Randy Johnson - Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP

Congrats to the Big Unit for winning game 300 this week against the Nationals.  They had a number of rain delays, and his game was even pushed back a day, but he got the 2-1 win.  He even had a diving throw to first which was pretty cool to watch.  He now joins a select 24 pitchers in history who have 300 wins. 

His win was definitely all the talk up here the last few days.  I heard a great radio show this morning that the fans up here really started to get into it.  At the beginning of the season they weren’t sure if they would connect with him because 295 of his wins came for different teams.  Yet, as he was on the verge of history, it became all the more intriguing.  I personally found this to be the same way.  I don’t know that I would have followed it as much had he gone to say New York, or Florida.  But since he was in the Bay Area, I checked up on him a lot and was hopeful that he could get the record. 

I liked one of his quotes yesterday too that he wasn’t as interested in the record, just as much as he could prove that he could do it.  At 45, he still wanted to prove he could play the game and win.  I think that’s what starts to happen in life.  We get older.  We think we can do all that we did when we were young.  We finally realize we really can’t do it as well, and then we spend the rest of the time trying to prove we really can still do it.  High points to you Randy for reaching your own goal and taking us along for the ride.

I did hear a funny thing though this morning on the Giants talk radio.  They felt that the umpire was extremely generous to Brian Wilson (The Giants closer) when he got the 3rd strike call at the end of the game with the bases loaded.  I saw the pitch too, and it did look low.  As they said, it was close enough that the batter should have tried to swing, but it was definitely a low strike.  Had that been a ball, a run would have walked home, and Randy would have lost the chance at 300.  The umpire called it a strike, and the rest is history.

The only other real thing for my Spy Game this week is Aaron Rowand.  He was picked up last year by the Giants at a premium, and he hasn’t been the power hitter they expected.  Actually, he hasn’t even been a very good 7 or 8 hitter.  They switched him to the leadoff spot, and he seems to have found his niche.  I’m not sure what happened, but he has now hit in 15 straight games and raised his average to over .294.  The Giants are playing over .500 ball, and even though they are well behind the Dodgers, they are a lot more respectable than people thought.

Do you like the Spy Game segment?  Let me know if there are certain other things you want me to focus on.  Until next week – Go Blue.

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.

Dodgers Mob James Loney - Brian Vander Brug - LA Times.com

I was gone for a few days to go see the Dodgers in L.A., and when I got back a Giants fan I work with told me that he was hoping that I didn’t get back until Thursday.  With the beating the Giants took on Monday, he hoped I was gone at least until the second game of the series, hoping the Giants would win and level out the series.  He felt if the Giants won game two, that he could point out that Monday was just one game, and wasn’t all that significant.

Well – sorry Jon.  No luck.  I came back, AND the Dodgers won game two.  The Dodgers are still better.  He even told me yesterday that the Giants were better than the Dodgers because all time they still have a better winning percentage than the Dodgers.

Again – sorry Jon.  Maybe so, but this year so far is all Dodgers.

I’m not sure if Dodger fans are aware of this, but Matt Cain is still 0-6 lifetime against the Dodgers.  He always pitches them well, but continues to come away with a loss.  It really became obvious last year when he consistently held them to less than 3 runs, but then once he left the game, the Dodgers beat the bullpen and won the game.  Last night Casey Blake got the best of him, but he pitched well…the Dodgers just beat the bullpen.

Got to love Casey Blake and Clayton Kershaw.  Blake is the 8 hitter and has 3 homeruns.  He may hit 30 this year.  Kershaw strikes out 13 and looks brilliant.  Running tally – the Giants have struck out 24 times out of 54 at bats in 2 games.  That has to be rough for a pitching coach.  Between Stults, Wolf, Billingsley and Kershaw, Ned Colletti obviously knew something more about the pitching staff than we all did.  They could still use one more arm, but they look great right now.

You could have an interesting debate as to if Loney was trying for walks in two of his at bats last night, including the one to win the game.  He stared down multiple beautiful fastballs, and then took the walks.  You could say he was afraid to hit and wanted the walk, or you could say he just knew the pitchers would end up throwing balls, and therefore he just let them do it.

I don’t buy that he was afraid to hit as he has been hitting the ball like crazy the last few days.  I think he’s just a smart hitter who knew the power of a walk, and was going to let the pitchers do it if they couldn’t throw strikes. How bitterly sweet that the Giants walked in the winning run.

Brian Wilson is a good closer, so tough luck to him, but to the Dodgers gain.  Even if the Dodgers lose tonight, the series has been won.