The two teams most thought would advance to the NLCS made their way, the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies swept the Cincinnati Reds and the Giants ended a legendary managing career of Bobby Cox and his Atlanta Braves. Here a look at the positional match ups for the series.
First Base: Aubrey Huff v. Ryan Howard
Howard in a former MVP and an offensive powerhouse, but do not sell Huff short. He has been extremely instrumental in the Giants success in 2010. Still, Howard also possesses a better glove and bat.
Advantage: Phillies
Second Base: Freddy Sanchez v. Chase Utley
Sanchez is a former batting champ and has had the look of regaining that form. Bad thing for the Giants is that Utley appears to be regaining his form, too.
Advantage: Phillies
Shortstop: Juan Uribe v. Jimmy Rollins
Two contrasting shortstops here. Uribe hits more with power and Rollins holds the potential, if healthy, to run you crazy. Uribe has a better arm, but Rollins fields better.
Advantage: Phillies
Showing posts with label san francisco giants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label san francisco giants. Show all posts
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Big Unit retires; Holliday stays in St. Louis
Two big announcements from the baseball world were made today, one sort of expected, one, not so much.
Matt Holliday announced on the Doug Gottlieb show on ESPN Radio that he was staying in St. Louis to play for the Cardinals. The deal Holliday will ink is presumably worth 7 years, $120 million. Holliday's agant, Scott Boras, confirmed that the guaranteed portion of the new deal is $17 million per year and includes a no-trade clause. All Holliday has to do is pass a physical and the deal will be finalized.
It's come to the point that I'm never amazed that players choose to stay in St. Louis. Actually, I'm surprised players choose to leave St. Louis. I cannot recall any current or former player speaking negative words about the city or the organization. The Cardinals fanbase is among the most loyal in baseball. I've been to St. Louis to catch a game and even if you're there to root against the Cards, they still treat you with respect. Sure, they jab at your team, but if that can be done with a level of class, it's only in St. Louis.
With Holliday choosing to stay in St. Louis, the Cards will have the best 3-4 punch in the National League, if not in all of baseball, combining Holliday with Albert Pujols. Only Mark Teixeira and ARod can give these guys a run at that, and I still prefer Pujols and Holliday. Better batting average just for starters.
The only question this raises is now that Holliday has been given the biggest contract in Cards history, will Pujols get his contract re-worked? After all, Albert does have a bit of hardware.
Speaking of hardware, San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson has 5 Cy Young Awards, and on Tuesday, the "Big Unit" announced his retirement. Johnson spent 22 seasons in the majors with six teams. Along with the multiple Cy Young's, Johnson is second, behind Nolan Ryan, on the all time strikeouts list. He also posted 303 wins during his carrer. He was also a 10 time All Star and a World Series MVP in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
I'm not really sure if baseball will have another lefty that was as dominating as Johnson. Johan Santana of the New York Mets does come to mind, but with the way starting pitchers are used these days, it would be hard pressed for Sanata to approach Johnson's numbers. Cy Young's? Maybe, but that might be all.
I think of three things when I think of Randy Johnson. I think of his World Series performance in 2001 where he shared the MVP with Curt Schilling (a scary 1-2). In probably one of the most bizarre plays ever seen, I think of an exhibition game in 2001 when Johnson was throwing a fastball and it struck a dove. Even more bizarre is who the Diamondbacks were playing that day, the San Francisco Giants. And who can ever forget the 1993 All Star Game when Johnson, as a Mariner, faced the Phillies' John Kruk.
Until recently, Johnson had never been considered a media darling. Instead, Johnson chose to do his talking on the mound.
And could he ever talk.
Matt Holliday announced on the Doug Gottlieb show on ESPN Radio that he was staying in St. Louis to play for the Cardinals. The deal Holliday will ink is presumably worth 7 years, $120 million. Holliday's agant, Scott Boras, confirmed that the guaranteed portion of the new deal is $17 million per year and includes a no-trade clause. All Holliday has to do is pass a physical and the deal will be finalized.It's come to the point that I'm never amazed that players choose to stay in St. Louis. Actually, I'm surprised players choose to leave St. Louis. I cannot recall any current or former player speaking negative words about the city or the organization. The Cardinals fanbase is among the most loyal in baseball. I've been to St. Louis to catch a game and even if you're there to root against the Cards, they still treat you with respect. Sure, they jab at your team, but if that can be done with a level of class, it's only in St. Louis.
With Holliday choosing to stay in St. Louis, the Cards will have the best 3-4 punch in the National League, if not in all of baseball, combining Holliday with Albert Pujols. Only Mark Teixeira and ARod can give these guys a run at that, and I still prefer Pujols and Holliday. Better batting average just for starters.
The only question this raises is now that Holliday has been given the biggest contract in Cards history, will Pujols get his contract re-worked? After all, Albert does have a bit of hardware.
Speaking of hardware, San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson has 5 Cy Young Awards, and on Tuesday, the "Big Unit" announced his retirement. Johnson spent 22 seasons in the majors with six teams. Along with the multiple Cy Young's, Johnson is second, behind Nolan Ryan, on the all time strikeouts list. He also posted 303 wins during his carrer. He was also a 10 time All Star and a World Series MVP in 2001 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.I'm not really sure if baseball will have another lefty that was as dominating as Johnson. Johan Santana of the New York Mets does come to mind, but with the way starting pitchers are used these days, it would be hard pressed for Sanata to approach Johnson's numbers. Cy Young's? Maybe, but that might be all.
