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Random Gyro Halfway 'Spy-thoughts

I think many Giants fans are emotionally drained after the 1st half of the season.

On the plus-side, their team has shown some resiliency and heart and emotion that they haven't seen in a while, probably attributable to its newfound youth. It has at times told fans that it can actually play and beat top-level NL squads. This, and the good fortune of being in the wildly-weak NL West actually made some believe they could compete for the division title (for about 20 seconds).

Their home record—look away, it's hideous(17-31), is absolutely killing them though and is more than negating their relatively inspiring numbers on the road (23-27).

That's probably why Brian Sabean wasted no time (or plane fare) by simply directing Ray Durham to the Brewers' team bus following their sweep of the Giants to open the 2nd half of the season. Sabean knows. He knows that his team is nearing 20 games under .500 (they're 40-58) with only 64 games remaining in the season. Crunch the numbers even with the division winner going 81-81 and still their chances aren't very good regardless if they go nuts in August and September. So, veteran #1 is gone and speculation has Omar Vizquel heading out next.

It's over for this year.

On a brighter note, the young pitching—SF has three of the top six in strikeouts in the NL- Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez-- is obviously the future for this team and could be good chum for a potential free-agent that wants to start over with a young, capable team with sick hoses in '09. Heck, some guys might sign with the Giants next year just so they don't have to face Tim Lincecum.

Speaking of Timmy...Giants fans have lucked out, even in the face of a rough season to be able to see Tim Lincecum the year after Barry Bonds gave them the ultimate thrill. Timmy is on his way to the NL strikeout crown (143 as of today) and he's only two-wins (11-3) behind NL Wins leader Brandon Webb (13-4). Timmy will likely end up near the very top in wins (currently 5th), strikeouts (1st) and ERA (4th). That's special. And he's a child. He's going to get better.

The Giants on TV/Pitching Matchups:

Giants vs Nationals: Tuesday (7/22) @ 7pm on CSN
Zito (4-12, 5.62) vs Jason Bergmann (1-6, 4.03)
Giants vs Nationals: Wednesday (7/23) @ 12:30pm on CSN
Correia (1-5, 5.81) vs Collin Balester (1-2, 5.87)
Giants vs Nationals: Thursday (7/24) @ 12:30pm on CSN
Cain (5-8, 4.08) vs Tim Redding (7-4, 4.17)

Pick a Side

The best trash-talk I ever heard was in the 1998 season after a story had come out that Braves 3rd baseman Chipper Jones had led a double-life. He fathered a child with a woman and maintained that relationship—for a period of time without his wife or anybody knowing about it.

So, I was in for a treat when I went to the 'Stick when the Braves came to town to play a game after the story had come out.

“Hey, Chipper! How are the families?”

Two sauced Giants fans with tee-shirts wrapped around their head authored that one and repeated it maybe six-thousand times over the course of the game. Quality couple of guys. The point is, it's Giants vs A's weekend and after 10 full years the rivalry hasn't exactly gelled. In fact, I still see those damn half-Giants half-A's hats all over the place. They make me physically ill.

Pick a side, people! And to help pick a side, why not try to channel the persona of a 26-year-old inebriated fan with an ax to grind. It's very helpful.

I've been to a couple Mets/Yankees games and that's next-level, in your face stuff. Once I saw several different groups—of maybe 20 identical looking guys all dressed the same chanting...no...yelling...“YANK-EES BASE-BALL! YANK-EES BASE-BALL!” while walking around Shea Stadium before an interleague subway-series game. These guys had onions doing that at the other guys' house and "Yank-ees Base-ball” that day was a Mike Mussina 1-0 winner.

I guess I'm looking for some of those onions here at home from either side of the bay. Give me something here. Put down your “halfie” hat hand burn it. You're either with them...or against them.

Let's wind up here with some Bay-Bridge Series numbers. If you're a Giants fan, look away. It's hideous as of late.

