Girls Love Baseball: One Game at a Time

Girls Love Baseball: One Game at a Time: Saturday, July 5 2014 Giants at Padres, Game two of three game series. Giants 5, Padres 3 That was the best game of the San Francisco Gi...

One Game at a Time

Saturday, July 5 2014
Giants at Padres, Game two of three game series.
Giants 5, Padres 3

That was the best game of the San Francisco Giants for quite some time.  Except for the first-inning injury of Pablo Sandoval, who took a pitch to the arm and had to leave the game, it was just terrific. It was a shout to the world that said the team would not sit down and die. Those Giants were the, "I'm having fun"-fighting Giants.

Gregor Blanco started scoring with his first homer of the season, a solo shot in the second. Later he took a walk and wound up scoring another run. Michael Morse had not hit a home run for more than a month, but he hit a solo shot that tied the game, 3-3, in the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings. I was happy about this and hope it will continue. I have felt that his lack of hits was part of the infection that surged through the team for just more than a month. When he succeeds, it is with great joy.  His happiness is infectious. I hope the Giants will be able to keep hitting and winning. 

In addition to the Morse homer, Brandon Belt hit one in the 10th, driving in Hunter Pence to bring the score to 5-3.  Other cool stuff was Buster Posey's brilliant head-first slide into second base and Sergio Romo's clean 9th inning save. Ultimately, Romo took the win. Tim Hudson got no-decision, but was very good for six innings, giving up just one run off three hits. He gave up just one run and struck out four. Jean Machi got himself into some trouble again, and allowed two runs.  Jeremy Affeldt came to the rescue late in the 7th and pitched through the eighth. Enter Romo for the save, and ultimately the win.  Casilla struck out two and walked one in the 10th and final inning. 

Please note that while many think the Giants cannot win without all the big talent, they did just fine without Pablo. Blanco seems to do better in the middle of the lineup, and I hope Bochy notices that. Oh yeah. Remember big bad Despaigne who had the Giants looking for their Mommies the last time time they met? This time they had him figured out.  I keep hearing Bochy say that "sometimes these things take time." I'm hoping that the Giants have a good outing Sunday and will be ready for the A's Monday, two games away and two at the Coliseum.  

Girls Love Baseball: An Open Letter to Michael Morse

Girls Love Baseball: An Open Letter to Michael Morse: Dear Michael Morse, I have been a supporter of your since you first arrived in what you called, "San Fran" when you spoke at ...

An Open Letter to Michael Morse

Dear Michael Morse,

I have been a supporter of your since you first arrived in what you called, "San Fran" when you spoke at the last Fan Fest. First of all, you proved yourself to be a great slugger. Only the last time you hit

the seats in any yard was over a month ago.  Since you are still leading your team in the home run department, that is pretty sad. Just think about your capability.  You are an amazing hitter. there is no doubt about that.  

Of all the players who have contracts ending this year, you are the one I want to have stick around.  Not only are you a really good athlete, but you are a good person. You do things that are fun, and this has inspired a team like the Giants. On Twitter, you send out a lot of really great retweets that indicate you have a wonderful faith.  You are not afraid to be yourself. This is admirable. It would be such a shame to lose a man like you. You set such a good example

Since I have been watching, the Giants have been a team that reflects the spirit of the city. A little quirky, no hate, good food, lots of risk taking, lots of free spirits.  If a guy like you says that he is gluten free, people notice, and they start asking questions about their own gluten intake. They start thinking about how their own personal nutrition. You are a leader.  One of my personal heroes.  Not just for baseball.  

You have a deep abiding faith. You think about what you eat. You were really honest about your PED situation. And you are a great ball player.  But right now your bat is pretty cold.

I suggested on Twitter that your bat has gone cold.  You blocked me. I must have hurt your feelings, and I am so sorry. But I don't understand. Do you block everyone who suggests that things are not perfect? That makes me sad. I'm an artist, a pretty successful artist.  A critic once wrote in a major publication that my work was uninspired, monotonous.  I wanted to block her, too.  

Your true fans, including me, love you unconditionally. Do you not give the same thing back in return? Since you won't be reading this, I don't suppose any of this matters.  

But I will still be cheering for you like I did yesterday in that game when you got a double at Petco Park.  That was a good job, and we could tell that you were happy about it. 

Someone asked Buster about the team's hitting situation. He said, "It Stinks."  Andrew Baggarly wrote a whole column on the "It Stinks" situation.  It does stink.  As the Giants go, so goes the whole huge Bay Area. We are sad about this out-of-control skid you guys are on right now. It feels like last year.  And we are still coming to games, watching on TV, and listening to the radio. Most of us do not  understand the idea of a summer without baseball.  And we hate losing, too.

God bless you Michael Morse. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive someone who only wants to keep you around.

Girls Love Baseball: I Am Afraid

Girls Love Baseball: I Am Afraid: I am faint of heart.  As a child I used to run away when the Wicked Witch of the West showed up on the Wizard of Oz.  Yesterday, I had to t...

I Am Afraid

I am faint of heart.  As a child I used to run away when the Wicked Witch of the West showed up on the Wizard of Oz.  Yesterday, I had to turn off the game after the 7th inning. That was for the Giants' 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.  Today, celebrating the return of Brandon Belt, I watched the whole game. After all, Matt Cain gave up only two runs.  Hope was alive right up through the last out. But there was no joy in Mudville, again.

I am afraid.

I am afraid of what happens when a team keeps losing. The Giants have momentum, all right.  Only it is going the wrong way.  Sometimes I am just afraid it is going to hurt.

Where I live, everyone loves the Giants. I see strangers talking baseball in the produce section of Whole Foods. When the G's win, the people of the Bay Area are happier, I am certain. I get mad when people leave the Giants.  I get mad when they flip to the A's. I get mad when the G's don't play well.

The Giants' pitching seems to have been shored up.  At least for now. But what good is pitching without offense? Cain did not deserve to lose. What is the inspiration to keep fighting is there is no offensive backup? It would have been so nice to celebrate his 1,500th strikeout with a win.

With was nice to see Michael Morse get a double. Pence hit. Morse hit. Posey hit. Arias hit. That was it. Stults won:  seven innings with six strikeouts, four hits and two walks.

Giants fans are special.  I have known that for a long time. We have courage. We stand by our G-Men. It becomes, however, more and more difficult.  Like I said, I am afraid. But I will see the game tomorrow. Hudson vs. Despaigne.  Despaigne shut the Giants out the last time they played, June 23.  6-0.

• • •

I just heard that the Athletics just got Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs.  I was hoping that the Giants would go after Samardzija. Now it could happen that the Giants will face him during the Giants-A's series.

BatMen

 After a few months of being the winningest team in Major League Baseball,  the Giants let a 9.5-game lead drop to a .5-game lead. It was hard to watch.  On talk radio the voices want to rationalize it away in some very ridiculous ways:

• No Scutero
• Pagan is out
• We need Belt
• Batting order

I'm sure glad that Bruce Bochy finally changed his line up, moving Hunter Pence to the top. The Rookie Joe Panik is at Number 2!  This makes sense to me. Panik has a hot bat right now. I am happy that he took Morse out.  The Morse is not with us anymore. Duvall bats 8th, no Morse

I'm excited to see Pence hitting 1st. Bochy gives him a job, and he does it.  Let's see what happens today.

The deadest batmen are Hicks and Morse.  Morse has had a few singles, but then they have to pinch run him because his is "Super Slow."  Sorry Morse. What happened?