Breathing or not breathing?

[klaiggeb]

Sitting in my reclining chair, I was, breathing, not breathing, holding my breath… I really can’t remember, wondering if any magic was left… concerned that they wouldn’t be able to score, pleased that at least they’d made it to the post season and the humiliation of the 2nd half was to some degree somewhat assuaged.

Gillaspie was on deck and I dreaded his imminent at bat.

Though he’d had such a great week leading up to the moment that was approaching, I reflected back upon all of the times I’d seen him face a hard thrower, watching him often be over matched.

When he came to the plate I said, “Connor, this is the moment you’ve waited your whole life for. Don’t let the moment beat you.”

But honestly, I really wasn’t optimistic.

When he hit the ball, the camera shifted to the view from the press box, and my eyes went immediately to the right fielder.

Watching him would tell me how well the ball was hit even before I found the ball in the air.

Bruce was backing up in a hurry, the fence approaching, he was running out of room.

Where’s the ball?

And then I found it, a solid, streaking, white dot. It wasn’t going to be caught! It wasn’t going to be caught! The stinking thing was not going to be caught!

Suddenly, I wasn’t breathing.

My hands went to both cheeks, my mouth dropping involuntarily open.

My eyes disbelieving what they were indeed seeing.

It was Belt vs the Nationals, it was Ishikawa vs the Cardinals all over again.

Was there breath in my lungs?

Was I even breathing or simply holding my breath?

Did what I just saw really happen?

Could Madison go out there one more time and shut them down?

Was the magic still alive?

And the answer to each question, I discovered, was “yes,” he could, and “yes,” it was!

And sometime in the next few moments I discovered that once again, I was finally breathing

I was finally breathing.

boly

[sfgdood]

I had to work late so I missed most of the game live, though I was keeping track as often as I could via radio. When my work day had finished I decided to stop off at a cool bar and grill near my place of business to watch the rest of the game. I got there just as Bumgarner was finishing off the Mets in the bottom of the 7th. I immediately was glad I stopped because even though I had time to get home before the winning rally, Dave Flemming's awful commentary would have severely annoyed me during the drive AND the crowd was loud and lively on EVERY pitch at Jake's. I ordered a dog and garlic fries amd, of course, a cold beer. I fortunately found a seat right in front of a large screen and watched all the drama unfold. The chanting and cheering made the atmosphere nearly as fun as being at the stadium live. I really thought the 8th inning rally was going to be the decider but Reed made some tough pitches when he had to. I was then wondering how many chances we would get against a good Mets bullpen before Bum had to come out. I let out a huge "YEAH!" when Craw led off the 9th with the double and as I watched the ball get by Cespedas, I recalled all the posts by Boly about what bad routes Yoenis takes. The Panik AB was a classic example of why we love Joe. He's a straight up battler. Seeing Parker with a bat I knew Joe had to reach base for Bum to stay in the game. I must say I was very pleased that Gillaspie came through. I didn't think much of him in Spring and rooted for Adrianza to beat him out. But you just have to LOVE how this teams cultivates a culture where even the guys down in the order or on the bench feel like they have just as good a shot at being the hero in postseason. Pure elation is the only way to describe my feelings when it became clear the right fielder wasn't gonna get it. The pandemonium in the bar was just amazing. After I left, I heard that Flemming was calling for Gillaspie to be lifted for a pinch runner in the 8th. Thank God Bochy isnt that stupid.

[klaiggeb]

Great post, Randy!

I think it's safe to say that, much like the Ishikawa HR, and the Belt HR in 2014, we all are likely to remember where we were at the moment, and what we were feeling and thinking.

I know I will, and I was SOOOO pleased that your shared yours!


As to Gillaspie, I remember seeing him in spring training and thinking what a valuable asset he'd be off the bench and filling in.

he's always be a professional hitter.

Even before he was called up I posted that we NEEDED his veteran bat off the bench.

and wow! this last week, he has been just that; A professional hitter!


Great call, too, Randy, on how you spoke of the culture that this team cultivates.

Starts with management, they have to get players who will FIT into what the Giants are doing... what they're all about, but it's really the veterans on the team, the players, who cultivate it, and keep it going.

Again; Great Post!

boly

[rxmeister]

Don't want to sound like a know it all, but I loved the Gillaspie signing, and when my son kept saying he was a bum I would tell him it's because he's not getting consistent playing time. He finally started to receive it when Duffy got hurt, and by the summer we were both referring to Gillaspie as "The Hit Machine" and in September we started calling Kelby Tomlinson "The Junior Hit Machine." I was actually glad Nunez wasn't playing, because even though I like him, what good is he if he can't run? A funny thing was that my older son was texting me about how much we miss Nunez, and the next pitch Conor unloaded! My son and I screaming as the ball smashed off the roof of the bullpen, and my wife and daughter thought we were insane as I ran up the stairs to hug them both! As I've said before the crap I take from Mets fans, literally made this game a World Series game seven to me. I don't remember ever being this tense during a game. Thank you, Giants, since 2010 you have made my sports fandom a very happy one, and that's regardless of what happens the rest of this post season.

