Barry Bonds with Bill Neukom at AT&T Park

When I was at the game on Monday, they zoomed in on Barry Bonds talking with the new Giants owner William Nuekom. They showed some flashbacks on the big screen, and then when he stood up to acknowledge the crowd, the stadium erupted in applause. It never ceases me to amaze me because they just love him there. I was talking to my Giants fan friend and he mentioned that no matter what is found with steroids, he still was amazing to watch and created memories there that those fans will never forget.

I thought that was a good perspective. We love those who are the hero, no matter what happens afterwards. We love to forgive because they stole our hearts by winning the game.

In either case, it made me laugh as to what they were talking about.  I mean, did William Nuekom start the conversation by saying, “Hey Barry, How’s the trial going?” 

Or did Barry start it off by saying, “Hey Bill, you’re number 4 hitter is hitting .222 for the year (Seriously they started Rich Aurilla in the 4 spot and he had an average of .222), if you sign me right now, I’ll jump in by the end of the game, and still do better than Rich Aurilla.”

Who knows what they were really talking about, but it had to have been a little awkward.  You’ve got the Home Run King without a job talking to the new owner who doesn’t want him back.  Thankfully the Dodgers and Giants gave a good game to fill the silence.

Either way, the fans do love him, and I’ll forever be able to rub it into my friend that the sad Giants are so bad this year they had to start a guy hitting .222 in the 4 spot.

Tim Lincecum - SF Giants.com

If Tim Lincecum wasn’t known before last year, that’s definitely not the case this year. Winning the Cy Young tends to change things. Living up here has given me a unique perspective on “the kid.” Not only did he win last year…he won when the Giants were bad…really bad. Not only did he win, he mowed people down and was the only bright spot for the team. He was so good that the local radio shows this year have commented that they haven’t seen one player get as much attention as him as Barry Bonds. He is truly the franchise and he alone with his cheap $650,000 salary this year will bring people to the ballpark.

So to answer, how good is Tim Lincecum? That Good. He’s better than any Dodgerfan thinks and Dodgerfans could only wish that he was on our team.  Even more we can only wish we have the pitching staff the Giants do this year. They’re just better and deeper, and they have a much stronger bullpen than last year. They will win more games this year.

How’s Timmy doing this spring? Ahh, not so bad. Through last week he had a 0.00 ERA. Yeah, he seems to have figured something out last year.

So the one thing that is concerning Giants fans is the softmore jinx for Tim Lincecum. There was a great article in the San Jose Mercury news on the Verducci Effect. Little did I know that Sports Illustrated’s own Tom Verducci has been watching softmore pitchers who increased their innings by more than 30 the year before and are between 21 and 25. Those pitchers typically don’t do as well the next year and are injury prone. Tim Lincecum is in that same category.  Ironically Tom Verducci did the great cover story from Sports Illustrated on Tim last year and talked about how his unique delivery may save him from injury.  The jury is still out and will be proven this year, but Giants fans still hold their breath. 

I have to admit as much as I want to see the Giants lose, I don’t want to see Tim Lincecum get injured.  He is a stud.  He is baseball at its best.  He is a young pitcher who can mow down the best.  In this world of steriods, he is the direct opposite and he’s fun to watch.  

So Dodger fans – keep you eye on this kid…and just hope he’s not pitching that night against the Dodgers.

P.S.  In the upper right of the page I added a place where you can get an e-mail everytime I make a post.  Hopefully it will help you keep better track of sfdodgerfan.com.

Dave Roberts from SFGiants.com - Eric Risbert - AP

So the Giants released Dave Roberts today.  The Giants decided that with his injuries slowing him down, and young guys already showing promise that it was best to just eat his 6.5 million dollar salary this year. (See article here)

I offer a salute to Dave Roberts because I always liked him as a player.  He was by far my favorite player on the Dodgers when he played for them.  He played like I always loved to; with speed.  He would get on the bases and mess with the pitchers just like I used to try and do.  He always had a great success rate swiping bags and I didn’t think anyone other than Brett Butler could lay down a drag bunt from the left side like Dave Roberts could.

I was truly distraught when Paul DePodesta cleaned house that year and traded Dave Roberts away.  Dave always had one achilles heal and that was injuries.  When he played, he could field and run, but it always seemed like he couldn’t ever avoid injuries long enough to get up to speed for a long period of time.  He was horrible for me as a fantasy player.  Yeah, he could get SBs for you, but you never knew when he would play, so you never knew to play him.  Even worse if you left him in all the time, you lost points from other guys because he would suddenly be scratched from the lineup.

