June 7, 2013 · 11:50 am

The Draft and Some Fun Facts About the Year 2000

The draft is one of my favorite parts of the baseball year.  Not because I spend a lot of time researching the eligible players or anything, because I don’t.  (I have to spend, like, a few hours a day doing non-baseball-related stuff.)  But I enjoy it a lot all the same.  I enjoy the Bud Selig weirdness and I enjoy the extremely awkward interviews with the newly-drafted players and I love the shots of the various teams’ war-rooms, right before they announce their picks.  I can’t say I like the creepy Disney studio they do it, but you can’t have it all, apparently?

It started off really nicely with Bud Selig announcing the #1 overall pick in the… 2000 draft.  2000 was a good year, but seriously.  (It wasn’t a good year at all.  The top grossing movie was Mission: Impossible II.  I don’t really know what that is, but it sounds Tom Cruise-y.  ‘N Sync and Britney Spears also had a big year.  So.)

The #1 pick was Mark Appel, though, who does have an interesting story.  Those of you who followed the draft last year will remember he was a hot pick then as well, but slipped to #8 because of rumors about his signability.  He liked Stanford and was so over pro baseball.  I mean, not exactly.  I’m paraphrasing.  Anyhow, it paid off for him and he went to the Astros who the TV analysts helpfully informed us are “really building”.  Most teams that get the #1 pick overall are not building, you know.

I think one of the highlights was Kohl Smith and his sewing machine.

Kohn Smith - Twins

Did he sew his own hat?  Did he sew his own shirt?  Can he sew things for me?  So many questions here.

Lastly, I want to talk about Ryne Stanek, who was picked 29th by the Tampa Bay Rays.  He said he models his game after Tim Lincecum.  I wonder how that’s working out for him?

Diamond Girl

p.s.  Oh.  The Giants drafted someone who everyone hates.  You can read more about that here: https://twitter.com/search?q=Christian%20Arroyo%20bad&src=typd.

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June 3, 2013 · 9:00 pm

Hibernation and Things

So as you guys know, I generally hibernate in the winter, but this year it’s stretched all the way into – er, is it June already?  Apparently so.  I haven’t been blogging, but I have been writing books/reading books/succeeding at waking up and eating toaster pops/drawing and making short films/getting an internship with some really lovely people who make fantastic coffee, too.  Things like that.  You’ll forgive me for not blogging, yes?

I won’t ask you to forgive these Giants, though.  I have a great deal of fondness for losing teams, in reality, and they’re certainly interesting to pick apart but… May was bad.  May was real bad.

train wreck

Hey, remember the train wreck photo?

We don’t have much of a sample size for June, but here’s hoping it’s better.   Actually, it would be difficult for it to be worse, but forget I said that because it seems a little like knocking on wood.

The injury bug has been going around, albeit not as badly as it could be.  Not like them Dodgers, at least.  Ryan Vogelsong’s injury was a big blow, especially after he seemed like he might have been getting back on track and Mike Kickham’s debut in his place was not encouraging.  Sabes and Bochy and all those people bit the bullet and started Chad Gaudin the other day and he was quite good indeed.  Only time will tell if he can continue to succeed, but it is things like that that make the narrative of the season interesting.  For instance, Ryan Vogelsong circa 2011.

I probably need to go sleep for a couple more months now, but I’ll be back eventually.  If anyone wants to hear what I thought of the punk theme at last month’s Met Gala or Evil Friends, which comes out tomorrow and may change your life, that can be arranged as well.

Stay safe, by which I mean stay off the road while I’m learning to drive.

Diamond Girl

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May 15, 2013 · 7:57 pm

“It’s Not Always Gonna Be Sunshine and Roses.”

Ryan Vogelsong2

“It’s not always gonna be sunshine and roses,” said Ryan Vogelsong after today’s game – was it a game, though, – against the Blue Jays.  (So I was like, well it’s not always gonna be, but how about it is right now?)

