A true professional puts up numbers regardless of how much money they are getting paid. A couple days ago I witnessed Aubrey Huff hit two monster shots in a game; numbers 18 and 19 on the season, to go along with his above .300 batting average. I don’t want to sound like I know things, but Huff’s production is not a shock to me. While I do admit I did not think he would put up numbers this staggering, the man did jack up 32 bombs just 2 seasons ago while with the Baltimore Orioles. Therefore, it is clear the guy rakes. He puts up numbers. Not only that, but he was a bargain pickup. To just put the numbers into perspective, Huff is making 7 million dollars less this season than Aaron Rowand and is more than doubling his production.

A True Professional communicates well with the media and his fan-base. Being a former athlete, I am aware of the ego that comes along with having certain innate skills. While I do not condone third person references at the professional level (which have somehow been re-invigorated by Lebron and Co.), I do understand some ego inflation and believe it is a semi-integral part in being a successful professional athlete. After reading a couple of remarks written by Huff on his blog, it was clear that his perception is on point. He stated “ I know people are making a big deal about the year I’m having but I’ve had good years in the past. I just had them in Baltimore and Tampa Bay and nobody cared”. In this statement it is clear that he knows how to communicate objective remarks to the media/his fan-base without sounding cocky about his success. One other quote that I felt said a lot about him were his comments on playing for SF. He stated: “After playing on such awful teams for most of my career, I can’t tell you how happy I am to playing for San Francisco”. Even though his numbers are real nice and he could be focusing on why he is not getting paid more, he is choosing to focus on being grateful for the team he is playing on instead. Therefore, not only has Huff’s play has been impressive to me but also his positive perception.

Lastly, a true professional helps out his team however they need him to and exemplifies the role of a leader. Huff was playing Left field in tonight’s game versus the Marlins; during other games Huff has played right field and first base. Huff seems willing to play wherever the team needs him to. It is those types of players that make a true difference on teams (especially winning ones). Not only is Huff providing the numbers but he is also providing a crucial leadership quality that sets a healthy example for the younger players on the team.

To conclude, Huff is a true professional. His role on the Giants is highly instrumental to the teams’ current success. As well, his experience and leadership will provide a necessary quality to the team during the final stretch run. Unless a mysterious injury pops up that puts him on the shelf for the rest of the season, there will be multiple other times during the seasons final games where I am either in attendance or watching on TV and find myself saying “my man” after a Huff at bat.

P.S Props to Andres Torres and your recent success. While you have definitely become a “giwatpics” (guy I want at the plate in clutch situations) and an integral part of an 18-5 post-all star break record, my next article will not be about you. My next article will 100 percent be on “The Kid”. There is no way I can’t talk about the staggering numbers, work ethic, and 21 game hit streak (and its not even done with).

After a security check at the entry way and entering through multiple different gates my squad and I (composed of former ballplayers now living in the bay area) walked into the yard. While the baseball field took up the most space, there were a lot of other things to look at as well. For starters, the yard was for the most part segregated by race. The blacks were at the basketball court, the Latinos were near the punching bag, and the whites were near the tennis court. While most all of the prisoners were doing some form of physical activity, there were some who were just chilling and preparing to watch the games about to take place (an outside team was also brought in to play basketball). As I walked onto the baseball field I took a moment to look around. The look though was different from the one Kevin Costner took in the movie “For the Love of the Game” before throwing the first pitch during the last game of his professional baseball career. What I noticed during my look around was the seemingly lack of guard supervision within the yard. While there were probably guards in secret towers who had guns and the inmates knew that, in the moment I did not feel comfortable with the ostensible low number of guards. However, the street smarts that I gained through working in low income neighborhoods in SF and the Tenderloin kicked it, and I had a gut feeling I was going to be okay.

From the beginning of my time on the field, it was clear all of the inmates were enjoying being on the field. Their love of the game shined through in a couple different ways. All of their uniforms were tucked in and it was clear they had a focus/desire to win the upcoming game. The team I was playing on showed up with only 7 guys. Therefore, we needed a couple of the players from the other team to play with us. The three guys they sent over were all nice guys; each of them went out of their way to introduce themselves. While I was a little bit apprehensive before my first at bat, I ended up lining a single right back up the box. As I was moving around the base paths I noticed the warmth from a few of the infielders on the inmate squad (saying “good hit” etc). While part of me wanted to engage with them and joke around  (like I would during a normal game of pickup ball), I was hesitant because of the prison environment scenario. However, as the game progressed, I did loosen up….a little bit!  While most of the players on the inmate squad were past their primes, they still had a fair amount of talent. That being said, my team ended up losing the game; for the most part though, the loss was as a result of  our pitchers not being able to find the plate and walking an abundance of players. After the game, there were hugs and a higher level of love that I usually sense coming from a normal competitive athletic game.

