I come here not to bury Caesar

...but to praise him.

Who would have thought that it would come down to September 30th? Coming into this season, did you think we'd be so close that it would come down to four games from the wild card? I didn't, and that's why I was so surprised and, honestly, pleased with this year.

Remember how we battled for .500 in April and May? And the fact that the wild card race was run up until today? There's been a lot of strides made for a not-very-powerful offensive team.

Some of my highlights of the season:

- The No Hitter
- 300
- Schierholtz' in-the-park home run
- Pablo's walk-off against the Natinals, and the Rise of the Panda in general
- The mohawks sported by Wilson, Uribe, and Romo
- Matt Cain getting some freaking run support and recognition
- The addition of BadAss Penny to our rotation. What can I say, I like the guy. Dodger-haters are always welcome on my team.

I'm proud of my boys. I came into this season thinking I was going to get my heart broken in September. I'm not -- I'm hopeful.

After this last week of games, we'll likely be saying goodbye to a lot of guys who've been on this team for the past few years: Rich Aurilia, Randy Winn, and Bengie Molina. Randy Johnson's only been here this year, and I think it's safe to say that Jack and I saw his last major league start on July 5th. Freddie Sanchez has burned the bridge of good will I had for him, so obviously we're going to keep him and I'm just going to resent him.

What were your highlights of the year? What're you looking forward to for next season?

And hey, technically we've still got four more games -- there's still some good baseball to be played.

Last Night

Last Night, I had my favorite Giant's moment of my life. Last night the most unlikely thing happened. No one saw this coming. Nobody would have believed you if you predicted it. The oddsmakers in Vegas probably would have staked it at 500,000 to 1. Last Night. Jonathan Sanchez, at 2-8 with an +5.00 ERA, and a WHIP Near 2.0 Threw the Greatest Game by a Giant in over 33 years. Say it with me, Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter. It defies logic to just read that sentence out loud.

Last night Sanchez was the king of baseball, he had crisp control of his pitches, he was making batters look like absolute fools (one batter struck out swinging on a pitch that hit him in the foot for Christs sakes) He wasn't his usual mental case meltdown self. The defense had his back. He was cool, confident, and the man. He came one bad hop away from being just the 16th man in all of Major history to record a perfect game, somehow though I think he's ok with the n0,no.

Last night will always be special to me. I am so thrilled I got to witness history. My baseball bucket list has one less item on it. Thank you Sanchez, I know you and I have had out ups and downs, but last night was epic.

Talk about a positive day!

That Kaiser Permanente lady says my heart beats 2.5 million times in my life.

They’re all for Timmy.

23 innings not a single run allowed.

No runner allowed past second base for the last 13 innings.

We have outscored the Astro's 22-0 in this series... and we have a game left to play

We are now 8 games over .500 at the halfway point. My friends I have to say we are a healthy ballclub.

Oh yea and one more thing... We have the second best record in the National League!

Get your brooms out.

Wow, this is the second Sunday in a row We get to celebrate Broom Day. Even with the 3 game sweep at the hands of the Angel's we took this homestand 6-3. Even with the sweep we are 12-7 in our last 19. Im starting to think that the way this team is playing is no fluke. Some random notes from this homestand:

Pablo Sandoval is getting patient, and oh dear lord it shows. Pablo is batting .338 That is good for SECOND in the NL. This kid is TWENTY-TWO. If he doesent make the All-star roster I will die of an anuerism.

I was personally impressed with the Way Downs played after being called up. He is only batting .250, but he's drawing a lot of walks. He has a .400 OBP. He has a vbery solid approach at the plate and He's patient. I am really intruged by him.

Zito, wow Who knew? I mean he walked the first two guys and then just shut it down. I am thrilled the boys picked him up today and earned the Win.

Brian Wilson is in serious lock-down mode all of a sudden. I am digging it. He has struggled all year coming into a game in a non save situation but man last night he owned the Rangers.. Could he be yet another Giant's all-star candidate?

If Matt Cain does not start The All-star game I call foul. He looked amazing last night. Well let's be honest he has looked amazing all year. You think sabes is talking trade now? I think not.

Speaking of all-stars, I cannot remember any other time in my life where the Giant's had so many Legitmate All-star Candidates. In my honest opinion I count six possibilities: Rowand, Molina, Panda, Lincecum, Cain, and Wilson. Agree? Disagree? comment.

Colorado has won 16 of 17, they are right behind us. What in the world is going on in Denver

Next up, we hit the road. We are in Oakland tomorrow. Sanchez (groan) get's the ball. I gotta believe he's down to his last chance. But that is just my opinion.

Big Moves today!!

The Giants optioned Emmanuel Burriss, who was in an 0-for-27 slide, Matt Downs Was brought Up from Fresno. In order to do all this, Holm was designated for assignment. Looks like The Giants didn't want to wait around for Burriss that 0-4 night stranding 6 runners last night sure didn't help. Bummer For Frandsen as he was not eligible to be recalled as there is a 10 day waiting period to be recalled after being sent down.

