Wednesday, March 28, 2012

When I'm The Commissioner: Opening Day

I love opening day of the baseball season.  I watch 12 hours of games, eat ballpark food (like, 12 hours of garlic fries and polish dogs ... and I hope my doctor doesn't read this blog), keep the kids home from school, Adam comes over to hang out, and I generally treat it like the high holy day that it should be.  

Somehow, though, opening day seems to have lost a little of its luster this year.  Perhaps that's because opening day took place in the middle of the night.  The game started at 3:00AM (Pacific Time, which is the time zone of both of the teams that played), in Japan.  Not exhibition games, but real, counts-in-the-standings baseball.  It seems like the world's dumbest idea to attract new fans to the game while alienating the millions and millions of fans who are already on board and spending their money like crazy.

The A's and Mariners will play again in the middle of the night, then come home and play a couple more exhibition games before the regular season gets going.  

The Cardinals and Marlins open the regular season in America on Wednesday, April 3, but that's the only game that day, and then the Cards have the next day off.  April 4 sees 7 more games, including the Marlins in Cincinnati (which is the 6th game to start that day).  Everyone else gets rolling on Friday, April 5, including the Mariners and A's resuming their seasons in Oakland.

Blasphemy.  

Of all American sports, baseball is the one with the deepest and most important roots in its history and traditions.  I don't think of myself as a full-on purist (for instance, I think batters wearing helmets is a good thing), but this crazy opening day stuff has got to stop.  

The Major League Baseball season opens on a Monday, and the first game of the day is in Cincinnati.  And every team plays that day.  I don't give a crap how much Gloops payed MLB to start the season a week early on the other side of the world.  

When I'm in charge, all of this will be made right.  That's a promise.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Bay Area Home Run Leaders

It's the baseball offseason.  I'm a retired student between semesters (still hoping to pull a Favre at some point).  Consequently, I have some free time.  Hence this post.

Here are the top 50 career home run totals for players as a San Francisco Giant, Oakland Athletic, or both.  So the homers Mays hit as a New York Giant don't count, nor do all the home runs Dale Murphy hit at Candlestick.  I was definitely surprised at some of the players who made the list, and how high or low certain players ranked (Jim Ray Hart hit more homers as a Giant than Kevin Mitchell did?  Really?).  Feel free to share this list.  These stats are through the 2011 season.



  1. Barry Bonds            586
  2. Willie McCovey      469
  3. Willie Mays             459
  4. Mark McGwire       363
  5. Reggie Jackson       268                              
  6. Jose Canseco           254
  7. Matt Williams          247
  8. Eric Chavez             230
  9. Orlando Cepeda      226
  10. Jason Giambi          198
  11. Sal Bando               192
  12. Bobby Bonds          186
  13. Dave Kingman       177
  14. Will The Thrill        176
  15. Jeff Kent                 175
  16. Rickey Henderson   167
  17. Jack Clark               163                            
  18. Miguel Tejada         160
  19. Jim Ray Hart           157
  20. Dwayne Murphy     153
  21. Kevin Mitchell        145
  22. Rich Aurilia             143
  23. Darrell Evans          142
  24. Terry Steinbach       132
  25. J. T. Snow              124
  26. Matt Stairs               122
  27. Gene Tenace          121
  28. Robby Thompson  119
  29. Joe Rudi                 116
  30. Tony Armas           111
  31. Tom Haller            107
  32. Dave Henderson   104
  33. Chili Davis            101
  34. Jeffrey Leonard      99
  35. Jack Cust                94
  36. Carney Lansford    94
  37. Felipe Alou            93
  38. Bob Brenly            90
  39. Wayne Gross         88
  40. Geronimo Berroa   87
  41. Mark Ellis              86
  42. Mike Davis            84
  43. Ray Durham          83
  44. Nick Swisher         80
  45. Jim Davenport       77
  46. Scott Brosius         76
  47. Ben Grieve            76
  48. Chris Speier           70
  49. Jermaine Dye         64
  50. Gary Matthews      64



Notables who played for both teams (in order of Bay Area HR total):

Willie McCovey           SF: 469, Oak: 0
Orlando Cepeda         SF: 226, Oak: 0
Dave Kingman            SF: 77, Oak: 100, Tot: 177
Miguel Tejada        SF: 4 (yes, 4), Oak: 156, Tot: 160
Kevin Mitchell             SF: 143, Oak: 2, Tot: 145
Dave Henderson        Oak: 104, SF: 0,
Felipe Alou                SF: 85, Oak: 8, Tot: 93
Ray Durham               SF: 77, Oak: 6, Tot: 83
Gary Thomasson        SF: 38, Oak: 5, Tot: 43
Stan Javier                 SF: 17, Oak: 23, Tot: 40
Mike Aldrete              SF: 14, Oak: 18, Tot: 32
Joe Morgan                SF: 22, Oak: 6, Tot: 28
Ernie Riles                  SF: 18, Oak: 5, Tot: 23
Jesus Alou                  SF: 18, Oak: 3, Tot: 21
Dusty Baker                SF: 3, Oak: 18, Tot: 21
Matty Alou                  SF: 12, Oak: 1, Tot: 13

