Results tagged ‘ jonathan sanchez ’
The Drama, The Drama!
When Sabean made the Cabrera/J-Sanch/Person I’ve Never Heard Of trade so early on, he robbed the offseason of a bit of its possible drama. But never fear! There is more (possible) drama to come!
- Maybe Andres Torres will jump around Puerto Rico, shirtless with his jeans rolled up, because that totally worked last year and, you know, built up his muscles and all that.
- Maybe Barry Zito will come to a profound realization that the reason he had a bad season was that he’s not just having fun out there (ah! That must be it! Makes sense!) and he will not attempt to have fun. Sssh, no one clue him into the fact that trying hard to have fun sort of ruins it.
.
- Maybe Brandon Belt will make a trip to Starbucks for a Frapp and in the 10 minutes he’s there (nobody ever said Starbucks service is fast), get called up and sent down 15 times.
- Maybe Albert Pujols will walk over to San Fran with a sign around his neck like, “Big Bat to the Rescue! Sign moi and I will save the world!”
- Maybe Wilson will… you know… that… no? Forget I said anything.
Okay, enough “maybe”s to feed the American army. And enough drama to fuel the high school in the Princess Diaries for another good twenty books or so.
Diamond Girl
Tiene Leche? or 10 Facts About Melky Cabrera
I was a bit surprised. Of all the pitchers, Sanchez was the obvious one to trade for A Bat and this deal was a darn good one for him, but I was still surprised. I liked Sanchez, personally, when he was sitting in the dugout or doing interviews or something, but when he was on the mound, it was nothing short of maddening. The no-hitter was fun, but Sanchez? Not so much.
Knowing that Kansas City is actually in Missouri makes me feel a little better about it, too.
If I can just disassociate Melky from Miguel in my twisted brain, then all will be well. He can bat leadoff/play center/bring balance for the Force and I am (almost, kindasorta) stoked.
Let’s get to know the newest Giant, shall we?!
10. His full name is Melky Astacio Cabrera, which kind of sounds like an almond dessert to me. Which is, yeah, good.
9. He’s not as old as you would think. (No, really.)
8. His nickname, though, is, “Leche” as in milk (think dulce de) and the Yankees had a “Tiene Leche?”, “Got Milk” scoreboard graphic for whenever he did something impressive. Do you think that’s copyrighted? Or could we rip it off? Because if the Giants use it, I promise to brave the crowds and go to a million games next year.
7. He’s not as old as you would think. (No, really.)
6. He’s best friends with Robbie Cano. So maybe that means the Giants now have a chance at Cano or something…? I kid, I kid.
5. He’s not as old as you would think. (No, really.)
4. His birthday is August 11th. We could start planning a surprise for him now, actually. The sun is shining, the team is in first place, I repeat, the team is in first place… and there’d be cake and ice cream and piñatas and all that. But the important part is, ahem, first place.
3. He’s not as old as you would think. (No, really.)
2. He loves cupcakes and Star Wars. Okay, I completely made that up. But I’m trying to make this guy more likable, can you blame me for that?
1. He’s not as old as you would think. The kid’s 27. Sabean traded for someone who’s 27! I mean, do you understand the magnitude of this? The implications?
Diamond Girl
An Open Letter to Mr. Balkin’ Bob Davidson
Me saying, Peace out! and check out my ump themed tote!
Dear Mr. Balkin’ Bob Davidson,
I’m going to be honest here. I’d never heard of you before today. When the broadcasters read out the umps name, they go blissfully into one of my ears. And then out the other.
You may have a secret passion for indie bands or a strong preference for black olives over green olives. Your favorite movie may be Jaws or maybe you’re actually a rom-com guy and you loved Bride Wars. You may not find it the slightest bit suspiciously coincidental that movies called Horrible Bosses and Bad Teacher are coming out within a few weeks of each other. You may even live under a rock and be unaware that the Giants became World Champions for the first time since moving to San Francisco last year (pardon me if you actually umped the World Series or something) and are desperately, (dare I say it?) tortuously trying to defend that title right now.
Whoever you are and whatever bands you like, I have two things to say to you.
a) That is the loosest definition of a balk I have ever, ever seen.
b) Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
See, today kicked off with the announcement that J-Sanch is on the disabled list with – cough, cough – bicep tendinitis- cough cough. I am very skeptical. I think they’re just giving themselves 15 days to figure this mess out. The other part of the announcement was that Barry Zito was activated. Per the earlier statement, he will be starting the second game of the double header in Chicago on Tuesday.
So this is sort of an emotional time for me.
Don’t laugh!
