Dave Stewart - SJ Mercury - Ben Margot

This last week the Giants and A’s celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1989 World Series.  They both were in it that year, and that was the same year as the big earthquake up here .  They had a reunion for the players which included such greats as Dave Stewart and Carney Lansford. 

I read a great article (click here) though on how two players were obviously missing.  That would be Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.  The two former “Bash Brothers” have essentially been black listed from public functions due to their ties to steriods.  Jose Canseco has openly said that he did it, but he hasn’t been welcomed back.  (In fact most of his teammates are so mad at him still that they don’t even consider him part of the original team.)  Mark McGwire has stayed silent and sadly has allowed everyone to make their assumptions that he did do steriods.  His silence only seems to confirm those suspecisions.

It leads to an interesting discussion as to what baseball is going to do in the future with these steriod users.  You have a growing number of athletes who were involved in fantastic fan memories of great games, but now they are fading away like ghosts.  Barry Bonds is that way even though up here in SF they still invite him back to certain events.  Manny Ramirez will also be that way eventually.  Perhaps once everyone is exposed and steriods are cleaned up, then forgiveness can be granted, but not yet.  Not for certain players. 

It’s funny how all the teams are involved now, because just about every team has had some player who is associated with drugs.  It is sad because in some ways you want to honor the former greats…but their legacy is tarnished, and thus they can’t be invited back.

On a lighter note, I had an interesting discussion with a Giants fan this week as to whether the Giants would win the Wild Card, or if the Rockies would catch them.   It’s an interesting debate.  I think the Rockies have more offense, whereas the Giants have more pitching.  Minus Matt Holliday, the Rockies are a similar team to the team that went to the World Series a couple of years ago.  I give the edge to the Rockies, even though I have a weird hunch on the Cardinals.  I think they may squeak in yet.

What’s your thoughts, Giants or Rockies.? Till next week for Spy Game.  Go Blue.  (And yes, I’m really glad to be past the White Sox and Mariners…)

Bengie Molina - Fox Sports

The Giants have been a tale of feast or famine this week. They got swept by the Angels, but then they swept the Rangers. I have to admit that I love the fact that my second favorite team, the Angels swept the Giants!

The Giants are still right in this, and even Barry Zito, their very overpaid pitcher took a no-hitter into the seventh today. I’m still waiting on rumors of who they may of after to make a playoff push.

I did hear a rumor yesterday that the Dodgers may go after Jarod Washburn of Seattle before the All-Star break. I’m both ways on him. He wasn’t bad with the Angels, but he’s been pretty middle of the road of late. I am confident that Ned Coletti will pick up someone though. He always does.

The big thing the Giants are pushing this week is their Vote for Bengie campaign. He’s their main All-Star potential other than Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, but he is often overlooked as a catcher. Actually he had slightly better numbers than Russell Martin last year, but didn’t get to go. This year, he is having a great year. He is under .300 now, but his 10 homeruns and 40 RBI’s truly carry this team. He’s definitely clutch for them in everyway and deserves to go to the All-Star game.

By the way, here’s a great article looking into why Russell Martin is sliding so bad this year. It’s from Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness (click here).  Thankfully Russell finally hit a homerun this weekend, so hopefully he is on his way back.

Until next week – Go Blue.

Bay Bridge - Lance Iversen - SF Chronicle

The Giants chatter up here slowed down a little this week. I think with Randy Johnson getting his 300 wins that people kind of settled back into reality of where the team is really at. ..way behind the Dodgers.

Actually the talk this last week was that the A’s won 7 in a row with just about all rookie pitchers. They seem to have recharged their bats, so maybe the A’s are off to something. The rumors still persist that the A’s are still too far back, and will try to trade off Matt Holliday before the trade deadline.

The buzz yesterday morning though for the Giants was that they are only 1/2 game out of the wild card race. They are playing pretty good ball, are above .500, and are in the race. The radio announcers were attributing it to a more lose clubhouse. They team is getting along, and apparently Pable Sandoval really keeps things loose.  More and more I think we are going to keep hearing his name.  He can really play.

They made a comment that the Giants haven’t been this loose in the clubhouse in years. Ironically, I recently wrote a post on how the Dodgers are now the same way. Can you already see where I’m going with this? There was only one common denominator between the teams in the last 10 years…Jeff Kent. He was a great competitor, but it sure seems like he made every clubhouse he was in – tense. He did with the Giants and Barry Bonds, and he did it with the Dodgers in the last few years.

It’s a harsh generalization, but I wonder if there is some truth to it. I do wonder how Jeff Kent feels this year with the Dodgers playing so well. He did want to win with the blue.

