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Open Thread: Spring Training Game 33 - A's at Giants

I have to admit to a disturbing dislike for the Giants.  I can say it came from my father, but that's too easy.  I mean, I'm kind of all grown up now and can make my own choices, right?  Um, right?

Look, it's not like the Giants are in the same league as the A's (both literally and figuratively speaking).  In fifty-one seasons since leaving New York for greener pastures, they are 0-for-San Francisco in the championship department.  In fact, if you ever want to leave an usher at AT&T Park scratching his/her head, ask them the whereabouts of the team's World Series trophy room.

But seriously, I've tried really hard to figure out where this disdain for all things black and orange comes from.  And you know what it is?  It's their fans, man.  At least the ones that end up sitting near me.  I guess I attract smug.  Who knew? 

There was the lady one row behind me at the '89 Series mocking Carney Lansford when he'd come to the plate.  "Carney Warney, Carney Warney", she'd sing in that irritating voice.  OK, she was like seven years old; does that really matter?

Or how about the guys yelling "Crosby sucks" every time the shortstop batted during a game in 2004?  So what if they were right?

Then there was the lady (for real this time) ringing her cowbell in my face, and then after the Giants took an extra-innings lead in a 2006 contest, she raised her hand expecting me to high-five her.  When I refused, she said, "Aw, what's the matter?  No love, A's fan?"  If she wasn't in that wheelchair, I might have pushed her with more force.  Just saying.

In May of 2007, as the Giants were avoiding a third consecutive loss at the Coliseum, a young woman (who would have actually been cute if her allegiances were for the right team) walked up and down my aisle "apologizing" to A's fans that there would be "no sweep".  I still don't know how that soda ended up on her shoes.

And finally last year.  Somehow I escaped having any obnoxious fans sit in my section.  No, this time they waited.  As I walked through the parking lot, a young boy- no older than nine- sitting safely in the back of Daddy's truck yelled out to me, "How'd you like that beating in your own house?"  I was so disappointed in my niece for allowing me to go after the kid.  Well, I say "allow".  She actually walked as far away from me as possible.  I don't know; I guess I embarrassed her or something.

So when UnleashTheGore asked innocently enough, "Suggestions for a visitor?" I so wanted to answer, "Yes.  Don't sit anywhere near me."

And so it goes.

But enough about my issues.  There is a game tonight.  And though it may not count in the standings, we do love our bragging rights, que no?  Well, in that case I'll go ahead and mention that the A's are 13-3-1 in the last seventeen meaningless battles against their Bay Area brethren. 

If you are a fan of pitching, the hosts are sending their Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum, to the mound.  For the good guys, it's Trevor Cahill.  Also scheduled to  throw for the A's are Jerry Blevins, Gio Gonzalez, and Brad Ziegler.

Gameday link thingy.

Lineups - thanks vegAN ryAN!

Oakland
Sweeney, R, CF
Cabrera, SS
Giambi, 1B
Holliday, LF
Chavez, 3B
Cust, RF
Suzuki, C
Ellis, 2B
Cahill, P

San Francisco
Winn, RF
Renteria, SS
Lewis, LF
Molina, B, C
Sandoval, P, 3B
Ishikawa, 1B
Rowand, CF
Burriss, 2B
Lincecum, P

0 recs  |  417 comments

Comments

A+ for the Vonnegut reference.
And a solid Freud-minus for two consecutive posts

that responded to his request, “Tell me about your fah-zer.”

Hmmm I thought Gio was hurt?

Just too hurt to start the season in the rotation, I presume?

Ditto.

I thought the same thing. What gives? Gio no-a starter?

I would take Gio over Outman if both are healthy, that's for sure.
If he is scheduled to pitch today...

I’m going to assume that his injury prevented him from getting enough innings to be relied on to start. And I don’t know about Gio over Outman. At this point, I would say that they’re not far apart from each other. Outman won’t be much better than he is now, but he is there now and he’ll be consistently passable, while Gio’s still too inconsistent.

We’ll see.

Gio has shown flashes of goodness at the MLB level

Despite his high ERA last year, his K rate was still over 9 per. Also, Gio generally does better when he repeats a level. And finally, he is just a really nice guy! Could there be a better reason than that?? I think not.

