A blog featuring the musings of a San Francisco Giants fan living trapped in LA.
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Words of Wisdom
"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings" -- Earl Wilson
Westwood Blues Testimonials
"Either you graduated from the Muser Hollywood Upstairs Baseball
College or you're not a Giants fan." - Danny
"Ding ding ding. You win the wooden donut." - "Crispix Attacks"
"If there's only one good thing to come out of Baseball Primer, it's
the remarkable Joe Morgan mimicry skills, polished to a frighteningly
accurate degree, by a handful of Primates. Creepy." - SKP
"Why the Neifi hate?!?" - Tom
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Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Contact Info
Bitter Dodgers fan? Gloating Angels fan? Family friend of Neifi Perez? Think my sense of humor is worse than Lon Simmons'? Send me hatemail!
westwoodblues@yahoo.com
Bitter Dodgers fan? Gloating Angels fan? Family friend of Neifi Perez? Think my sense of humor is worse than Lon Simmons'? Send me hatemail!
westwoodblues@yahoo.com
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Saturday, April 26, 2003
The Gods Must NOT Be Crazy
After the Game 6 tank job last year, I think the Baseball Gods owe the Giants about 11 or 12 thousand wins. Well the Giants have now won two fluky games in a row. A sure handed infielder botching a force play, an outfielder dropping a ball...yes the Baseball Gods are not crazy.
The Giants mana from heaven this year has been Joe Nathan. 14 2/3 IP and a big fat 0 ER.
Now pardon me while I go worship the leftfield coke bottle.
After the Game 6 tank job last year, I think the Baseball Gods owe the Giants about 11 or 12 thousand wins. Well the Giants have now won two fluky games in a row. A sure handed infielder botching a force play, an outfielder dropping a ball...yes the Baseball Gods are not crazy.
The Giants mana from heaven this year has been Joe Nathan. 14 2/3 IP and a big fat 0 ER.
Now pardon me while I go worship the leftfield coke bottle.
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Friday, April 25, 2003
No Mas? Yes Moss!
Just for fun:
Damian Moss 4-0, 2.35 ERA, .219 BAA
Russ Ortiz 2-2, 4.40 ERA, .243 BAA
It looks like someone misses Pac Bell. (Yes I know, its only April, only 5 starts is a very small sample size, yada yada yada)
Vote Snow and Cruz or Die
After reading this article on sfgiants.com, I realized that of the Giants starting 8, JT Snow and Jose Cruz, Jr. are the only players to have never been named to an All-Star team. Hopefully that will change this year. Fear not, we'll be doing a Get-Out-The-Vote campaign for both Snow and Cruz.
Speaking of Russ Ortiz
After the first inning of game 1 against the Pirates, the Bucs had 33 baserunners in the final 30 innings of the series but scored only 4 runs.
Damian Moss seems to have garduated from the Russ Ortiz School of Pitching as Moss has allowed 19 walks and 24 hits in 30.2 innings but has only allowed 8 ER all year. Can he keep allowing boatloads of baserunners and few earned runs? Looking at his career numbers Moss seems to be the type of pitcher who is always in jams, but rarely gives up a big inning. Moss has allowed 117 walks and 168 hits in 218.2 career IP. But Moss has an ERA of only 3.25.
Just for fun:
Damian Moss 4-0, 2.35 ERA, .219 BAA
Russ Ortiz 2-2, 4.40 ERA, .243 BAA
It looks like someone misses Pac Bell. (Yes I know, its only April, only 5 starts is a very small sample size, yada yada yada)
Vote Snow and Cruz or Die
After reading this article on sfgiants.com, I realized that of the Giants starting 8, JT Snow and Jose Cruz, Jr. are the only players to have never been named to an All-Star team. Hopefully that will change this year. Fear not, we'll be doing a Get-Out-The-Vote campaign for both Snow and Cruz.
Speaking of Russ Ortiz
After the first inning of game 1 against the Pirates, the Bucs had 33 baserunners in the final 30 innings of the series but scored only 4 runs.
Damian Moss seems to have garduated from the Russ Ortiz School of Pitching as Moss has allowed 19 walks and 24 hits in 30.2 innings but has only allowed 8 ER all year. Can he keep allowing boatloads of baserunners and few earned runs? Looking at his career numbers Moss seems to be the type of pitcher who is always in jams, but rarely gives up a big inning. Moss has allowed 117 walks and 168 hits in 218.2 career IP. But Moss has an ERA of only 3.25.
