Results tagged “baseball”

Tim Lincecum nabbed his second Cy Young Award in two years. This is what Lieberman is reporting, as is The Splash.

Oakland A's pitcher Andrew Bailey has been named the American League Rookie of the Year this morning. Bailey is a Gemini who was born in Voorhees, NJ, way back in 1984. He stands at 6'3'' weighing in at 235 lbs and has abnormally large hands, which means, well, you know exactly what that means.

According to Columbian.com, Giants star Tim Lincecum was busted on October 30 for smoking and possessing marijuana. "The amount was 3.3 grams, [Washington State Patrol trooper and spokesman Steve] Schatzel said, which is considered only enough for personal use. Lincecum did not appear to be impaired behind the wheel and is not being charged with a felony crime." He was busted while driving in I-5, charged with misdemeanor possession. (via The Splash)

We're a little late on this one, but: local tranny Donna Sachet made history this past week by becoming the first (?) drag queen to perform the "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Major League Baseball game. (We cannot find any clips of her singing at Tuesday's game, but here she is performing at some pageant thingy.)

Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy, according to John Shea at SF Chron, "will be re-signed and return to the 2010 Giants." Good news, right? And now for some bad news: the Giants, as of yesterday, are no longer wild-card contenders. Sigh.

Love him or hate him, this shot of SF Giants' Barry Zito is top-notch. (What wasn't top-notch? Last night's game, which saw the Giants blow it in the end against the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5. But free Jon Miller bobbleheads were given out. So, you know, there was that.)

The Oakland A's just released 2000 AL MVP and five-time All-Star Jason Giambi today. A noted hitter (he slammed his 400th career home run in May against the Arizona Diamondbacks), Giambi was also named in the BALCO scandal, alleged to have received anabolic steroids from trainer Greg Anderson.

At last night's A's game against Texas, a belligerent fan gets zapped by Oakland police officers (1:05), another fan gets pushed down the stairs (1:25), a woman makes things worse by screaming, and then a foul ball lands (1:42).

According to an annual fan cost index, the beer you buy at AT&T Park is baseball's most expensive suds. NBC Bay Area has the full report: "That $8.75 you pay for a 20-ounce beer is more than any other team in baseball in America charges -- by a full 75 cents." Coming in at second place was beer at Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field in Florida, who charge $8 for a 20-ounce beer. But the beer that wins the title of worst deal? NBC Bay Area gives that distinction to Boston's Fenway Park, where "7.25 only buys you a 12-ounce beer."

In memory of Sue Burns, the 58-year-old San Francisco Giants owner who died last week, the Giants are asking fans who attend tonight's game to wear as much orange as humanly possible. You know, more than they already do, that is. The Giants take on the Pittsburgh Pirates starting at 7:15 p.m. Burns, who had a close friendship with controversial roid ranger Barry Bonds, died from cancer-related complications. Her field-level seat at AT&T Park, word has it, could be retired in her honor.

According to Henry Schulman at SFGate, San Francisco Giants senior general partner Sue Burns, the team's largest shareholder, died "overnight at 58 after learning she had cancer a little more than a week ago." Manager Bruce Bochy mourns, "These (players) were her kids. We're going to miss her, her smile, coming down by the dugout before every game." While Rich Aurilia said, "This is a huge loss not only for the Giants but everybody who knew her." The Giants are expected to release an official statement later today. Read more about it here.

        

Yesterday, July 14, St. Louis played host to the 80th All-Star Game, which was the most watched since 1999‎. With an appearance by President Obama’s and a somewhat exciting game, along with a 4-3 AL victory, the annual exhibition game was a hit with audiences.

SF Giants golden child Tim Lincecum will start at Tuesday's All-Star game in St. Louis, according to John Sea of . The Cy Young Award winner, if you recall, couldn't make it to last year's exhibition game on account of dehydration and flu-ish symptoms. The 25-year-old pitcher spoke at a press conference this morning, saying, "Being a starter will completely make up for the fact I didn't make it to last year's game ... I was going to be happy just being in the game." Lincecum went on to add, "I'm going to have Matt Cain put a leash around my neck and keep me in my room."