While I  want to win any game I participate in, as the game progressed it became clear that this game was really not about winning and losing. It was about gratitude. For the prisoners they were grateful for the opportunity to play baseball and play against an opposing team comprised of former ballplayers like themselves. And for me, the gratitude I felt was from the numerous opportunities I have been and am able to pursue past, present, and future, along with the abundance of  freedom I have in my life. While I did make some bad decisions when I was younger, I have been able to turn my life around and am thankful that none of the decisions led me to being enclosed in a specified area (prison) all day everyday. All in all, I had a great experience playing at San Quentin and look forward to playing there again.

p.s Almost a guarantee my next article will be on Buster “the kid and main reason the Giants have a post-season shot” Posey!

Willis isn’t the first reclamation project that the Giants have attempted. Here are a few salvage jobs San Francisco has accepted, with varying results, over the past 20 years:

Brad Penny: Huge success. The Giants picked Penny up for a pro-rated portion of the league minimum last August after the Red Sox dumped him and the former ace proceeded to go 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA. Penny’s reward was a one-year $7.5 million contract from the Cardinals last December.

Russ Ortiz: His career started going downhill not long after Dusty Baker inexplicably yanked him in the 2002 World Series and the Angels subsequently came back to win. Ortiz was dealt that off-season to the Braves and proceeded to win 36 games over the next two years. Since 2005, though, Ortiz hasn’t had a winning record or an ERA south of 5.00. He rejoined the Giants in a comeback bid for 2007 and went 3-6 with a 5.51 ERA in 12 appearances and eight starts. He left after the season and hasn’t been back.

Mark Gardner: He was a long reliever and occasional starter for the Marlins before the Giants signed him as a free agent at the end of spring training in 1996. Gardner went a staff-best 12-7 with four complete games and one shutout and subsequently played the remaining five seasons of his career in San Francisco.

Cory Snyder: I fondly remember Snyder who gave me my first autograph one day at Candlestick Park when I was about nine. Snyder was one of the bright spots on a dismal Giants team that year, 1992. The Giants lost 90 games and finished second-to-last, but Snyder resurrected his career, hitting .269 with 14 home runs. This followed a .175 campaign for two American League teams in 1991. After his only year with the Giants, Snyder quietly signed with the Dodgers in December 1992, three days before the next fellow hit town.

Barry Bonds: Following the 1992 season, the Giants gave a chance to this Pirates outfielder that only baseball insiders had heard of. San Francisco offered Bonds an eight-figure contract, mostly as a favor to his father Bobby Bonds who played for the club 20 years before. At least, I think this is how it went. I dunno, you could look it up.

Graham Womack has been a Giants fan since elementary school and writes the blog, Baseball: Past and Present

Props Buster Posey for giving Giants fans some offensive hope for the future. Even though you have recently endured your first big league slump, I believe in your abilities to overcome a slump, and you are still over the .300 mark on the season.

Props Aubrey Huff for hitting a home run into McCovey Cove (a little over a week ago).

Props Juan Uribe for stepping up and being a run producing hitter.

Props Freddy Sanchez for playing the game like a true professional; as well as hitting way above the .300 marker on the season after returning from injury.

Props Brian Sabean for the Huff acquisition. The man is earning his pay and then some. So far, he has hit for both power and average. Way to realize Huff’s potential. I give you props. Him and Jon Bowker (I think) have been the only SF players since Bonds to hit the ball into the cove. It’s a shame though that you didn’t pull the trigger on Adam Dunn (who signed a 2 year contract with the nationals for 10 million a year) before the start of the 08-09 season; instead, you have signed both Mark DeRosa and Edgar Rentaria since that time to huge contracts. Both of the latter players named have not done well and will likely continue to not do well. The reason I specifically bring up Dunn is because he is power-hitting lefty who most likely would have socked between 10 and 15 of his 40 home runs (the approximate amount that he has averaged throughout his career) into the cove. As well, it was reported at the time that he would have enjoyed playing for the Giants and there were not many other teams pursuing him i.e reason he ended up on THE NATIONALS (pre- Strasburg mania etc.)!