It really is. I hate seeing Sanchez struggle and even more I hate doubting that he really has tremendous ability inside. If you look up “maddening” in the dictionary, there is so a picture of him. At the same time, I am a huge Zito fan (you can say duh if you want to) and cautiously thinking this could be The Moment for him. A triumphant return. A fairy tale ending to the contract saga. Heck, a quality start. He hasn’t pitched for the Giants since, what, April 17th? That’s a long time. I am sort of mulling some “Barry” cupcakes in honor of the occasion. And crossing my fingers. Big time.
Anyway. That was all just to say, a win, albeit a terrifying 1-0 win, was very nice today. ‘Preciate the help, Bill. Er, Bob. Whatever your name is.
We part as friends, right?
Diamond Girl
May I Respectfully Suggest a Few Things to Jonathan Sanchez?
The San Francisco Chronicle’s story about yesterday’s Giants was titled “Giants finally get a break”. The sentiment is widespread. Which is why every time I look at the National League West standings I have an Am I really reading this right? moment. The Giants are in first place, a game ahead of the Diamondbacks. Sure, part of it is that the West in not a strong division this year, so far (Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles and San Diego are all 5-5 in their last 10, the Giants are 6-4). But you also can’t deny that despite the fact that they look like a limping AAA team at times, they do win ballgames. Which is, of course, the bottom line.
Jonathan Sanchez is the quintessential example of this and I spent yesterday evening with more forehead rubbing. He let in two runs over 6 innings. He gave them a chance to win and they did. So I’m not complaining. But he felt like a train wreck while he was at it. May I respectfully suggest that he cuts the drama classes from his extracurriculars and tapes this up next to his bed?
You can never repeat the basics too many times, right?
Being a baseball fan is a full time job. This, you know. Being a Giants fan? Sort of a life’s work. So the day off is nice. Still, I don’t envy the players. They’re headed to Arizona, where the highs over the coming three days are 104°, 107° and 105° respectively. Could mean good news for Aubrey, but I, for one, am glad Foul Weather Timmy will be on the bench until the Oakland series.
And to Todd Coffey and his unfortunate capris?
We all have bad fashion moments. And we all know players aren’t responsible for their own uniforms. That delivered with a meaningful look to all the Eugenio Velez haters out there.
Diamond Girl
This Changes Everything. Again. Plus Irrational Theories About Chuck Greenberg and Giants Trivia.
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve missed blogging during this transition and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little skeptical of all the changes (then again, change is inevitable except from vending machines) so if you see some weirdness in the text/format/anything else you can think of, bear with me, will you?
I am not bearing with the Giants. Well, I sort of am. I’m sorely tempted to say that the world is ending, but that isn’t until May 21st, so I’m giving them at least until then.
Firstly, what is up with Ubaldo? I have people in my family who are huge Ubaldo fans and after reading an article about him where he talked about his mother’s cooking in SI, I was kind of converted. I know he’s our NL West rival and everything, but I’m really genuinely curious what’s wrong with him. I mean, he allowed three runs of seven innings today, so he was better, but he just doesn’t look like he’s in first half 2010 form. Any theories? I’ve heard everything from Where’s the closest psych ward? (unfair) to His mechanics are profoundly messed (probably an overreaction).
Anyhow. The important stuff from this game:
DeRosa. J-Sanch. Bochy. Burrell. And Belt. Perhaps. (Are there direct flights from Fresno to Denver? I’m checking my totally great Expedia app.)
DeRosa has been displaying a profound lack of ability to hit and though I’m sure that’s misleading and he’s an awesome baseball player (okay, I’m not sure. Not even close to sure.) is there really time for that? He has the Best Accent In Baseball. There’s tons of voiceover work out there. Where they don’t care if you have a creepy sounding wrist thing going on (wrist phobic person, here).
J-Sanch. Well, he hit. More doubles than Buster on the year. And this one is interrelated to Bochy because it’s the second day in a row that he left in a starter “too long”. Granted, they were different situations. But I’m inclined to take that as a lack of bullpen faith, which is understandable to a point. But then the point ends, you know?
Burrell. Sort of smacked himself into that outfield picture, huh? You probably know I’m not much of a Burrell fan, but he makes more sense as a starting player than late inning replacement, I think. Just like Vogelsong makes more sense in the bullpen, simply because Zito can’t. I don’t think either are lesser roles, really. Just different and some people can’t deal with or perform in one or the other.
And then Belt. Can we say, “This changes everything. Again.” right about now?
Because it does.
They aren’t winning.
And he just scored all of the Grizzlies five runs in a game.
Oh.
Steve Jobs, wanna help?
Jon Daniels did a live chat today, by the way, and someone named Chuck kept asking questions. I have an (irrational? Yes.) theory that it was Chuck Greenberg who is bitter about being pushed out of the organization and is stalking JD and Nolan. Is that unfair as well as irrational? Don’t tell me. I already know the answers.
