Tagged: Randy Johnson
Key Additions and Key Losses
Hey Giants fans, and non Giants fans. I guess I’m just saying hey to who ever is reading this. Just wanted to put up a quick post today. I will be adding more insight on these players in the next couple of posts here and at SF Giants Rumors.
Key Additions
- Aubrey Huff
- Mark DeRosa
- Bengie Molina
- Juan Uribe
Key Losses
- Randy Winn (New York Yankees)
- Brad Penny (ST. Louis Cardinals)
- Bob Howry (Arizona Diamondbacks)
- Randy Johnson (Retired)
- Rich Aurilia (Free Agent)
- Ryan Garko (Seattle Mariners)
Just wanted to pass on this information for the Giants fans that wanted to know who is where right now, and so you can see who’s in and who’s out.
Click here for the latest Tim Lincecum Arbitration update.
~King of Cali
Giants 1st 1/2 – Surprised!?!?!
With the first half of the season over. No one including myself expected the Giants to have a record like they have. We knew they would have a chance to win games cause they had a good starting staff on paper. Well they starters came out and pitched just as well as advertised!
I did expect Lincecum to go out and pitch like he did last year. He’s been
doing that and has been on fire as of late. He’s even starting the All Star Game for the National League. Everyone kept saying Randy Johnson would just try for 5 wins and then shut down. Randy Johnson is an intense pitcher when he’s on the mound. There is no way this guy doesn’t try to go out there and go balls out every time he takes the mound. I did expect Matt Cain to have a good year, but 10 wins by the All Star break. Wow – that’s above and beyond what anyone could have asked for by this point of the season. We have two guys (Lincecum & Cain) that can be in it for the Cy Young Award. Zito has shown some good games and some bad games, but still better than last year. Sanchez was finally going to show up what he has this year and then ended up losing his starting spot in the rotation. Then he came back to the rotation because of a Randy Johnson injury. Sanchez then tosses a “No-Hitter”!
doing that and has been on fire as of late. He’s even starting the All Star Game for the National League. Everyone kept saying Randy Johnson would just try for 5 wins and then shut down. Randy Johnson is an intense pitcher when he’s on the mound. There is no way this guy doesn’t try to go out there and go balls out every time he takes the mound. I did expect Matt Cain to have a good year, but 10 wins by the All Star break. Wow – that’s above and beyond what anyone could have asked for by this point of the season. We have two guys (Lincecum & Cain) that can be in it for the Cy Young Award. Zito has shown some good games and some bad games, but still better than last year. Sanchez was finally going to show up what he has this year and then ended up losing his starting spot in the rotation. Then he came back to the rotation because of a Randy Johnson injury. Sanchez then tosses a “No-Hitter”!The Giants have the 2nd best home record in the National League. I know nobody seen that coming with this young unproven team. The NL West was said to be the weakest division in the NL this year. I guess all the experts were way wrong, cause the Giants have the Wild Card lead right now too. With that said the Giants still have a lot of upgrades they can do to help their batting order. They have been linked to a few different trade rumors. I know some fans think they should stay as is and roll the dice with these kids. I would make a deal if there is one to be made without giving up the farm. If they can’t get a big bat. I would at least make a trade to bring in a decent bat. Just someone to help spark the lineup. Many names have been linked – Uggla, Holliday, F-Sanchez, Dunn, Johnson, Dye, V-Mart and others. I wouldn’t make any trades that would include Bumgarner or Posey, but we do have guys in the minors that we can trade that have some value.
It would nice to see a big bat behind Pablo Sandoval. This guy can flat out hit. He’s hitting .333 with 15 home runs at the All Star Break. Sandoval is a guy that I try to see every AB. The last Giants player I needed to see every AB was Barry Bonds. Pablo is turning into a fan favorite very quickly. Giants fans should be proud of him since he came up through our system and is only 22 years old. We still have a lot more Sandoval ahead of us.
Even though the Giants are playing good ball right now. The are 10 games over .500 and still 7 games back of the Dodgers. They still have a long road ahead of them. If they can stay focused on trying to catch the Dodgers that might help them stay at top of the Wild Card Race. It’s very doubtful that they will catch the Dodgers but anything can happen with half of a season still left.
~King of Cali
Last Homestand before the All Start Break
The Giants were able to take 2 out of 3 from the Astros. Giants were laying the “Smacketh Down” on the Astros in the firs two games. Then in game 3 they sent Randy Johnson to the mound. I know I was expecting a sweep with the way they were hitting and Johnson pitching. Well it didn’t happen like that. Giants end up losing and Johnson hurt his throwing shoulder and were still waiting a MRI to see how serious the injury is.