Lineups

Oakland
Sweeney, R, CF
Cabrera, SS
Giambi, 1B
Holliday, LF
Chavez, 3B
Cust, RF
Suzuki, C
Ellis, 2B
Cahill, P

San Francisco
Winn, RF
Renteria, SS
Lewis, LF
Molina, B, C
Sandoval, P, 3B
Ishikawa, 1B
Rowand, CF
Burriss, 2B
Lincecum, P

Ok this is the A's lineup I suggested

For opening day and I got shot down so fast

We will have a DH on opening day

which may change things considerably.

Cust out of RF, hopefully
And Buck in

But I don’t know if he gets automatically slotted in the 9 hole.

Well, you were probably wrong then

and you are still wrong now right along with Geren

It looks very strange, but you want high OBP players near or at the top of your lineup

Sweeney and Cabrera are both not that kind of player.

Oakland’s lineup by the book

True

But they have been knocking pretty well so far in ST.

Anyone know how Lincecum stuff has been this spring?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Tim Lincecum made a confession Saturday that might cause the teensiest bit of concern with one practice start left. After throwing 92 pitches over five innings in a Triple-A Game, Lincecum said his rhythm has been off this spring, resulting in a lack of command.

This article was posted on the 29th.

his rhythm looked fine in the first inining

that was embarassing, 9 pitches.

A's fans have a little more style to their obnoxiouty, imho

like the time I was at the phone booth a couple years back and these four young drunks in full A’s regalia sat right in front of me. They each had a copy of Game of Shadows and each time Bonds was announced (and many other times when the crowd was sufficiently quiet) they would stand up in unison and ominously repeat the title “Game of Shadows” – whilst holding their books in the air. They didn’t get thrown out, but pushed it about as far as possible. Laughed until I cried at those antics.

Those guys are my new heroes
Hmm, Sharks are on CSN right now...

Is it the same for everyone? Are they planning on switching over, or am I out of luck?

This game is not on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. This game is on Comcast SportsNet California.

Oh, great. I didn't know there was a difference.

Now I’m really disappointed.

Oh well, thanks for the clarification.

You're welcome, 67M!

Go home.

Giants fan, right in your thread.

The A’s are my #2 team. Who else is going to please me by beating the Angels?

Me!
You call it your "Angel"?

Weird.

some sort of euphemism I’ve never heard of?

Be alot easier w/ K-Rod gone now too! ;)

hopefully you guys will be facing them when Fuentes has his annual two week long implosion.

I continued to be nothing short of stunned

at how bad the reception is on 860-AM. I just can’t believe this is a 50,000 watt station.

yeah

I gave up already and just stream it.

It never gets old!

50 years. 50 YEARS! and they have not one a single title. Bringing this fact up to Giants fans never, ever, ever, ever gets old. Sadly when I mention 4 titles and 0 titles to people who don’t know anything about sports and they are shocked. Public perception is that the SF Giants have one a few.

Mccovey just needed to hit it a little higher.

FAIL, Willie Mac edition

Game in on MLB network here in New York
Game is on MLB network in Los Angeles
Game not on anything here in Oakland

- I don’t have cable
- Slingbox at Mom’s house doesn’t work for CSNCA 89.
- MLB.tv has asinine blackout rules.
- Despite Zonis’s efforts, I have not been able to get proxies to work with any regularity.

Glad you out-of-staters are happy, though.

Proxys do work.

but sometimes it takes forever to find a good one that works.

Although, it looks like MLB.tv is streaming at the moment for me

despite the blackout rules.

might be because its preseason
lol if you don't want your MLB TV account

gimme gimme gimme

Especially when I get to Australia, I’ll need to get one =/

Slingbox won’t help as much when the games are going to be at weird hours.

Actually, email me.

I’m moving to a farm in May, and won’t be able to use it.

I'm excited

Even though it’s only exhibition, the chance to watch Cahill pitch has got me pretty pumped. I don’t know how he’s going to do this season, but I want to see that sinker dive.

Also, it’s awesome to be back in the bay for baseball season.

Yeah, hope the kid does well
So what have I missed?
Is anyone getting the game?
It sure has been an exciting 5 minutes

of commercials so far. But it’s starting now. W00t!