I need to get to bed early tonight in preparation for my rockin’ party tomorrow in honor of my One Year Blogging Anniversary. Read: desserts and a long blog post. Nobody really wants to party with me about a geeky baseball blog.
Diamond Girl
p.s. Trivia time! Does anyone know the Giants Low A Ball affiliate? City and team name? I just found out today.
The Augusta GreenJackets (Augusta, Georgia, that is). Who knew?
There’s No Place Like Home
Haven’t blogged since the Mets series started and now it’s ended, huh? I’ve been doing important things like making cupcakes from scratch in just under 13 minutes (impressive and superwoman-ish), getting a haircut (always traumatic, but especially so when the stylist tells me about her former orange mohawk as she cuts my hair. I do not want an orange mohawk and I am never letting you near my head with scissors again.) and general biting of nails and adjusting of radio antennae. The usual.
The Giants won 2 out of 3 with that iffy Vogelsong outing, beyond stellar Lincecum outing and dismal Sanchez outing. The offense snapped minimally to life and Aubrey had a 3 hit game (!) as well as an extra inning game winning homer.
I’d be lying if I said I was ever a huge Mike Fontenot person (remember this fateful day when I was left wondering “who is this guy”? And not in the good way that Kruk says it.) but he does provide some interesting and right now really great depth. His contribution- and opportunity to contribute at all, really- is unexpected for sure but in a pleasant sort of way. But I’m sure I speak for the whole Short People community when I say I wish his height wasn’t brought up every time he hits or fields a ball. Time to get a new storyline, media. Height is boring. And do you really want to pay for his therapy bills when you give him a complex? Didn’t think so.
It’s sort of a best of times/worst of times moment for the boys in orange and black because as thrilled as I am about Timmy and his pitching for the ages, they’re still under .500 and coming home to face the Rockies. Who are sort of (sort of?) good right now. It’s not dramatically awful there are just troublesome things, like Sanchez’s two terrible starts in a row and Vogelsong’s one bad start and the fact that we are all really losing patience with Tejada and Posey had fewer hits than him on the road trip which is disturbing as a factoid.
Enough with the downer-ness. The season is young and unexpected heroes have already stepped up. There are more waiting in the wings (Hello, Fresno/Seattle/cities with underrated players who are interested in trading) I think.
And San Francisco is really darn happy to have you all home, losers or winners.
This is, sadly, not a real cake. Just a mocked up one.
Diamond Girl
p.s. Don’t you dare say “that hardly counted as a no-hitter”. A no-hitter is a no-hitter and they are beautiful, walks and facing terrible teams or not. My rose-colored glasses magically appear after every one and I glow for a few hours. Congratulations to Liriano and the Twins.
Diamonds! Piles of Gold! Armani Suits! Swiss Watches! Hawaii Vacations!
Dear Bullpen,
Look. As much as I don’t like you, Wilson, I don’t like being under .500 even more. I didn’t want you to blow that. And as much as I like you, Affeldt, I like being over .500 more. Okay, that’s not true. I care more about people than baseball games, but right this second I am pretty darn put off by you guys. I am of the opinion that there is no excuse for losing in extra innings at home. You have that unique and perfect advantage of walking off and it was your responsibility to keep this in the bag.
It was too good to be true that Sanchez was at all passable after being on IVs with dehydration from the flu yesterday and the game was actually somewhat encouraging, offense-wise. Still, you are here (::points to the ground::) and you really, really need to be here (::points to the ceiling::). Edlefsen, Kroon, heck, Joey? Where are you guys?
Maybe you need a little encouragement. Here goes. I have some really awesome rewards for you (Diamonds! Piles of gold! Armani suits! Swiss watches! Hawaii Vacations!) and I’ll do my best infomercial imitation voice when I give ‘em to you, but there is one little catch aside from the fact that you’ll go bankrupt from the taxes, we’ll send you spam for this and four more lifetimes, the diamonds are fake and we’re flying you luggage class. Other than that. You have to pitch well. You can’t walk people. And you really can’t let the ball go from your hand to over the fence in a space of, oh, 20 seconds. That is too big a change in too short a time for the health of anyone’s heart.
I get that you’re trying. Really, I do. If the incitement of the prizes doesn’t help, I can also recommend inspirational music and shaving off the beards. We’ve barely cracked the surface of my advice cauldron. Giving advice is right up there with walking on the beach in a storm and eating brownies in my life. But I’d rather if you straightened this out on your own.
We’re moving on to Pittsburg/DC/New York, all of whom are in the near/at/under .500 club. With us. Gulp. A bunny (me) somewhere in the heartland is crying.
Diamond Girl
p.s. Read this gem of a news piece. Just read it.