The Giants are probably turning in their passports right now and hoping that they never ever have to go to Canada again, because I know Giants fans are feeling that way.  Yesterday and today’s game were, in combination, some of the worst in recent Giants history, but if you can’t laugh… then you’re the Astros, or something.

Onwards to a four game series in Colorado, where there will hopefully be more sunshine and roses.  (And maybe the humidor!  Too much to hope for?)

Diamond Girl

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May 9, 2013 · 2:35 pm

Karma and Manic Panic and Wookiees

I distinctly remember writing a blog post called 10 Possible Reasons People Walk Off Against the Giants So Much last June.  It’s May 9th and karma is proving that it exists and if you haven’t been to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, go right now.  There’s lots of fabulous stuff about karma in addition to which it’s a completely lovely museum and they have a glass elevator and stuff.  So, seriously.  Go.

Back to the point: an uncomfortable number of people walked off against the Giants last June or thereabouts.   (I’m trusting my blog on this one.  I have the memory of goldfish and can’t distinctly remember much of anything about last June.  But still.)  So now here it is, May 2013 and the Giants have turned that on its head and walked off about a million times so far this season.  5, to be exact.

Not bad, eh?

There’s a lot of panic – not the neon hairdye manic kind, get your mind out of the hipster gutter – about the starting pitching because it hasn’t been that good at all.  But I mean, while there’s Hunter Pence and hopefully more of his kind on whatever alien planet he came from who are just waiting for the right alignment of the stars to come down to earth and help us, things should be okay.

Speaking of more Hunter Pences, was I the only person who was dead convinced that Chewbecca was the only/last of his kind until all the wookiees appeared… at some point in the series?  (Er, can’t say I remember when that is, exactly.)  Anyway, I like to think Hunter Pence is the same way.  We’re all resigned to the fact he’s the only one and then in the nick of time a whole bunch of them descend.

Pictures5

Well, that’s probably enough for now.  If I missed some important news, apologies, but there are like thousands of little baseball sites here on the internet so we’ll probably all survive.

Diamond Girl

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May 2, 2013 · 7:31 pm

5 Things You Probably Don’t Have to Worry About Right this Minute

Hello, people!  It’s been a while, apparently.  April basically slipped away from me, but it’s a new month now and I’m back(ish).  So yeah, I spent the better part of last month doing important things like eating M&Ms and looking at pictures of cats with sunglasses and also writing a book, which wasn’t as important, but I did do that.  Before that, I was actually trying to write a book that revolved partially around baseball but all the characters were turning out eerily like Buster Posey, so I sort of put that on hold for the time being.

Anyhow, baseball.  5 Things You Probably Don’t Have to Worry About Right this Minute.

5.  Tim Lincecum.  I think I’ve actually heard a few people say Happy Lincecum Day lately, which might point to the direction he seems to be heading.  He’s not back in form, necessarily, but he’s getting there.

4.  Matt Cain… who is decidedly not in form, but give it a little while you silly impatient people.  Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.

3.  Jeremy Affeldt who’s coming back from the DL soon hopefully back in old Jeremy Affeldt form and hopefully with a large staff of minions to make sure that he doesn’t do anything other than walk on and off the field.  Affeldt obviously once taught humans how to use fire and getting injured all the time is the baseball gods answer to the Greek gods making Prometheus get his liver eaten out daily.  Not entirely sure which punishment is worse.

2. Bruce Bochy’s Temper.  Things got a little heated a lot of times in Arizona these past few days between Bochy and the umpires but I mean, wouldn’t you act that way if you had to hang out in Arizona for an extended period of time (more than, oh, half an hour)?

1.  Actually anything to do with the Giants?  After a claw-eyes-out-worthy rough patch there they finished April with a record of 15-12 and seem to be playing like they won’t make us cry all season, so stop worrying and start like enjoying life.

One thing worth worrying about might be that Brandon Belt has only ever been to two concerts in his life, both by the same band.  People who give out free things to celebrities, you might want to get on that.  (The Stones are coming to town!  Or, you know, Joshua Radin, if that’s more his thing.)

Diamond Girl

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