Watching on channel 89 right now

Timmy just took the mound

Woohoo!

Game just came on!

I like you guys

Mostly.

But you can keep your superior team. Elitists.

Yeah,

hopefully.

Your pitching is probably better

If Sandoval can continue posting a .400 BABIP, there might even be some offense this year.

FINALLY getting the game

I was worried because it was showing that making the channel thingy.

Also because, for some reason, my Slingbox kept showing the Art/Foreign Education channel. Got my mom to restart the DTA box back home, and it popped up back to CSNCA.

HOLY MOTHER.

BASEBALL. RYAN SWEENEY. MATT CHRISTMAS!!

Lincy made him look silly. :-(
Cant get the link to work

@ the p2p site.
tvants?

Lincecum looks much better with the high socks
Well good luck guys

Catch ya tomorrow

Wow

Lincecum just owned Ryan Sweeney

Damn... Ryan K's
Sweeney goes down on 3 pitches

That was hardly fair.

Strike Out, Weak Grounder to Second

yeah, this is the A’s offense of old.

I don't suppose the the pitcher has anything to do with it
Lincecum looks better with the longer hair...

If you guys were wondering how to get the game, there’s a helpful link in the “watching the A’s on TV” post. It’s how I’m watching it now.

Giambi's just taken two strikes down the middle
then K's on the change
Gameday is 2 batters quicker than mlb audio...
That's a change
right.

I’m happy there both working for once.

Jesus that was quick...
Lincecum's not bad
Giambi strikes on three?

Lincecum is just making the A’s look like little leaguers.

Those first two outs were might quick
Lincecum is just that filthy

Those three hitters had no chance.

Lucky Brewers drew him for opening day
Come on A's

GET SMART!!!!

Love that show. ;)

Am I the only one watching the game?

Are the rest of you watching ER or something?

I'm interloping

but to prove I’m watching it – the inside of the strike zone is generous

No more Lincecum

Can we try a different pitcher?

Let's get some hot Zito action up in this game.
Zito is the pizza delivery guy

and pool boy of hot hitting action all rolled up in one.

Zito with yellow corduroy short shorts?

Whoever pitches next, I think Holliday should call for medium-high bouncies.
I'm not even in the damn State, I don't even have MLB TV, and its 9:22 here...

so why am I the only A’s fan in here!!!!

And people ask why the A’s need a new stadium in San Jose…. =/

Stupid AN...

Open Thread stalled on me and stopped refreshing any comments…

Do you have mlb network?
Game is on DTV 698 Whoo Hoo

Is this a permanent resolution to the Comcast vs DTV/Dish TV pissing contest on just a one time thing because the Giants are the opponent?

first 25 games are free to Sat companies
Thanks for the reply

Wish you had better news to report…

Let's go, K-Hill

Or pop out Hill, I’ll take it.

Anyone else think that Cahill looks like a Mad Scientist in his Gameday pic?
Is he keeping #76?
Fosse says no

Vuc is getting him a new number for opening day.

Nomar will wear #1 this year, last worn by Billy Martin

No comment yet from the clubhouse urinal.

Wow, being the first time I've seen Cahill

I definitely wasn’t expecting a sinker like that, even after everything I’ve heard about it.

So does this CSN California thing mean...

That A’s games will no longer be on CSN BA?

That would really suck for this Reno fan…

hhmm

check here

I guess that's a sorry you're screwed...

Well son of a goat, I’m going to have a pretty big problem with being excited this year. I knew about the new tv deal, but I didn’t register that CSN Ca and CSN Ba were really different. Wonder if there’s a way to get Charter out here to pick that channel up.

Big number

Is Cahill going to where 76 this year?

Where will he wear it?
Holy Crap

Edgar Renteria… walked?

Memo to Renteria

Swing at that pitch, mofo

ungh....

Single, Edgar goes to 3rd somehow

Highly suspicious bounce on that single

I suspect the Giants groundskeepers of skullduggery.

Sweeney too deep?

I didn’t see, but that was a problem last year.

Nah, it bounced in front of pitcher's mound and took a wicked hop
Cahill's gettin rox'd
ehh, it was a good pitch

with a little luck that’s a gidp

SB

2nd and 3rd

I just realized

Fred Lewis is the Giants #3 hitter…

How the hell are we losing this game?

