"When you do, you do!"

Post by John Walsh
Jon Miller captioned the wild finish for the Giants against the
Angels. Tied at 2-2 in the 13th, the Giants parlayed 3 walks, a wild
pitch and a three run home run from Tauchman into a win.
Giants 9 Angels 3
It's never over for the Giants and the hits sometimes come from the
most unexpected batters. Tauchman is the perfect example. With 5
strikeouts and the worst BA, he lauches a 3 run homer.

Best record in baseball again.

Approaching half way point of the season and getting past the
traditional June Swoon.

Looks like the pitching will sustain itself, unless Giants pitchers are
also using foreign substances and MLB really cracks down on it.

I can see Giants pitchers in the All Star Game but maybe just one or two
hitters?

Thing is you know there will be trade activity if the Dodgers and Padres
are still on the Giants' heels say a month from now.

Trade deadline is July 30th and here's an article about potential buyers
and the assets that may be available, mainly good players on teams way
out of the race, such as the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.

https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-buyers-and-sellers-at-2021-trade-deadline

--
Serenity Now!

Jon Rossen

2021-06-25 00:26:55 UTC

Best record in baseball again.
Approaching half way point of the season and getting past the
traditional June Swoon.
Looks like the pitching will sustain itself, unless Giants pitchers are
also using foreign substances and MLB really cracks down on it.
I can see Giants pitchers in the All Star Game but maybe just one or two
hitters?
Thing is you know there will be trade activity if the Dodgers and Padres
are still on the Giants' heels say a month from now.
Trade deadline is July 30th and here's an article about potential buyers
and the assets that may be available, mainly good players on teams way
out of the race, such as the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.
https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-buyers-and-sellers-at-2021-trade-deadline

After watching most of the Giants/Angels I watched a good deal of the
Padres/Dodgers game on ESPN and Dave Flemming was doing the play by play.
Unless this was discussed during the moments I was away from the TV
screen, I didn't hear 'the SF Giants' mentioned *once* which is weird
considering they are leading the division that both the Dodgers and
Padres are trying to win. I get it; the Giants weren't playing, but
omitting them when discussing the division rivalry is just plain wrong.
It's plain wrong when the usual ESPN talking heads do it, but when
Flem does it it makes you wonder whether he was told by the producers
not to, or he's going out of his way to not be 'the Giants guy' when
doing a national broadcast. In any event, it's pretty lame. You would
think that these two teams are the 1st and 2nd place teams.

Another way to look at it is this: What are the chances this type of
thing would have happened if it was in the AL East? Nationally
televised game on ESPN, Red Sox in first place. Yanks and Rays are
playing a hotly contested series and during the game the Yankees aren't
mentioned at all. What are the chances? I'll answer my own question:
Zero.

-jon rossen

poldy

2021-06-25 19:05:14 UTC

Best record in baseball again.
Approaching half way point of the season and getting past the
traditional June Swoon.
Looks like the pitching will sustain itself, unless Giants pitchers
are also using foreign substances and MLB really cracks down on it.
I can see Giants pitchers in the All Star Game but maybe just one or
two hitters?
Thing is you know there will be trade activity if the Dodgers and
Padres are still on the Giants' heels say a month from now.
Trade deadline is July 30th and here's an article about potential
buyers and the assets that may be available, mainly good players on
teams way out of the race, such as the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.
https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-buyers-and-sellers-at-2021-trade-deadline

After watching most of the Giants/Angels I watched a good deal of the
Padres/Dodgers game on ESPN and Dave Flemming was doing the play by play.
Unless this was discussed during the moments I was away from the TV
screen, I didn't hear 'the SF Giants' mentioned *once* which is weird
considering they are leading the division that both the Dodgers and
Padres are trying to win. I get it; the Giants weren't playing, but
omitting them when discussing the division rivalry is just plain wrong.
It's plain wrong when the usual ESPN talking heads do it, but when
Flem does it it makes you wonder whether he was told by the producers
not to, or he's going out of his way to not be 'the Giants guy' when
doing a national broadcast. In any event, it's pretty lame. You would
think that these two teams are the 1st and 2nd place teams.
Another way to look at it is this: What are the chances this type of
thing would have happened if it was in the AL East? Nationally
televised game on ESPN, Red Sox in first place. Yanks and Rays are
playing a hotly contested series and during the game the Yankees aren't
Zero.
-jon rossen

I kind of get it though. Those teams have some big name players, like
Tatis for the Padres, Bellinger and Kershaw for the Dodgers, not to
mention Mookie Betts.