           

Former wallflower Jonathan Sanchez, a 26-year-old left-hander who, according to , "was the personification of pitching promise unfulfilled," pitched the SF Giants first no-hitter game in 33 years on Friday night. Sanchez, in fact, was a pitcher "so bad this year he was banished to the bullpen last month, a man who had not thrown a complete game in 50 big-league starts."

Under the impression third baseman Pablo Sandoval was David Archuleta, San Francisco Giants fans voted en masse to get him a spot in the All-Star game. Alas, it proved fruitless. But in the final stages of the vote, more fans went on the internet to have their say than ever before. Some even voted a hundred times. Even Mayor Gavin Newsom asked citizens to vote for Sandoval. This video captures how it all went down.

It's up to you, people, to fill the final slot for this year's All-Star game. The entire 2009 roster is set (SF, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum; Oakland, Andrew Bailey), but the last member is being put to a vote. So, why not shove a Giant deep into that open gap? If you're a SF Giants fan, please, please, please vote for Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval for the final spot on All-Star team. Go here to vote. Voting ends tomorrow. UPDATE: Positively LIVID over this e-ballot stuffing, SFGate's" Rich "Big Vinny" Lieberman slams KNBR and "media alike" for slumming for votes. He employs the word "crap." And calls it all a gimmick. Even though the All-Star game itself is the single most pointless gimmick of the baseball season. Read Lieberman rage here.

In related news: The Oakland A's lost 15-3 to worst-in-the-league Cleveland Indians. Ouch.

Proving clouds contain these alleged silver linings, the San Francisco Giants manged to avoid a three-game sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Whew. Right-hander Ryan Sadowski, 26, also pitched his first major league game. "He looked very comfortable out there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told CBS 5 / AP. "He threw quality strikes. He had good movement on his fastball. He had breaking balls going. He did a great job, swung the bat. He did it all today." Sadowski also took home several balls as a keepsake. Aw. Next up, the Giants will play the St. Louis Cardinals at 5:15 p.m. (PST).

During this weekend's interleague A's vs. Giants series, San Francisco won all three games, making it the first time in eight years the Giants cleaned Oakland's clock. On Sunday, the Giants took the Bay Bridge series with a 7-1 win. And now, what with the Giants being "the fourth-best team in the National League," they could land the wild-card slot again. That is, if they keep it up the good effort. But, according to Ray Ratto, "they might not be able to hold their spot, or someone might win 20 in a row, but they're still playing with the casino's money in the middle of June, which is about two months later in the season than anyone thought them capable." Sports types, feel free to chime in... to explain what Ray means. Anyway, go Giants.

Ladies, please sit down for this one. Hell, you guys should sit too. See, San Diego resident Alfred G. Rava sued the Oakland A's. Why? Well, on Mother's Day of 2004, the Oakland A's had a Mother's Day event. Said day celebrating certain vagina owners went like this: Before the game there was "a fight-breast-cancer 5K run before the game, free mammograms, and the first 7,500 women through the gate got floppy plaid sun hats from Macy's." Pretty cool, huh? Well, Rava, a San Diego attorney who happened to be in Oakland and at the ballpark that day, was so incensed at not receiving his own free floppy hat that he sued. What's more, a judge just gave "preliminary approval to a $510,000 settlement -- roughly half to lawyers and the rest to the victims."

       

Although an away-game and rain resulted in a low turnout for Randy Johnson's 300th win yesterday, the small crowd couldn't diminish the joy and relief the SF Giants pitcher felt after winning his 300th game. This makes Johnson the 24th pitcher (and the sixth left-hander) to achieve the 300 mark with a 5-1 win against the easy-to-clobber Nationals in D.C. last night.