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Monday, April 21, 2003
Channeling Herb Caen (now with stars!)
So is it too early to speculate about potential July trading deadline deals? Of course not! One person I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants reacquire - Kenny Lofton. The last three years Lofton is .271/.350/.428 against RHP. This would make a nice platoon with the St. Marquis de Hack who is .283/.323/.510 vs. LHP pitching over the last three years.
Assuming the Bucs fall out of contention by late July, they'll probably put Lofton and Reggie Sanders on the block. Unfortunately for the Giants, Dave Littlefield has already been fleeced by Brian Sabean, so it'll be tough for the Giants to duplicate the 2001 swindling when Sabean acquired Jason Schmidt for a song (Get it? A song, Ryan Vogelsong? Ok, I'll stop)...Depending on the health of Robb Nen and Jason Christiansen, the Giants may look to acquire another reliever. In a perfect world, Nen and Christiansen will be back and be strong, and Jerome Williams can be called up to fill the Jay Witasick/Chad Zerbe/Jim Brower role....Jerome Williams watch: Williams is sporting a 1.29 ERA with 15 Ks in 21 IP at AAA Fresno.
* * *
At Dodger Stadium there is an advertisement for Konica which lights up a "K" every time a Dodgers' pitcher records a strikeout. At one point on Sunday, Hideo Nomo had three strikeouts, so the Konica board read "KKK." This would not necessarily be objectionable were it not for the fact that the Konica board its "KKK" display is situated directly above Jackie Robinson's retired number. Way to go Dodgers.
* * *
How bad is it in Arizona? Tuesday night's starting pitcher for your Arizona Diamondbacks: Andy Good. I'm hoping Good doesn't stick in the majors if for no other reason than the world will be spared ultra-lame headlines such as "Good is Good." However, I would love to see an Orwellian headline like "Good is Bad. Bad is Good."
So is it too early to speculate about potential July trading deadline deals? Of course not! One person I wouldn't mind seeing the Giants reacquire - Kenny Lofton. The last three years Lofton is .271/.350/.428 against RHP. This would make a nice platoon with the St. Marquis de Hack who is .283/.323/.510 vs. LHP pitching over the last three years.
Assuming the Bucs fall out of contention by late July, they'll probably put Lofton and Reggie Sanders on the block. Unfortunately for the Giants, Dave Littlefield has already been fleeced by Brian Sabean, so it'll be tough for the Giants to duplicate the 2001 swindling when Sabean acquired Jason Schmidt for a song (Get it? A song, Ryan Vogelsong? Ok, I'll stop)...Depending on the health of Robb Nen and Jason Christiansen, the Giants may look to acquire another reliever. In a perfect world, Nen and Christiansen will be back and be strong, and Jerome Williams can be called up to fill the Jay Witasick/Chad Zerbe/Jim Brower role....Jerome Williams watch: Williams is sporting a 1.29 ERA with 15 Ks in 21 IP at AAA Fresno.
* * *
At Dodger Stadium there is an advertisement for Konica which lights up a "K" every time a Dodgers' pitcher records a strikeout. At one point on Sunday, Hideo Nomo had three strikeouts, so the Konica board read "KKK." This would not necessarily be objectionable were it not for the fact that the Konica board its "KKK" display is situated directly above Jackie Robinson's retired number. Way to go Dodgers.
* * *
How bad is it in Arizona? Tuesday night's starting pitcher for your Arizona Diamondbacks: Andy Good. I'm hoping Good doesn't stick in the majors if for no other reason than the world will be spared ultra-lame headlines such as "Good is Good." However, I would love to see an Orwellian headline like "Good is Bad. Bad is Good."
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Sunday, April 20, 2003
Dodgers Suck!*
The Giants game on Saturday night was a blast. Andy Ashby didn't pitch like he was attacked by a BP pitching machine. Rather, Ashby pitched like he was a BP pitching machine. Even backups Neifarious Perez and the Big Cat teed off on Dodgers pitching. Hell, even Ruben Rivera got into one (I mean he got into a pitch, not into a teammates' locker for treasure hunting).
Actual conversation between two Dodgers' fans sitting behind me:
Person 1: Is that real grass or turf?
