Archive for the ‘Postseason’ Category

Another Special Thing About the 2012 San Francisco Giants

Posted by Wendy Thurm under General, Postseason, San Francisco Giants on Oct 27, 2012

I was a guest on a San Francisco Giants-themed podcast on Tuesday, the night before Game 1 of the World Series. Danny and Thomas, the fine hosts of Two Guys, A Glove & A Coke Bottle, asked me if I’d noticed that the Giants had only faced right-handed starting pitchers through the National League Division Series against the Reds, and the National League Championship Series against the Cardinals, and would only face right-handed starting pitchers in the World Series against the Tigers. “Hmmm,” I said. “I hadn’t noticed that,” or words to that effect.

I was deliriously tired after the podcast, as I’d attended Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS at AT&T Park, and spent my other waking hours since Sunday writing about the Giants and baseball. I know, tough life. I’m not complaining, just explaining why I didn’t immediately do any follow-up research on the Giants’ postseason-streak of facing only right-handed starters.

Yesterday, my friend Anna, the lovely and talented @SFBleacherGirl, wondered aloud on Twitter whether any team other than the Giants had faced only right-handed starters throughout the postseason. “Oh,” I said in my empty home office, “I meant to look at that after the podcast.” “Thanks Anna,” I tweeted back, “I’m going to write a post about that!”

So here we are.

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World Series Edition: Ten Stray Thoughts On A Friday

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Postseason, TSTOAF, World Series on Oct 26, 2012

For many, Friday represents the end of a long work week that was filled with heavy doses of drudging. It’s my hope that at the end of every week during the baseball season, at that moment that only occurs on a Friday afternoon when it’s too far away from closing time to leave work early, but too late in the day to start anything new, you’ll join us here to read some random observations and contribute your own opinions to ten stray thoughts on a Friday.

This week’s is a somewhat special version, because we find ourselves two games into the World Series, the incredible final chapter to baseball’s annual novel. There are few things for which I have a more genuine fondness for, without irony, than the World Series. Sure, it’s doubtful that a best-of-seven series is the best judge of true talent and the randomization at play tends to have a far greater impact on the outcome than we might appreciate. However, the tension and all-or-nothing approaches to the games quite easily make up for anything that’s lacking in terms of legitimacy.

So, without further ado, the World Series edition of Ten Stray Thoughts On A Friday:

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The Getting Blanked Podcast #85: Web MB

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Podcast, Postseason on Oct 26, 2012

The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Well, they already did and, after their Game Two victory, they stand poised to win the World Series. Lots of baseball yet to play but the Tigers…well their warts were on full display last night.


Hit the mp3 link for direct download right here.

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Bumgarner Is The Best

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Detroit Tigers, Postseason, San Francisco Giants, World Series on Oct 25, 2012

The catchers knew first.

I really like Madison Bumgarner. What he lacks in stuff, he makes up for in control and deception. It’s amazing how fast a 92 miles per hour fastball appears to a batter when the release of the pitch is hidden from until the very last moment of a pitcher’s delivery, never mind a high 80s slider.

He uses something of a foolproof approach to pitching: Throw your harder stuff low in the zone, get ahead in the count or induce a ground ball. If you’re ahead in the count, use your breaking or off-speed pitches to make a batter either swing and miss or make really bad contact.

I was a bit worried that this wasn’t the approach that Madison Bumgarner would be able to undertake in Game Two of the World Series. This approach is dependent on having not only excellent control, but also successful command. He had neither in Game Two of the NLDS or Game One of the NLCS. He had it tonight.

After a first inning in which he benefitted from an umpire and batters figuring out the strike zone, he settled in to a positively dominant performance. Bumgarner threw seven innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits and two walks while striking out eight batters.

Detroit’s Doug Fister was almost his equal, but his pitch count caught up to him in the seventh inning when he gave up a single to Hunter Pence, and was removed from the game. From there, Drew Smyly proceeded to walk Brandon Belt and give up a single to Gregor Blanco to load the bases. Brandon Crawford hit into a double play to score the first run of the game and give the Giants a 1-0 lead over the Tigers.

San Francisco added to their lead in the eighth inning when Pence hit a sacrifice fly to score Angel Pagan, and make the score 2-0, which is the exact same lead that the team holds in the World Series, after Santiago Casilla shut down the Tigers in the eighth, and Sergio Romo did the same in the ninth.

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What the Tigers Can Learn from the Cardinals

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Detroit Tigers, Postseason on Oct 25, 2012

After last night’s return to tragic form/heartbreaking performance in mop-up relief, it is safe to say Jose Valverde is no longer a high leverage option for the Detroit Tigers. Based on his performance over most of the second half of the season, it should not come as a shock to anyone around the Tigers. There is something “not right” with Valverde right now, meaning Jim Leyland and the rest of the Tigers must proceed without one of their key relievers.

It is not the end of the world for Detroit. Their bullpen is hardly a position of strength and, given their superlative group of starters, the need for a deep bullpen isn’t quite the same as their World Series opponents. The Tigers must address the shortcomings in their pen if they want to win this series and we got a glimpse of how they might do so last night.

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Snot Rockets For All

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Madison Bumgarner, Postseason, San Francisco Giants, World Series on Oct 25, 2012

In addition to swinging strikes and weak contact, San Francisco Giants fans will be counting on something else this evening when Madison Bumgarner makes his third start of the postseason. The 23-year-old left-hander’s penchant for clearing his nasal passages on the mound has become an endearing characteristic to supporters in San Francisco who go so far as to keep running tallies of his snot rockets throughout the season.

According to @Fawn_Liebowitz, the operator of bumgarnersnotrockets.mlblogs.com, Bumgarner blew 348 snot rockets during the 2012 regular season and 13 more in the post season prior to tonight’s start. That measures out to one farmer’s blow for every 2.5 batters faced, or almost one for as many species of wildlife that Chipper Jones has killed.

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The Getting Blanked Podcast #84: Panda Watch

Posted by Drew Fairservice under Podcast, Postseason on Oct 25, 2012

Game One is in the books! With the Giants impending march to World Series success, we take some time out of today’s podcast to look ahead to the off-season agenda for the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and New York Mets. Except we don’t.


Hit the mp3 link for direct download right here.

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