By Glenn Dickey

IN THE press box during Thursday’s A’s game, former A’s second baseman Shooty Babbit expressed an opinion that is held by many A’s and Giants fans: The only thing that counts is winning the World Championship.

“Don’t talk to me about how many regular season games you win,’’ said Babbit, now a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who also works with Marty Lurie on “Inside Baseball Saturday Night” on KFRC, broadcast live from Crogan’s in Montclair. “It doesn’t mean anything unless you win the whole thing.” [Read more →]

Inside Baseball—6/13

Giants and Yankees Running on Empty

Two of the game’s premier franchises are mere shadows of their former selves. Both the Giants and Yankees have hitters who aren’t delivering in clutch situations; fielders whose range is poor; starters who consistently fail to get out of the sixth inning; and relievers who can’t throw strikes. Both teams have players with a lot of mileage and little in their respective farms systems that can offer immediate help.

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Marty; When a team loses 14 out of it’s latest 16 games, when five of those games, in six tries, are lost to the likes of Cleveland and Kansas City, it should be clear to management that changes of a drastic nature are called for. Good teams never suffer such a dismal stretch. Apparently, Sabean has now figured this out.

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Batter Up June 12, 2005

For years the most vulnerable person on a major league baseball team has been the manager when the team hits the skids.

Times have changed.

As soon as a teams record dips more than ten games below .500 the coaches become the scapegoats. If hitting is the problem, the batting coach goes. If pitching is the culprit, then the pitching coach is held accountable.

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They say baseball is the most
historic of sports and this weekend
we will see sort of history when
the Cleveland Indians make their
first visit to San Francisco.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

The NFL has it, college basketball toys with it, baseball certainly doesn’t need it.

It’s instant replay.

Regardless of the controversy surrounding a blown call in the Phillies Giants game this week, baseball gets along just fine without “further review” from the booth.

Who needs to see the umpires huddling in foul territory watching a television monitor as they try to figure out if a ball was trapped or caught?

If four umpires can’t figure out what happened on the field between themselves there is something wrong with the umpires, not the system.

The human element has always been a charming part of baseball.

I like yelling at the ump when I think he blows a call.

Let’s keep it that way.

Interleague play starts again this week.

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Let’s stop this hypocrisy and come to the conclusion that these players are adults and
if they took steroids most people could care
less. Baseball is part of the entertainment
world and the average family/household
in this country has much more important
issues than to worry if one of their favorite
players took steroids.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez [Read more →]

Marty; For the past more than two years this column has been written from the point of view of a traditional fan who has been a follower of this ball club since Polo Grounds days, whose memory goes back to the 1934 World Series when Carl Hubbell took care of the Washington Senators. There is no opportunity here to talk with management or the players, as a beat writer for the press does.

One is not privy to inside information. On the surface, this may appear to be a disadvantage. However, there is something to be said for approaching a team’s problems without being beholden to those who have a self interest in putting the best face on past actions. Not having a stake in decision making, having a fan’s independence, may add a degree of reliability to one’s judgement.

Having said that, let’s take a look at the latest effort by Sabean to turn a club which is going nowhere into a playoff contender.

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Glenn Dickey

IN THEIR UNSPOKEN but very real cross-bay rivalry with the A’s, the Giants have important advantages: The history of being here first; a much superior park; much better radio contract, as KNBR not only broadcasts the games but promotes the team relentlessly at all times; and a significantly higher payroll, which may be the most important of all.

Everything is relative. The Giants and A’s payroll combined is only about two-thirds that of the Yankees, who should be embarrassed that they don’t go 162-0. But the Giants payroll, about $85 million this year, gives them a flexibility that the A’s lack with their $60 million payroll. [Read more →]

The A’s have bad pitching and even worse hitting. The season is lost before the May has officially ended. Come’ on. Relax.

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