Great job by the sound guys too -- collective nut-squeezing screaming, followed by a single exhale in unison. It sounded kind of like AAAAAAAAAAAAAhooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh.
Yeah, it still hurts. Congratulations to the Giants and their fans; your pitchers silenced our bats, and we made at least as many mistakes in the field as you guys. Good luck.
Oh, the irony. Here was Ryan Howard spending the whole series laying off low pitches, only to find . ..
People who blame Howard, or his salary, need to look at the numbers for the entire playoffs (led the defensive starters in average, OBP, and OPS, though he somehow had zero RBI through both series). The Phillies had trouble advancing runners in scoring position, which is really a function of good pitching by the Giants' staff.
All things being equal, I'd root for the Giants over the Rangers, but I do sort of pull for the likes of Cliff Lee and Josh Hamilton. Either outcome would bring a much-wanted title, and both teams deserve to be in their present position.
To me, one of the side benefits here is that if we win the World Series (and Texas is going to be tough) is that the Giants' first San Francisco-based title will have none of the taint had we won it in 2002. At the time, sure, I can't say I was glad the Giants choked with six outs to go in Game 6, of course. But winning it in 2010 for the first time with this squad rather than that one will be so much better.
Of course, other titles have been won before and after 2002 with juiced players, but because Bonds was both juiced *and* universally reviled beyond the Bay Area, bragging rights would have always had to have been couched in moral relativity. Not this one.
And this is why RBI is a meaningless stat as a measure of a player's overall value and production, particularly in the short posteseason with small sample sizes. Those ripping Howard, Utley, etc. for their low/no RBI in this series are doing so (in general) without reference to the number of runners that were actually on base ahead of them.
That said, RBI is a VERY good measure of whether you were able to do your job as a hitter with runners on base. And on that measure, Howard and several other Phillies failed last night, just as they failed throughout this series. When you rush out to a 2-0 lead but then fail to bring a runner home after the first inning, that's on just about every hitter in the lineup, plus Perlozzo (for holding Rollins up at third on a play that, had he scored, might have been a back breaker) and Manuel (for at least one questionable pinch hitting choice - using Francisco over Sweeney).
The rumor around the bay area is that the beard is colored with shoe polish.
At the all-star game, Wilson wore bright orange Nike's (Leadoff Walk Wilsons == Air Jordans?). The league fined him for wearing the shoes in a Marlins game (http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-29/sports/22003679_1_shoes-bruce-bochy-giants). So he took black shoe polish to the offending cleats just enough to meet the letter of the law.
When he decided a dark beard on a blonde guy with a mohawk would look cool, he touched it up with Kiwi Ultra-black just to make a point.
My belief is that he has a deal with Grecian formula, and the late inning walks are a way to drum up business through out the Bay Area.
mawado
PS - My definition of a good day: My daughter shows up at my workplace, convinces the admin to pull me out of a meeting, flashes a pair of tickets to the NLCS game 5 and says "Get in the car. Now.". Perfect day would have been a Giant's win.
I'm still going through the stages of grief here. Was at the game, sitting behind home plate, and I still haven't brought myself to look at the replay of the last called strike on Howard. So many missed opportunities, regardless of that call.
At least today I sound like Harvey Fierstein. So I've got that going for me. I also know that the tension that wracked my body last night even upon getting home -- I mean, my back and shoulders were in serious knots -- won't be something I have to deal with over the next two weeks. Still, a pretty empty feeling, all in all. This team should have achieved more this season, and next season it won't be as strong offensively without Werth and with an extra year of mileage on Ibanez and Rollins (and possibly, though I can almost not even bear to say it, on Utley).
Didn't see that coming. I was convinced that the Phillies were going to find a way to win this series right up until the ump signaled strike 3.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for the conspiracy theory about why Fox cut away from the pitch-tracker just as it was about to show the seventh pitch and third strike...
ReplyDeleteThat blows. Congrats to the Giants but that blows.
ReplyDeleteAt least it's hockey season.
<span>Congrats, TPE. The Giants definitely deserved this series, and I'm now firmly in their corner for the WS.
ReplyDeleteThose were the first two sentences I've managed in the last half hour that didn't include the words: "SWING THE @#$#$#% BAT!!!!!"</span>
I'll just note that I was at a bands 30 year reunion and almost everyone shouted "how do you not swing at that?"