Game over
Giving up already?
Cahill is

runs that is…

That seals it

ElQuesoCapitan is actually 67MARQUEZ’s dad

I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS SO OLD.

:(

67MARQUEZ is Cheese Jr?

Does Cahill always throw this many Fastballs right outta the gate?
Molina with an infield single

Wait.. what?

How big is this infield?
Off Chavez's glove -- diving stop
WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIE!

Groundballs GOOD

Seeing eye singles BAD

Not bad

That change-up has some filthy tail on it

Yeah, there's no problem with his stuff
He really DOES swing at everything

Will this be the second coming of Francour?

Why would u throw anything near the zone to him?
Because you've pitched 6 games or so above A ball in your life
4-0 Gnats
Not the pitch you want with two strikes

In the wheelhouse of a lefty

should have thrown it a foot outside.
Do not throw this guy a strike

FAIL

I think the wind confused Cust

I’m giving him the benefit of a doubt.

I think Cust confused the wind.
elemental powers!
Jack's a wizard now?
cant you see the pointy hat and robe?
His pointy hat controls the wind.

His robe controls his BA.

Sort of the the "Dona, Dona" effect

“How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh and laugh the whole day through
And half the summers night.”

hey, it was off the wall

otherwise, Cust was under it.

I can verify

It has been crazy windy here this evening.

wind was blowing out either way
I hate it when it is really windy
3-0 Gnats

RBI Groundout….

Come on Ellis… Arm Injury or No, you can throw out Molina at the plate.

Do you want Unicorn to get injured in an exhibition game?
I think in a real game he takes a shot at Molina

Here, it’s better just to get the out.

CSNCA's picture is not very good
obviously it is not in HD yet
Yeah, but even their standard picture looks pretty poor, at least on the overhead shots.

About as bad as 36 was.

Alright Chavy!
Crap 30 pitches so far...
I'm not impressed by Cahill so far

I hope Brett Anderson is better (Keith Law thinks he will be)

I wouldn't be impressed by anyone who gave up three runs in one inning
Chavy (barely) got the ball to first in the fly in time!

Good News

Chavy's Back!!!

Nice play at third. Way to pick up the kid.

Vintage Chavey
Except his arm strength still doesn't look that great
Im just happy to see him in a jersey!
Amen, brother!
WOW

I havne’t seen Chavy make a play like that in like 4 years. Sweet.

Chavvy!!

And his arm is still attached!

Earth Qukes... Long History....

The Quakes history can be counted in Months.

There was a SJ Earthquakes franchise in the NASL back in the 1970s
Really one bad pitch

How you throw an 0-2 fastball for a strike to a free-swinger who has just waved at three straight knuckle-curves a foot off the plate is beyond me, but the two singles were “DP balls” hit in the wrong place.

You should probably include ball 4 to Renteria
I don't know

It was pretty close and Renteria almost went for it. He’s normally a pretty free swing, I would expect to see him strike out on that pitch more often than not.

It was a pitch you'd expect a hitter to swing at

Welcome to the big leagues. Cahill basically needs to find that spot at the knees. He can’t live below the knees against major leaguers, but he can pitch to contact all day long at the knees.

I think they were circle changes
He was trying to jam him, I think, and got too much of the plate

He’s a rookie with very little experience at AA or AAA. That’s how he’s going to pitch.

Cahill 1IP, 3H, 3ER, 1B
and a double
Question

Have the Giants brought back live organ music? I noticed during that half inning that there was organ music between just about every pitch; if all the sound effects were pre-recorded I’d think you would hear some other sounds (clap-clap, clap-clap-clap, etc).

Hurrah

Holliday!

it seems like all Holiiday hits is singles

Once the season starts, they’ll be more than just singles.

They'll be dingles!
Not according to his career stats
I guess he is waiting to bust out the power during the season

no point in wasting homers in an exhibtion game

I guess I'll just have to forget the July 4 game last year

Two HRs, one was a slam.

40% of his career hits are for extra bases
so you're saying 60% are singles?

I know it’s only Spring, I was just making an observation.