Even though he was traded away the fact that he went to the Red Sox that year was sweet justice.  No matter what anyone says, I believe that if Dave Roberts doesn’t steal that bag in the Championship Series, that they don’t eventually go on to win the World Series.  That was the spark.  That was the make it or break it play.  The moneyball Red Sox suddenly had to depend on speed and they traded for him just for that purpose.  Everyone watching that game knew he was sent in to steal a bag.  Everyone knew he was going.  Every viewer, every player on the other team, and especially the catcher.  That’s what I loved about that scene.  It was the best against the best.  Speed versus the catcher’s strong arm.  The catcher was tipped off, he just had to throw him out.  The best part was he couldn’t.  Dave was fast enough to steal the bag and the momentum just kept rising.  The Red Sox tied it and the rest is history.  (Here’s a cool article re-living that moment in Red Sox history.)

Dave Roberts went on to play for the Padres and Giants, but I never minded and always respected him.  When he’s one of your favorite players (and called one of the nicest guys in baseball), it really doesn’t matter what team he played on.

I have a good hunch someone will give him another chance next year, probably just for the off the bench hit or stolen base.  If they do, you bet I’ll still root for him.

Thanks for the memories Dave and happy trails.  It was great seeing you locally and someday I’ll teach my son to steal bags and mess with pitchers just like you did.

Randy Wolf (The New Dodgers Ace) from Dodgers.com

So the Dodgers played the Giants today in Arizona.  It was the first Dodgers/Giants “Regular Spring Training” game as part of the cactus league.  In the spirit of David Letterman, here are the top 10 things I learned:

10.  Man it’s good to have baseball again.  It’s been too long thinking about Manny (even though he came up again and again in the game) and not listening to the crack of the bat.

9.  Who’s playing center field now?  I listened to Jon MIller (Giant’s radio station) and even he had trouble naming all the new players switching in and out of the game.  Got to love spring training where most of the names are new and you never know who just subbed in.

8.  Jon Miller interviewed Henry Schulman (Writer for the San Francisco Chronicle) during the broadcast and I liked what he had to say.  He was talking about the rivalry and that even though this was a nothing game that the fans still get into it.  He was saying that he could really see it in the players too that there was a greater energy going into the game.  There is something deeper to this rivalry, and I hope it never leaves.  I really like that the players get into it too.

7.  The Dodgers can finally hit Sergio Romo.  (See previous post)  They lit him up today.

6.  Delwyn Young needs to take more fly balls.

5.  Jonathan Broxton still has me worried as a closer…unless they just sit him when he plays the Giants.  They just continue to light him up.  He got out of the inning, but not without a run, and not without striking fear as to how bad the Giants may beat him later this year.

4.  Randy Wolf may be well worth his asking price.  Who knew he could become the ace!?

3.  Russell Martin is still a stud.  Here’s hoping he can hit the second half, but he is definitely still my current favorite.

2.  Never heard of Valentino Pascucci before today, but I hope we keep hearing about him.  He launched a homerun, and he has the coolest name of any Dodger in years.

1.  The Dodgers are still better than the Giants and proved it by the final score.  Ahh, I love living in this area when the Dodgers are obviously better and every Giants fan knows it.

Too bad it isn’t a 3 game series…

Travis Ishikawa hit 2 homeruns for the Giants (David Zaluboski_AP)

So yesterday was the first day of Spring Training and the Giants won their game against the Indians 10-7. The Dodgers on the other hand lost 5-3. I don’t put a lot of salt in Spring Training games, but hope always abounds going into Spring Training, so the Giants were very happy with their win.

The Giants fans I heard were stoked about their exhibition of offense and I even heard one talk show host say, “Who needs Manny?” The other host just laughed at him because they both know that this was just an anomaly and they definitely still need a power boost. It seems that the talks of Manny are gone up here with just some remaining fans hoping it could work out.

Either way, it was comedy to me that the fans were bragging about “their offense,” knowing it probably won’t last.

It is funny though to take the first day and project it. The Giants had a pleasant surprise and won. The Dodgers hit decently, but then couldn’t pitch and ended up losing. Sound like the playoffs anyone? They still need more pitching.

Apparently the Dodgers made a new offer to Manny yesterday. Fine by me, but there is a clause where Manny could opt out next year. The potential of having to do this whole negotiation bit all over again next year should cause heartburn in every Dodgerfan.

The Dodgers and Giants square off today in their first interleague game. It is getting some hype because the Dodgers have “joined the Cactus League,” and this is their first game against the Giants. The game starts at 12:05pm and it is Wolf against Cain. Go Blue.