KTE: Los Gigantes de San Francisco

[Guest Edgy DC]

DocTee wrote me saying he's out of town and having trouble posting his Gigantic thoughts. He sent me a copy and I post it here.

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Another baseball axiom proved true: �teams are a reflection of their manager� and both skipper Felipe �Fossil� Alou and the Giants are old. The Giants sport one of the NL�s most veteran lineups, with Barry Bonds (41), Steve Finley (41), Moises Alou (39) Omar Vizquel (39), and Jose Vizcaino (38) getting significant playing time. But the team has prospered in the resurgent NL West, largely due to the inspired play of youngsters like Lance Niekro (son of Joe and nephew of Phil), the steady Pedro Feliz, and a solid starting staff that features veterans Jason Schmidt and Matt Morris, rookie Matt Cain and the serviceable Jamey Wright.

The Giants are also strong defensively up the middle, with a trio of perennial Gold Glovers: SS Omar Vizquel (10) CF Steve Finley (4) and C Mike Matheny (3). Their defensive ability and veteran composition means that the Giants rarely beat themselves; the key seems to be to get into their bullpen, anchored by Steve Kline and Armando Benitez. Omar Vizquel (7/10), quietly having an All-Star campaign, is the only real base-stealing threat on this squad.

Currently the Giants sit in 5th place with a record of 27-26.

It�s only a matter of time, methinks, before age and injuries doom this team. Then again, GM Brian Sabean is one of the shrewdest executives around, and he has a penchant for adding the needed parts at the trade deadline.

Projected Lineup:

	AVG	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
C Mike Matheny	.231	3	18	.276	.338
1B Lance Niekro	.250	4	20	.300	.393
2B Ray Durham	.240	4	21	.314	.392
3B Pedro Feliz	.263	9	35	.294	.455
SS Omar Vizquel	.318	3	22	.419	.455
LF Barry Bonds	.254	7	20	.482	.483
CF Steve Finley	.255	2	23	.343	.425
RF Moises Alou	.378	7	25	.436	.671

Bench

	AVG	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
OF Randy Winn	.265	5	24	.341	.417
1B Mark Sweeney	.264	3	19	.313	.481
IF Jose Vizcaino	.188	0	2	.291	.203
C Todd Greene	.375	0	2	.390	.550

Probable Starters

	W-L	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	AVG
RHP Matt Cain	3-5	55	5.07	1.27	6.55	.226
RHP Jamey Wright	5-4	67	4.43	1.34	4.43	.264
RHP Matt Morris	3-6	65	5.40	1.40	4.29	.267

Cain: After skipping a turn in the rotation to get back in the groove, Cain responded with a complete-game one-hitter at Oakland on May 21, and looked just as dominant at the beginning of his next start, when he struck out the side to open Saturday's home game against the Rockies. But even though he kept Colorado hitless until the fourth, Cain struggled with command of his offspeed pitches, walking five in 5 2/3 innings.

Wright: Wright had his shortest outing of the season in his last start on Sunday against the Rockies. He went just 3 2/3 innings and gave up six runs --- all in the fourth inning --- on 10 hits. Wright will look to get his sinker back, but has not faired well against the Mets and is 1-3
lifetime with a 5.63 ERA.

Morris: Morris allowed only six hits over six innings last Monday, but lost, 5-1. The veteran had little run support, with manager Felipe Alou commenting on players being tired from the long overnight flight from the West Coast. Morris is now 1-6 with two no-decisions over his last nine outings after starting the season 2-0.

Bullpen:

	W-L	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	AVG
CL Armando Benitez	3-0	11.1	O.79	1.59	5.56	.275
LHP Steve Kline	1-1	14.1	3.14	1.60	5.65	.250
RHP Kevin Correia	0-0	26.2	3.04	1.31	6.75	.243
RHP Jeremy Accardo	0-0	21.0	3.00	1.10	9.43	.205

Injuries: P Tim Worrell. 15-day DL, right cervical muscle strain.

EX-Factors: Armando Benitez, Jose Vizcaino

No current Mets have ML ties to the Giants.

Recent History: The teams met in San Francisco at PacBell, I mean, SBC, I mean, AT&T Park, just last month. The Mets took two of three, including an extra-inning affair when Barry Bonds tied the game with a ninth-inning pinch-hit homerun off Billy Wagner. (The Bannister injury game) Matt Cain looked awesome in game 1 � here�s hoping it was a fluke, but recent success, including a CG 1-hitter against Oakland in interleague play � suggests it was not. Relive the series here:

http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7079
http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7080
http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7081

All-Time History: Mets 239 wins, 289 losses

Random Facts: The Giants were originally named the New York Gothams.

Since moving to SF in 1958 the team has not won a championship, despite plenty o� regular season success.

Twice in recent years the team was on the verge of relocation: in 1976 to Toronto, and in 1996 to Tampa-St.Pete.

Avoid shaking hands with �Never Noivous� Moises Alou.