The next 3 games are against the Florida Marlins. I’m expecting the Giants to take 2 out of 3 from the Marlins. Matt Cain starts tonight’s game. Then Zito tomorrow and Sadowski on Wed. Once that series is over the Giants have the Padres coming to town for a 4 game series. The Giants should at least split that series, but I would have for a series win against the Padres. They should close out the first 1/2 of the season on a high note.
Congrats to Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain for making the All Star team. Don’t forget to go to MLB.com and vote for Pablo Sandoval to make the All Star Team!
~King of Cali
Probably Not Going To Win The West…Wild Card?
The Giants are on a big road trip right now. They aren’t playing great teams, but they do need to prove that they can win on the road. The Giants swept the Braves at home. Then took 2 out of 3 from the Cardinals. Now on this road trip they have took 2 out of 3 from the
Nationals. Where Randy Johnson also got his 300 win. They are now finishing up a 4 game series against the Marlins in Florida. The Giants have taken 2 out of the first 3 games. Johnson is pitching on short rest today to try to get the series win for the Giants. The Giants are currently 4-2 on this road trip. After the game tonight. The Giants will be flying back to the West Coast to Arizona to play a 3 game series with the D-Backs.
Ohhhhkay now I’m looking at the Dodgers as a baseball fan and not just a Giants fan. My Giants heart wants to tell me that the Dodgers are going to fall flat on their face and we will catch them. Now my baseball heart tells me the Dodgers my stumble here and there but they will not fall off the mountain all the way back to ground zero. Plus they should have Manny back in a month. That’s only going to help them. The Giants only shot this season is more than likely going to be the Wild Card. They will have to battle with some good teams, but it can be done with the pitching that the Giants have. We are all still waiting for Sabean to get that bat or two that we need to help us score more runs.
Giants Starting Lineup Tonight Vs. Marlins
CF – Rowand
SS – Renteria
RF – Winn
C – Molina
1B – Sandoval
3B – Uribe
LF – Torres
2B – Burriss
P – Johnson ( Randy Johnson is pitching on short rest)
~ King of Cali
Randy Johnson Gets Win #300!!!!!!
Mother Nature was messing with the Giants again today. Game one of the double header didn’t start at 1:30pm pacific time like they planned. It did however start at 2:10pm. Johnson was ready for the start. He was perfect for the first 3 innings. He walked Nick Johnson but then didn’t allow the first Nationals hit until the bottom of the 5th inning. Johnson pitched 6 innings and allowed only 2 hits and 1 run. The 1 run was not a earned run either. Johnson couldn’t have asked to pitch any better than he did today.
The game was very close. It was a 2-1 game and the Nationals had bases loaded with Adam Dunn up in the bottom of the 8th inning. Brian Wilson was had a full count on Dunn and struck him out to end the 8th inning. Nationals fans were cheering for the Giants all game long. It sounded like a home game for the Giants. I’m sure it was just everyone wanting to see some history.
The Giants did add 3 runs in the top of the 9th inning to give them a 5-1 lead. Aaron Rowand got a hit and then Edgar Renteria followed him up with a double to set up 2nd and 3rd for Randy Winn. Win then hit a 2 run double scoring Rowand and Renteria. Even the slumping Bengie Molina got in on the hitting action. He got a single up the middle to set up first and 3rd for pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval hit a sacrifice fly to score Randy Winn.
Brian Wilson starts the bottom of the 9th off by striking out Elijah Dukes with a 96 MPH fastball. Austin Kearns then strikes out for the 2nd out. Nationals fans cheer loud after Kearns strikes out. Ron Belliard has a 2 strike count and the fans are chanting “Randy”. Belliard hit a hard ground ball to Burriss and 2nd base and beat out the throw at first to delay the Giants win. The game goes on…. Nieves is the batter and has a 2 strike count. Wilson strikes him out to win the game. Randy Johnson gets #300!!!!
~King of Cali
Double Header With Nats – Giants/Braves Trigger Finger
Good news Giants fans. The Giants didn’t lose on the road last night. Well they actually didn’t even play. They waited over 3 hrs at the field to see if they can get the game in, but Mother Nature had other plans. Which means Randy Johnson has to wait another day to go for win #300. Johnson will take the mound today if the rain clears up. He will be pitching game 1 of the double header. Game 1 will be at 1:30pm pacific time. Game 2 will follow that with Matt Cain on the mound.
The Giants have been pretty much hopeless on the road. They have the 2nd best home record in the National League, but can’t seem to win on the road to save their lives. We probably have had the easiest road games possible to win so far this year, and we can’t even take advantage of that. I’m sure a lot of people don’t know this, but the Giants actually have the 2nd best home record in the National League. We are 2nd to the hated Dodgers!
Thoughts about Glavine/Braves and Giants non moves.