Person 2: I think it's turf.
Person 1: Yeah, I think it is.
I wish I was making that up.
The Only Nice Things I'll Ever Say About the Dodgers
Vin Scully is the best damn broadcaster in baseball. Dodgers Stadium is a great place to see a game...minus the Dodgers fans, the beachballs, and the wave (in other words, innings 1,2,8, and 9).
* The title of this post was inspired the artistic genius of Dodgers fans whose eloquent chants included "Barry sucks" and "Giants suck." One brilliant Dodgers fan was so filled with creative fervor that he responded to our "Beat LA" chants by giving us the finger. I thought about responding by holding up 8 1/2 fingers to symbolize how many games the Dodgers were behind the Giants, but I figured he couldn't count that high.
The Giants game on Saturday night was a blast. Andy Ashby didn't pitch like he was attacked by a BP pitching machine. Rather, Ashby pitched like he was a BP pitching machine. Even backups Neifarious Perez and the Big Cat teed off on Dodgers pitching. Hell, even Ruben Rivera got into one (I mean he got into a pitch, not into a teammates' locker for treasure hunting).
Actual conversation between two Dodgers' fans sitting behind me:
Person 1: Is that real grass or turf?
Person 2: I think it's turf.
Person 1: Yeah, I think it is.
I wish I was making that up.
The Only Nice Things I'll Ever Say About the Dodgers
Vin Scully is the best damn broadcaster in baseball. Dodgers Stadium is a great place to see a game...minus the Dodgers fans, the beachballs, and the wave (in other words, innings 1,2,8, and 9).
* The title of this post was inspired the artistic genius of Dodgers fans whose eloquent chants included "Barry sucks" and "Giants suck." One brilliant Dodgers fan was so filled with creative fervor that he responded to our "Beat LA" chants by giving us the finger. I thought about responding by holding up 8 1/2 fingers to symbolize how many games the Dodgers were behind the Giants, but I figured he couldn't count that high.
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Saturday, April 19, 2003
The Westwood Blues Guide To Announcing Games like Rick Monday:
Step 1: Drink 6-8 beers
Step 2: Begin talking
Step 3: Repeat Step 1 as needed
Step 1: Drink 6-8 beers
Step 2: Begin talking
Step 3: Repeat Step 1 as needed
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Thursday, April 17, 2003
Channeling Herb Caen
I know its early but, JT Snow, NL All Star? .362/.464/.574 with 18 RBI in 15 games. He's certainly off to a great start, and he'll soon come back to earth. The only question is how far back will he fall...What may help Snow's campaign the most is that Dusty is picking the reserves. I think Dusty will load up on "his guys." I'm predicting that at least half the NL all-star team will be Cubs, Giants, or players who have played for Dusty...Tom Gamboa said lightning doesn't strike twice, but on Tuesday night it did - Armando Rios had two hits...I'm a tiny bit concerned about Fonzie's slow start. He's only batting .174 . Having said that, Fonzie still has an OBP that Neifarious Perez can only dream about...Going back to last season, the Giants are 21-2 in their last 23 regular season games...
I know its early but, JT Snow, NL All Star? .362/.464/.574 with 18 RBI in 15 games. He's certainly off to a great start, and he'll soon come back to earth. The only question is how far back will he fall...What may help Snow's campaign the most is that Dusty is picking the reserves. I think Dusty will load up on "his guys." I'm predicting that at least half the NL all-star team will be Cubs, Giants, or players who have played for Dusty...Tom Gamboa said lightning doesn't strike twice, but on Tuesday night it did - Armando Rios had two hits...I'm a tiny bit concerned about Fonzie's slow start. He's only batting .174 . Having said that, Fonzie still has an OBP that Neifarious Perez can only dream about...Going back to last season, the Giants are 21-2 in their last 23 regular season games...
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003
Why I don't Hate Jeff Kent
I think JT Snow sums up my feelings pretty well:
"The guy had one of the best runs as a second baseman in the history of the game -- an MVP, three trips to the playoffs, one World Series appearance, another Wild Card, four out of the six years playing for the postseason. If I'm a fan, I remember what Jeff Kent did for my team and my city, because he did go out with a bang for the team, baseball-wise, for San Francisco. There's no denying that."
Yes, I'm bitter that Kent accepted less money to play for the Astros (although in his defense, the monetary difference was probably because he has a crappy agent, more on that later), but it was a pleasure to watch Kent put up huge numbers for the Giants.