Giants don't have outright stars, though Posey is having a good season,
he's not clubbing 20 HRs in half the season. Bunch of no-names all
contributing, they're kind of like the Tampa Bay Rays of the NL, with a
bunch of journeymen that Zaidi found.

And Dodgers have had some historic seasons the last few years, by some
metrics the best seasons in like 50 years, even if they have one
pandemic WS win to show for it.

--
Serenity Now!

Jon Rossen

2021-06-26 01:51:13 UTC

Best record in baseball again.
Approaching half way point of the season and getting past the
traditional June Swoon.
Looks like the pitching will sustain itself, unless Giants pitchers
are also using foreign substances and MLB really cracks down on it.
I can see Giants pitchers in the All Star Game but maybe just one or
two hitters?
Thing is you know there will be trade activity if the Dodgers and
Padres are still on the Giants' heels say a month from now.
Trade deadline is July 30th and here's an article about potential
buyers and the assets that may be available, mainly good players on
teams way out of the race, such as the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.
https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-buyers-and-sellers-at-2021-trade-deadline

After watching most of the Giants/Angels I watched a good deal of the
Padres/Dodgers game on ESPN and Dave Flemming was doing the play by play.
Unless this was discussed during the moments I was away from the TV
screen, I didn't hear 'the SF Giants' mentioned *once* which is weird
considering they are leading the division that both the Dodgers and
Padres are trying to win. I get it; the Giants weren't playing, but
omitting them when discussing the division rivalry is just plain wrong.
It's plain wrong when the usual ESPN talking heads do it, but when
Flem does it it makes you wonder whether he was told by the producers
not to, or he's going out of his way to not be 'the Giants guy' when
doing a national broadcast. In any event, it's pretty lame. You would
think that these two teams are the 1st and 2nd place teams.
Another way to look at it is this: What are the chances this type of
thing would have happened if it was in the AL East? Nationally
televised game on ESPN, Red Sox in first place. Yanks and Rays are
playing a hotly contested series and during the game the Yankees aren't
Zero.
-jon rossen

I kind of get it though. Those teams have some big name players, like
Tatis for the Padres, Bellinger and Kershaw for the Dodgers, not to
mention Mookie Betts.
Giants don't have outright stars, though Posey is having a good season,
he's not clubbing 20 HRs in half the season. Bunch of no-names all
contributing, they're kind of like the Tampa Bay Rays of the NL, with a
bunch of journeymen that Zaidi found.
And Dodgers have had some historic seasons the last few years, by some
metrics the best seasons in like 50 years, even if they have one
pandemic WS win to show for it.
Oh yeah, I 'get it' too. But getting it is not the issue...it's the

fact that the 'it' that we all 'get' is constantly the freakin' reality
being perpetuated by MLB network and ESPN. They are mesmerized by the
high profile players and continue to do so regardless of how they are
performing *currently* In other words their reputations are 'the thing'
not what is currently going on in plain view.