In recent news I’m sure that everyone has heard about Glavine getting released by the Braves. This is a guy that will be in the Hall of Fame for sure. This guy has had so many big games for the Braves. Do you think it was right that they released him? Well that all depends on how you look at the situation. The Braves look at it like a business. They want to win and will release a player like Glavine if they think they have someone better to fill his spot. They even went out and made a trade to get Nate McLouth. Now lets step back and look at the Giants. The Giants have a tough time in even thinking about releasing Rich Aurilia. He’s still on the team with a .200 Avg. He did actually get hot to get his Avg. up to .200 and he did hit his first home run last week. Giants can’t even release a fallen star when the Braves can release a future Hall of Famer. The Giants are just dangling Jonathan Sanchez and the Braves are out there making trades. Just shows you which team wants to win and pull the trigger on moves and which team just wants to dangle a player.
~ King of Cali
Johnson Sniffing 300 – Giants Hit The Road!
The Giants had a nice home stand. They swept the Braves and then took 2 out of 3 from the Cardinals. The Giants are really good at home but are horrible on the road. They have to make a statement on this road trip. They start a three game series today with the Nationals. Lincecum is getting the start tonight. Giants fans are hoping he can start the road trip off with a win.
Randy Johnson is going for his #300 win Wednesday night.I’m sure this was the main reason the Giants thought about signing Johnson was to draw fans in to see him win #300 on the road. Chances are he’s going to win it on the road unless he can’t get a win in his next 2 starts.
Tomorrow the Giants players, family and staff are going to get a tour of the White House.
~King of Cali
Quick Random Thoughts
The Giants got the win with Tim Lincecum on the mound. They have won the first 2 games of the 3 game series with the Braves. Giants fans get your brooms out, cause I’m feeling a series sweep with Randy Johnson on the mound today. This would be the first sweep over the Braves since 2003.
Sandoval will be back in the everyday lineup on Friday against the Cardinals. He will be playing 1st base, so he won’t have to throw as much.
Giants are thinking about making a move for a bat sooner then the trading deadline. Rumors have them linked to Dan Uggla from the Marlins and Nick Johnson from the Nationals right now.
Thoughts On Giants Weekend In Los Angeles
Giants fans couldn’t have asked for a better weekend in Los Angeles. Well we could have took some brooms to Dodgers stadium, but were happy with winning 2 games and taking the series. Barry Zito finally got a win and had another nice outing. He’s pitched 4 good games in a row. This is the Zito that the Giants thought they signed.
The Giants still are trying to do whatever they can to get a run. They are probably the best team in baseball at getting bases loaded and finding a way to at least scrape 1 run across. lol Although yesterday Randy Winn did get a double to give the Giants the 7-5 lead in the top of the 13th.
Emmanuel Burris is very hotttttt right now. This guy started the season off in a very big slump. He was batting .161 and then has been on a tear in the past 10 games. He has had multiple hits in 8 out of the last 10 games. His AVG is now .287, and hopefully he keeps the hot swing going.
Side Notes
Brian Wilson struck out Casey Blake friday night with bases loaded. Then Sunday Blake hits a home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 12th off of Wilson. Blake then sat in the Dodgers dugout and mocked Wilson’s religious cross-arm gesture. Wilson and the rest of the Giants are now heated. Giants will not face the Dodgers again until August.
Up Next
Randy Johnson gets the start tonight against the Washington Nationals. Johnson is looking for win #298. Johnson is also coming off a bad outing in Colorado, so he’s due to pitch a gem today. He’s been outstanding at AT&T Park this year, and also has pitched really well every other game. Which means my money is on a gem from Johnson tonight. Go Giants!
~ King of Cali
Giants Split 2 Games With The Cubs!
The Giants start the game off with a bang. Renteria got a bunt single. Then Aurilia got a hit, and then Bengie Molina hit a 3 run home run.
Lincecum doesn’t seem to look like he has his best stuff early on in the game. Derrek Lee hits a double off Lincecum in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The Cubs then got some productive outs to move Lee over and score him. After 2 innings the Giants lead 3-1.
It’s a 3-2 lead for the Giants heading into the top of the 8th. The Cubs still have some good players on the bench. They sat some good players today against Lincecum. Probably figured today is a good day to take off instead of getting themselves in a slump against Lincecum. The Giants haven’t got a runner in scoring position since the 2nd inning. The Giants have managed to get bases loaded in the top of the 8th inning with no outs. Aaron Rowand hit a 2 run double. Randy Winn follows up with an RBI single scoring Molina. The Giants end up scoring 3 runs in the top of the 8th. The score is now 6-2 Giants.
The game is over the Giants win 6-2 over the Cubs. The Giants and Cubs split the 2 game series in the Giants only visit to the windy city.
Tim Lincecum is the winning pitcher. Giants are now 13-12 so far in the early season.
Giants are now off to Colorado to face the Rockies. Randy Johnson and Matt Cain will get the next two starts for the Giants.
~ King of Cali
King of Cali 