Bay Bridge Series Facts: The A's lead the all-time interleague series 37-28... The A's have won the last six in a row against the Giants and nine of the last ten games overall (ownage)...The A's have shut out the Giants in three of the last five games and have five shutouts of the Giants since 2005...The Giants and the A's are 1-2 respectively with the most RBI's from rookies in baseball- SF: 64, Oakland: 62...The Giants are leading the NL in doubles with 168 (on pace for 344)...The A's Pitching staff leads the AL in called third strikes with 165..

Pitching Matchups for the series...Game 1 (6/27): Kevin Correia (1-5, 5.20) vs Dana Eveland (5-5, 3.51)...Game 2 (6/28): Tim Lincecum (8-1, 2.54) vs Justin Duchscherer (8-4, 1.99). Nice matchup. Game 3 (6/29): Jonathan Sanchez (7-4, 3.98) vs Joe Blanton (4-10, 4.58)...

The Bay Bridge Series on TV:
Giants @ Oakland: Friday (6/27) @ 7pm on CSN (HD) A's Broadcast
Giants @ Oakland: Saturday (6/28) @ 6pm on NBC 11 (SF) and KICU (A's)
Giants @ Oakland: Sunday (6/29) @ 1pm on CSN (HD) Giants Broadcast
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Dear Giants: The A's are Laughing at You.

While the Oakland Athletics were busy in 2006 roping-off (tarping off, actually) their upper-level access to fans, the Giants were busy preparing to sign away the Athletics' prized free-agent pitcher Barry Zito for well over a 100 million clams.

It was the first tangible, real evidence that whatever the A's could have the big-bad-always-selling-out-their-games-at-home Giants could take away. Of course, this has been the case all decade but only until the Zito deal was it shown in a big name free-agent type of way.

Meanwhile, the A's and MLB realized that playing before an average crowd of 24,320 (their 2006 numbers- a playoff year no less) and all those empty seats was a constant reminder that the A's weren't drawing many fans.

Their home games on TV had indicated a last place team and a last place crowd.

Yes, the A's were limiting their seating because they realized no matter how well they played, they wouldn't be able to draw enough fans to their ballpark. So to make it look better, they pushed fans down to the lower level to make it seem like there are more people at their games on TV.

Think about that.

Sounds like a sad tale, right? The type of tale you tell about a franchise about to implode or embark on a fire sale.

Actually, the A's franchise is and has always been undaunted by their lack of attendance. Why? Because Billy Beane's squads are always good on the field, and they have routinely been a better team than the Giants in his era as GM. And, the A's know this. That's why they were able to do the following:

Sometime after the Giants had completed their new ballpark, the A's marketing group threw up billboards all over the Bay Area which read: “while they (the Giants) were building a ballpark, we were building a team”.

Ouch. Who were the Oakland A's—the green and yellow team playing routinely in a quarter-filled football stadium, to mock the Giants and their new digs?

For Giants fans that cared, this hurt. It inspired anti-A's sentiments, like: “their ballpark sucks and they are just jealous because they can't draw any fans”.

This might have been true then, and it might be true now. But guess what? The Oakland A's are the better franchise when it comes to winning, and they are obviously better on the field against San Francisco no matter where they play and especially when they play the Giants at AT&T Park.

Beating the Giants matters to the A's.

Each time the Giants lay down like dogs for them at home (like last weekend), I wince and wonder. Is anyone in Giant-land ticked off? Does it not make anyone angry that the A's and their nine fans can continually waltz into the Giants house and rip them?

Truth is, if the Mets showed the dominance at Yankee Stadium that the A's have shown continually at AT&T Park, there would be a riot in the Bronx that would match no other. Yankee fans and Yankee management wouldn't take that crap, let me tell you. People would be fired. People might actually die.

Hey, Giants fans..Barry is gone and the price for tickets have gone up- a lot. The A's (and Dodgers, for that matter) routinely sweep you at home.

The A's and their (very few) fans are laughing at you.

Enjoy.

The Giants on TV:
Giants @ Kansas City: Friday (6/20) @ 5pm on NBC 11
Giants @ Kansas City: Saturday (6/21) @ 4pm on CSN (HD)
Giants @ Kansas City: Sunday (6/22) @ 11am on CSN

Rocky Mountain High Definitions

How are the The San Francisco Giants, winners of their last 7 games on the road, celebrating?