Yep

But I think 40% of all hits going for extra bases is a pretty good ratio.

It is great to see Chavy up there
It'd be even better to see him get it out of the infield
or past the pitcher.

Ha, there’s someone there with an Angels jersey and cap.

KEEL HEEM!
He must be trying to annoy both fanbases
As if they both don't annoy each other enough already.
Great way to unify the bay area

Death to the slegnA!

this

slegnA should DIAF.

And to our Giant friends, the Doogers
Ahahahah. The Doogers.
Well, Cust didn't K...
3-0 Gnats after 1
Nice crack to it at least.
well, Kurt tried
Just like Momma
Lincecum winding up with a runner at 3rd
Holliday stranded @ third
2009 Oakland LOB's
Not a bad poke by Suzuki

Even though it was caught.

Todays game is the first time I have seen Cahill pitch

I thought he had better stuff than he does

He does
I sure hope so
Maybe he's saving his bullets for when it

actually counts.

just like Holliday?
It looks pretty nasty to me
I thought his stuff has looked pretty good

The fast ball is sinking and he threw a couple of nasty change-ups to Sandoval. I haven’t seen much of the curve yet.

His sinker is good, I though he threw harder
I've always heard he sits around 88-91 with the FB

That’s about where he’s been today.

Ok

For some reason I was thinking he was like Halliday

Best thing about CSNCA

no more Giants comercials

Don't know how much empirical evidence there is of it

But you always hear about sinkerballers usually take an inning or so to settle in. Everytime I’ve ever seen Webb or Wang or Fausto pitch, I’m always bombarded with announcers saying, “Get to him early before he gets a feel for his sinker.”

Wonder how Cahill will look the rest of the way.

Where are all the funny A's commercials for 2009?
Who're the extra pitchers still on the roster in case a starter gets pulled early?
Threads hoppin 200+ in the 3rd inning nice !
Definitely ready for some rea baseball!
I don't know how you gamethread people do it.

I cannot read the comments here AND watch the game.

And I can't post, clearly.

Laptops are an amazing tool of the future!

Look what I found!
Looks pretty unruffled by it
nice catch bu K-Hill
Dear Gnats: do not kill our pitchers. Thank you.
Or we will throw at your best player

Who just happens to be batting now

I wonder if Cahill can throw a pitch straight enough to hit a batter deliberately
Wow, Lincecum looks ridiculous at the plate.
Sandoval sure likes that low and inside pitch
That's OK Timmy, they're not paying you to hit
Lincecum = K-Hill bait
Conversely

I predict K-Hill will be Lincecum bait.

Where can we find a team filled with NL pitchers?
I like your thinking
Wow Cust is slow
He knew it was going foul
Cahill hasn't thrown inside yet. They're leaning out over the plate.
"Hit it where they ain't...

…and, failing that, hit it where Cust is."

cue catch by Cust :-)

can of corn though

Cahill has terrible control

It’s definitely erratic.

He's 21 and has never pitched in the majors...
That's not an excuse anymore
It's not an excuse, it's a fact

Young pitchers struggle. Get used to it.

Nah. Let's draw and quarter him.
its pretty clear you're not his biggest fan :(
He is being rushed I don't want to see his confidence destroyed
I doubt a start or two where he's missing the plate is going to hurt him
It only hurts me.

He’s not doing that bad. A bunch of grounders and a wind blown giant pop fly.

or lots of movement on his pitches?

I’m sure someone has a graph somewhere to verify which is true ;-)

He certainly has that
Cust caught it!

Praise de Lawd!

Cust almost looks like a real outfielder
In that he has a glove, hat and stands in the outfield?
He caught that ball without staggering even a little
I pictured a cust wearing nothing but a glove and a hat

standing in the outfield.

WHY

mind burning...
I must share this travesty with the world.

Time to spread the plague, brb.

He was confused by the wind
It kept crying "mary"
Good bounceback inning for K-Hill
New worst audio ad ever.

That miller draft beer song. Holy crap.

Worse outfielder: Jack Cust or Adam Dunn?
Jack Dunn
Lol Dunn is a better hitter
Well, we'll get to see how bad Abreu is
Jason Kendall.
I'm glad the A's don't have to face the franchise very often

I’m jealous

He has filthy filthy stuff
He's CGI
And he doesn't listen to that.
he should put a towel on

Do you mean the Giants?