13 Things Brian Sabean Needs to Do Before the Giants Hit Scottsdale and Why Surprise, AZ Needs an Exclamation Point
I’m heading down to the City of Angels, otherwise known as Dodgertown, USA tomorrow to visit family. I am really not a Southern California person (Berkeley born and raised, baby!) and the whole I’m-a-Giants-fan-they’re-Dodgers-fans thing makes it all the more, you know, complicated. Every time I pledge to be really mellow and not offensive when talking about baseball. And I am really, really going to try not to rub in the Giants performance in 2010 versus the Dodgers performance last year. We are World Champions. We are above that. Wish me luck.
I think we will share common joy, though, because we are on the home stretch of the offseason. I am so excited. Everyone seems to think the teams are pretty much done for the offseason. I think the Giants front office- hello, Brian Sabean- have a few things left to do. And since 13 is both an unlucky number (tradition) and a lucky number (Cody Ross), 13 it is.
13. Institute a new facial hair rule. ‘Nuff said.
12. Make sure Jonathan Sanchez is out of his (very overpriced) leather jacket and ready to roll. You know. Pitch.
11. Plant trees in honor of Chris Ray and Todd Wellemeyer, who are now Mariners and Cubs respectively. Or they may be members of AAA affiliates of the aforementioned teams. A moment of silence would do if the tree thing takes too long.
10. Watch ALCS videos to get adequately afraid of the Rangers, in preparation for their March faceoff. The Giants may have skewed impressions of the Rangers from what went down in the World Series, so a little refreshment of the memory may be in order.
9. Buy a drumming table for the clubhouse. Lincecum, in “A Day in the Life of Tim Lincecum”, says “Zito would have a day with this”. And it would make a great diversion to break up possible monotony of the Desperate Ballplayers of San Fran.
8. Clear up for me whether or not those World Series rings have poison in them. In all corny historical movies/books, nobility (yes, the Giants are nobility. Duh.) have poison in their fancy rings. I have a (irrational? Yes.) suspicion that the Giants’ rings do as well. You can call me a conspiracy theorist now, if you want.
7. Have a long talk with your marketing department before you release the 2011 ad campaigns. A. because it needs to live up to It’s Time and B. because the whole “It’s September Inside” was kind of embarrassing. It was September outside, too.
6. Don’t put Belt on the roster out of camp. Bring him up on May 29nd. Then pretend it was a coincidence. (Don’t I just give the best advice in the world?)
5. Go to each and every one of those stalls that sells Emerald Nuts and tell them that it’s false advertising to have a big sign that says, “Roasted Walnuts” when all you ever have in stock is roasted pecans. I have nothing against pecans, but that is just way misleading.
4. Orange lipstick was big on Spring 2011 runways. It’s the new, modern take on classic red. Alert female Giants fans.
3. Go to the New York Giants and demand giants.com. They are not world champions. We are. They can be nygiants.com.
2. Breathe in. Breathe out. Everything’s going to be okay.
1. Take a little vacation. Get a spa treatment. The season is going to be long. Appreciate the offseason while it’s here.
Diamond Girl
p.s. And one assignment for JD and the Rangers: since your spring training camp is in Surprise, AZ, would you do me a huge favor and convince the mayor there to add an exclamation point at the end? That would be just awesome. SURPRISE!, AZ.
The Verdict on Suppan and the Jon Daniels Lookin’ Like Shia LaBeouf Thing
Happy Birthday, Mike Krukow!
I am a rabid Kruk fan and I care very deeply that people say Kruk and Kuip, not Kuip and Kruk. That just feels so wrong. Anyway, I hope he has a lovely birthday and I am so looking forward to listening to him again.
That’s Kruk and Kuip on baseball. Ennn-joy the ballgame.
Someone asked me my thoughts on the Suppan signing as the “6th starter”. I’m not 100% sold on it. I think the ideal 6th starter is a younger person who is looking to make it, not looking for a place to finish up his career. But since the Giants have four above-average starters locked in for a few years to come (and Zito who is locked in, above average or not) I can see why they would go with Suppan. A interesting or iffy young pitcher doesn’t have a place in their organization right now, whereas Suppan could play a solid number six/relief role and he isn’t looking for fame or glory. He’s already had that. And if it’s a train wreck in spring training then, hey, there’s a way out. So I think it’s a basically positive move.
Rangers FanFest is this weekend and I so, so want to be in Arlington. I am living vicariously through my Texan readers. Tell me all about it.
Diamond Girl
p.s. Yesterday, @MLBFanHouse tweeted, “Does Jon Daniels look a little like Shia LeBeouf? I say yes.”
I don’t see it. At all. My sister does, but I am totally puzzled. Come to my support, people. Is there any resemblance?
sfdiamondgirl
Recent Comments