Santana (forearm) is out for the Angel's Meaning Sean OSullivan will be making his MLB debut!

Tonight's Lineup:

SS Renteria
LF Winn
C Molina
1B Sandoval
3B Aurilia
2B Downs
P Sanchez

How to Win a series

How to win a series:

a) Have two of three of your starters pitch complete games

b) Only have to rely on your bullpen for 2 out of 27 innings

c) Make some Amazing Defensive plays... including two impressive throws to nail greedy runners

d) Bench Fred Lewis in lieu of Nate Schierholtz

e) Hot an inside the park home run as Nate Schierholtz

f) Execute an awesome drag bunt (to piss of the a's fans) and hit a monster shot to left field

g) Dominate the Opposing line-up with light's out pitching!

I am fired up after this series. We did everything right... We put the league on notice. Were not gonna hit a ton but dammit, were going to dominate with our pitching, beat you with our defense, and do everything we can to beat you.

Were now 6 games over .500

Were now in the lead for the wild card spot.

Our top two pitchers are DOMINATING and are early cy young favorites... The young guys are producing and grinding... It is a great time to be a fan! Next up is the angels! Bring em on!

Random thoughts:

Randy Johnson will be pitching tonight's game on 3 days rest: I know having a 45 year old pitcher going on 3 days rest seems pretty frightening but don't fret: Johnson has made nine career regular-season starts on three days of rest, posting a 6-1 record and 2.84 ERA with a strikeout/walk ratio of 80/16. Out of those 9 games, he has pitched 3 complete games!

How about Aaron Rowand! The man is on fire! Longest active hitting streak in the majors. He just seems to be seeing everything coming his way, it was fun to see Florida avoiding him towards the end of last nights game... Perhaps Rowand is can make a case for the all-star game?

Good to see the giants having a successful road-trip for once.. seems like everyone is contributing (well except for Renteria, whats up with that guy?) 4-2 with 4 to play... finish strong guys!

Todays stuff

Pat Misch has been picked up on waivers By the Met's. He was out of options with the Giant's and had to clear waivers to get back to Fresno. The Met's, dealing with the injury to J.J. Putz, apparently felt he would be a help to there organization. So long Misch. I never cared for you, but heres hoping you get that elusive win that has haunted you for so long.

As of this moment, the Giant's are in another *gasp* Rain delay! That makes four games in fours days! The boys are going to be pro's at this by the time they get home! Game ahould get in... Heres hoping for win number 4 in a row!

Check Out These Bad Boys

sweeeeeeeet

I had no Idea!

A great Article on Espn.com (Jim Caple)Today about Randy Johnson. One fact in here I had no idea about:

"Johnson has been on the mound for 4,091 innings in his career and in left field for one inning. In the final game of the 1993 season, he played left next to center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. Unfortunately, no one hit a ball to him.
"He asked Lou Piniella and Lou said, 'Yeah, go get out there,' and I was like 'Huh?'" Griffey recalls. "I was definitely going to let him have everything. He's out there, I definitely have to see how much ground he can cover. Because they might put him out there again, you never know. He did tell me that he would take all the fly balls up high and I could take the ones down low because he was taller."

This reminds me of the time Noah Lowry took the outfield and Pedro Feliz ended up Catching due to a depleted bench. But Randy Johnson in the outfield? That is a sight to see!

Also Of interesting note. Randy Johnson has thrown over 68,000 pitches in his career! Yikes! Cruise on over to Espn.com and check out the article. It is quite neat!

Question of the day

So it's an off-day (boo) And with all the talk about All-star balloting I wanted to pose a question and see what you guys think...

Which Giant(s) at this point in the season do you think deserve to be in the All-star game? I for one think that Molina is making a strong case for his first ever all-star appearance. Not to mention Cain (6-1) and Timmy (4-1) are putting up the numbers to make a case as well. That's my list. Who do you got people?

St. Louis Cardinals at Giants Wrap-Up 5/31/09

Woo! I went to this game because a certain pitcher was *supposed* to have an autograph signing at the sports gallery across the street today after the game, but I guess no one except me remembered that today was going to be a travel game until they checked with him to confirm it this week, and then everyone went "oh, last home game before a road trip, duh, they're taking off for DC after the game, he can't make it." (I had a feeling that this would happen, because I pretty much have the dang schedule memorized, but I was still hoping they'd make the signing work today. Anyway, the signing is postponed but will happen eventually.)

Anyway, yeah -- I was shouting for Sanchez to keep his head in it, but he got pulled in the fifth. Thank goodness for our strong bullpen, guys. I also think Wilson's pulled it together after getting shaken up in mid-May by Blake and all of the drah-mah and nonsense.

Highlights of the game for me: Sandoval's squibbly single down the foul line (right by me), Lewis' amazing catch (also right by me), Medders getting it done, Richie shutting up some of the haters, Rowand's eleventh consecutive game with a hit, Bengie coming in, and getting the win.

