Anyone want ot talk SF Giants baseball?

just my 2 cents worth...

looks like Tucker will get the majority of the time in RF at the beginning of the season. he will probably platoon with Hammonds, but get more time because he is a left handed hitter.

not sure about Neifi just yet. he has not done much outside of Colorado. but he is an upgrade defensively. but keep in mind that Aurilia has had one spectacular season around many average seasons. last year, he hit .277 with 13 hr's and 58 rbi. not exactly the numbers he put up hitting in front of bonds in 2001.

as i said earlier, the giants are better with durham in the lineup. with the exception of last year, he has been the poster boy for durability. only time will tell if he get back to playing in 150 games this season. i certainly hope so.

Snow is servicable at 1b. The giants are high on Pedro Feliz right now and he should get some at-bats. he will also see some time at 3b.

Alfonzo is slated to hit behind bonds right now. but alou showed that he is not against tweaking his lineup when needed. of course, last year he was forced into doing it because of so many injuries. but if alfonzo gets off to a slow start, he will not be hitting 5th very long.

i have said before that i think that pierzynski is the wild card here. the twins had a catcher waiting in the wings so they thought he was expendible. i only hope that he can continue to put up the same kind of offensive numbers in a new league.

i gotta say here that i am not all that impressed with Alou. I think that the Giants would be a better team with Dusty Baker writing the lineup everyday. there were grumblings in the clubhouse that Alou was not a good communicator and it seemed to rub the guys the wrong way. but there are a lot of veteran ball players on that team. so i am not too worried about the chemistry factor.

 

AJ is mighty fine behind the plate. i gotta feel he is a big upgrade over santiago.

 

I agree! The Giants are much better with old Dusty running the show. Losing him was a bad move.

How do you know so much about he giants?

 

actually, a friend of mine plays for the Giants. I was not a fan of the team until he signed with them a couple of seasons ago. now, i get a lot of info through the local papers and MLB.com. i also subscribe to MLB Extra Innings through my digital cable service, so i get 4 or 5 Giants game a week. Here are a few links to help get you through the season:

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/giants/

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/baseball/mlb/san_francisco_giants/

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/sports/baseball/mlb/san_francisco_giants/

you might have to register for a couple of these...i can't remember. but each one of these newspapers has a beat writer for the giants so there is usually information here that you might not see elsewhere.

 

The next obvious question, whose your friend?

Thanks for the websites. I use them regularly.

 

Durham.

 

hey lawing. tell ray when he retires from the game, he should play on our adult league team here in charlotte. :xyzthumbs

 

haha. i will see him in June in Denver, so i will pass on your offer.

you know, Johnny Donaldson (who won a WS with the A's in the 70's) had an adult league team in charlotte for years. they were pretty much unbeatable. he had several ex-pros.

 

an update on the Giants. most of the attention has been on Bonds' catching and passing Willie Mays' 660 career homeruns. but a couple of things have been going on other than that.

Durham may be heading to the DL. he strained his left quad trying to get back to first on a pick off attempt that was called a balk. the giants are being VERY careful with his return and want to make sure that he is fully recovered fromt he injury before inserting him back in the lineup. he was off to a nice start...hitting .367 with 7 runs scored in the first week and a half of action.

Jason Schmidt will make his first start of the season tomorrow night against the Dodgers. Looking forward to seeing how he throws.

Herges has had a little success in the closer role filling in for Rob Nenn. 5 saves in 6 opportunities. hopefully he will hold it down until Nenn is 100%

Grissom is taking advantage of the opportunity to hit in front of Bonds. he is hitting .353 with 3 homers so far.

Alfonzo is off to another slow start. Alou had moved him out of the #5 spot behind Bonds for a few games before returning him to that spot the other night.

 

whats the word on nenn? i've read mixed reports. according to some he is on pace in his rehab. according to others, it is doubtful whether he pitches at all this year.