Game 1
- Can you imagine if you had put your mortgage payment on the over for runs scored? You almost had to think it might happen given all the hype on this pitching matchup. And let's face it, none of the "marquee" pitching matchups have really lived up to the hype. Cliff Lee dominated David Price both times; Halladay and Lincecum both seemed mortal at times in their two tilts; Sabathia never got a chance to face off against Lee, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The best pitchers duel of the postseason came in Game 1 of the NLDS between Lincecum and Lowe, one that did not come with all the festive pre-game hype as the others, and Lowe didn't even make it out of the 6th.
- Speaking of Lee, the Giants better win this Series as quickly as possible. No one does that to Cliff Lee and lives to tell about it. You can bet your ass he's coming back two more times in this Series. And he will bring the Giants back to Earth.
- Speaking of Lincecum, I've never seen someone let the moment get too big for him like he did on Wednesday night. Runners on 1st and 3rd in the top of the 1st, pitching at home with an entire city behind you, and he fields a slow roller back to him and has the runner dead between 3rd and home. With Uribe calling for the ball, Lincecum froze like a deer in headlights. Renteria came running over to back up the play, which is standard practice, and Lincecum must have thought he was the trailing runner because he ran the guy back to 3rd as if he could tag them both and get an out. Unfortunately Renteria plays for his team. Get your mind right, dude.
- Staying on Lincecum, the guy had a pretty pedestrian outing. Didn't make it out of the 6th inning, gave up 4 runs and looked shaky all night. Yet when Bochy pulled him and went to the bullpen, the Giants fans gave him a standing ovation. Really? That's that not even a quality start. My buddy Kevin made a great point when I texted this to him: "If that's Boston, New York or Philadelphia, he gets booed."
I don't care if he left with a lead; the only reason they were winning is because the Giants hitters got lucky against Lee. If that's vintage Lee out there, that game was over in the first inning. Lincecum was lucky his team even had a chance to win with that poor outing. This just goes to show how uneducated and desperate this city is for a championship. They'll cheer for moral victories. Champions don't do that.
- Vladimir Guerrero still has a freakin rocket for an arm. Some of the throws he made from the outfield were downright scary. The guy has a rocket launcher. Too bad he's trying to field the ball with a wooden paddle. Some of those errors were egregious. No wonder he got benched in Game 2 via David Murphy - yes, the player the Red Sox packaged in that Eric Gagne deal. Worked out alright for Murph, didn't it?
- Joe Buck makes me ill. Watch his HBO show "Joe Buck Live", that was canceled quickly, by the way, and you'll realize why I hate this man. He might the most arrogant, pompous asshole in broadcasting. What bothers me the most is when they "welcome you into the booth" and he's lounging back in his chair with his arms on the arm rest and his hands up by his face. It just oozes arrogance. Then while McCarver is talking he'll periodically looked at the camera and crack this half hearted smile as if he's trying to engage viewers. Wait till your partner is done talking. It's awkward when you do that.
- McCarver made the most asinine comment in the top of the 9th. The Rangers are obviously getting smoked but they scored a run to pull within 6 or 7. Guys in the dugout were up high fiving and greeting the runner that had just scored. McCarver chimes in with how he doesn't understand why the Rangers would be doing that. The Sac Fly got the run in, sure, but they now have two outs and are still trailing by an assload of runs. Well what are they supposed to do, Tim? Ignore the friggin guy? It's important for them to keep morale up because they need to find some sort silver lining that can carry them into Game 2. I thought this was the dumbest thing for him to weigh in on. Talk about something else.
- My roommates and I played a couple hours of Big Buck Hunter on the Wii after the game. At one point I thought it must be midnight. Instead, it was 9:15pm. That's the luxury of living on the West Coast. After a primetime game you can actually do other things instead of watching the game in bed and wondering if you'll be able to stay awake until the end. And for the record, Big Buck Hunter might be the best game ever. I am the new hunter hero.
Game 2:
- Matt Cain is an ugly dude.
- What was up with the pre-game introductions for the Rangers? I had to sit there and listen to them tell us what their nicknames were (don't care), who their favorite players were growing up (still don't care), and what Benjie Molina's favorite foods are (kind of interested). Although I did enjoy when it got to CJ Wilson and he hit us with, "CJ Wilson...Pitcher................"
He just left FOX hanging. Well done.