They are getting high(er).

Of course, it's a natural high up there in Denver, Colorado (the site of the Giants' next series) and it's kind of like the high the Giants are giving their fans right now.

The G-Men are winners of four straight after sweeping the Gnats in DC and are 5-games out of first place and only 1.5 games behind the 2nd place Dodgers. They are offering up four legit all-star candidates (Lincecum, Molina, Wilson and Rowand- three more than last year), they don't seem to know how good (or bad) they are yet, all while they continue to improve and evolve.

Some might say it's a “Rocky Mountain High”, a nice buzz for Giants fans as their squad touches-down at a mile above sea-level and settles into its digs at Coors Field for the opener of the 3-game series vs the Rockies on Tuesday.

For others---a CU frat-house president in Boulder, CO for example—well, he might say a “Rocky Mountain High” is defined by projectile-vomiting after an incoming freshman downed too many Silver Bullets on pledge day.

Still, to others--- a CSU frat-house president in Fort Collins, CO for example---it might mean projectile-vomiting after too-many Silver Bullets as well as too-many deep-fried bull testicles for an incoming freshman on pledge day.

It's regional. It just depends on where in Colorado you are. To Carmelo Anthony of the Nuggets, “Rocky Mountain High” might mean weaving in and out of lanes on highway 25 outside of Denver at 4am after enjoying a few extra road-sodas.

I think you get the picture. “Rocky Mountain High” means different things to different people, but let's just say the Giants have generated a solid buzz amongst their fans---and are maintaining it 64 games into the 2008 season. Forget all the bull testicle stuff.

Giants notes: Lefty Pat Misch (0-2, 5.79) looks for his first win in '08 while he also tries to just stay in the rotation on Tuesday when he faces the Rockies' best pitcher this year, righty Aaron Cook (8-3, 3.16)...You will be watching when Tim Lincecum (8-1, 2.15, 83K's) straddles it in game two of the series when he faces Colorado righthander Ubaldo Jiminez (1-6, 5.43)...on Thursday Jonathan Sanchez (5-3, 3-70) tries to make it four straight wins when he faces Greg Reynolds (1-3, 5.24) in the final game of the series...The Giants can look forward to facing Colorado slugger Matt Holliday who is slated to come off the DL for Tuesday's opener at Coors Field.

The Giants on TV:
Giants @ Colorado: Tuesday (6/10) @ 6pm on CSN+
Giants @ Colorado: Wednesday (6/11) @ 6pm on CSN (HD)
Giants @ Colorado: Thursday (6/12) @ 12pm on CSN (HD)

Timmy is for Real (and other stats)

After he toyed with the league-leading D-Backs in their house last night, I decided It was time for me (and you) to start paying a little more attention to Tim Lincecum. Because now folks, his rise to freakishly-good can no longer be ignored.

The stats he's compiling and the shocking numbers he's throwing up...for Giants fans anyway...are arousing to say the least. For some, more than others.

And to the rest of the league, he might as well be Bob Gibson. The younger, '68 Gibson. Not the one now. Just want to clear that up. Nothing against the '08 Bob, but '68 was a helluva year. I digress.

STATS MLB Bullet Points noted that Timmy was 3rd in the NL in K's (69) headed into last night's game. Today, he's tied for first with 76K's and his ERA stands at 2.33,  2nd in the NL. And after last night's flame-fest, he is 5-0 in five road starts with a 1.72 ERA.

Right now, today, the Giants have a 23-year-old miracle-kid who is blowing everyone away. These are special times when Timmy climbs the bump.

Want more?

Since the 2007 All-Star Game, Timmy has the 2nd best ERA in the NL (2.83) behind only Brandon Webb (2.75) of the D-Backs.

Get out and see him pitch, folks. Giants fans usually are looking on longingly when it happens somewhere else. For a while, it was Wood and Prior in Chicago and Ben Sheets in Milwaukee. They took the world by storm and dominated on the hill to the delight of their fans while fans in SF asked...”why can't we have one of those?”