Just a few observations:

  • Giving Kingman to Oakland, there are 26 Athletics and 24 Giants, but each team has 5 in the top 10.
  • Eric Chavez never, ever would have crossed my mind as a possible top 10.
  • I'm pleasantly surprised to see The Thrill one spot ahead of Jeff Kent.
  • Rickey Henderson ahead of so many guys we think of as "sluggers" is just one more reminder of how awesome he was.
  • Dwayne Murphy at #20 made me smile more than any other surprise on the list.
  • Mitchell and Aurilia both had 143 homers as Giants, but Kevin hit 2 for Oakland in 1998, his last season in the big leagues.  Not counted are the 7 homers Mitchell hit for the Sonoma County Crushers in 2000.
  • Do you think even Orlando Cepeda remembers he had 3 AB's (0-for-3) with Oakland in 1972?

Did I make any mistakes?  Let me know!  Raw data from the glorious baseball-reference.com.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Attention Brian Sabean

Re: Angel Pagan, Eli Whiteside, Carlos Beltran, Hiroyuki Nakajima, etc: 


Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Dark Side Of Christmas Songs: A Non-Sports Post

I apologize for the lack of posting on this blog, and for the non-sports topic of this post, but someone has to say something about the attack on morality and high standards that returns every December like cousin Eddie and his RV.  Alarmingly, there are Christmas songs, widely embraced as part of a traditional celebration, but are, in fact, permeating our minds, and the minds of our children, with unsavory and dangerous ideas.

Please, take the time to read through this post, share it with your friends, family, and social networks, and then take appropriate actions regarding your own holiday music collection.

Winter Wonderland: In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown. He'll say "Are you married?" we'll say "No, man. But you can do the job when you're in town."  There's so much wrong with this.  I mean, I get having a crush on the Parson.  He's probably a charismatic guy in a position of authority.  I can forgive that.  But now you're building a snowman, and pretending it's him?  How much detail are you putting in to the sculpting of this snowman?  Because there is a level of anatomic correctness that definitely crosses a line.  And then when he asks if you're single, you admit you are, but propose that he play the role of husband "when he's in town?"  That's sick.  What kind of snowman fantasy are you living in?

Even Rufio knows this
song is messed up.
Baby It's Cold Outside: Check out the back and forth conversation between a man and woman in this song.  Well maybe just a half a drink more (Put some music on while I pour), The neighbors might think (Baby, it's bad out there), Say, what's in this drink (No cabs to be had out there), and later I ought to say no, no, no, sir (Mind if I move closer), At least I'm gonna say that I tried (What's the sense in hurting my pride?), and in the next section I simply must go (Baby, it's cold outside), The answer is no (Ooh darling, it's cold outside).  Hey, jack, she said "the answer is 'no'."  And "what's in this drink?"  Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's called a rufie (no, Steve, not "rufio." That's something entirely different).  How does this song not end with Detective Benson and the whole SVU showing up?

Frosty The Snowman: He led them down the streets of town, Right to the traffic cop, And he only paused a moment when, He heard him holler "Stop!"  Yeah, that's a little something that's known as "resisting arrest."  Don't we already have enough problems with people not respecting law enforcement officers without our holiday songs encouraging rebellion?

We Wish You A Merry Christmas: Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding; Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.  We won't go until we get some; We won't go until we get some; We won't go until we get some, so bring some out here.  This is the opposite of what I want to happen at my house on Christmas.  First off, "figgy pudding?"  That just sounds nasty.  More troubling, though, is the attitude of these Christmas guests.  First they make demands, and then they refuse to leave until those demands are met.  The last thing I need at the end of the big day is a group of people Occupying my Living Room.  What has happened to us as a society if part of our holiday preparations now include stocking up on riot gear and pepper spray?

