Tim McG

He does his job better than they do theirs. Good point.

Scott Boras is the jerk's jerk. He'll screw a team for as much as he can get and for very little in return. How he gets away with that snow job he puts over on GMs is beyond me.

The real reason why the 49er's suck: Little Boy CEO and his toy. Jed York's mommy and daddy must be very proud.

Let me get this straight: A game the Red Sox won 9-2 was impacted by the non-decision of a third-base coach which resulted in a runner being cut down at the plate? Yeah, you're right, Dan. Momentum and rally killers have nothing at all to do with the outcome of a game. Just numbers and stats. Uh-huh. Absolutely. You win! I remember that cover. It just looks so strange. About all I remember about Reggie's time as an O was reading about how pissed Earl Weaver got a Reggie for stealing 2nd base, thus taking the bat out of the hands of the following hitter (possibly Lee May) who was then intentionally walked. It was my introduction to the "don't steal, don't bunt, hit a 3 run HR instead" philosophy. If I recall right that didn't happen in the above example despite it being set up for that. Earl Weaver was pissed at everyone. Former umpire Ron Luciano did a hilarious take on Weaver's on field antics in The Umpire Strikes Back To wit:

Yup, same here. Cool. Student or teacher?

I dunno. He does have Viagra. And a horde of blonde bimbettes with huge, um...eyes willing to do the Love Cha-Cha** with him. Besides, what's 60 years, give or take? They'll have so much in common! ** see also: Matress Tango Horizontal Hokey-Pokey The Wild Thing Doin' the Nasty Poke in the Whiskers Wham the Ham Pound the Pork Climbing Mount Hef Ridin' Cowboy Bustin' the Bronc I could go on.

I've helpfully highlighted every "________ to (2B, 3B)" play. Show me where "Grich to 3B" appears. It doesn't. OK. Doug DeCinces then. BFD, Dan. Fact is, Moose Stubbing stopped [fill in the blank] at 3B. He got pissed and threw his helmet while barking at Stubbing. Had [fill in the blank] scored the run would have counted. Geez. It's been what, 24 years now? Still wrong. Decinces was never stopped at 3B either. He doubled in front of Grich's home run, and that's all he did. The only play that bears a resemblance to your memory is Pettis to 3B on a double in the seventh, and that was a groundball to CF, with Wilfong somehow credited with a double for "advanced on throw". Grich was involved, but it was in Game 2. Like I said, it's been 24 years and for a team I don't follow. Sue me. Here ya go: Grich vs. Stubing

I think the Rays lowered ticket prices a few years ago, and had free parking for an entire season when Sternberg first took over. And the Yankees, of all clubs, lowered the sky-high prices on those seats around home plate last season. Still super expensive, but they did lower the prices. ... Never say never. Well, let's be honest...the Rays have trouble getting anyone beyond the employees to show up to their games. And nobody I know can afford those over priced seats behind home plate in any ballpark; "discount" or not.

Too bad Alex Smith isn't going with him.

As many times as he wants, apparently.

I'm willing to bet the ranch that the good people who conducted this poll haven't done much research in American microbreweries. Just sayin'...

Winter Break for me: Three weeks of relative bliss

I've helpfully highlighted every "________ to (2B, 3B)" play. Show me where "Grich to 3B" appears. It doesn't. OK. Doug DeCinces then. BFD, Dan. Fact is, Moose Stubbing stopped [fill in the blank] at 3B. He got pissed and threw his helmet while barking at Stubbing. Had [fill in the blank] scored the run would have counted. Geez. It's been what, 24 years now? The point is if Mauch left Witt in, the Angels win that game and the series. BoSox were done going into that game. You know, the "RE-GGIE!" chant got way popular with the Angels, too. No team ever lowers ticket prices once they go up, Dan. You know that.

These are statistics, Dan. Not a "play-by-play". There is no reference to the Grich incident or any other incident during that game. Just stats. Numbers do not tell the whole story. I suggest finding a newspaper article on that Game 5, specifically, from the Orange County Register. Bottom line? The BoSox were done. Period. Leave Witt in and the Angels would have gone on to beat the Mets in the 1986 WS.

