Watching the World Series?

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by quicksix

How many at bats did Jim Leyland take tonight?
How many at bats did Barry(thebiggestjuicerever)Bonds take tonight?

^^^^None.

How many bad decisions did Leyland make tonight? Several.

[quicksix]

How many of his decisions did he have control over?

[trekkor]

How many bad decisions did Leyland make tonight? Several.

What would you have done differently?


KT

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by trekkor

What would you have done differently?


KT

I would NOT brought Smyly in. A rookie? In a tight spot? In a must-win game, season on the line? And then after he could barely get a ball over the plate in the inning (and didn't look good, period) he brings him out for the next inning?

WTF was he thinking......I mean..I saw nothing good when Smyly was in...and was floored when he trotted him back out the next inning.

It cost them the game....especially with their bats in a coma. One run in this game was HUGE.

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by Hydrocket

^^^^None.

How many bad decisions did Leyland make tonight? Several.

How about Detroit's 3rd base coach in the second inning? Keep Fielder at 3rd, and you have runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. At least he didn't break Buster's leg.

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by ckissick

How about Detroit's 3rd base coach in the second inning? Keep Fielder at 3rd, and you have runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. At least he didn't break Buster's leg.

Again...this is another issue we've had all year with Lamont doing this. Especially sending the slow guys in (Cabbie, Fielder) like they are actually fast. If it was Jackson or Dirks or Barrie on 3rd, they score. Anybody else and they are out.

[trekkor]

I'm not familiar with Smyly.
Was he reliable during the previous games/season?


KT

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by trekkor

I'm not familiar with Smyly.
Was he reliable during the previous games/season?


KT

So-so. He had a nice outing against the Yankees. But ANYONE could have had a nice outing.

The point is..he's a rookie and has NEVER been in such a sweaty situation. Just the wrong guy for the job tonight. 4.00 ERA during the regular season.

He certainly could not hit the strike zone the first inning. And gets brought out again the next. Unbelievable.

[quicksix]

Smyly is on the roster to do his job,right?
get left handers out
Saturday night,that guy might look like the second coming of Steve Carlton

[ckissick]

Remember, Bumgarner was a rookie in 2010 and pitched a shutout against the Rangers. Sometimes it works out. But, like Trekkor, I don't know Smyly. Starting Bumgarner in 2010 was a no brainer.

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by quicksix

Smyly is on the roster to do his job,right?
get left handers out
Saturday night,that guy might look like the second coming of Steve Carlton

He's not a reliever though. He started the season as a fill in/spot starter when there were injuries. Why he is on the roster and 100MPH Villarreal is not is a real head scratcher. There was much discussion about this. Most fans would take Villarreal any day and were pissed he wasn't on the roster.

Just because the guy has a left arm isn't the only reason he should be on the roster.


Anyways...I said the Giants would have to play perfect baseball to win and the Tigers would need to get their bats going or they were done. Thus far, my prediction is correct. Giants have not put a foot wrong, have had standout showings from at least 3 guys already and Detroits bats are in a coma. This series is done.

[trekkor]

I think it's fair to say that Tiger's pitching got them to the WS.

Other than tonight's starter, Fister, none of the Tiger's pitching is doing very well.
That has to be very frustrating for their entire team.


KT

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by trekkor

I think it's fair to say that Tiger's pitching got them to the WS.

Other than tonight's starter, Fister, none of the Tiger's pitching is doing very well.
That has to be very frustrating for their entire team.


KT

Verlander had a bad night at the worst time. He was far too amped up. He NEVER throws 98-99 MPH in the 2nd-3rd inning as he did. Last time he did that was the All-Star game and you know how that ended.......

I dunno...since he started dating Kate Upton, his ego has been out of this world. Did you see the ******* look he gave the pitching coach when he came out to settle him down?

[trekkor]

Baseball is crazy.

Look at Zito.
Fantastic with the A's. Picks up MONSTER contract with the Giants and proceeds to choke~
To the point where the fans want him gone.

Cut from the 2010 WS roster.

Now he is the hero. Getting the Giants back home from STL and then Last night.

