Tag Archives: ryan vogelsong

August 8, 2012 · 1:09 pm

Closer-By-Committee is Like Dinner-By-Committee

Whew, that felt like an actual baseball game!  It doesn’t feel like we’ve had one of those in a while, in both a positive and negative way.  Going back to the last game of the Mets series, the finals have been:  1-9, 16-4, 11-6, 8-3 and 2-8.  Lots and lots of crooked numbers.  That’s why yesterday’s game was kind of a welcome surprise, because although Buster Posey pretty much blew it open and never looked back in the first with a three-run homer, it was still a final of 4-2.  And can I just say again, How hot is Buster Posey?  It’s a little bit ridiculous at this point.  Ridiculous in the completely elated sense of the word.  Ridiculously wonderful.

Barry Zito also had a huge game, in a completely different way.  He’s been struggling lately and I think a lot of people (myself included, mostly) had a bad feeling coming into that start.  He proved us all wrong by throwing out a quality start, 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs.  He put himself back into the win column and in the middle of August, that’s pretty huge for Zito, who’s never finished with a winning record as a Giant, if memory serves me right.

The last person who super-über came through is my very favorite Jeremy Affeldt who has to have put himself in the closer conversation big time, if he wasn’t there already.  He has only three saves this year but quietly, he’s looked very, very good.  With Casilla struggling on the field and battling a blister issue off the field, the closer-by-committee is the word of the moment.  (This seems to be Bruce Bochy’s favorite thing ever.  Not sure why.  It’s a little like picking-what-we-should-have-for-dinner by committee.  And I don’t know about you guys, but in my family, that doesn’t really ever at all work.)  Romo’s been mostly fantabulous as well, but he can be fantabulous in the 8th, right?  Javier Lopez can work his magic at other handpicked moments.  Having a closer goes a long way, in my opinion.  Just like executive dinner-making decisions go a long way.  Pasta caprese every night.  Also, Jeremy Affeldt every save situation.

 

We have two more games in St. Louis now because of this devilry called a four game series, so get used to the extremely hot weather from afar.  Ryan Vogelsong is taking the mound and Buster Posey is taking the everything-else.  It’s going to be good.

Diamond Girl

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June 21, 2012 · 3:20 pm

Hello from Red Sox Nation!

Seriously, guys.  Everyone here is a Red Sox fan.  Everyone.  And if they’re not a Red Sox fan, they still hate the Yankees.  It’s a little bit eerie, actually.  As I landed in Boston yesterday, a woman behind me was filling in her kids on the Sox game and said something about Cody Ross.  I was this close to turning around and being all, “2010 World Series, baby!” when I realized that I was in Boston now and they were not the least bit interested in the 2010 World Series.  I picked up my black-and-white checkered tote and zipped my lips.

I missed last night’s game because being a West Coast fan on the East Coast is horrible and I couldn’t stay awake, but I hear it was quite depressing anyway.  I would be lying if I said I was all sad about missing it.  Interleague Play has not treated us terribly well so far this year and I’m more nervous than I should be, heading into the Bay Bridge Matchup.  Series loss to the Rangers, series loss to the Mariners and now a series loss to the Angels.  When this Giants team is good, it’s really, really good.  But when it’s bad?  It’s really, really bad.  Not that there were’t good things about last night’s game and the past few series’ in general – Vogelsong did pretty much the best he could have, three runs over seven innings – but otherwise, they just seem off, for lack of a better word.  Everyone’s healthy, but not everyone’s good.

Also, the Angels of Anaheim are doing better than they should be.  It helps that the Rangers are 9-1 in their last 10, but the Angels are also 7-3 and exactly five games back.  Too close for comfort?  Yes.

The Giants meanwhile, are 4-6 in their last 10, but that’s exactly the same as the Dodgers, so nothing is too disastrous after all.  San Francisco is four games back from first place and heading into a series against the A’s who, while they might be hot right now, are sure to cool off sometime.  And starting tomorrow is sure to be “sometime”.

Am I not the best inspirational speaker in the history of the Giants blogosphere?  (Admittedly short history, but still.)

Go Red So– aah.  No.  This city is not getting to me.

Diamond Girl

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May 24, 2012 · 2:24 pm

You Know What I Wanted to Title This Post

In other news, I am embarrassed to admit that I am rather partial to the fish tank at the Miami Marlins new stadium.  Although knowing my fish, who is the most antisocial creature I have ever come across in my life, I can’t imagine the fishies are all that good company at the ballgame.