Tommy Craggs' brilliance is back. Hurray!, is right. Now writing for Deadspin, the former SF scribe has a nifty new feature, "Why Your Stadium Sucks." And he starts things off with San Francisco's twee AT&T Park. Some of his problems with the park known more for its garlic fries and artisan coffee than for its team? It's a throwback ballpark, for starters. "These throwback ballparks are the brick equivalent of a Ken Burns documentary ... a window not on any actual history but on how baseball wants its history to be seen. It's a lot of infantilizing crap," clarifies Craggs. Another point of contention? AT&T Park chronically claiming that it's the first privately funded ballpark in the U.S. Which is true, he goes on to say, "if you don't count an estimated $25 million in municipal fire, police and garbage services; $33 million for the land itself, donated by the city; $83 million in property-tax exemptions; and on and on." Anyway, he has more excellent points that make his case. (Spot-on stuff, Craggs.)

A ballot proposition on relocating the Oakland A's to San Jose could be up for a vote as early as November, reports KCBS, following a meeting between A's owner Lew Wolff and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. The question remains whether the San Francisco Giants will hold on to their territorial rights on the South Bay, which would need to be decided by the Major Leagues' governing body. Also, have Oakland's residents just given up on fighting to keep the A's at this point?

Yes, Ishikawa went all the way over. Yes, he landed on his head. Yes, he caught it. Yes, it was awesome.

In Sunday's LA vs SF series, the Giants won 2 out 3 games against number-one ranked Dodgers, winning Sunday night's game, 7-5. The Giants, unbeaten in the last of their eight series, as most of you know, are in at second-place in the NL West. Things can only get better (fingers crossed) after Manny Ramirez was put on temporary suspension for 50 games after testing positive for an illegal substance. After winning two out of three games in Los Angeles, the Giants remain unbeaten in their last eight series, with six series victories and two splits.They now trail the first-place Dodgers by 4.5 games in the NL West. Will the Giants continue their winning streak? Find out tonight when SF plays Washington at 7:15 p.m. IOn related news, the A's aren't doing so well.

Great news, Giants fans. The LA Times reports that, as of this morning, Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez has been put on temporary suspension for 50 games after testing positive for an illegal substance. And, in classic prescription drug abuse excuses, Ramirez blames the doctor.

CBS 5's Mike Sugarman reports on a thrilling way to support your favorite baseball team while turning into worm food. Christy Vault, appropriately located in Colma, is now offering this final bit of sports memorabilia, a San Francisco Giants casket. Perfect for almost any dearly departed's rotting corpse, Christy Vault also offers urns emblazoned with the Giants logo, for those of you who prefer to hit the ovens when your final inning is up.

Last night, there was a notable fan watching last night's Giants-Dodgers game: Barry Bonds, who was greeted by cheers of "Barry! Barry! Barry!" The Giants' website reports that the infamous player "created a stir when he took a front-row seat during the first inning between Giants managing general partner Bill Neukom and team president Larry Baer. The all-time home run leader drew applause from the stunned fans who immediately recognized him, then prompted a noisy standing ovation from the crowd before the top of the second inning when he received a video tribute and was introduced over the public-address system."

Where an In-N-Out should be, but isn't.

The San Francisco Giants just announced that they're reducing ticket prices. Why? Who's to say, exactly. The economy, chronic plague of empty seats at AT&T Park, boredom with baseball; fans realizing that garlic fries just aren't as tasty as they sound -- one guess is as good as the other. (But! If they somehow installed an In-N-Out franchise, perhaps things might change. We'd be more than willing to pay full ticket price on a regular basis so that we don't have to go to Fisherman's Wharf, home to SF's only In-N-Out restaurant.) Anyway, for the Giants vs. Dodgers series at AT&T Park April 27-29, you can score tickets for pretty damn cheap. Lower box goes for $28 (normally $42); view reserve, $18 ($24); and bleacher seats, $15 ($25). Get 'em while they're hot. (Use the code 'RIVALS' to get this offer.)