The baseball year is over for the Giants and the postmortems begin. The wise men in the local press are in print, saying the “Giants are a flawed team” or, in the words of a writer not widely known for his appreciation or basic understanding of the game, “the worst week of baseball ever in these parts.” Let’s try and put things in some reasonable perspective. [Read more →]

What was most impressive about the Red Sox win last night was they did it in Oakland where the A’s are a very tough team to beat.

The pitching matchup played out just as I expected. The A’s had their few chances to break the game open against Pedro Martinez, who did not have the career defining performance everyone looked for, rather it was a duplicate of game one with the aid of a twilight start.

Barry Zito, with the same help from the setting sun, breezed through five innings before clearly running out of gas.

Here’s where the game turned in my opinion.

Zito, who had not pitched on three days rest before, had to be watched very carefully. It was obvious to me and about 49,000 other people in the park, that Zito had reached his endurance point after he hit lefty swinging Todd Walker with a pitch to put runners at first and second with Manny Ramirez coming up in the sixth inning.

Forget the pitch count, Zito had lost command of his outpitch, his curveball, earlier in the inning. Jason Varitek homered to start the sixth on a fastball, tying the score 1-1, Zito struggled throwing strikes after the homer.

Now, Zito and Manny got into a classic battle. What makes great sluggers special is they do not miss their pitch if they get it. Barry Bonds comes to mind first. Ramirez fouled off a fastball at 2-2. Zito has been plagued by inside fastballs that don’t make the desired spot all season (Bobby Kielty in Minnesota). Without his curve, Zito threw another 86 MPH fastball, almost in the indentical spot, and Manny didn’t miss this one and the Red Sox were on their way, it was just a question of how far Pedro would take them and who would close the game.

To me this was the moment that the A’s needed to go to the pen, and make sure Manny didn’t do what he is paid to do and that is drive in big runs.

Great players come through in the clutch and great managers do too, this time the manager let his pitcher stay in a game when he should have gone to the pen like he had done all season long. Ramirez wouldn’t have homered off of Chad Bradford, I’ll guarantee that.

The A’s wouldn’t quit and the game got very tense quickly.

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So, the Giants felt short to an exciting
and young Florida Marlins team while
the Athletics for the ninth time
failed to close a playoff series.
In my humble opinion Sabean
Ball and Beane Ball needs a lot
of changes.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

Seen enough of the five game playoff series?

Not so fast, one more game tonight between the A’s and the Red Sox.

The Marlins, Cubs, and Yankees are in, who will follow?

The A’s play differently at home (59-24), they better continue to do that because they have not looked like a championship team the last two days.

Strange series, not much hitting on either side. Eric Chavez is not getting many good swings even though it is different than in other postseasons when he was swinging wildly, neither Chavez nor Miguel Tejada are swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. The ball just isn’t falling for them right now.

Boston’s achilles heel had been its bullpen. Not anymore, in the last two games Mike Timlin and Scott Williamson have emerged and are throwing fastballs past the A’s. To me, that is the biggest change for the Red Sox, no longer can you count on catching them in the late innings as these two look to be on top of their game.

Power pitching in October, just ask the Braves about trying to handle a big league fastball this time of year.

Barry Zito versus Pedro Martinez. How is this game different from game one?

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Bruce Magowan covers the Giants for the SF Examiner as well as being the host of “The Insiders”, KNBR’s Weekend baseball pre and post game shows.

No one feels for the Giants like Bruce, but he is an astute baseball person who calls them like he sees them.

Check out Bruce’s column below, it is a firsthand look at the Marlins-Giants playoff series including insights that I hadn’t heard before.

Thanks, Bruce…

Marty Lurie [Read more →]

So, how do you like the five game format for part one of the playoffs?

You play 162 games spread over the course of six months and 180 days during the season. In the back of your mind there is always tomorrow no matter what the situation until about September 25th, when the games have dwindled down to a precious few.

You get into the playoffs and they tell you here’s how it works.

First you have to run through fire, then you have to jump over some alligators, then swing by rope over a lagoon, and then who ever survives gets to play a seven gamer for the right to go to the world series.

Yes, the five game series tests every strength and emotion you have. There is no other series like it in baseball. Every game, every inning, every situation makes you feel like you are playing in the seventh game of the world series.

I have never seen such excitement over a five or six day period in baseball. Mood swings are inevitable, pitching decisions debated forever, errors branding the offending player for life, and all this because there is little room for error in the five gamer.

The tension created during the five game series prepares you for what lies ahead. I think it is a warmup for the rest of October.