ReplyDeleteI know you have to be excited, TPE, and congrats to your Giants. We were holding our breath here until the final out.
ReplyDeleteThey went back to it. Beautiful pitch -- started up and on the inside half, ended up at the knees on the outside half.
ReplyDeleteGreat job by the sound guys too -- collective nut-squeezing screaming, followed by a single exhale in unison. It sounded kind of like AAAAAAAAAAAAAhooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh.
ReplyDeleteThat beard is fake, right? Like a Halloween costume? Or maybe he's just using beard extensions?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it still hurts. Congratulations to the Giants and their fans; your pitchers silenced our bats, and we made at least as many mistakes in the field as you guys. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteOh, the irony. Here was Ryan Howard spending the whole series laying off low pitches, only to find . ..
ReplyDeletePeople who blame Howard, or his salary, need to look at the numbers for the entire playoffs (led the defensive starters in average, OBP, and OPS, though he somehow had zero RBI through both series). The Phillies had trouble advancing runners in scoring position, which is really a function of good pitching by the Giants' staff.
All things being equal, I'd root for the Giants over the Rangers, but I do sort of pull for the likes of Cliff Lee and Josh Hamilton. Either outcome would bring a much-wanted title, and both teams deserve to be in their present position.
To me, one of the side benefits here is that if we win the World Series (and Texas is going to be tough) is that the Giants' first San Francisco-based title will have none of the taint had we won it in 2002. At the time, sure, I can't say I was glad the Giants choked with six outs to go in Game 6, of course. But winning it in 2010 for the first time with this squad rather than that one will be so much better.
ReplyDeleteOf course, other titles have been won before and after 2002 with juiced players, but because Bonds was both juiced *and* universally reviled beyond the Bay Area, bragging rights would have always had to have been couched in moral relativity. Not this one.
And this is why RBI is a meaningless stat as a measure of a player's overall value and production, particularly in the short posteseason with small sample sizes. Those ripping Howard, Utley, etc. for their low/no RBI in this series are doing so (in general) without reference to the number of runners that were actually on base ahead of them.
ReplyDeleteThat said, RBI is a VERY good measure of whether you were able to do your job as a hitter with runners on base. And on that measure, Howard and several other Phillies failed last night, just as they failed throughout this series. When you rush out to a 2-0 lead but then fail to bring a runner home after the first inning, that's on just about every hitter in the lineup, plus Perlozzo (for holding Rollins up at third on a play that, had he scored, might have been a back breaker) and Manuel (for at least one questionable pinch hitting choice - using Francisco over Sweeney).
The rumor around the bay area is that the beard is colored with shoe polish.
ReplyDeleteAt the all-star game, Wilson wore bright orange Nike's (Leadoff Walk Wilsons == Air Jordans?). The league fined him for wearing the shoes in a Marlins game (http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-07-29/sports/22003679_1_shoes-bruce-bochy-giants). So he took black shoe polish to the offending cleats just enough to meet the letter of the law.
When he decided a dark beard on a blonde guy with a mohawk would look cool, he touched it up with Kiwi Ultra-black just to make a point.
My belief is that he has a deal with Grecian formula, and the late inning walks are a way to drum up business through out the Bay Area.
mawado
PS - My definition of a good day: My daughter shows up at my workplace, convinces the admin to pull me out of a meeting, flashes a pair of tickets to the NLCS game 5 and says "Get in the car. Now.". Perfect day would have been a Giant's win.
I'm still going through the stages of grief here. Was at the game, sitting behind home plate, and I still haven't brought myself to look at the replay of the last called strike on Howard. So many missed opportunities, regardless of that call.
ReplyDeleteAt least today I sound like Harvey Fierstein. So I've got that going for me. I also know that the tension that wracked my body last night even upon getting home -- I mean, my back and shoulders were in serious knots -- won't be something I have to deal with over the next two weeks. Still, a pretty empty feeling, all in all. This team should have achieved more this season, and next season it won't be as strong offensively without Werth and with an extra year of mileage on Ibanez and Rollins (and possibly, though I can almost not even bear to say it, on Utley).
Now that's a good daughter.
ReplyDelete