Lincecum.

oh, that's how you spell it :-)

Lincecum’s nickname is The Franchise.

nope, I can't spell his last name

his nickname is “The Franchise”

Lol, the A's gave K-Hill 'no swing' orders

That’s what it looked like anyway.

They don't let any pitchers swing
Its pretty lame.
Better "it" than the pitchers!
Definitely

You could tell that bat was not allowed to leave his shoulder.

He should have flailed his arms and hoped for a

DINGER

Cahill just looked like a bat boy walking back to the dugout
K-hill K'd

The bad way.

At least we get to see Giambi hit again soon
I hate Pedroia
What did he do now?
PS3 baseball commercial

That game is sick. It’s too bad that I’m bad at it, though.

You're no Dustin Pedroia

Trouble with the high inside fastball?

No, he’s 4’3".

That's about belt high for me, then

I have trouble with a lot of things since I play on legend difficulty.

I hate him more every time I see that ad
Sweeney tried to kill Snaggletooth.
"Get deep into debt and we'll give you 4 A's tickets"

wow… the Banking Industry really DOES need a bailout if thats all their willing to give ya in exchange for you being in debt for 30 years.

It's not that they need a bailout

It’s that they learned nothing except they can take big risks and their patrons in Congress and White House will bail them out every time. But you do have to admire their chutzpah.

Is K Hill just throwing fastballs tonight

i havent seen many curves, a couple changeups ive seen

I think he is throwing some sliders in there too
Molina has some curves

or, at least, some lumps.

"Man lumps"?
That is sandovall or however you spell it
M-A-N L-U-M-P-S
Nice quick out.
Cahill has it cookin right now
Nice to see he's calming down.
You sound reassured
He looks pretty tough to me.

Although not as much as Lincecum.

Its a pretty unfair comparison IMHO
Because Lincecum's really awesome?
He's got exp.
EXP points?
GUYS THIS IS THE ANSWER

WE NEED TO LEVEL UP K-HILL SOME MORE

and yeah- I wish he was ours.
Quick inning- might make 6 innings @ this rate
25 pitches the past two innings
This game's outcome doesn't matter

so I’m kinda glad that Cahill is learning that he can get his command back after a bad inning.

Zonis, I know you said that the best thing about this new channel was that there’s no more Giants commercials, but now we have to put up with Kings commercials and they’re even worse in my opinion.

At least the Warriors beat the Kings last night

It’s sad that I get excited about beating the Kings. In overtime.

Randolph had 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of action.

Gotta love AR when he's playing well
Giambi powers a hit

OK, it was a weak flare off the fists, but it’s a hit nonetheless

Insert lack of steroids Giambi joke.
My DVR just threw me out, now listening to Vince

See that Angel fan in the seats, what a douche. How can you be friends with an Angel fan?

Maybe it's like a big brother program -- "Mentor a douchenozzle"
Giambi Strickout...
Chavy!

You’re back!

DEEP

CHAVY!…> HOME! RUN!

Home Run Jason!!!!1
Eric changed his name this off season?
Wow to dead center at night
Oops...Chavy
Attaboy Chavey!!!
LET'S GO CHAVVY!!!
That was great to see! Go Chavvy!
Just like old times: Chavey and Giambi team up
love that crowd sound!
yay, booo, yayyy
Cust wants a followup
he smoked that
They need to show it 10 more times

I’ll dig it every time.

Part of me is thinking, OH SNAP WHY?!
And a tiny part of me is thinking, YAY CHAVVY!

is it me...

or does lincecum look anorexic

Didn’t he just have some malady?

If he goes near mah lady

I’m kicking his ass.

A custian strickout
Cust K's

Nice form by Lincecum

NEW THREAD OPEN

no link. It’s on the front page somewhere..

Brb, exerting effort. :(
Big hit for Eric, "we" need him to do that many more times...
is the ktrb online streaming working for this game?

it’s not working for me

It’s pretty quiet ’round these parts.

Well, let’s see how Gio Gonzalez does.

Nice, Garciaparra singled in a run after hitting for Cust.

Hinshaw is done after just one batter.

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