Also worth noting:  yesterday’s starter for the Brewers, Marco Estrada, has been placed on the Disabled List today, following an injury against the Giants in the first inning when he hurt his leg, running out a 2-run double.  I don’t have any stats to back this up but he must be, oh, the five millionth player to head to the DL after facing the Giants.  A lot of people have discussed the Giants being cursed this year — something about handing over their souls to win the 2010 World Series — but if we’re really talking curses?  Talk to the myriad of guys San Francisco has injured, in some way or other.  I am sure they would be happy to spill, through their full body casts or whatever.

Said with no glee whatsoever.  Injures are terrible, whether or not it’s the opposing team or even a player I detest.  But it is a trend worth raising an eyebrow and poking one’s voodoo dolls about, perhaps.

Vogelstrong or, as I like to call him, Baby Lemur, is on the mound tonight.  I think I have a good feeling about this.  (To be removed from post promptly after game if the Giants lose.  Feel free to screen-grab for posterity in the meantime.)

If you get past the fact that there is no resemblance, isn’t there totally a resemblance?

Diamond Girl

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May 15, 2012 · 5:42 pm

You Know What?

I think maybe I can tolerate a two game series.

 

That is Gregor Blanco hitting a tape-measure shot in last night’s game against the Rockies, which San Francisco promptly won by a final of 3-2.  It kind of rocked.  I sipped my orange tea (which is so good I cannot even put it into words) and wrote the second-to-last chapter in Novel Project That Has A Name But I Can’t Put It Here, Just Because.  Second-to-last chapters are no fun at all, so it was rather good timing by Vogey, what with his three-hitter, and all the other people who saw fit to finally awaken from their baseball slumber and squeeze out a win.

Remember the Tale of the Sleeping Offense?  For a while there, it was the Tale of the Sleeping Offense and Defense and Probably Pitching, too.  But no longer.  It’s halftime, Giants fans, and our second half is about to begin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PE5V4Uzobc

Granted, this is not football (no siree, not football at all otherwise I would obviously not be blogging about it because, guys, I hate football) and the closest to halftime in this li’l analogy would be the All Star Break and it is not the All Star Break yet.  Because, I mean, if it were, Interleague Play would be over.  And Interleague Play is not over.  We still have to suffer through that.  So perhaps I should be saving Clint Eastwood for when that’s all over.  Or maybe just use him both times, because you can never have too much Clint Eastwood inspiration, right?  Right.  I completely agree.

Diamond Girl

p.s.  Apparently, it’s Greg-ore, not Greg-er.  As in Blanco, that is.  My earth is shattered due to this news, but I am slowly rebuilding it.  Donations appreciated.

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May 9, 2012 · 2:51 pm

Why I Am Now Fabricating Giant-Related Disasters

It is now time to exhale and laugh a little at ourselves for the mass hysteria that has ruled the roost for the past few days.  Well, maybe not completely exhale just yet.  We are only one game removed from all of that, but what a game it was.  A 2-1 victory in Los Angles, dealing Clayton Kershaw his first at-home loss in over a year and playing respectable defense at last, too.  There was a bit of clutch hitting and a lot of good pitching.  Overall, very encouraging and very calming.  Leastways, I felt calmed.

We did not leave unscathed, of course, seeing as Pagan got some sort of a nasty cramp in the eighth, but that was just to be expected, right?  No pain, no gain, as my brother reports they preach in Little League.  (And you wonder why I didn’t play Little League, guys.  Positive mantras and I tend to, er, clash.)  Hopefully, this wasn’t that big a pain, though.  Bochy says Pagan will be back in a day or two and he was planning to give him a rest today, anyhow.

This feels weird to write, really.  There are no horrors to describe or disastrous turns to narrate.  I swear, I am this close to inventing a storyline about Ryan Vogelsong’s freak injury as he was combing his hair with a silver comb given to him by a suspicious-looking witch in a cottage in the middle of the forest.   The witch was probably jealous, you know, about his amazing good looks and pitching and stuff so she gave him aforementioned poisoned comb.

I mean, do you see the spike in the hair there?  I know it’s mostly gel, but a comb has got to involved somewhere too.

See?  Now I feel like a Giants blogger again.  It’s Disaster Inside and all that.

In all seriousness, though, I am stoked for tonight’s game.  I think this is going to continue going swimmingly (hopefullyhopefully) and soon I will become accustomed to It’s Magic Inside and all that.  In the purely non-Magic-Johnson sense of the phrase.

Diamond Girl

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