Westwood Blues

Tuesday, August 07, 2007


756!


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Wednesday, June 27, 2007


Vote Barry!

Do your civic duty as a Giants fan and vote for Barry Bonds as a starter for the All-Star game.

Go to sfgiants.com and vote up to 25 times per e-mail address. As far as I can tell you get 25 votes per e-mail address, not per IP address.

From the latest balloting update:
1. Carlos Beltran 1,698,217
2. Ken Griffey, Jr. 1,640,575
3. Alfonso Soriano 1,332,581
4. Barry Bonds 1,213,423
Balloting closes on Thursday at 8:59PM PST. Vote early and vote often!

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Sunday, June 24, 2007


Raise a Glass to the Trailer Park in the Sky!

RIP Shooter Beck



"Shooter was a hard nosed, blue-collar kind of guy that wore his heart on his sleeve, and that is what made him so endearing to baseball fans everywhere. He was the utmost professional whose love for the game was only overshadowed by his passion for his family. Rod was the guy who you wanted in the foxhole with you, a warrior on the field and a teddy bear at home."

- Rick Thurman, Beck's longtime agent

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Monday, June 11, 2007


I'm Barry Bonds and I Approve This Message

Stop what you're doing right now, head on over to sfgiants.com and vote for your favorite members of the Giants to start the All-Star game. Considering the game is being played in San Francisco this year, I think its only fair that the Giants have about 8 or 9 players make the All-Star team. Barring that, it would be nice to see at least one member of the Giants elected to the starting lineup.

The latest update shows Alfonso Soriano moving past Barry Bonds for third place among National League Outfielders.

OPS+

Bonds 177
Soriano 138

EqA

Bonds .365
Soriano .311

The deadline to cast ballots is Thursday, June 28 at 8:59 PM. Vote early, vote often!

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Sunday, April 01, 2007


Draper Wins Pulitzer

Rich Draper, the recently retired beat writer who covered the San Francisco Giants for sfgiants.com, has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for his coverage of the Giants. Draper, best known for his nonsensical analogies and ridiculous hyperbole, won the award for an article in which he compared former Giants catcher Todd Greene to a work by 19th century French impressionist Claude Monet.
"Summarily, bumps and bruises. Scratches and even abrasions too.

Todd Greene transcends the meaning of the word "catcher." In this, his 11th big league campaign, the battle scars of the onerous daily grind of a ballplayer have taken their toll on Greene's body. A little purple here, blue there. Hey look over there, dried blood and dirt too; the residue of another day at the office.

The tools of ignorance are a mere veil for the magnificent colors of Todd Greene's body. So much color. His seasoned, colorful knees are like the canvas of Monet's Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of June 30, 1878. But this isn't paint on the knees of this warhorse. These are baseball wounds.

Foul tips, sitting in a crouch, running the bases, collisions at home plate? Verily, that old hand Todd Anthony Greene has the scars that beckon, nay, scream out in the cold, foggy San Francisco night, "been there."

Lincecum Optioned to Fresno, Inducted into Hall of Fame

Cooperstown, NY - Tim Lincecum became the first player in big league history to be inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame before making his major league debut.

"Sure he hasn't actually pitched in the big leagues yet, but there's no doubt in my mind that he'll not only live up to the hype, but that he'll be one of baseball's all-time greats when all is said and done," explained Peter Smith, a sports writer for the Louisville Gazette. "He's a young pitching prospect with an unorthodox delivery, what could possibly go wrong?"

Gwen Knapp, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, said she voted for Lincecum because "he's a skinny guy, so he's obviously never been on steroids."

Giants Lower Ticket Prices

If that headline isn't a giveaway that this is an April Fools Day post, then I don't know what is. Happy April Fools Day!

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Saturday, March 31, 2007


Dear Idiot Sitting Next to me at a Spring Training Game:

"Why isn't Barry playing today? Why? Why? Why?"

It never ceases to amaze me that some fans are shocked and aghast that Barry Bonds does not play every inning of every spring training game. Barry Bonds, like every other player on every other team in baseball, indeed does not play every minute of every exhibition game before the season starts. That he prefers to play in home games and skip road games is shocking and appalling to casual fans and fans of other teams.

Many of the clueless fans are Sun City octogenarians, so I guess I should just be impressed that they know what day of the week it is and that Barry Bonds plays for the Giants. But yeesh, buy yourself a clue about how spring training works before you whine about Bonds being a slacker.

And by the way, given Bonds' famously intense workout program I doubt that he spends his days off lounging on the couch, sipping margaritas and playing Guitar Hero. He's getting ready for the season one way or the other.

"Why doesn't Barry pinch hit here? Where's Barry?"

Jumping Jesus on a trampoline, he isn't even at the park. Relax, drink your beer and enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

The Nathan J. Schierholtz Award

Each spring, I present a very prestigious meaningless award to the up and comer in the Giants system who most impresses me in the games that I see in Arizona. It's kinda like the Harry S. Jordan award that the Giants organization gives to "the player in his first big league camp whose performance and dedication in Spring Training best exemplifies the San Francisco Giants spirit," except its different. To win the Schierholtz Award, you don't have to be in your first big league camp, you just need to be a promising prospect in the Giants system and impress me in games that I attend. I'm sure Tim Lincecum was awe-inspiring, however I didn't get to see him so he's not eligible.

Previous Nathan J. Schierholtz Award winners:

2004: Nate Schierholtz
2005: Scott Munter
2006: Jonathan Sanchez

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see many youngsters, as Bochy played the regulars a lot more than Felipe Alou did. Also, a fair amount of playing time went to non-prospects like Justin Leone, Tomas De La Rosa, Scott Atchison and Sun-Woo Kim. So this year's winner kinda won by default. Congratulations, Kevin Frandsen - you are the 2007 Nathan J. Schierholtz Award winner.

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Monday, March 26, 2007


Spring Training Pictures: Sunday, March 25th, 2007 - Giants vs. Padres



Webshots Photo Album
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Spring Training Pictures: Saturday, March 24th, 2007 - Giants vs. Cubs



Webshots Photo Album
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Spring Training Pictures: Friday, March 23rd, 2007 - Giants vs. Cubs



Webshots Photo Album

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Monday, March 05, 2007


Spring Training Pictures: Sunday, March 4th, 2007 - Giants vs. Mariners

Name the owner of this car. I'd guess Felipe (as in, "to the pigpen, err bullpen"), but I don't know that he's in Scottsdale. Steve Kline?




Webshots Photo Album
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Spring Training Pictures: Saturday, March 3rd, 2007 - Giants vs. Brewers



Webshots Photo Album
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Spring Training Pictures: Friday, March 2nd, 2007 - Giants vs. Brewers



Webshots Photo Album

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Friday, March 02, 2007


I'm Back

And I'm stalking Brian Sabean. I'll post more pictures from Spring Training when I get back home next week.



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