You never know what's going to happen. The wheels can fall off at anytime, no lead is safe and anyone can be the hero.


Great game.


KT

[Hydrocket]

Originally Posted by trekkor

Baseball is crazy.

Look at Zito.
Fantastic with the A's. Picks up MONSTER contract with the Giants and proceeds to choke~
To the point where the fans want him gone.

Cut from the 2010 WS roster.

Now he is the hero. Getting the Giants back home from STL and then Last night.

You never know what's going to happen. The wheels can fall off at anytime, no lead is safe and anyone can be the hero.


Great game.


KT

For sure. But you have to be a realist. I'm not one of those blind fans. The Tigers winning 4 of the next 5? Not gonna happen unless the Giants have an all-time epic collapse.

[ckissick]

And the Giants' best two pitchers haven't even pitched yet.

[quicksix]

Hydro, I have not followed the Tigers this year,but what changes would you make going forward?
It is obvious that they are underperforming(at the worst possible time), who on their bench should we expect to see?
I am like you with regards to loyalty,I dont look at the Giants and think they are the best ever,they played well at the right time and are getting production from some guys that are performing above what their career numbers would suggest.

[Hawkeye's-911T]

Interesting series. "Fat-Boy" Fielder was definitely out according to one angle I saw, but not by much. Balls & strikes aside (+ being non-negotiable), baseball has very good on-field officiating & there are fairly few blown calls (save the play @ 2nd when the Yankess - previous ALCS series - got jobbed & the call ended up being a non-factor). I just wish NHL officials were half that good although at this time, the point is somewhat moot . Go Giants!

Cheers
JB

[Heel n Toe]

In 1992, when Giants were threatening to move out of San Francisco, the SF Chronicle, published a photo of a cute little boy next to a "don't move" sign.

The boy? Brandon Crawford.

[Heel n Toe]

Brandon Crawford: living the dream
Ann Killion


1992 5-year-old Brandon Crawford couldn't hide his emotions during what was believed to be the final Giants game at Candlestick.
Photo: Tom Levy, The Chronicle / SF

The writing on the brick is worn down after 13 seasons of footsteps and a few Champagne showers. You have to know where to look. From the back end of the Willie Mays statue, walk several paces northeast and count 20 bricks over from the King Street sidewalk.

And there it is.

"Mike Lynn Brandon Amy Kaitlin and Jenna Crawford."

How many Giants players have their own brick outside AT&T Park, purchased back when the idea of having a locker on the inside of the building was nothing more than a childhood dream?

One.

Brandon Crawford, the starting shortstop for the San Francisco Giants. Exactly how he dreamed it in his Bay Area backyard.

Crawford is the first local product in years to be drafted by the Giants and developed into a true regular. Danville's Nate Schierholtz got close, but didn't ever lock down a job in right field over the past few seasons. And Monterey's Mike Aldrete was a part-time starter in the outfield in 1987 and '88. But Crawford is a mainstay on this year's division winners, and he grew up with the Giants.

Somewhere in the Crawford family archives is a photo of Aldrete holding 1-year-old Brandon that season. But then again, somewhere in the Crawford family archives are photos of their kids with many former Giants, because the Crawfords were loyal season-ticket holders, showing up regularly at spring training and fan-photo days.

Mike Crawford, who handles contracts for global defense and security company Northrop Grumman, said his 9-month-old son wasn't bothered by the loud noise in the 1987 playoffs. No one could have predicted that such early exposure would be good training for entering a postseason environment.

Even-keel player

Crawford, 25, is an even-keel player and low-key about living out his dream. He acknowledges former Giants shortstop Royce Clayton was his role model, but ballplayers are good at living in the moment, holding the emotion of the big picture at bay.

Family members, however, don't downplay their amazement.

"I got choked up," Lynn Crawford said of the first time she saw her son in a Giants uniform at AT&T. "How many mothers get to see their child fulfill the dream they've had since they were little?"