-jon rossen

John Walsh

2021-06-26 05:18:29 UTC

Best record in baseball again.
Approaching half way point of the season and getting past the
traditional June Swoon.
Looks like the pitching will sustain itself, unless Giants pitchers
are also using foreign substances and MLB really cracks down on it.
I can see Giants pitchers in the All Star Game but maybe just one or
two hitters?
Thing is you know there will be trade activity if the Dodgers and
Padres are still on the Giants' heels say a month from now.
Trade deadline is July 30th and here's an article about potential
buyers and the assets that may be available, mainly good players on
teams way out of the race, such as the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.
https://www.mlb.com/news/potential-buyers-and-sellers-at-2021-trade-deadline

After watching most of the Giants/Angels I watched a good deal of the
Padres/Dodgers game on ESPN and Dave Flemming was doing the play by play.
Unless this was discussed during the moments I was away from the TV
screen, I didn't hear 'the SF Giants' mentioned *once* which is weird
considering they are leading the division that both the Dodgers and
Padres are trying to win. I get it; the Giants weren't playing, but
omitting them when discussing the division rivalry is just plain wrong.
It's plain wrong when the usual ESPN talking heads do it, but when
Flem does it it makes you wonder whether he was told by the producers
not to, or he's going out of his way to not be 'the Giants guy' when
doing a national broadcast. In any event, it's pretty lame. You would
think that these two teams are the 1st and 2nd place teams.
Another way to look at it is this: What are the chances this type of
thing would have happened if it was in the AL East? Nationally
televised game on ESPN, Red Sox in first place. Yanks and Rays are
playing a hotly contested series and during the game the Yankees aren't
Zero.
-jon rossen

I kind of get it though. Those teams have some big name players, like
Tatis for the Padres, Bellinger and Kershaw for the Dodgers, not to
mention Mookie Betts.
Giants don't have outright stars, though Posey is having a good season,
he's not clubbing 20 HRs in half the season. Bunch of no-names all
contributing, they're kind of like the Tampa Bay Rays of the NL, with a
bunch of journeymen that Zaidi found.
And Dodgers have had some historic seasons the last few years, by some
metrics the best seasons in like 50 years, even if they have one
pandemic WS win to show for it.
Oh yeah, I 'get it' too. But getting it is not the issue...it's the

I don't p ay a much attention tot he BS that ESPN and MLB spread
across their pages. I know how well they are doing, you know how well
they are doing and that applies to Giants' fans everywhere. Nobody
needs validation from MLB or the media.

Truth be told, thet Giants are forcing the media to recognize that
they have some big names, too.

NFN Smith

2021-06-27 22:05:56 UTC

Oh yeah, I 'get it' too. But getting it is not the issue...it's the

Yep. National attention gives disproportionate weight to reputation and
name recognition, and not just baseball. I've found that when I read
various team-by-team synopsis that covers the entire league it's not
hard to tell which writers actually follow a team, and know not only the
roster, but some of the ins and outs of management, front office and
even ownership, and who's just working from reputation, and speculation
based on personal biases. This is especially true when you see various
preseason reviews.

Plus there is the distortion caused by over-focus on the advanced
analytics, whether for their own sakes, how they affect fantasy leagues,
as well as information that is mostly only of interest to the gamblers.

This is also the perennial tension of how to select All Star teams. Is
the All Star game a collection of the players who are having the best
seasons so far, or who the most popular players are, regardless of what
kind of season that they're having? If it's the former, then the voters
should be mostly insiders who really know what's going on, and the fans
often don't know anything about players that aren't on their own teams
(or at least within the same division) that don't have significant name
recognition. Sometimes, those are young guys that haven't yet been
around long enough to be known, but sometimes, that's players that may
be marginal and where they're having a career year that they'll never
repeat again.

As for ESPN, a major part of their problem is that their location in
Bristol, CT is in a place that's roughly evenly divided between Yankees
and Red Sox fans (and maybe some interest in the Mets and Phillies), and
that for practical purposes, ESPN covers them for local interest. I know
that MLB has limits of how many nationally televised games that each
team gets, but the bias in ESPN is not the number of games, or even in
which ones get showcase times with maximum audiences (especially on the
East Cost), but in how they're covered by ESPN's reporting. For that,
the preferred teams more attention, both with stories that are earlier
in Sports Center shows, and longer and more in-depth reporting.

