Back from Spring training…

[garyd4sf]

I saw 3 Spring training games in Phoenix: 2 with SFG, and 1 with LAD (my wife's favorite). Here are some notes from these games and others I saw on MLB.com.

Some coaches are going with their full starters already (such as Seattle). Others like the Giants still do wholesale player changes after the 5th inning. So the game results mean little. Botchy is still now looking at Farm destined kids or FAs. Expect high scoring innings as coaches let the starters work through some bad innings. I saw 3 games and in them 8 innings of 3 to 5 runs scored.

In the MW-LAD game Kershaw pitched well, and he appears fully ready. Mw was scoreless during his 41/3 innings and he dominated. He also hit a near HR. Overall he has pitched 11 innings w/o giving up a run. Tough opening game challenge for the Giants. However the starting Dodger staff isn't that impressive behind him in Spring. Maeda is 2.45, the rest are at 4.90 ERA or above. Turner and Kemp are hitting well. Billingsley and Seagar are not yet.

In the SFG-Seattle game SP Holland pitched well and looks to be a candidate for the long relief, or spot starter with his array of pitches. He struck out 4 in 3 1/3 innings. The Giants' starters hit sporadically with Posey spanking the ball on sold contact with 2 hits and an RBI. Dyson and Law were racked up in their innings. The latter had 4 balls hit deep, all to center so the batters are picking up his pitches well.

In the SFG-Padres game Samardjia pitched well in the first 2 innings , 6 up and 6 down, 97 MPH at times with 2 strikeouts but the ump was pinching the strike zone and the curve ball (more of a slurve) wasn’t breaking. The Padres who swing from the heels tagged him for 3 HRs (4 runs total) in the 3rd. The Giants were hitting well and came back to a 7-6 lead that was trumped by a 3 run Padres rally in the last half of that inning. By that time the starters were out for the Giants. Pence has found his stroke hitting for power and making solid connection. He struggled a bit in RF nearly muffing a high sky fly. The starting lineup with McCutcheon and Longoria added, seems to be one that can sustain hitting through the lineup-4 straight hits at one point.  McCutcheon stole a base. Belt had an infield hit and a deep HR. Overall more Giants are aggressive on the base paths including Belt and Panik.

Overall I think Law doesn’t stay. I suspect Blanco stays over Hernandez. Catcher Brown has lost confidence and struck out 3 times in a game I saw. Parker has also lost confidence and is gone IMO. The Panda is hitting well. Tomlinson is likely an infield backup but Miguel Gomez has a solid bat and is an adequate fielder. No sign of catcher Hector Sanchez (injury?). Duggar is a very instinctive fielder with a good read on hit balls and has some base speed and a decent hitting eye. He may go down, but will be fast tracked back up IMO. Williamson' swing is quicker now and aimed for power, and I think he should stay up as a backup corner OF replacement. AJax will be a solid contributor and hit both right and left hand pitching.

[garyd4sf]

Today some roster moves were released by the Giants...

Williamson and Slater were sent to Triple-A along with Law and Roberto Gomez. Shaw was reassigned to minor league camp along with Pitchers Beede and Andrew Suarez.

Catchers Brown and Sanchez were reassigned along with Orlando Calixte, Gregorio, Valdez, O'Connor, D'Arnaud, and Kyle Jensen.

31 players remain in camp.

[rog]

Thanks for the rundown, Gary. I recently realized it has been a decade since I have gone down there. My wife (not really much of a fan) is expressing interest in going, so perhaps as early as next spring. A friend of mine and her mom went this year, the first week, and it was unseasonably cold.

So IIRC were the Giants!

[rog]

The outfield moves would seem to indicate the outfielders to start the season will be McCutchen, Pence, Jackson, Blanco and Hernandez. For salary reasons, Duggar is almost certain to be sent down for at least the first couple of weeks of the season. Kris Bryant was, for crying out loud, and this year the same thing is happening to Ronald Acuna, probably both the best and the most ready rookie.

Williamson has an option left, so that has something to do with is being sent down. I'm sure the Giants noticed his improvement.