The Giants play the A’s at AT&T park this weekend. Rumor on the street is that this series will be attended by more A’s fans than Giants fans. Pretty sad for Giants fans in their own parks.  It does make sense though.  The bridge shown in the picture is how the fans in Oakland get to San Francisco, and it is definitely closer than Anaheim to L.A.

Until next week. What do you think – will the Giants snag the wild card?  I think that only happens if they trade for a bat in the next month.  We’ll see.

Randy Johnson - Ben Margot - SJ Mercury

SF Dodgerfan is in the process of moving. Not web addresses, but addresses where I write these posts. Moving and blogging doesn’t really mix, so the posts have definitely been delayed.

One of the good things about living up here is that I get first hand information about the Giants. Not that I care more about them than the Dodgers, but I do like to know what the opposition is up to and if it will affect the Dodgers.

Here’s my report this week, and I hope to keep this as a weekly column.

First, the Giants are at a fork in the road regarding their season. They either trade for a bat, or truly just get through the season and go for a big off-season pickup. Here’s a good article (Click Here) on the people they are considering, but they definitely like the idea of a power hitting first baseman since Travis Ishikawa hasn’t panned out. It’s funny that Matt Holiday’s name keeps coming up. He would be a short rental and it would be funny to see him go from one Bay Area team (The A’s) to another.  The other name that Dodger fans will catch is Adrian Beltre.  He has never been the MVP with the Mariners as he was with the Dodgers, but he’s still solid at third base with some pop.  I bet Dodger fans would have no problem booing him if he went to the Giants.  The Giants need a bigger name though for the fans, so I doubt he would really turn their season around.

There was also a great article today (Click Here) on the lack of interest in Randy Johnson’s 300th win.  Dodger fan or not, the fact that he is going for win 299 again this week is something to keep track of.  Yet, because he’s been with 7 teams and now with the Giants who aren’t doing as well, there isn’t a lot of interest in it.  If he can’t do it on the road trip, and has a chance to do in San Francisco, I may try and go see it.  There’s a lot of wonder if there will ever be another 300 game winner in baseball, so it would be worth the trip.

Well that’s it from here.  Bottom line, the Dodgers are way out in front, and the Giants are way back.  Fine with me.

Casey Blake from True Blue LA from 1.bp.blogspot.com

The Giants quietly won the 3 games series against the Dodgers, and the Dodgers bullpen blew a second straight lead. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed, but the Giants have now won the last two series against the Dodgers. The Dodgers lead the overall wins this year 5-4, but it’s getting close. The Dodgers are winning against other teams, but the Giants quietly seem to be figuring out the Blue Crew.

The real news coming out of Sunday’s game was the gesture by Casey Blake. This story cracks me up. Brian Wilson, the closer for the Giants always crosses his arm in a gesture of his Christian faith and to his late father when saving a game. Apparently at some point on Sunday after Casey Blake hit a homerun off him, he made the gesture in the dugout. Let’s just say someone got this picture to Brian Wilson, feelings were hurt, and now all of the Giants have a lesser impression of “nice guy Casey Blake.”

Talk about a rivalry blowing something out of proportion. I am totally biased here towards Casey Blake, and I mean no disrespect to Brian Wilson, but here’s my take. Brian Wilson makes a very public symbol everytime he saves a game. This is personal, but I’m sure it rubs some people the wrong way. Casey Blake goes and hits a homerun off him to tie the game for the Dodgers. In a mocking tone, Casey Blake made the symbol in the dugout stating he beat Brian Wilson at his own game. I doubt it was meant in disrespect (too much), but more one player saying “boo-ya” after launching a homerun to tie the game.  Maybe not the best sportsmanship, but definitely typical in a tight game whether in the majors or little league.

What is interesting though is that it really got a lot of attention. Here’s a local blog that shows that Brian Wilson quieted down on the issue later (click here), but the damage is done and specifically the Giants fans won’t forget this incident any time soon. Come August, Casey Blake may get more boos that Manny Ramirez.

What’s funny to me is that I’ve now seen Casey Blake almost in two altrications with the Giants. This one I don’t think he planned on, but I can see future ones going to directly to him. Last year in his first series against the Giants, he almost got beaned, and almost rushed the mound. He was controlled, but he brought an intensity to the Dodgers that really seemed lacking. I think at some point, this is going to come back. This recent incident, will cause some pitcher to throw high and tight to Blake at some point, he won’t take it, and there could definitely be a brawl. We’ll have to see, but all the pieces are in place. This rivalry loves things that ramp up the heat, and this one, may have definitely done it.

The next series in August should be a fun one…but until then hopefully the bullpen can figure out how to hold a game.  I still think they should try wonderboy Pierre in the 8th at least one game.