I think of three things when I think of Randy Johnson. I think of his World Series performance in 2001 where he shared the MVP with Curt Schilling (a scary 1-2). In probably one of the most bizarre plays ever seen, I think of an exhibition game in 2001 when Johnson was throwing a fastball and it struck a dove. Even more bizarre is who the Diamondbacks were playing that day, the San Francisco Giants. And who can ever forget the 1993 All Star Game when Johnson, as a Mariner, faced the Phillies' John Kruk.
Until recently, Johnson had never been considered a media darling. Instead, Johnson chose to do his talking on the mound.
And could he ever talk.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Zito key to Giants postseason hopes
The San Francisco Giants are taking a run at the NL Wild Card again. I say again because of the torrid run the Colorado Rockies have been on until recently that saw thew Rockies overtake the Giants. The Rockies have now dropped four straight after losing a 5-3 decision to the Giants at AT&T Park last night. The Giants victory pulls them to within one game of the Rockies in the Wild Card standings. And the Giants are once again relevant in the NL West standings sitting only six games behind the hated rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Pitching wins games and everyone knows of the 1-2 punch the Giants pitching staff offers in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. But the key to the Giants run might be identified as Barry Zito. Barry Zito? That's right, Barry Zito. How can that be? Last night Zito's line: 8.1 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
In the offseason, the Giants brought in future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The original thought was that Johnson would be the #3 in the Giants rotation. But Johnson has been on the disabled list since July 7 with a bum shoulder (torn rotator cuff). There's a chance the Big Unit could be back this season, but that's still up in the air. Johnson is 8-6, but his ERA is 4.81.
Next choice: Jonathan Sanchez? Sanchez did throw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 10th and he was actually headed to the bullpen, maybe even Triple-A when he tossed his no-no. Since that game, Sanchez is 3-2 and has knocked 0.41 off of his ERA. That's pretty good. But look at Zito.
The Giants drove a Brink's truck to snare Zito from their across the bay American League rivals, the Oakland A's. Zito took the money and has suffered ever since. Not because his back pockets were weighing him down, although A's fans would try to convince you otherwise. Zito suffered due largely to being ineffective and having a shattering of his confidence. That confidence could have taken an even bigger hit with the fact that both Johnson and Sanchez were seen as better options in the rotation.
But Zito has turned his season, and maybe his career, 180 degrees. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has started to show slight glimpses of what made him the 2002 AL Cy Young winner. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has a 4-2 record with a 1.92 ERA. Before the break, Zito was 5-9 with a 5.01 ERA. For the season: 9-11, 3.94 ERA. The All-Star break helped Zito as much as any player in baseball. The break appears to have given Zito a new lease in San Francisco and if the Giants were to make the postseason, he may have even pitched himself into the #3 slot. That could see him get a start, maybe even two, depending how big of a run the Giants would make.
The Giants can make a run deep into the playoffs and they will need Zito to keep up his personal run if the Giants have a chance to win the NL Wild Card, maybe even the NL West.
Zito is important to the Giants. He's back, not all the way, but he's getting there.
Pitching wins games and everyone knows of the 1-2 punch the Giants pitching staff offers in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. But the key to the Giants run might be identified as Barry Zito. Barry Zito? That's right, Barry Zito. How can that be? Last night Zito's line: 8.1 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
In the offseason, the Giants brought in future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The original thought was that Johnson would be the #3 in the Giants rotation. But Johnson has been on the disabled list since July 7 with a bum shoulder (torn rotator cuff). There's a chance the Big Unit could be back this season, but that's still up in the air. Johnson is 8-6, but his ERA is 4.81.
Next choice: Jonathan Sanchez? Sanchez did throw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 10th and he was actually headed to the bullpen, maybe even Triple-A when he tossed his no-no. Since that game, Sanchez is 3-2 and has knocked 0.41 off of his ERA. That's pretty good. But look at Zito.
The Giants drove a Brink's truck to snare Zito from their across the bay American League rivals, the Oakland A's. Zito took the money and has suffered ever since. Not because his back pockets were weighing him down, although A's fans would try to convince you otherwise. Zito suffered due largely to being ineffective and having a shattering of his confidence. That confidence could have taken an even bigger hit with the fact that both Johnson and Sanchez were seen as better options in the rotation.
But Zito has turned his season, and maybe his career, 180 degrees. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has started to show slight glimpses of what made him the 2002 AL Cy Young winner. Since the All-Star Game, Zito has a 4-2 record with a 1.92 ERA. Before the break, Zito was 5-9 with a 5.01 ERA. For the season: 9-11, 3.94 ERA. The All-Star break helped Zito as much as any player in baseball. The break appears to have given Zito a new lease in San Francisco and if the Giants were to make the postseason, he may have even pitched himself into the #3 slot. That could see him get a start, maybe even two, depending how big of a run the Giants would make.
The Giants can make a run deep into the playoffs and they will need Zito to keep up his personal run if the Giants have a chance to win the NL Wild Card, maybe even the NL West.
Zito is important to the Giants. He's back, not all the way, but he's getting there.
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