Matthew

Lincecum looked terrible, 3.2 innings, 6 earned runs -- yikes! The Giants cannot win without an effective Lincecum, and he just looks lost on the mound right now.

Happy Birthday!

Congratulations Dan, I hope it works out well for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CYjcQSUXg&feature=related

Did you see Willie McCovey play as both a Giant and a Padre? (He was with San Diego for what, two seasons or so in the early/mid 1970s?) Yeah, it feels like I've seen McCovey hit about 5,000 home runs over his career -- they were beautiful shots though, had this nice arc to them that made his home runs something to see. I can't tell you how many games I went to in the 70s, but it was a lot.

Interesting series this weekend between the Giants / Padres. Both teams are playing well right now, with the Padre pitching staff continuing to be amazing. It might be a small exaggeration, but the Lincecum start on Sunday might be one of the most important starts of his young career. TL is not having a great year, looks very vulnerable against good teams, and it seems like he just doesn't have his usual stuff this year. Mike Krukow, the Giants announcer, thinks that Lincecum has lost control of his fastball location, and is just getting buy on his curve and change-up. Whatever you think about it, the Giants need Lincecum to come on strong in these last two months of the season. The weekend is like reliving my past, I cannot tell you how many Padre / Gaints games I watched at the 'Murph growing up in San Diego.

I've been in the Bay Area this week, so I watched all the Giants games, and they were able to take 3 of 4 from the Cubs. Giants look good, however, Tim Lincecum does not look good, not at all. People calling in to KNBR were having meltdowns all the next day. Probably not as bad as they think, but it is a cause concern if you're a Giants fan. Pat Burrell and the Panda are hitting a ton right now, so the offense is looking a lot better. I'm still sticking with the Giants making the World Series.

Completely agree. For me, he comes off as a holier-than-thou-I'm-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-blow-hard. Everyone knows that the Enron guys were the smartest people in the room! LaRussa completely lost me with his "I never knew McGwire was on steroids in Oakland" bs over the winter. Tell me another fairy tale....

Completely agree. For me, he comes off as a holier-than-thou-I'm-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-blow-hard.

What a joke, the Mariners fire their manager, Don Wakamatsu, and the entire coaching staff. Yeah, that was the problem. Zduriencik needs to look in the mirror, he's the one who put this team together with no offense; he's the one who kissed Griffey's ass all year; he's the one who kissed Figgins ass all year, and never backed Wak up in the least; he's the one who brought in that worthless player Bradley. It was probably the dust-up Wakamatsu had with Figgy that sealed his fate as manager of this team. With all the money the ownership has, and they are one of the wealthiest clubs in MLB, this is the best they can do? And please Lord, do not let Zduriencik even think about bringing back Lou Piniella, he is the most useless manager in baseball. I think Z's "genius" tag has been tarnished, just a bit! edit: For spelling

...and I still think that Beckett is not as effective as he was, I can never figure him out.

Joe West is right about these Yankee / Red Sox games: If you're not a fan of either team, they're boring and way too long.

Baseball is a sickness, I'm actually watching the Kansas City Royal / Seattle Mariner game....

Now I've seen everything.....

Waiting For The Sun: A Rock And Roll History Of Los Angeles by Barney Hoskyns. Spent a lot of time on planes this week, so I read this LA history. I found that this was not a very insightful book, and Hoskyns does not even understand the culture he is critiquing. A glaring example of this is his treatment of "Surf Music," which he cannot mention with adding adjectives like Aryan, Nazi, or racist. I have yet to read a good treatment of Los Angeles or the whole surf music phenomenon from someone who did not grow up in SoCal.

Well, praise to the heavens, our long national nightmare is over: Not only did ARod hit 600, but Al Haynesworth passed his fitness test! Yikes, are the Mariners ever awful to watch now -- pathetic.

See where ARod isn't in the starting lineup today. Hmmmmmmmmm.....

Disk two this morning. As I mentioned, sound is much better than I expected. It's kind of hypnotic, one Bird solo after another.

*Sigh* The way Miles treated women is not a stellar chapter in his biography. Anyway, thanks for the nice article on Southern.

So...how'd the game turn out??? How about this one for tonight? This Garza looks terrible warming up, won't last an inning.

You would have to talk Bud Selig off the ledge with a Texas or Tampa Bay vs. San Diego World Series....

Um--did you happen to watch the 2009 postseason, by any chance? Against the Twins Against the Angels Against the Phillies Two good things for NY tonight--Hughes pitched really well, outside of the homer given up to Joyce, and Joba pitched like a demon. Tough one to lose, though. If the Phillies would have kept Lee and faced the Yanks again in the WS, the Phillies would have home field advantage and two pitchers that KILL the Yanks available to pitch 4-5 games of a 7 game series. Yep. That's pretty much what I've been saying since the day that boob traded Lee for 3 toilet flushes. THIS JUST IN: Phillies fans are now as obnoxious as Red Sox and Yankee fans! :lol: Whatever one thinks of fans of various teams, they're all trumped in obnoxiousness by Yankee haters--quite easily. Ghosty, I don't hate the Yankees, I despise them. I'll try to keep my Yankee hatred a little more in control...

Way to come up clutch ARod -- loser

I want the Rays to take three so bad this weekend.....

Not impressed with this Davis guy pitching against the Yankees -- he'll be gone by the fourth.