Lou Seal highlights: because today was Little Leaguer day, there were kids out on the field when the Giants took it. But before that, Lou Seal snuck up on the third basekid, gave him/her a high-five and a huge hug, then went out to left field, gave the kid a high-five and a huge hug, then tackled him/her to the ground. AWESOME. Another awesome moment: when the Announcer Kid was announcing, the first batter nothing happened. The second batter, Lou Seal snuck up behind him and waved. The third batter, Lou Seal came out of nowhere, running and grabbing him and pulling him offscreen. Hilarious. I love Lou Seal.

Yes!

2 of 3 from the Cardinals! Big Gold star for the bullpen today! We are back to +500! That was a 6-1 homestand! Im feeling good about the upcoming roadtrip! *Glee*

*sigh*

I know it's a mean thing to say, but I really really would not be sad if Jonathan Sanchez was traded. It's a shame that a guy with so much talent just cannot get it together. It's more frustrating when you get these flashes of absolute brilliance sandwiched by mediocrity. What do you think it is folks? Is it that he's not as good as we think, or is it something mental? Weigh in people!

In Game update s5/30/09

It's still early but man, The Giants are looking great going up against Carpenter! The guy hadnt given up a run all year in 23+ innings pitched and were getting on top of him! 2-0 good guys in bottom of the third! Keep it up boys!

Giant's look to make it 5 tonight!

Tonight the Giant's will try to get win number 5 in a row against a very scary Cardinal offense. Zito will take the hill against the always dangerous Carpenter. Since Carpenter came back from the DL he has been nothing short of unstoppable. Also another interesting note: Bengie Molina will be catching Barry Zito tonight for the first time in what feels like forever. Can The Giants get to Carpenter? Will Zito Shut down the Juggernaut that is the Cardinals Offense? Can I haz series win?

Tonight's Line-up:

Rowand CF
Renteria SS
Winn RF
Molina C
Sandoval 1B
Lewis, LF
Uribe, 3B
Burriss 2B
Zito P

Extra Credit: When was last time Bengie caught Zito?

Two Points

1. I was at the game yesterday (awesome) and Lou Seal threw a shirt at me, but it was slightly too low and so some ass in front of me grabbed it. ASS. But it was a great game overall, and there was beer involved as well as a lot of heckling the outfield. Always a good time.

2. From Baggarly, on the "Giants might be shopping Cain" thing:

"At the least, I hope you understand that the situation outlined above is quite a different picture than Matt Cain sitting glumly in a shopping cart with a box of Uncle Ben’s and a dozen Grade AAs."

Does this mean I have to do another photoshop? Your votes, plz.

That said, I don't want to let go of Matt Cain, or anyone on the pitching staff, really. Sure, I grit my teeth a little whenever Howry goes out (I trust Affeldt and Miller; Howry has yet to win me over fully), and I know the boys have done their share of yelling at Wilson, but overall I think we're in a good spot with the starting rotation and the bullpen. If we want any hitters, we're going to have to give up a pitcher, and I don't think there's anyone we should be willing to give, especially since Lowry's pretty much out the door already.

Just my thought. And as a pitching fangirl, I will be pitching (hah) a hissy fit if we do wind up sending off any of our guys.

TIMMAH

Tim Lincecum was dominant tonight. 8 innings pitched... 8 Strikeouts... 5 hits scattered... 0 earned runs. He was in control all night! Its great to see the reigning cy young award winner in complete control. The Giants are looking solid after a rough road trip. That's two straight against the Braves to up our home record to a very impressive 15-8...

In other news... Torres was re-activated from the DL today,  Jesus Guzman was sent back down to Fresno.. Sergio Romo was spotted in the dugout tonight and should be activated within the next day or two... Tomorrow Randy Johnson takes the bump looking for win number 299.

(From Extra Baggs)
Jesus Guzman gets a shot at first base. Let the experiment begin. Looks like the window may be closing on Ishikawa, Burriss.

CF Rowand
SS Renteria
DH Sandoval
C Molina
RF Winn
1B Guzman
3B Uribe
LF Lewis
2B Frandsen
P Cain

Man I don't know about the rest of you, but this lineup does not impress me. Guzman had two errors in les than a full games work at First earlier this week, this is definitely going to be interesting ><

Your Breakin' my heart guys!

If the Giant's were my girlfriend, we would so be in counseling.

Ugh 5 runs in the last 4 games... that's 38 Innings... that Is 1.18 Runs per 9 innings! I am aware that our offense was not supposed to be great but 1.18 runs per game?! To make matters even worse, over that same 38 inning span, we have only allowed 9 runs! (only 2.13 runs per 9 innings) Look, when your pitching staff is allowing just over 2 runs a game, THERE IS NO EXCUSE TO LOSE! I'm not sure what we need to do, but please guys, figure it out!

The Giants have now lost 7 of the last 8 games. 2 more games in Seattle. Cain goes tonight. Perhaps he can restart this team. Regardless something has got to give!