[sfgdood]

great stuff Rx...awesome reminder of why baseball is so much more than numbers.

[sfgdood]

Great post, Randy!

I think it's safe to say that, much like the Ishikawa HR, and the Belt HR in 2014, we all are likely to remember where we were at the moment, and what we were feeling and thinking.

Dood - funny thing Boly, the HR I love most from that postseason was hit by Morse against St. Louis.

[klaiggeb]

You know... I WAS going to mention that one because it is one of my favorites, too... but since it wasn't a walk off, I didn't include it.

But that was a HUGE, HUGE hit! and it gets forgotten.

boly

[sfgdood]

Without the Morse HR, there would likely be no Ishikawa walk off...just like if Panik doesn't draw a walk, Gillaspie wouldn't get a chance to swing the bat in that inning.

[klaiggeb]

Totally agree!

But I NEVER hear anyone mention his hit.

I remember that moment! It was freakin' huge!

boly

[Rog]

The Panik AB was a classic example of why we love Joe. He's a straight up battler.


Rog -- This isn't an argument against Joe, but FOR Brandon Belt. Brandon walked 16% of the time this year compared to Joe's 10%, so it is pretty clear that with regard to walks, Brandon battled better than Joe.

Brandon faced 4.11 pitches per at bat, ranking very high in that regard. Joe faced 3.78 pitches per at bat. Perhaps Brandon didn't batter better, but he certainly battled longer.

And regarding Joe, he did hit into a lot of hard outs, but he also was well below his career averages in line drive percentage and hard-hit ball percentage. Bad luck certainly wasn't the only reason Joe's batting average fell by 73 points. Hopefully a lot of the decline was caused by tracking problems which will resolve themselves over the winter.





Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3525/breathing#ixzz4MRhYZQcS

[klaiggeb]

Roger, you're missing the point.

In that 3 run rally, Joe's walk, after being down in the count, wasn't just important, it was HUGE!

And it has nothing to do with who walks more.

It was all about THAT MOMENT. Nothing more.

I was glad that people didn't just focus on Connor's HR, which was HUGE, too.

But the fact is, much like Mike Morse's HR vs St. Louis in 2014, prior to Ishikawa's walk off, Connor wouldn't have gotten to HIT in that spot had Panik NOT done what he did.

Very astute of people to catch that.

boly

[Rog]

Roger, you're missing the point.

In that 3 run rally, Joe's walk, after being down in the count, wasn't just important, it was HUGE!

And it has nothing to do with who walks more.

It was all about THAT MOMENT. Nothing more.


Rog -- Of course Joe's walk was big, although I can't say it was huge. Gillaspie's homer was the hit in that inning that deserved that adjective. In fact, as it turned out, Conor's homer would have won the game whether there were men on base or not. Joe's walk was big, making it close to being as important as Crawford's double, which has received short shrift here.

As for whether Gillaspie hit or not, the difference was that Conor's homer kept Bumgarner in the game. A pinch hitter for Conor could just as easily have hit the big blow. And while there is no guarantee that Sergio Romo would have held the lead in the ninth, when is the last time you remember his blowing a three-run lead?

If Panik's walk was huge, so would a Gillaspie walk have been big. It would have loaded the bases with one out. Would that have been huge? No, it wouldn't have been. Without an RBI after either walk, the walk would have meant only a small amount.

Panik's walk was helpful. Gillaspie's homer was the only huge at bat of the inning.

And as it turned out, Brandon Belt's walk the previous inning was also helpful. His walk kept the eighth inning alive, and when he advanced to second base on a passed ball, the inning was extended another batter when Buster Posey was intentionally walked. Belt's walk would have become big, not simply helpful, if Hunter Pence -- who is more likely to homer than Gillaspie -- had hit a three-run knock.

But Belt's walk was a big piece of what allowed Conor to hit in the ninth inning, rather than in the tenth, which in theory might not even have occurred, eliminating Conor's chance to be the hero.

Of course Panik's hard-earned walk was important. But without Gillaspie's home run, it was no more meaningful than Belt's walk the previous inning.

And of course the importance of Panik's walk had nothing to do with whether or Belt walked the most during the regular season. But since Brandon walked far more often, over the full season Brandon's walks had more impact than Joe's.

What made Joe's walk so important is that it allowed Gillaspie to hit. If Joe had struck out, Gillaspie had been walked and Parker had homered, we would be just as happy -- unless Romo blew the save, which had less than a 10% chance of happening.

Joe's walk was overly dramatized. Especially when nary a mention was made of Crawford's double. Without Belt's walk, Posey's intentional walk and Crawford's double, Joe wouldn't have even had the chance to walk in the ninth inning, let alone to allow Conor to come to the plate in regulation.

