Giants worst nightmare?

How about Buster Posey signing with another team when he's eligible for free agency? I know, it may be a long shot, but the photo below made me gasp. FYI ... it's a photo of Buster when he played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the prestigious Cape Cod League as an amateur while attending Florida State.

Buster with the Y-D Red Sox, Cape Cod League

Remember when ...

the Giants played at Candlestick Park? I'm sure most of you remember when the Gmen played at the 'Stick, my first game was around 1978, and I remember always driving past the yard on 101 North whenever the family was heading into the city. I thought it was beautiful, even though most hated the sight of seeing it. Yes, the 'Stick certainly had flaws, too many to list actually, but I didn't care I still loved the 'Stick anyways. I even remember going to a night game vs. the Montreal Expos where the announced crowd was about 5,000+.

Anyways, I came across some old photos of the 'Stick before and after it was built, and thought they were kinda cool looking. Check them out for yourselves.

Looking north on the 101

Future site of the 'Stick

'Stick when it had an open outfield

The 'Stick before ground breaking

The 'Stick

The 'Stick

The 'Stick before development

FREAK SEASON — MEET SF GIANTS PHOTOGRAPHER AND WRITER

Where/When: Books Inc. 1344 Park St, Alameda. Sunday, 3 p.m.  to 5 p.m.
Why Go: If you're a Giants fan, you won't want to miss this event. Photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice and writer Joan Ryan, both award winners, will talk about their experience documenting the San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum's huge winning season.

Lincecum - is it time for him to cut his hair?

Slow news day for the SF Giants, so I beg the question, is it time for Timmy to cut his hair? I'm thinking Timmy grew out his hair because so many folks thought he looked like a little kid, but to be honest, I think the long hair looks lame. Thoughts?

Timmy with short hair

Timmy with long hair

Timmy (left) with short hair

Timmy with long hair again

Timmy kinda reminds me of Shaggy

LA newspaper picking up on SF effort to fly banner planes

Some of you may not know this, but there is an effort by various SF Giants fans to boast our World Championship to our arch-rival on Opening Day in Los Angeles on March 31. I know of at least three different efforts being organized for the March 31 opener, and apparently the LA Times is running with this story too.


http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-0215-dodgers-giants-20110215,0,1754462.story


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dodgers/2011/02/giants-fans-want-to-make-it-a-banner-day-over-dodger-stadium-on-opening-day.html

The Machine has officially been identified

Yeah, big secret huh? Well now we have some proof. The fine folks over at Barstool Sports NY, recently received some photos of Pat the Bat in full costume with some bikini clad chicks, and another photo of him posing with those same bikini clad chicks. Apparently the photo was taken at Barry Zito's casa up in Marin somewhere. I guess The Machine also likes to drink Pacifico beer, and have a few smokes too.

Also, doesn't Pat look like Ray Liotta from Goodfellas? Especially in this pic with those white retro (ball huggers) shorts and shades. I'm expecting to see a stash of cocaine on table in that backyard somewhere.

Disclaimer: notice the hot chicks in the pics. For you female fans that want Pat the Bat, that is the standard ... if you're not better looking than these chicks keep dreaming. As Brian Wilson would say, "fact!"

SF Giants 2011 Projections

With Spring Training just around the corner, it's time for the 2011 projections. The data below was furnished by CBS Sports, and I took the liberty to list the position players, starters, and bullpen. It should be no surprise that we'll have no uber sluggers on the team, but the forecast is for Posey to carry the offensive load and leading the team in runs batted in and batting average. It appears that Pablo will have minor bounce-back year, but still shy of his 2009 stats. The one surprise has to be Pat Burrell, not sure how he's going to achieve those numbers with limited starts and being pulled out of the game for defensive purposes.

The starting pitching looks pretty much like I envisioned, with Zito carrying the back end of the rotation, and the bullpen looks pretty solid.

Aubrey Huff: 23 HR, 80 RBI, .276 BA, .350 OBP
Freddy Sanchez: 9 HR, 54 RBI, .292 BA, .332 OBP
Pablo Sandoval: 19 HR, 78 RBI, .291 BA, 342 OBP
Miguel Tejada: 16 HR, 75 RBI, .283 BA, .310 OBP
Buster Posey: 24 HR, 87 RBI, .310 BA, .362 OBP
Andres Torres: 13 HR, 60 RBI, .267 BA, .334 OBP, 23 steals
Pat Burrell: 26 HR, 85 RBI, .237 BA, .333 OBP
Cody Ross: 22 HR, 82 RBI, .260 BA, .305 OBP
Mark DeRosa: 15 HR, 58 RBI, .261 BA, .337 OBP
Aaron Rowand: 13 HR, 56 RBI, .257 BA, .302 OBP
Nate Schierholtz: 3 HR, 17 RBI, .265 BA, .311 OBP
Travis Ishikawa: 5 HR, 25 RBI, .264 BA, .324 OBP
Mike Fontenot: 6 HR, 36 RBI, .268 BA, .333 OBP

Starters:
Tim Lincecum: 18-7, 249 K, 2.73 ERA, 1.16 WHIP
Matt Cain: 16-9, 178 K, 3.31 ERA, 1.17 WHIP
Jonathan Sanchez: 13-11, 211 K, 3.66 ERA, 1.28 WHIP
Madison Bumgarner: 13-9, 136 K, 3.59 ERA, 1.27 WHIP
Barry Zito: 9-12, 132 K, 4.35 ERA, 1.36 WHIP

Bullpen:
Brian Wilson: 71.0 inn, 4-4, 86 K, 45 Saves, 2.15 ERA, 1.17 WHIP
Ramon Ramirez: 70.1 inn, 4-3, 56 K, 2.82 ERA, 1.24 WHIP
Jeremy Affeldt: 63.2 inn, 2-2, 60 K, 2.97 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
Sergio Romo: 43.1 inn, 4-2, 48 K, 2.70 ERA, 0.97 WHIP
Guillermo Mota: 58.2 inn, 3-4, 42 K, 3.99 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
Santiago Casilla: 51.1 inn, 3-2, 45 K, 3.86 ERA, 1.52 WHIP
Javier Lopez: 43.0 inn, 2-1, 27 K, 2.93 ERA, 1.40 WHIP
Dan Runzler: 20.2 inn, 2-0, 24 K, 2.61 ERA, 1.45 WHIP

Do the SF Giants have a new division rival?

According to one skipper, the Giants have a new rivalry,  and it's with the Colorado Rockies. Call it World Series envy, but 2011 is going to make for a great year of division ball.

Jim Tracy - Colorado Rockies

2011 SF Giants contract obligations

Cots Baseball Contracts has recently updated their 2011-16 baseball contract obligation spreadsheet for the SF Giants. It's a fantastic overview on the obligations for not only this year, but what the team has going forward.