- When Ian Kinsler is healthy he's the second best second baseman in the game. Cano is untouchable, but Kinsler is definitely better than Pedroia (again, when healthy). The guy can hit for average, more power, and can run up a shitstorm. That ball he hit off the top of the wall was crushed. It's amazing it could actually carom off of that backwards. I guess that was an ominous sign for the Rangers last night. Almost telling them no matter what you do, you will NOT score tonight.
- CJ Wilson is solid, but I'm fully convinced he asked his way out of that game last night. Try and look at it from his perspective. You're carrying a shutout into the 7th inning against a team that hit the crap out of one of the best post season pitchers of all time the night before. You just spiked a 3-2 curveball and now have a base runner on first. It's a 1-0 game. If I complain about a little irritation on my finger and sell it as a blister, I can get taken out and leave it in the hands of the bullpen. Even if that run scores and we lose the game, I can still sit there and talk about how I pitched into the 7th, only gave up 2 runs and my offense choked. If we win, I'll be heralded as a stud keeping my team in it and giving us a chance while the offense scraped and clawed its way back into the game. His first World Series start, this was a win/win move for him. He was afraid of what was about to happen to him, so he let Darren Oliver take the bullet for him. Poor guy had to warm up on the mound in front of 40,000 people, all watching you and pressuring you to hurry the f up and get loose already. Far different from tossing a few balls in the bullpen at your leisure while no one notices you're even up. That sucks.
- I mentioned earlier how Lincecum let Game 1 get the best of him. Well Derek Holland let life get the best of him last night. I'm not sure we will ever see someone let the moment get too big for him like Holland did last night. This had Rick Ankiel written all over it. Holland might want to grab a bat and start taking some swings. And find a shrink. That was incredible. For 11 pitches he couldn't throw a strike, nor even come close. Then he finally dots the zone, and comes back with a belt high 3-1 fastball. Huff easily could have hit that ball out, but instead he takes it and the umpire gives one of the biggest squeeze jobs ever. FOX showed a replay with the strike zone up and it was actually a strike. As an umpire, a) how do you miss that? b) how do you not, as a human being, give Holland anything remotely close, especially a pitch like that? I'll be shocked if he pitches again in this series.
- The Rangers bullpen is terrible. Joe Buck referred to them as "talented, but young" last night. That's a nice way of saying the bullpen sucks and is melting in front of our eyes under the spotlight.
- Who looks more miserable through the first two games: Nolan Ryan or Jon Daniels? Push.
- Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz are a combined 2 for 17 in the World Series. Something tells me they're about to bust out in a big way.
- During Game 6 of the NLCS, Jonathan Sanchez, the Giants' Game 3 starter, hit Chase Utley with a pitch. Utley tossed the ball back at Sanchez and words were exchanged before the benches cleared. No one except Utley knows if his toss back to Sanchez was malicious or not, but nonetheless it was a classic case of a veteran employing the ultimate gamesmanship on a hot-headed postseason novice. Regardless, Sanchez lost his shit and had an epic meltdown.
A word to the wise for Sanchez: Take a look at some of the guys in the Rangers lineup. They're down 2-0 and most likely pretty angry. If you hit them and/or cop an attitude like you did to the Phillies you will die on the field in front of a national audience. Just think about that.
- Giants fans gave Cain a standing ovation when he got pulled in the 8th last night. I guess if you give everyone a standing ovation, you're bound to get one right from time to time. Well done.
- Javier Lopez is filthy. I always thought so when he was with the Red Sox. Guy throws 87 from the ground across the zone. Seems almost impossible for a left handed hitter to handle. He's been huge for this bullpen and could definitely be an Achilles heel for the Rangers late in ball games, especially if Hamilton is coming up in a big spot.
- My buddy Mike was here in SF for Games 1 and 2 for his company gathering footage. He posted a status update on Facebook last night that the fans were in the streets celebrating like they just won the World Series, and reminding them it's a Best-of-7 series. He couldn't be more right. I go back to the fans giving Lincecum a standing ovation after a half-ass outing. They're clueless, uneducated and uber excited. No wonder every article I've read is about how fans have been tortured and crushed time and time again. It's because they lose perspective so easily and get ahead of themselves way too easily. The Rangers are a great offense returning home for 3 games in a hitters ballpark. And they have Cliff Lee. This series could easily come back here with the Rangers leading 3-2 and only a win away from winning the Series. And let's not forget, the Giants were 8 outs away from a title in Game 6, 2002. It's never over until you've actually won a fourth game. Relax. You could easily lose this series.
I'll be back with more thoughts after Game 3 tomorrow night. Go Rangers.
-Bess
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