If we want to examine each of the plays starting with Belt's walk, here is how each helped or hurt the Giants' chances of winning:

Belt's walk and the subsequent passed ball -- +4%

Posey's intentional walk -- +2%

Pence's strikeout -- (-14%)

Crawford's double -- +17%

Pagan's strikeout -- (-11%)

Panik's walk -- +2%

Gillaspie's home run -- +36%


Panik's walk helped, but Gillaspie's home run was the key. And Crawford's double was much more important than Panik's walk. In the inning, Panik's walk was helpful. Crawford's double was big. And only Gillaspie's homer was huge. Conor's homer was the only one of the three whose importance didn't rest on subsequent hitters.

I'm sorry, but Joe's walk - as important as it turned out to be -- wasn't huge. Even Crawford's double wasn't huge. Conor's hit was the only one of the three plate appearances that was huge. It won the game. Neither Crawford's double nor Panik's walk did that.

Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3525/breathing#ixzz4MbSAUpXM

[Rog]

After I left, I heard that Flemming was calling for Gillaspie to be lifted for a pinch runner in the 8th. Thank God Bochy isnt that stupid.


Rog -- I don't know that Conor is slow enough to have commanded a pinch runner, but I understand the thinking. With Conor placed in scoring position by Bumgarner's bunt, and with the top of the order coming up, it would have been a shame to squander the likely winning run if Conor had been unable to score on a base hit.

If that had happened, I'm confident one of our Monday morning quarterbacks here would have pointed out that the "obvious" move would have been to pinch run Kelby Tomlinson, since Kelby was much faster and about as good a hitter and fielder as Conor. Not sure if Dave was even around back then, but he might recall J.T. Snow's being thrown out at the plate to end the 2003 NLDS.

"Thank Good Bochy isn't that stupid." But some would have considered him to be stupid if Span, Belt or Posey got a hit and Conor was unable to score.

Let's be honest. We've seen that type of Monday morning quarterbacking here quite often, including many times this season.

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[Rog]

Let's change the scenario a bit and suppose that Bochy had indeed pinch run for Gillaspie.

Now it is Tomlinson, rather than Conor, who bats in the ninth inning. And let's suppose Kelby gets just a run-scoring single -- which would have been far more likely than a Gillaspie home run. I can see an honest Boly posting something like this:

As much as I love speed, I thought Bochy made a big mistake when he pinch ran Tomlinson for Gillaspie in the eighth. Boy was I wrong!

In reality, Boly, you might not have been wrong at all. Whether a decision is a good one or not shouldn't be based on subsequent events (except to the extent that they allowed or encouraged them). Too often we judge a decision by whether or not it works. In the end, of course, that is what is important. But given that little is 100% in baseball, it is possible to make what was essentially a wrong decision and have it work out -- just as it is possible to make the right move and have it blow up in one's face.

[Rog]

By the way, Gillaspie hits not so much because he gets consistent playing time, but because he is placed in spots to succeed. Conor hits right-handers decently (.266/.739) but is at a loss against southpaws (.203/.523). Conor's best season came in 2014 (when in fairness he did get consistent playing time), hitting .300/.805 against right-handers but just .221/.563 against southpaws. It was because the White Sox limited him to just 104 of his 464 at bats being against southpaws that he was able to hit a respectable .282/.752.

Boagie (and perhaps others) were right in wanting to keep Gillaspie. He's a nice bat off the bench against right-handers and can be halfway effective if used mostly against them. But he's also a poor fielder (throwing mostly) with only a modicum of power for a corner infielder. Conor had a decent season this year because the Giants were able to limit his plate appearances against southpaws to just 11% of his total plate appearances.

Conor is deservedly a hero right now, just as Travis Ishikawa was. He's probably a little better player than Travis to boot.

Or maybe he isn't (or at least hasn't been). Conor is a career .256/.706 hitter while Travis has hit a very similar .255/.712. While clearly the better fielder, Travis has the disadvantage of being left-handed and therefore playing a more competitive position. My guess is that if Travis were right-handed and could play third base, he would be (or at least would have been) the better of the two.

Conor does have the advantage of the greater platoon splits. He's the better hitter of the two against right-handers.

[klaiggeb]

I agree, Rog.

I thought that playing Gillaspie against Lester was ridiculous.

I mean, freakin' ridiculous.

I don't CARE that he hit the big HR the game before.

We were facing a LHP... against whom Tomlinson was hitting, I believe, .333

I would rather have had Panik in the line up, or even Adrianza than Connor.

Now vs a RHP, that's different.

2 really, IMHO, dumb moves by Bochy, starting Jeffy the Stubborn being the second.

boly

[Rog]

Bruce likes to play the hot hand. And while Conor doesn't hit southpaws well, we saw last night that he hits them sometimes.