Results tagged “elleftymalo”

With the Giants stumbling ever downward towards the midpoint of the season, we decided to check in with El Lefty Malo and McCovey Chronicles to get their opinion on a season that is rapidly approaching the point where "are you ready for some football?" will be the motto of the second half of the season.

In Part I, we discussed just how good the Giants would be this season. Then, when it was agreed we were looking at a .500 team, we tried to figure out how okay we were with it. Today, we try to assess blame and then make some predictions. And away we go....

What to make of this year's Giants? We have no clue. No Giants team has been this much of an enigma since maybe 2003. After last year's soul crushing of a season, Giants management vowed to get younger and to change things up. They didn't. In fact, you could describe this season as the same but different. There is a new manager, a new corner infield, a new catcher and centerfielder but the team still feels the same. Same pitching staff (except with one noteacable exception) same bullpen, same middle outfield, and most importantly, the same Barry Lamar. What is true of the Giants in the past is true of this year-- the Giants once again are designed to be placed on the back of Barry Bonds.

-Frank Gore and Larry Allen from the 49ers and Raiders DE Derrick Burgess get an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. The Raiders are stunned only Burgess is going. Hmmm....maybe not being one of the worst teams in NFL history would have helped.

Some of you just can't get enough Gavvy Gav -- Berkleyist finds a picture of him and Sofia Milos (Newsom?) by Luke Thomas. Us, we can't get enough MC Hammer! This may be SFist, but we Hella Heart Oakland. Lots of other new blogs of note. Jon Swenson says Phil Zajicek is blogging his Tour of California ride. And just in time for spring training, El Lefty Malo finds a new Giants blog, Giants Jottings.

Rarely a day late, always a few dollars short.

Some video to amuse you as you kill your Friday afternoon at the office: Schlomo Rabinowitz suggests what . We can't believe it either.

The Giants, who just love their history, are getting ready to sign manager Felipe Alou's son Moises to a two year deal worth something like thirteen or fourteen million bucks, making him their right fielder. He's thirty-nine. Hmm. Felipe and his brothers Matty and Jesus played for the Giants in the sixties, so, from that perspective, this is a warm and fuzzy sort of thing, and Moises hit the crap out of the ball for the Cubs last year, but the whole thing starts to sound pretty crazy when you realize that, with thirty-eight year old Marquis Grissom in center and forty year old Barry Bonds in left, the Giants now have an insanely old outfield. And the rest of the team -- including recently signed short stop Omar Vizquel, 39, and catcher Mike Matheny, 34 -- is pretty old, too. You get kinda nervous about what the disabled list is going to look like next year (not to mention in 2006), and it looks like the Giants' MVP is going to be trainer Stan Conte. And is it too late to get all these guys on steroids? At least that'd help them heal faster when they get hurt.

First thing is, you gotta understand that at least one SFist writer obsesses over the Giants to a damned near unhealthy point and scours the internet on a fairly regular (constant?) basis looking for Giants orts. So it's pretty rare when significant San Francisco baseball news reaches him through the papers first. Today, though, the Chron had a pretty sweet scoop when it reported that the Giants have all but signed Florida closer Armando Benitez to a three-year $21 million deal. Once he passes a physical, which could happen as soon as today, Thunderbirds are Go and the Giants look like the team to beat in the NL West, especially if they sign a legit bat to hit behind Barry Bonds.

For in-depth analysis from the Lunatic Fringe, visit El Lefty Malo, Westwood Blues, Only Baseball Matters, Waiting for Boof, or another of your favorite Giants blogs.