He slugged only .408 that season, with 18 homers and 58 RBI. I'd say Grinch, Decinces and a young Wally Joyner had more to do with that team nearly reaching the World Series. As for "idiot managing" I have no clue what you're talking about. Sometimes the most obvious moves just don't work out. Who could predict that Gary Lucas would plunk Rich Gedman? He hadn't hit anyone in over 250 innings covering four seasons. And Donnie Moore? He pulled Mike Witt with a two out, two run lead against Boston in the 9th. Witt was on cruise control. Moore had elbow problems. No. The biggest bonehead manuver in the history of pitching screw-ups came with Urbano Lugo who gave up the lead. An injured Moore gave up the winner in extra innings after the Angels got the lead back. And don't get me started on Moose Stubbing's stop sigh on Grich. I honestly don't know where to begin. But alas, I must. Witt was pulled after he gave up a two-run homer to Don Baylor, which made the score 5-4 Angels. When your guy who was on cruise control gives up a two run homer in the ninth, you've got to go to your pen. Because if he gives up another one, everybody will be screaming, "how could you leave him in after he gave up that blast?!" Mauch can't win in that situation because, should it not work out, everybody will say you should have done what you didn't do. Who the fuck is Urbano Lugo? He threw 22 innings in 1986 and wasn't even on the ALCS roster! Moore blew the lead on Hendu's homer, and then pitched two + more innings and gave up the winning run in the 11th. As for Grich, the only time he reached 3B was when he was trotting home on his sole contribution, a 6th inning home run. Otherwise he was 1-5 on the day with two K's. You can't possibly be dreaming that Rob Wilfong was supposed to score from 1B on a single by Schofield? He ain't Enos Slaughter, and it was Dewey Evans in RF. The Angels were at home. The Red Sox come-back happened in the ninth inning. Please explain to me why, if the "Angels got the lead back," the game wasn't over. You know, home team wins when they take the lead in the ninth inning or later. The reality is that the Angels came back in the ninth but couldn't push across the winning run because Steve Crawford induced a short fly to Dewey Evans and then a soft liner back to him. Thanks for the correction and point well taken. The only problem is Witt was, in fact, on cruise control and needed only one out to finish the BoSox off in Game 5. Mauch went with the percentages, not with the game dynamics and blew it. He leaves Witt in, the BoSox were done. They were beaten early in the ALCS. The momentum was clearly in the Angels' favor...being at home and the fans were just rocking the place. Mauch is the biggest bonehead manager on this or any other planet. Gene Mauch has always been known as the Little General who couldn't win the big one. This game is the reason why: He didn't go with the play on the field. Instead he opted for the statistics and is what makes this an idiot maganement of the Angels' pitching staff. Angels lost and the momentum was gone. They just laid down and died after that game. And Moose Stubbing did stop Grich. He would have easily made it home. You don't remember the helmet throwing incident?

He slugged only .408 that season, with 18 homers and 58 RBI. I'd say Grinch, Decinces and a young Wally Joyner had more to do with that team nearly reaching the World Series. As for "idiot managing" I have no clue what you're talking about. Sometimes the most obvious moves just don't work out. Who could predict that Gary Lucas would plunk Rich Gedman? He hadn't hit anyone in over 250 innings covering four seasons. And Donnie Moore? He pulled Mike Witt with a two out, two run lead against Boston in the 9th. Witt was on cruise control. Moore had elbow problems. No. The biggest bonehead manuver in the history of pitching screw-ups came with Urbano Lugo who gave up the lead. An injured Moore gave up the winner in extra innings after the Angels got the lead back. And don't get me started on Moose Stubbing's stop sigh on Grich. Fast rewind to 1982 when Gene "I can't win the big one" Mauch used a two man rotation to lose to the Brew-ha's. He blew it for Philly, too. Gene Mauch is to managing playoff baseball what a wet firecracker is to a July 4th celebration: A big let down. He's all show, no go. He's right. Giants 23, Cards 16, Yanks 15, Cubs 14, .... http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofstat.shtml Something tells me that 10 years from now the Yankees will probably be pretty close to the Giants in HoFers. However, the Yanks will still have way more WS titles then the Giants. Don't know where Baseball Almanac got their info. Wikipedia lists 18 Yankee players who entered the HoF as Yankees: Yogi Berra, Earl Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Lefy Gomez, Joe Gordon, Goose Goosage, Waite Hoyte, Regggie Jackson, Tony Lazzeri, Mickey Mantle, Herb Pennock, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Jack Chesbro (as a N.Y. Highlander, the team that evolved into the Yankees). Still not as many as the Giants, but more than Almanac gives credit for. Here is another link that is probably more qualified than most : Baseball HOF And that list shows 22 yankees!!!! 17 Cards, but one is Whitey Herzog 25 Giants, with a few manager/exec types thrown in... Look again. Five of those Yankees weren't players.

Well, he did gain the nickname "Mr. October" in NY, but the A's won five AL pennants and two World Series Championships during his tenure. Including his 234 HRs and crazy OBP and SLG numbers in 1969 and 1973. He was also an MVP. Additionally, he played five years with the Angels and but for Gene Mauch's idiot managing, he almost put the team in the 1986 WS.

