Tim Lincecum - SF Giants.com

Had a great conversation this week with a Giants fan about baseball penalties. This whole Tim Lincecum thing has really been interesting to observe. I’m kind of glad for it because now the Giants fans aren’t focusing only on the Dodgers divorce.

The talk shows are still all the buzz about Tim Lincecum. Some stating that it was just a small amount and that it wasn’t a big deal. Others focused on the fact that he was just transporting it and wasn’t under the influence while driving.

Another hit the fact that he got pulled over for speeding at 8:30am in the morning with the stuff…which is full of problems.

The most interesting one I heard though was when someone called in and pointed out that even with just a “thumbs” worth of marijuana that that is a substantial amount. (Obviously they had experience)  It’s not just something new for Tim, but probably something deeper.  As I mentioned previously, this is an interesting question for the Giants.  Either this goes away, or it’s a deeper issue that could come back.  Everyone is expecting and awaiting the “official” apology, so we’ll see.

As described, the best part of this week, was when a giants fan co-worker told me his “Hierarchy of Baseball Penalties.”  Obviously, the penalties are approximate, but you’ll get the point.  

Cocaine – Small suspension, fine and sent to rehab

Drunk Driving – Bail to get out of jail, sent to do community service

Caught Speeding with Marijuana – $362 in fines (i.e. Tim Lincecum)

Taking Female Fertility Drugs – Baseball’s biggest penalty – 50 game suspension.

Obviously the reference is to Manny, but it cracked me up, because it is pretty accurate with baseball today.

Tim Lincecum - Yahoo Sports

The season ends and all of a sudden there’s something to write about. I saw this one posted on Lincecum and had to get something out…I am in the the Bay Area after all and this could affect the Dodgers.

(Click here for the article)

So Lincecum gets busted for marijuana possession while speeding near Oregon. Not good. Not good at all.

As one Giants fan told me, this is a black eye for him, and for the Giants organization. He is their young star and now he’s busted.   The Giants also have a minor leaguer who may go to jail for murder…so this should be a fun off-season for the Giants PR group.  Between the Giants PR and the Dodgers PR (with the divorce), there’s going to be a lot to clean up.

You can say it is minor, but it opens that door. The door of whether this a habit forming due to the stress, or has it been there, or will it be a one time deal. Either way, it adds a chink in the armor that won’t go away.

Honestly, I’m sad. Lincecum is the best young pitcher in the game and to see this happen is just sad for the game.

It may be good for the Dodgers – so go Blue…but too bad for the young Cy Young.

It’s a good thing I’m not a real betting man. I would have lost a lot of money this weekend. I thought the Giants would take 2 of 3 and thought the Dodgers would win the first game.

The exact opposite happened. It’s all good for the Dodgers, but obviously my hunches were better when they played in SF, rather than L.A.

I watched most of the game and was very impressed with the boys in blue.  Randy Wolf looked shaky at first, but then hit a groove.  What impressed me though was that the Dodgers just took apart Tim Lincecum.  He is the reigning Cy Young winner and they just were patient and found the holes.  It was just good baseball and the better team won.

I was thinking about the decisions the Dodgers have made it the last few years to “wait on the kids.”  There is a general question of “how long do you wait for players to develop?”

There was a lot of pressure to wait for Kemp, Ethier, Loney and Martin to produce, but pressure to dump some of them too (especially Kemp).  The Dodgers are now reaping the fruit of their waiting.  Kemp and Ethier will both have over 100 RBI’s by the end of the season and are pulling the team, even over Manny.  The Dodgers should have a solid core for a few years to come, and the fans will really come to expect and enjoy it.

If the Dodgers can keep going strong, they should make a long run into the playoffs.  The pitching will be the gamble…but it’s been that way all year, and look where they are.  Go Blue.  Thanks for beating the Giants good this year.

The season seems to take so long, but then the end gets here quickly. After a long good year, the Dodgers and Giants play their last scheduled match up against each other. They may see each other in the playoffs, but this is the last regularly scheduled match.

It’s amazing what a week of baseball brought. The Dodgers gained 2 games on the Rockies and the Giants are still 3.5 games behind them. I like where the Dodgers stand.

I was talking to a Giants fan last night who said, “The Dodgers are in real good shape.” They know they did what they had to do against the Pirates and now if they can play well this weekend, they should definitely go to the playoffs.

Here are the pitching matchups and my take on who has the advantage.

Friday: Vicente Padilla, RHP (11-6, 4.42)  vs. Jonathan Sanchez, LHP (6-12, 4.16)

Advantage Dodgers.  He’s just pitching well right now, and the Dodgers seemed to have Sanchez’s number last weekend.

Saturday: Jon Garland, RHP (10-11, 4.19) vs Brad Penny, RHP (10-8, 5.04)

Having seen Penny first hand on Sunday, definitely advantage Giants.  He wants to win against the Dodgers.  Period.

Sunday: Randy Wolf, LHP (10-6, 3.24)  vs. Tim Lincecum, RHP (14-5, 2.30)

Wow.  Wolf is sharp right now, but Lincecum is still Cy Young level.  Advantage Giants.  If the Dodgers can get to him late, they have a chance, but that should be a great game.

Well – hopefully we can take 2 of 3 and keep the lead we have.  We’ll see.  Then again the bats seemed to jump out last weekend, so hopefully it will be the same this weekend.  At least if we lose 2 of 3 we can go back to playing the Pirates.  Go Blue.

Casey Blake - LA Times

Yee Ha!  What a way to start.  Big wins are always fun…especially when you live up here.  Sadly I won’t be at work the next few days for the weekend, because it would have been really fun to talk about this game.

I’m making it official.  Casey Blake is my favorite player on the Dodgers right now.  If you’ve read this blog, you know I’ve been partial for a long time.  I like Manny and Loney and Pierre, but Blake just gets the job done.  He is a good guy and a great player.  Sometimes up, sometimes down, but he is clutch when they need it.  I’m glad to see his body seems to be ok after resting for a bit. 

My prediction rang true that the Dodgers would have the advantage, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected.  Matt Cain is a good pitcher and the Dodgers ate him up.  It’s interesting how Manny is just playing smart these days.  He’s hit a few homeruns of late, but he’s trying to hit to the right side and he was involved in driving in runs tonight.  I agree with people that something seems a little off, but he’s a good enough player that he’s still contributing.

It was great to see Loney playing well too.  He has a sweet swing.  I still think he’ll win the batting title some day, but he when he connects, man does he drive it.

We saw history tonight too.  Buster Posey is the Giants true catching prospect, and he made is major league debut.  They’ve been talking about this guy for weeks as he just tore up the minors this year.  What was interesting was that they’ve had him in the majors for almost a week and he hasn’t been in a game.  Bruce Bochy said he was waiting for the right time, but it was weird that they waited so long.  I guess that being down 7-1 was long enough.  Based on his stats we’ll be seeing a lot of him, and he seems to be the heir apparent for Bengie Molina.

It was real interesting reading the local papers today to see what they said about the series this weekend.  What was interesting was that there wasn’t a lot to read.  The Giants are on the cusp of not making the playoffs and everyone knows the Dodgers are better, they just hope they can stay close to still catch the Rockies.  The Giants are playing the Dodgers this weekend, but the focus is the next series with the Rockies.  As a Dodgerfan, I wanted the big story on how important this series is…but none of that was there.  The focus was Tim Lincecum’s back, Buster Posey being in the bigs, and the hope to catch the Rockies.

Bring on tomorrow and Sunday.  If anyone is going to the game on Sunday, let me know and we can meet up.  The Willie McCovey statue might be a good place before the game.  E-mail me at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Go Dodgers.