Is it fair? What do you mean by fair. It is the same for all teams, everyone has to jump through the fire. Does it diminish what you have accomplished over 162 games? Absolutely not. You still have to pitch, play great defense, and come up with timely hits. You just don’t have a lot of room for mistakes.

And you know what I like it and I cannot wait for today’s games to begin and I’m not sure I have this feeling at any other time during the season.

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Baseball really is a simple game. Catch the ball, don’t beat yourself, get a well pitched game, a couple of timely hits, and bingo, victory is yours. They figured the formula for success out in 1903 and it hasn’t changed yet.

Barry Zito provided the well pitched game for Oakland Thursday. Once his curve ball clicked in around the fourth inning the Red Sox were toast.

A couple of weeks ago I pointed out how poorly the Boston second baseman were playing in the field. It seems when you have a below average player on defense, the ball always finds him, especially at the keystone sack (2nd). It happened twice during Wednesday night’s game when Todd Walker, the offensive hero for Boston, couldn’t turn a crucial double play, thereby prolonging Pedro’s inning and forcing his departure after seven excruciating frames. Damian Jackson couldn’t feed the ball to Nomar properly in the fateful twelfth on a routine double play attempt, and the A’s rallied to win the game.

Yesterday, there was Walker again botching a catch and throw to first base, giving the A’s a big rally. Tom Kelly, one of the most honest baseball managers I have ever met (Minnesota) told me four years ago that Walker couldn’t play for him any longer because he allowed many more runs than he drove in. Thursday, I thought of what Tom Kelly said.

Eric Byrnes also hit a ball over Manny Ramirez’s head for the big hit of the game, a ball that perhaps only Joe Rudi, one of the best leftfielders in A’s history may have caught, so don’t be too hard on Manny’s slow effort.

The scene now shifts to Fenway where things will undoubtedly look different for the Boston nine.

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It is a little premature but
there is an old saying in the
Spanish language:
“soñar no cuesta nada”
(it doesn’t cost anything
to dream).

By Amaury Pi-González
[Read more →]

So what was unusual about the A’s-Red Sox game yesterday evening in Oakland?

Not much. The A’s played to their strength bringing on the Boston bullpen at exactly the right time, allowing closer Byung Hyun Kim enough rope to blow the lead, getting a key two out hit by Erubiel Durazo in the ninth, and then shutting down the Boston attack with their own pen, utilizing a great defensive play by Eric Chavez to save the night, and then finally squeezing out two more walks which set up the surprise bunt by Ramon Hernandez which brought an end to the Red Sox’s long frustrating night.

Tim Hudson pitched like the warrior he is, but left too many pitches up in the strike zone. In fact, I have said Hudson hasn’t looked like himself since the September start against Anaheim. However, when the game is on the line and a big pitch is needed, there may be no one better in the league than Hudson who continuously had Manny Ramirez off balance as he faced the .326 hitter with too many runners on base for comfort, for the thin A’s righty.

What’s the skinny after game one?

Keith Foulke proved he can shut the Sox down in any normal save situation. Pedro Martinez is one tough cookie, but he isn’t going nine against the A’s in this series (especially not afte throwing 130 tough, maximum energy pitches Wednesday). The A’s bull pen is superior to Boston’s, and yes, this will be a series of bullpens. The Sox are a gritty, grinding club that is better than the team that was in here in August. Grady Little out thought himself because Mike Timlin proved he can pitch to the A’s (should have stayed in to pitch the ninth). Derek Lowe is a gamer who will be tough if he is ready on Saturday (he won’t be going seven innings either, after pitching hard last night in relief).

Click below for more on this game! [Read more →]

Jason Schmidt set the bar Tuesday for all the starting pitchers in the playoffs with a complete game shut out over the Marlins.

Both Schmidt and Josh Beckett pitched power games, but walks to Barry Bonds led to both San Francisco runs and were the keys to the Giants offense.

The Marlins strategy of walking Bonds with two outs in the eighth led to an insurance run when Bonds got to second base on a botched pickoff between Chad Fox and Derek Lee (he scored on a ball Juan Pierre should have caught in center). Defense wins championships and the Marlins threw a ball away on a bunt attempt with two on, leading to the Giants first run.

However, the story of the game was Schmidt who was throwing 95 in the ninth inning as usual. Now, the Marlins must beat Sidney Ponson or face a 2-0 deficit on Friday in Miami. Ponson will be easier to hit than Schmidt, no picnic, but easier than Schmidt, arguably the best pitcher in the league. Wednesday the Giants bullpen will play a role as will the Miami pen behind Brad Penny.

The Yankees weren’t very good Tuesday either.

Click below and I’ll explain why! [Read more →]