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer:  This song has never been welcome around any grandmothers I have known, but it's not just that she gets run over, it's what precedes that tragedy.  She'd been drinking too much eggnog, And we begged her not to go. But she forgot her medication, and she staggered out the door into the snow.  This family is the very definition of "dysfunctional."  First off, nobody is paying attention to the dangerous combination of the alcohol content of eggnog and the grandmother's medication?  A lot of those bottles have warning labels on them, and for a good reason.  Second, on Christmas Grandma skips her medication entirely?  So she's drunk, off her medications (for who knows what physical or psychological ailments), and she's barely ambulatory ("... staggered out the door"), but the family is satisfied that they've done their part by begging her "not to go."  I'm surprised there aren't more verses to this song, with things like "Uncle Bob wrapped his car around a telephone pole after we asked him for his keys and he said 'no'" or "someone should have mentioned to little Jimmy that it's a bad idea to take your new electronic toys into the bathtub."


So there you go.  Five "celebratory" Christmas songs that are actually destroying the foundation of good and decent people and families.  Continue to listen to these songs in your home at your own risk, and if your kids turn out to be drunken, demanding, disrespectful snowman fetishists, don't come crying to me.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Jim Thome: Forever Known As 'The Man Traded For Aaron Rowand'

I can't stand Jim Thome.  Ugh.  Blech.  Ptooey.  Okay, 98% of my disdain is directly attributable to what he did against me in the World Series when I played Triple Play 97 (from EA Sports, which I totally won from KNBR!).  I used Mark Gardner, Shawn Estes, Rod Beck, and even the great William VanLandingham, but I just could not get him out.  I mean, what a jerk, right?  That game was also where I first noticed his not-quite-calling-his-shot way that he holds his bat way out in front of him while the pitcher gets set.  All arrogant and confident.  I hate that.  I'm pretty sure I woke my wife up at least once by yelling something like "Yeah, that's right, Jim Thome!  You do that thing with your bat, and we're going to be coming inside like that all day long!"

Although now that I'm thinking about it, that bat pointing thing might only bug me in that game, as I don't think I even notice it when I actually watch him hit.  So I might have adjusted my Thome-hate to being 100% from that game, except for this horror:


Friday, August 12, 2011

Disgruntled, Drunken GM's And The Owners Who Love Them

Adam:  Boy that Pujols is awful this year, eh?

Gabe:  Keep talking like that.  Try to get some writers to say it.  Maybe his price will drop enough that the Giants can afford him after the season.

Adam:  Does Rowand's contract end this season?  Zito?  Are you freeing up some cash?

Gabe:  Neither.  Not Huff, either.  DeRosa yes.  Ross, probably.  Tejada, yes.  Although pretty much all of that money is going to go to pitchers getting raises.

Adam:  Are you possibly expanding AT&T Park?

Gabe:  No, but I'm sure they'll raise ticket prices again.  Maybe we can get a cheaper GM.

Adam:  Maybe.

Gabe:  And they're going to be putting the Copenhagen logo on the butts of all the uniforms.
Posey, sponsored

Adam:  Nice.  Posey's ass will certainly sell chew.

Gabe:  That's tweetable.

Adam:  Any chance Zito clears waivers so you can deal him to the Yankees?

Gabe:  I'm sure they'll put him on waivers and hope someone claims him like Alex Rios.

Adam:  Like some drunk GM thinking he is being funny.

Gabe:  Exactly like that.  Neal Huntington is going to wake up all hung over and see Barry Zito warming in the pen.

Adam:  My money is on Ed Wade, just three sheets to the wind one night ... wanting to screw the new ownership that he knows is going to fire him ... drunkenly leaves them with Zito as their ace.

Gabe:  That sounds altogether too plausible.  Think we can get a couple of those Phillies prospects they just got for Pence?  Maybe Wandy Rodriguez?  We can throw in Astros' fan favorite Migue Tejada.

Adam:  And maybe you could purchase the rights to Brad Ausmus from the Newark Bears (or dodgers) and throw him in too.

Gabe:  Good call.  Any way we can get Berkman in the deal?

Adam:  Maybe the corpse of Bagwell?

Gabe:  And Larry Anderson.

Adam:  Undoubtedly.

Whose Line Is It Anyway: August 12, 2011



Look at the following career total stat line, and guess which player has those numbers.  Then leave your guess as a comment to this post.  First one with the right answer wins a custom desktop wallpaper featuring your favorite (non-dodger, non-o. smith) player, from any sport, built to the size of your screen.  Obviously, the "honor system" is at work here as far as not researching the answer.  You can submit more than one answer, but please make each guess a separate comment.  Come back every Friday for another game and chance to win!


Today's player had a 22 year career with 5 different teams.  He spent 21 years in the National League, and 1 in the American League.  So ... whose line is this? (click to view larger image)




Hints: 

  • He was an All Star 10 times.
  • He finished in the top 10 of MVP voting 5 times.
  • His 22 seasons took place sometime between 1960 and 1995.



Last week's answer after the jump.