Totally random thought - Kent's average salary with the Giants was $4,962,500. When Kent reached free agency, he signed a deal for $18MM over two years (with about $10.5MM of that money deferred). Assuming Kent goes into the HOF (a big assumption, but I won't get into that here), I wonder how many other HOFers of this era will go into the HOF with such a low average salary (relatively speaking, of course).
I see two main reasons for Kent's salary:
1) Timing. He was signed to a contract extension before the 1998 season. After a nice 1997 season (.250/.316/.472, 105 OPS+) he really took off in 1998 (.297/.359/.555, 141 OPS+). Had Kent hit the free agent market after '98, he would've made considerably more money.
The next time Kent hit free agency, this past winter, he was a 35 year old second baseman. Looking for a long term deal. In a bad free agent market.
2) Jeff Klein. I like to think of myself as someone who follows all the free agent stuff pretty closely, but I have no idea how Klein landed such a big name client, or who Jeff Klein is for that matter. Who is Jeff Klein? Family friend of Jeff Kent? Has compromising pictures of Kent "washing his truck?" I did a google search for Jeff Klein and I found a bunch of music and golf sites, not to mention a site featuring Jeff Klein wallpaper.
Again, I'm not going to shed any tears for Jeff Kent, but you know you live in a bizarro world when a borderline HOFer makes less money than Raul Mondesi.
I think JT Snow sums up my feelings pretty well:
"The guy had one of the best runs as a second baseman in the history of the game -- an MVP, three trips to the playoffs, one World Series appearance, another Wild Card, four out of the six years playing for the postseason. If I'm a fan, I remember what Jeff Kent did for my team and my city, because he did go out with a bang for the team, baseball-wise, for San Francisco. There's no denying that."
Yes, I'm bitter that Kent accepted less money to play for the Astros (although in his defense, the monetary difference was probably because he has a crappy agent, more on that later), but it was a pleasure to watch Kent put up huge numbers for the Giants.
Totally random thought - Kent's average salary with the Giants was $4,962,500. When Kent reached free agency, he signed a deal for $18MM over two years (with about $10.5MM of that money deferred). Assuming Kent goes into the HOF (a big assumption, but I won't get into that here), I wonder how many other HOFers of this era will go into the HOF with such a low average salary (relatively speaking, of course).
I see two main reasons for Kent's salary:
1) Timing. He was signed to a contract extension before the 1998 season. After a nice 1997 season (.250/.316/.472, 105 OPS+) he really took off in 1998 (.297/.359/.555, 141 OPS+). Had Kent hit the free agent market after '98, he would've made considerably more money.
The next time Kent hit free agency, this past winter, he was a 35 year old second baseman. Looking for a long term deal. In a bad free agent market.
2) Jeff Klein. I like to think of myself as someone who follows all the free agent stuff pretty closely, but I have no idea how Klein landed such a big name client, or who Jeff Klein is for that matter. Who is Jeff Klein? Family friend of Jeff Kent? Has compromising pictures of Kent "washing his truck?" I did a google search for Jeff Klein and I found a bunch of music and golf sites, not to mention a site featuring Jeff Klein wallpaper.
Again, I'm not going to shed any tears for Jeff Kent, but you know you live in a bizarro world when a borderline HOFer makes less money than Raul Mondesi.
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Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Make It Stop!
Last Thursday I missed most of Kurt Ainsworth's gem because the Ducks-Red Wings game went into triple overtime. Yesterday I missed Jeff Kent's first AB in SF as an Astro and Bonds' homerun because the Flyers-Leafs game went into double overtime. Make it stop!
10 Things I'd rather do than watch a Flyers-Leafs game
10) Enter a hot dog eating contest with Mo Vaughn, Bruce Froemming, Livan Hernandez, and Eric Gregg.
9) Attend an Al Sharpton for President rally with John Rocker.
8) Play Scrabble with Ralph Barbieri.
7) Listen to Barry Zito, Jack McDowell, and Scott Speizio perform Puccini's La Boheme. Twice.
6) Take English lessons from Joaquin Andujar.
5) Be Jerry Spradlin's pitching coach.
4) Be Jerry Spradlin's agent.
3) Attend the Laughlin River Runbiker truck washing rally with Jeff Kent.