He's right. Giants 23, Cards 16, Yanks 15, Cubs 14, .... http://www.baseball-...f/hofstat.shtml Something tells me that 10 years from now the Yankees will probably be pretty close to the Giants in HoFers. However, the Yanks will still have way more WS titles then the Giants. Don't know where Baseball Almanac got their info. Wikipedia lists 18 Yankee players who entered the HoF as Yankees: Yogi Berra, Earl Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Lefy Gomez, Joe Gordon, Goose Goosage, Waite Hoyte, Regggie Jackson, Tony Lazzeri, Mickey Mantle, Herb Pennock, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Jack Chesbro (as a N.Y. Highlander, the team that evolved into the Yankees). Still not as many as the Giants, but more than Almanac gives credit for. I never understood how Reggie Jackson gets called a Yankee on the basis of five years with NY out of a twenty-one year career.... Exactly. He spent 9 years with the KC/Oakland A's then finished with the A's. Go figure. He's right. Giants 23, Cards 16, Yanks 15, Cubs 14, .... http://www.baseball-...f/hofstat.shtml Something tells me that 10 years from now the Yankees will probably be pretty close to the Giants in HoFers. However, the Yanks will still have way more WS titles then the Giants. Don't know where Baseball Almanac got their info. Wikipedia lists 18 Yankee players who entered the HoF as Yankees: Yogi Berra, Earl Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Lefy Gomez, Joe Gordon, Goose Goosage, Waite Hoyte, Regggie Jackson, Tony Lazzeri, Mickey Mantle, Herb Pennock, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Jack Chesbro (as a N.Y. Highlander, the team that evolved into the Yankees). Still not as many as the Giants, but more than Almanac gives credit for. I never understood how Reggie Jackson gets called a Yankee on the basis of five years with NY out of a twenty-one year career.... At that point in time, the Hall let players choose what team's hat they wanted to be inducted under. Reggie chose the Yankees. Later, when Dave Winfield chose to be inducted as a Padre - probably because he worked for the Padre organization after he retired, even though he played more years and put up higher numbers with the Yankees - the HoF decided that they would decide what team a player would be inducted as a member of. To me, the whole thing is foolish. The player is inducted, not the team. Catfish Hunter, for example, couldn't decide whether he wanted to be inducted as an A or as a Yankee, so he was inducted without an insignia on his cap. I think that should be the way it's handled in all cases, especially today with free agency. Personally, I think the HOF player should be linked to the team for which he played the most years. Nobody would ever be foolish enough to say Willie Mays should be remembered as a NY Met, but that is the team he ended his career with as a player.

He's right. Giants 23, Cards 16, Yanks 15, Cubs 14, .... http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofstat.shtml Something tells me that 10 years from now the Yankees will probably be pretty close to the Giants in HoFers. However, the Yanks will still have way more WS titles then the Giants. Don't know where Baseball Almanac got their info. Wikipedia lists 18 Yankee players who entered the HoF as Yankees: Yogi Berra, Earl Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Lefy Gomez, Joe Gordon, Goose Goosage, Waite Hoyte, Regggie Jackson, Tony Lazzeri, Mickey Mantle, Herb Pennock, Phil Rizzuto, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Jack Chesbro (as a N.Y. Highlander, the team that evolved into the Yankees). Still not as many as the Giants, but more than Almanac gives credit for. Here is another link that is probably more qualified than most : Baseball HOF

I can't help it if he Yankees used their wins more effectively than the Giants. True dat. At any rate, you won't get any complaints from me about the Giants winning only 6 WS Championships in a NL record 19 tries. Boycotting in 1904 against the Boston Braves [because the owner thought the game wouldn't be competitive] kept the team from winning 7 WS Championships. The Giants do, however, have more Hall of Famers than any team in the league...even more than the Yankees

And a very Merry Christmas to all here on Organissimo!

I'm going to call and raise. The Giants all-time W-L record between 1883-2010 is 10436-8958, a .534 winning percentage. That's a whole .034 worse than the Yankees. I'll see your raise and raise you again. All that proves is, in the history of the game, the NL [the Senior Circuit] is a far more competitive league than it's weaker AL counterpart. The NL West in recent years has been the provider of the WC and WS participants/winners. Bottom line? The Yankees (27) have the WS Championships, the Giants (6) do not.

While I generally agree with your sentiment that they've had a whole lot winning and not much experience with losing they did have a 4 year patch from '89 to '92 where they played losing baseball. Perhaps what sums it up best is 1990 when Andy Hawkins pitched a no-hitter for them and they lost. The '90 team lost 95 games and Steve Balboni was the DH. Oscar Azocar was given an OF job. They had high hopes for Roberto Kelly and Kevin Maas leading the way along with a broken down Mattingly. The starting rotation included Dave LaPoint. Had Tim Leary been Timothy at least the fans could have dosed themselves for the season and enjoyed the pretty colors rather than have to watch that team. Boy, I've probably planted the seeds of nightmares tonight for our organissimo Yankee fans. Sorry 'bout that guys. Thanks for the correction. However, four years is not a big deal compared to the winning history of this team, IMHO. Hard to shed tears for a team with the successes they have had.

I agree. However, it has been my experience that Yankees fans really don't know or fully appreciate the concept of "losing" at all. A 2nd or 3rd place finish is the worst I have seen out of this ballclub in decades. I can't even remember the last time the Yankees have had a sub-.500 record. Please correct me if I am wrong. TBH, being a fan is just fine with me, but to bemoan a lack of action in the off season is, quite frankly, more than just a little [and I mean no offense here] off-putting to this long suffering Giants fan. 27 WS Championships hold no reasons to complain...about anything, my friend. Just my two cents.

Rainy and wet up my way, too.