I would think Tomlinson beats out Gomez. Relievers Melancon, Dyson, Strickland, Watson, Osich, Gearrin and Holland (as Gary mentioned)? Maybe they keep up Rule 5 pickup Julian Fernandez too, although I suspect they'll try to work a trade for him, and if they can't will simply return him to his original team (Miami?).

Looks like the Giants may open with "only" a dozen pitchers. They have a light schedule early on. That would also leave room for the four starters, Sandoval and presumably Tomlinson on the infield.

Suddenly the Giants have a little outfield depth, with Duggar and Williamson likely both in the minors but likely to fill a role before season's end (and likely much earlier in Duggar's case). Even though it is procedural issues that pretty much guarantee Duggar's being optioned, doesn't it seem he could use a little seasoning as well? Missing most of last season had to hurt his development.

[garyd4sf]

Mar 20, 2018 0:27:29 GMT -5 rog said:

Thanks for the rundown, Gary. I recently realized it has been a decade since I have gone down there. My wife (not really much of a fan) is expressing interest in going, so perhaps as early as next spring. A friend of mine and her mom went this year, the first week, and it was unseasonably cold.

So IIRC were the Giants!

If you consider going then planning is necessary as the games are almost always sold out nowadays.  use these tips: Don’t overfeed on baseball. I sat next to a guy and his dad who went to 5 games in 3 days and they looked bushed. Take a day off and enjoy other events around Phoenix (Zoos, Museums, Theater, pro hockey or basketball games (tix easy to get), Ghost towns, Sedona, Parks, etc. ) .

Try and get night games , a much better experience. If a day game have the west at your back so that the walls block the sun at about 2 PM. Keep lots of water handy. Eat a Chicago dog with the fixings, garlic fires, or from the food trucks if at Peoria. On Night games allow an extra 1 1/2 hours for traffic through the Phoenix area.

Lots of activities the wife might like spread around the area including outlets, food tours, etc. I can give you a list of things such as Restaurants attractions, and activities.

[Islandboagie]

Thanks for the rundown on the players. I miss living there during this time of the year. The rest of the year it's either too hot or lacking a seasonal feel. But March in Arizona is beautiful and the best sunsets I've ever seen. Nothing like catching a game with friends during the day and enjoying a drink on the patio while the sun goes down after the game.

[rog]

The last time I went, Gary, we sat down the left field line and then behind home plate. Parks are of course set up so the sun won't be in the eyes of the hitters or fans behind home plate, but I don't specifically remember having problems with the sun when we sat down the left field line. Does that mean the sun was coming from behind the plate or from behind third and that the left field line would be preferred to the right field line? Or is my memory, while strong, simply short?

If we get serious about going next spring or the year after that, I'll take you up on your offer of other things to do. When I've gone before, it was mostly with my dad and the one time with my son. My wife may be a little differently oriented.

We were more used to double headers years ago, but I can remember seeing a day game and then a night game in the same day and fully enjoying both. It would likely be easier to overdose these days though. Especially if the weather is hot.

Regarding that night game, I wasn't all that excited to go, since it was just the Angels against Arizona State. But in that game I saw a play that has stayed in my mind ever since. An Angel hit a clear sacrifice fly to left field. The runner from third jogged home. No major league outfielder would have even made a throw. But the Arizona State left fielder didn't give up on the play, and his strong thrown home resulted in a bang-bang but not quite successful play on the shocked Angels runner.

Thanks for the heads-up on the traffic. I guess it's more like the Bay Area than I thought. I'm hoping the traffic on the weekends isn't so bad though? As you suggested, it's still probably better to go during the week.

I've already told my wife about Don and Charley's, but sadly my son told me that when he took his now wife a few years ago, the Pinnacle Peak restaurant had closed. Those two establishments were among the highlights of my last previous trip. I loved the Hall of Fame-like atmosphere of Don and Charley's, and it was great having a steak to relive my younger visits to the quirky Pinnacle Peak.

Pinnacle Peak was called the most western town in the West.

[Islandboagie]

After the Giants won the World Series the traffic has become noticeably worse before and after the games. I went to spring games in 2010 and 2011 and saw a significant difference between those two seasons. Sadly, the whole experience isn't the same as it was last time you were there, Rog.