For a treat, try and catch the hometown announcers: Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Greg Papa and Jon Miller.

The Giants mascot: Lou Seal, is
only marginally more popular than the anti-mascot, "Crazy Crab,�
who graced Candelstick in the early to mid eighties.
Neither can hold a candle to this guy:



Triviality: Name the only players who suited up for all of what were once NY�s teams --- Mets, MFY, Dodgers and Giants --- during their career.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Trivia answer: I seem to remember that Darryl Strawberry was the first. (And he never played for anyone else, either.)

Somebody else joined that club later, but I can't remember who.

[Centerfield]

Vizcaino and Strawberry come to mind.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Vizcaino.

[Elster88]

Very nice pinch-KTE. Pinch-KTEing is the hardest KTEing to do.


The Mets are the oldest team in baseball.

[Elster88]

Remember when Matt Morris used to be good?

[Guest Edgy DC]

No, I didn't pinch. This is DocTee's work; he was just wearing my uniform when he went to the plate.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Really? What's the average age?

I know that they have some old guys like Franco and Glavine, but they have some that are awfully young, like Wright, Reyes, and Milledge. Beltran and Nady are also younger than 30.

[Elster88]

I'm not too good on the comprehension thing.

Nice job Doc.

[Elster88]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Really? What's the average age? I know that they have some old guys like Franco and Glavine, but they have some that are awfully young, like Wright, Reyes, and Milledge. Beltran and Nady are also younger than 30.

They had a graphic during a recent game. I can't remember exactly but I think it was around 31. Or that could be way off. I'm sure Franco skews the average. It didn't seem like the distribution was very large. This may have been pre-Milledge.

Edit: Changed "posted it" to "had a graphic". I use internet-speak too much.

[Frayed Knot]

- Is Moises off the DL? He twisted his ankle real bad about a month ago to the point where he had to be carted off the field. I didn't think he was back yet.

- I do know that Lance Neikro was just activated from the DL

- Matt Cain was one of the more heralded prospects heading into this season. He'll still have his 'growing-pains' starts but a good outing from him should neither be considered a fluke nor an excuse to wail about how we can never beat "No Name" hurlers.

- Matheny's defensive rep out-sizes the reality these days. You can def run on him a lot more than in recent years.

- That's a hefty WHiP for Mr. Benitez. He was consistantly down around 1.1 while here.

[Elster88]

]RHP Jeremy Accardo 0-0 (IP) 21.0 (ERA) 3.00 (WHIP)1.10 (K/9)9.43 (BAA).205

Um... wow.

Shouldn't this guy be closing?

[Elster88]

Are any of you fellas who boo Matsui going to go boo Bonds? Would you even?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Or that could be way off. I'm sure Franco skews the average.

The best way to measure a team's age is to weight the average by plate appearances and innings pitched.

A team with Franco getting 100 plate appearances and Reyes getting 700 is much "younger" than a team with Franco getting 700 and Reyes getting 100, even if the average age is the same.

[Elster88]

That's definitely not how they were doing it on TV.

[Zvon]

great KTE.

I wasnt ready for this series-but now i am.
Thnx Doc!

[Guest old original jb]

Edgy DC wrote: Avoid shaking hands with �Never Noivous� Moises Alou.

Why? Is he a notorious handshaker or something?

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Very informative, nice job.

Cain is a young pitch, which is automatically bad news for the Mets.

Wright and Morris are vulnerable (I hope).

[Elster88]

old original jb wrote: ="Edgy DC"] Avoid shaking hands with �Never Noivous� Moises Alou. Why? Is he a notorious handshaker or something?

He pees on his hands.

[Guest old original jb]

I remember that now.
I think I had blocked it out of my mind; it's just one of those things that I choose not to think about.

[Elster88]

That's what KTE's are for.

[Guest cooby]

I don't think the Crazy Crab link is working

[nymr83]

to the author- Alou is on the DL, Randy Winn is a starter, when everyone is healthy Finley is the odd man out.

Elster- if i boo a guy for (imo) sucking OF COURSE i'm going to boo THE guy who is representative of the steroid problem, he is 100x more deservig of Boos than a player who doesnt hit.

[stevejrogers]

="Centerfield"]Vizcaino and Strawberry come to mind.

Nice trivia question

Only man to have all 4 teams be the ONLY 4 teams he played for!


1983-1990

1991-1993

1994

1995-1999

Viz:

1989-1990, 1998-2000


Then Cubbies from 91-93
Sorry can't seem to google a big shot of him as a Cubbie


1994-1996

Traded with Kent to Cleveland in 96, wound up with Kent going to SF for Matt Williams!

Sorry can't seem to Google a shot of Viz in Cleveland either!
1996


1997, 2006


2000


And from 2001-2005 he was an Astro

Decent bit of traveling

[Guest sharpie]

Pedro Feliz hardly steady. He personifies streaky player.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Fixed the crab link. Sorry.