The East Cost media is mostly indifferent to what happens in the
Mountain and Pacific time zones, because so many of the games turn up in
overnight reporting as "late", and where the writers and producers
aren't interested in staying up late to cover those games. And if their
beloved Yankees or Red Sox have to play games against West Coast teams,
they have strong preference that they're played in New York or Boston,
rather than having to report late results from games happening on the
West Coast.

Smith

Jon Rossen

2021-06-28 01:52:16 UTC

Oh yeah, I 'get it' too. But getting it is not the issue...it's the

fact that the 'it' that we all 'get' is constantly the freakin'
reality being perpetuated by MLB network and ESPN. They are
mesmerized by the high profile players and continue to do so
regardless of how they are performing *currently* In other words their
reputations are 'the thing' not what is currently going on in plain view.

Yep. National attention gives disproportionate weight to reputation and
name recognition, and not just baseball. I've found that when I read
various team-by-team synopsis that covers the entire league it's not
hard to tell which writers actually follow a team, and know not only the
roster, but some of the ins and outs of management, front office and
even ownership, and who's just working from reputation, and speculation
based on personal biases. This is especially true when you see various
preseason reviews.
Plus there is the distortion caused by over-focus on the advanced
analytics, whether for their own sakes, how they affect fantasy leagues,
as well as information that is mostly only of interest to the gamblers.
This is also the perennial tension of how to select All Star teams. Is
the All Star game a collection of the players who are having the best
seasons so far, or who the most popular players are, regardless of what
kind of season that they're having? If it's the former, then the voters
should be mostly insiders who really know what's going on, and the fans
often don't know anything about players that aren't on their own teams
(or at least within the same division) that don't have significant name
recognition. Sometimes, those are young guys that haven't yet been
around long enough to be known, but sometimes, that's players that may
be marginal and where they're having a career year that they'll never
repeat again.
As for ESPN, a major part of their problem is that their location in
Bristol, CT is in a place that's roughly evenly divided between Yankees
and Red Sox fans (and maybe some interest in the Mets and Phillies), and
that for practical purposes, ESPN covers them for local interest. I know
that MLB has limits of how many nationally televised games that each
team gets, but the bias in ESPN is not the number of games, or even in
which ones get showcase times with maximum audiences (especially on the
East Cost), but in how they're covered by ESPN's reporting. For that,
the preferred teams more attention, both with stories that are earlier
in Sports Center shows, and longer and more in-depth reporting.
The East Cost media is mostly indifferent to what happens in the
Mountain and Pacific time zones, because so many of the games turn up in
overnight reporting as "late", and where the writers and producers
aren't interested in staying up late to cover those games. And if their
beloved Yankees or Red Sox have to play games against West Coast teams,
they have strong preference that they're played in New York or Boston,
rather than having to report late results from games happening on the
West Coast.
Smith

I probably should make my point more specific: I fully realize that the
main point I brought up is 'old news'...that ESPN and the national hacks
have been doing this shit for years....fetishizing name recognition and
reputation. But what I was trying to point out is that it seems to be
even *more* ramped up this year. For example, even coming face to face
with the contradictions their worldview spawns, they still choose their
BS narrative over reality. One guy was going on and on a few weeks back
about how puzzled he was about the Giants *even after* talking about
what wins baseball games (good pitching, solid defense, etc), *and even
after* suggesting the Giants do those things. BUT STILL!!! that wasn't
enough to burst his fucking bubble. So, this wasn't a case of him
denying those things or not including them....he was presenting all the
data and then STILL being puzzled as to why the Giants are winning.
Essentially it's this; In his world, his fantasy of 2+2=5 trumps the
reality of 2+2=4. I've never seen it this pronounced, this rejection of
reality and favoring of pre-conceived notions over real data that THEY
THEMSELVES recognize! If they want to be consistent they should reject
the notion of what wins baseball games and just say: Flash and star
power wins games and all that other stuff like fundamentals, pitching
and defense is secondary and tertiary. At least then they'd be
consistent. Wrong....but consistent.

-jon rossen

John Walsh

2021-06-26 05:10:18 UTC