect more Bill Halls and Jeff Keppingers, I guess.

Zo said...

Well, thank goodness for that. The "blockbuster trade" doesn't appear to pay much in the way of dividends. Much of this, of course, is about money. Homegrown talent is always much less expensive, until it matures into free agency. One of the writers on this blog astutely keeps harping on how our team is built on PITCHING - as long as we have pitching, it is the one thing that will be always be demanded in a blockbuster trade. All the media meatheads demanding a trade for a big (read that "expensive") hitter would be the first ones to deride Sabean when our pitching suffered.

Ron said...

But, back to yesterday's crap-fest for some minor analysis/commentary. Kershaw's stretch position nonsense is like watching an Aaron Rowand at-bat. Of course, a couple of solo shots & no other baserunners & we would have never have had to have seen it ... & we would have won the game. As Jon mentioned, without Pablo & Schierholtz that looked doubtful. And, what's the deal on the Dodgers' otherwise shitty catchers constantly hitting HR's against us?

Anyone know whether Sandoval will be back this weekend?

M.C. O'Connor said...

The Giants have certainly proven that you can win with pitching, win with a homegrown core, and win without a "big bat." Kudos to them for that! I want more offense--a little bit more run scoring and the team would be damn near unbeatable. But not at the expense of the strength of the team--the pitching depth. Keppinger, as Bob points out, is the kind of move we should be happy about. Filling a need without sacrificing key pieces is the right way to go. Sabes and Nuke are smart and have proven that their approach works. The Mets, for example, want top prospects for Beltran, but the Giants are going to go there, so I don't expect it to happen. Last year they got a big offensive lift from the scrap heap (Burrell and Ross) and from within (Posey). Maybe Brandon Belt can be Posey-like in the homestretch, or Olympic Nate can keep up the great run. As long as the arms are healthy they will have a legit shot at repeating.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Whoops, I meant "the Giants are NOT going to go there."

Typos--sorry!

Ron said...

"• The Dodgers released Merkin Valdez. The right-hander, who appeared in two games for Toronto last year, had a 3.58 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 50 1/3 innings at Triple-A."

Any interest here? Sign him up for some AAA bullpen insurance (either September call-up, or injury insurance)? You can never have enough seasoned middle relievers. His line looks better than the previous Merkin.

Ron said...

If Mark keeps up his typo-rate, & I keep thinking of semi-useless things to say, we could top the 'heckler number record', especially since there's no game until tomorrow night. What is the heckler number record, anyway? I can't remember anything topping 20.

Ron said...

Just randomly shuffling around RMC, I decided to check the last post of the year for 2009. Mark wrote about our acquisition of Mark DeRosa. Jon's comment, transcribed below, speaks volumes about who we were, where we went in 2010, & the way that we think now:

"Basically DeRosa is taking Garko's roster spot. Sure, Mark is better, but is he Alderson and 10 million better?"

What active player is now in 'the Garko spot'? DeRosa ... no, DL. Hall ... no, DL. Tejada ... no, DL. I suppose that the Garko spot is now occupied by Keppinger.

This is all so especially amusing ... since we won the World Series!!!!!!!!!!

Brother Bob said...

I want Merkin back! You gotta love a player who's named after fake pussy hair.