The Crawfords lived in Menlo Park before moving to Pleasanton in the 1990s. Brandon learned early to bundle up at Candlestick Park. When he was 5 and the Giants announced that they were fleeing Candlestick and moving to Florida, he was devastated; a Chronicle photographer caught his forlorn face in what was considered the final series at the Stick. When Crawford was in middle school, AT&T opened and the family bought a brick in Willie Mays Plaza, along with season tickets.

As a fifth-grade teacher, Lynn listened to her son's big dreams and reminded him, "OK, honey, but make sure you do really well in school, too."

Crawford did well enough in both school and baseball at Foothill High to play at UCLA. There, at a freshman athlete's orientation during his first few weeks, he met gymnast Jalynne Dantzscher. Within months, they were dating, and they were married last December. They are expecting their first child, a daughter, in December.

"He says all the time just how fortunate he is to be playing here," Jalynne said.

Crawford made his big-league debut in May 2011, hitting a grand slam in his first game in Milwaukee, but also was sent down for a while to Triple-A ball in Fresno. It was a stressful time, as he tried to nail down the starting job. But the easygoing shortstop wasn't letting the pressure of his testosterone-fueled sport get to him at home.

Crowded quarters

He and Jalynne rented a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment down King Street from the ballpark. Jalynne's twin sister, Janelle, had just started a teaching job in the East Bay and needed a place to live. Brandon and Jalynne had a pullout couch, so why not? When the twins' older sister, Jamie, landed a job coaching gymnastics in the Bay Area, she joined them too, sharing the sofa bed.

Brandon learned not to linger in the bathroom.

"I managed; I grew up with three younger sisters," Crawford said. "So it wasn't that different."

In the offseason, the newlyweds moved to a house in Walnut Creek - four bedrooms and two bathrooms - and the sisters came along, though both moved back to Southern California over the summer. Crawford is too young to remember "Three's Company," but knows the general premise. He said the reality of "Four's Company," sharing a home with three sisters, was a lot less wacky than a sitcom.

"It almost seemed natural to me," he said.

The sisters kept Jalynne company when Brandon was traveling, watched the couple's dogs when Brandon and Jalynne were both on the road, and provided benefits that some young ballplayers would love to have, like a clean house, washed and folded laundry and home cooking.

"Baked macaroni and cheese was a big favorite," said Jamie, who did much of the meal planning.

All three sisters were competitive gymnasts at UCLA. Jamie was on the 2000 Sydney Olympic team that won a bronze in 2010 when the third-place Chinese team was ruled to have used underage athletes. Though they didn't handspring or backflip around the house, they did joke with nimble Crawford that he should throw some gymnastics moves into his shortstop repertoire.

"We tease him about throwing in a trick, like a 'Popa,' " Jalynne said, referring to a 360-degree straddle jump named after Romanian gymnast Celestina Popa. "When he's turning a double play and jumping over a guy sliding into second, he could include it."

Crawford's acrobatic turns at shortstop have become his signature, so it was strange to see him struggle with errors early in the season. In the novel "The Art of Fielding," by Chad Harbach, a young shortstop suddenly can't make the throw to first. For a time, early in the season, Crawford seemed to be channeling protagonist Henry Skrimshander, committing 12 errors in his first 60 games.

"I hadn't ever gone through that before, making errors in bunches," Crawford said. "I had some tough plays."

Then the errors all but stopped. He made six in the final 102 games. Crawford had, in effect, two seasons in the field.

"He never hung his head," infield coach Ron Wotus said. "I never saw his confidence shaken. He took extra groundballs every day. And he never made excuses."

When he came home from work, Jalynne and her sisters, who learned the need for positive reinforcement in gymnastics, kept their feedback encouraging.

"He never brought it home with him," Jalynne said, adding, "He's a homebody. He likes hanging out, watching movies, playing X-box, playing with the dogs. He cherishes being at home."

And playing at home. When the Giants clinched the National League West on Sept. 22, Crawford's parents, sisters and Jalynne were all in the stands. In the celebration afterward, they came into the clubhouse and saw his locker.

Above it, the nameplate reads Brandon Crawford.

Just like the brick outside.

Brandon Crawford: living the dream - SFGate