2) Be locked in a room for three days with Jim Leyland, Marge Schott, Mark Portugal, and Rod Beck...without cigarettes.
1) Watch the fucking Giants-Astros game!
Last Thursday I missed most of Kurt Ainsworth's gem because the Ducks-Red Wings game went into triple overtime. Yesterday I missed Jeff Kent's first AB in SF as an Astro and Bonds' homerun because the Flyers-Leafs game went into double overtime. Make it stop!
10 Things I'd rather do than watch a Flyers-Leafs game
10) Enter a hot dog eating contest with Mo Vaughn, Bruce Froemming, Livan Hernandez, and Eric Gregg.
9) Attend an Al Sharpton for President rally with John Rocker.
8) Play Scrabble with Ralph Barbieri.
7) Listen to Barry Zito, Jack McDowell, and Scott Speizio perform Puccini's La Boheme. Twice.
6) Take English lessons from Joaquin Andujar.
5) Be Jerry Spradlin's pitching coach.
4) Be Jerry Spradlin's agent.
3) Attend the Laughlin River Run
2) Be locked in a room for three days with Jim Leyland, Marge Schott, Mark Portugal, and Rod Beck...without cigarettes.
1) Watch the fucking Giants-Astros game!
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Monday, April 14, 2003
The Hydrant Rises
I take back every mean thing I've ever said about Marvin Benard, his mother, his father, his sister, midgets, and hydrants. Ok, not everything, but almost everything. With one swing of the bat, Benard earned his paycheck for this month.
True Story
Last night I was driving from the Bay Area to LA. I left at around 4:30 and when I got into Westwood, postgame diamond notes was just starting. Six hours of Giants baseball on the radio. I love it!
I take back every mean thing I've ever said about Marvin Benard, his mother, his father, his sister, midgets, and hydrants. Ok, not everything, but almost everything. With one swing of the bat, Benard earned his paycheck for this month.
True Story
Last night I was driving from the Bay Area to LA. I left at around 4:30 and when I got into Westwood, postgame diamond notes was just starting. Six hours of Giants baseball on the radio. I love it!
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Saturday, April 12, 2003
Where Have You Gone, Archi Cianfracco?
My Hacking Mass team is up and crappier than ever.
C Geronimo Gil
1B Wes Helms
2B Pokey Reese
SS Cesar Izturis
3B Vinny Castilla
LF Roger Cedeno
CF Doug Glanville
RF Michael Tucker
P Victor Zambrano
P Chan Ho Park
I think I'm the only idiot in America who will be reading the box scores religiously to check out Victor Zambrano's numbers. So far Zambrano has been Billy VanLaunchingpadesque giving up 11 ER, 3 HR, and 10 BB in 10 IP.
I was thinking about taking the Marquis de Hack, but I couldn't bring myself to pick a Giant.
Where Have You Gone, Barry Bonds?
Memo to the media: shut up about Bonds getting off to a "slow start." Bonds has an OPS of 1.152. He's doing fine.
Speaking of OPS, half of the Giants starting eight (Bonds, Cruz, Santiago, and Snow) have an OPS of 1.000 or higher.
Just Testing
I hate Scott Speizio
I hate Scott Speizio
I hate Scott Speizio
Ok, I think everything works ok
My Hacking Mass team is up and crappier than ever.
C Geronimo Gil
1B Wes Helms
2B Pokey Reese
SS Cesar Izturis
3B Vinny Castilla
LF Roger Cedeno
CF Doug Glanville
RF Michael Tucker
P Victor Zambrano
P Chan Ho Park
I think I'm the only idiot in America who will be reading the box scores religiously to check out Victor Zambrano's numbers. So far Zambrano has been Billy VanLaunchingpadesque giving up 11 ER, 3 HR, and 10 BB in 10 IP.
I was thinking about taking the Marquis de Hack, but I couldn't bring myself to pick a Giant.
Where Have You Gone, Barry Bonds?
Memo to the media: shut up about Bonds getting off to a "slow start." Bonds has an OPS of 1.152. He's doing fine.
Speaking of OPS, half of the Giants starting eight (Bonds, Cruz, Santiago, and Snow) have an OPS of 1.000 or higher.
Just Testing
I hate Scott Speizio
I hate Scott Speizio
I hate Scott Speizio
Ok, I think everything works ok
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