Prior? Wood? Sheets? Wussies, the whole lot. It's Timmy Time.

Giants notes: Jonathan Sanchez (2-3, 4.39) tries to get his first win since April 25th Wednesday night when he faces Arizona's Doug Davis (2-1, 2.70) in a battle of left-handers...Two straight? Barry Zito (1-8, 5.65) will battle the Snakes and The Big Unit (4-1, 4.03) on Thursday to try and secure a second straight win...It never seems easy for Zito who got his unlikely first win against hard-hitting Florida..Bengie Molina is hitting .571 in his last nine games after his two hits (and three run-bomb) last night...

The Giants on TV:
Giants @ Arizona: Wednesday (5/28) @ 6:30pm on CSN Plus
Giants @ Arizona: Thursday (5/29) @ 6:30pm on CSN
Giants vs San Diego: Friday (5/30) @ 7pm on NBC 11
Giants vs San Diego: Saturday (5/31) @ 1pm on KNBR 680
Giants vs San Diego: Sunday (6/1) @ 12:30pm on CSN

Smoke in the Cockpit

Often you'll hear about a plane going down after reports of “smoke in the cockpit”.

Fortunately, we're not dealing with a plane here. But if we were, we might be talking about ominous reports of a “loud bang” (Zito is 0-8) in the cargo hold. Or perhaps an indication from the co-pilot that one of the engines has lost oil pressure (Zito has averaged ONE run of support in each of his last six games).

We are all passengers here on the good-ship G-Men, and after our untested craft lumbered off the ground in April (barely avoiding the tree-tops at the end of the runway), the crew in the cockpit—and their passengers—may have gotten a little too comfy with their new vehicle. Until now.

Maybe it was Commander Sabean's (“we can compete in the west” & “we're a 2nd half team”) comments about his vessel a few days ago that tempted fate.

The Giants were showing signs they might be capable of holding their own with the big boys when they were six outs from earning a split with the surging Astros last Thursday. Unfortunately, crew member Tyler Walker chose his birthday to allow 4 runs in the eighth inning for the tie, and Vinnie Chulk surrendered what can only be described as a mammoth-shot off the bat of white-hot Lance Berkman in the ninth.

Berkman's ball was WAY over the arcade and into the water in right-center field. The impossible-to-impress Barry Bonds would have been impressed.

So, instead of earning a split with the early NL Wildcard leader, they surrender game four and lose the series 3-1.

OK, so the blown-lead against the Astros may have been jarring (like heavy turbulence or maybe some jet-wash to contend with), but it now seems obvious that the hardened White Sox, fresh off “doll-gate”, weren't going to let the Giants get better at their expense.

The Sox out-pitched the Giants in games one and two, and then pounded them into submission in game three on Sunday en-route to a convincing sweep.

Commander Sabean might be considering a call to the galley to get a bottle of water into the cockpit. There's no indication of fire...but it's surely getting hot in there, and he's definitely seen his share of warning-indicator lights in the last week.

Is Colorado a good place to land this sputtering ship to avoid further damage? We'll see.

This is your captain speaking. The seat-belt indicator is on. Buckle up. Time for some aerial maneuvers to avoid the 100-loss season.

Giants notes: Pat Misch (0-0, 5.32) tries to stop the carnage Monday night when he'll be opposed by former Royals left-hander Jorge De La Rosa (1-2, 9.42)...Tim Lincecum (5-1, 1.92) hopes to improve upon his MLB-leading 63K's in 2008 when he faces Colorado 's Aaron Cook (6-2, 2.82) in game two of the series...The Giants send their other K-machine, Jonathan Sanchez (2-3, 4.59 & 52 K's) to the pimple on Wednesday afternoon when he battles righty Ubaldo Jiminez (1-4, 5.29).

The Giants on TV:
Giants @ Colorado: Monday (5/19) @ 5:30pm on CSN (HD)
Giants @ Colorado: Tuesday (5/20) @ 5:30pm on CSN
Giants @ Colorado: Wednesday (5/21) @ 12:00pm on CSN