[rog]

And the last time I went, spring training wasn't anything like what it had been when I was a kid and young adult. Back then you could really connect with the players. It was just a lot more casual.

I have related this story before, but one spring I talked with Giants reliever Jerry Johnson and told him I really liked his change up. He replied, "I should probably use that more."

The next time I saw him throw the pitch came during the regular season, when he threw one to Hank Aaron. It never came back.

Johnson's best season came in 1971 when he went 12-9 with 18 saves and a 2.97 ERA. I'd like to say I talked to him before that season, but it was probably in 1970, when he dropped off to 8-6 with 8 saves and a 4.42 ERA. As I recall, the scouting report on him in that declining 1972 season was that he shouldn't use his change up so much!

After talking to me, he pitched six more seasons, never posting an ERA below 4.42.

Actually, looking it up and trying to redeem myself, I DID talk to him before his career-best 1971 season. Hank hit two of the three home runs that he hit against Johnson.

The first came on May 8th in the 8th inning, when Jerry faced Hank with the Braves leading 2-1 in the top of the 8th and two on. Very quickly the score became 5-1.

The one I remember though probably came on September 10th, when Hank came to the plate in the bottom of the 11th with the Giants leading 5-4. Hank hit a three-run walk off.

So I DID talk to Jerry right before the best season of his career. Just think how good he would have been if he hadn't thrown that change up so much!

[rog]

Another quick story from spring training:

One spring I watched my high shool friend Marty Waldeck throw in the bullpen, and then I watched future Giants reliever Randy Moffett (brother of Billy Jean Moffett King) throw there. Marty always told me his slider was as good as Moffett's, which came to be considered one of the best in the game. After watching the two of them in the same bullpen, I can assure you it wasn't.

Marty never made it past a cup of coffee in AAA, but he did relay to me at one of our parties a story that paints an accurate picture of Jim Ray Hart. Marty and some buddies were playing for the Giants team in the October Instructional League when one night their waitress at the old Red Dog Saloon brought them a pitcher of beer and told them it was from the guy at a table in the balcony. They looked up, and there was Jimmy Ray, a girl on each arm, waiving down to them and grinning from ear to ear.

[rog]

You must have loved living in Arizona, Boagie -- as you said, mostly during the spring. Man, it must have been tough in the summer.

[garyd4sf]

When I said having the sun in back of you I was referring to the shade that resulted from the wall as the sun moved down the horizon. That shade enhanced the enjoyment of the game significantly.

I did get to the Giants store at Scottsdale park on a day that they were not playing there. It made for a much better, and way less crowded experience than on game day there. Spent much of the afternoon strolling through Scottsdale.

[rog]

Ah, the shade. You're right on the money on that one.

Where is the best place for shade in the various stadia?

[garyd4sf]

Mar 21, 2018 0:04:28 GMT -5 rog said:

Ah, the shade. You're right on the money on that one.

Where is the best place for shade in the various stadia?

Sitting in the  area behind home plate about 7 rows up or more will do it. We sat there for a day game and by the second inning we were in shade for a 1:00PM  start game. The seats below were in the sun for almost the entire game as were those along the left and right field lines. We also take one of those "synthetic wet towels" that keep the face cool on use, if we cant get the tix near home plate. Some of the newer stadiums are better about the shade part.

 As a giants fan its almost better to avoid Scottsdale Stadium (perhaps the oldest park) except for the area I mentioned, and night games. We almost always go to other parks to see the Giants play. But Scottsdale also has the best autograph signing section including Vida Blue, Gaylord Perry, Darryl Evans, George Foster, and others....My wife got an autograph from Vida Blue and she's attractive so Vida gave her a buss on the cheek saying "A kiss for you from Vida Blue" I said kiddingly "Vida you owe me $20 bucks" (the cost of an autographed picture). 

[sfgdood]

I went last year and the traffic wasn't as bad as I expected, however in the Giants Dugout store before the game was a mass of humanity...one barely could move an inch...they had like 9 registers going and it was still a mess.