Now to the flip-side……

No props Brian Sabean for wasting millions on the DeRosa signing this year and the Rowand and Renteria signings the prior years!

No props Bruce Bochy for your seemingly monotonous way of being (including speech, body language etc.). At the very least get a tooth pick and twirl the hell out of that thing like Dusty did.

No props starting pitching staff for not tossing a no-hitter or perfect game. Every other team in the MLB has at least one pitcher who has tossed at the minimum one or the other!

No props Panda Sandoval for not producing the way you did last year. Even though I have faith you will turn it around, your first- half have numbers have not been good.

All in all, if I had to give the Giants a first half grade it would be a B. They are competitive at the moment, but if they do not acquire one more hitter they will not outlast the Dodgers or Padres. Just to re-emphasize my point from the last article the time is now to capitalize on our superior pitching staff!

As a youth, when it came to sports talk, I was always opinionated. The only difference between my youth/adolescent years and the adult years has been the fine-tuning of my previously specified sports vernacular (including a little more openness to others opinions etc.). However, and similar to my youthful days, sometimes I just say what “I feel” needs to be said. Therefore, the time has come to start keeping sh#*t real regarding the SF Giants 2010-11 campaign; this entire article will be dedicated to writing about certain truths regarding the current season and what “I feel” needs to take place for them to be a “realistic” contender.

Keeping it real, because every major power dominated position player is no longer on steroids, big hitters are hard to come by. Digressing briefly, real talk, there are maybe two-four power hitters in the league and one of them is a rookie (Jason Heward, a man whose plate patience and dominance remind me of another African American lefty who was with the Giants for quite some time). I just needed to speak about this even just a little bit because I almost just witnessed the 15th perfect game tonight (some Galaragga guy, not Andres) over the last 20 days (exaggeration, but seriously what pitcher outside of Dave Burba hasn’t gotten within one out this year…). Clearly steroids had a huge impact on the game and Canseco was accurate on his approximation of the high percentage of players who took them. On the topic of the Giants, while there are 400 pitchers with e.r.a’s this year of under three (another exaggeration, but at the same time, not really) the Giants still have one of (if not the best) pitching staffs in the major leagues. Therefore, and as stated by a close confidante of mine, “THE TIME IS NOW” to capitalize on that. While Timmy is Timmy, he only has a couple more years of dominance; that is the same for Cain, Zito, Sanchez, and Bumgardner [1](once he gets bumped up, which is inevitably soon because Wellmeyer (sp) is not cutting it).

Dear. Mr. Sabean,

Please trade a pitcher plus a prospect for a legitimate hitter. Keeping it real, the Burrell acquisition does not count. Keeping it real, picking up Dye won’t count either. Fielder definitely would; Pena possibly would.

To continue, keeping it real, Buster Posey is not the real deal…….yet. Sure the man won some minor league accolades (similar to that of another famous Giants lefty (William Clark), however, the minors are not the majors, and Posey, well Posey is not Clark……..yet.

Dear Giant fans,

Please do not get fooled into thinking this man is a legitimate big league hitter because he hit some RBI singles over the past weekend. Let us please see what he does once national league pitchers make adjustments. If the man is a beast (and I truly hope he is) he will also make adjustments and will rake versus every pitcher (Burba included).

Keeping it real, Benji Molina is really f*****g slow. He’s so slow they highlighted it on a Sportscenter episode a couple weeks back. While Molina was not happy with this, instead of being embarrassed because his “mom was watching,” in my opinion he should figure out a way to not be obese and slow. Maybe diet, cardio etc.; or utilizing any other health/strength based strategies one would expect to maintain for a  PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE. Now, here is the point in the blog where I need to slightly check myself. Benji could have some form of disorder that makes him stay overweight and slow. If that is the case, I take back the somewhat accusation-filled statement two sentences ago and say to Benji right on for doing the best with the talents with which God has blessed you with. If not, seriously my man, start handling business, please. Eliminate the carbs, sugars, and any other bad habits that make YOU overweight and slow. I was at a game the other night and I felt sad for you while you tried to get to first, I think the other team may have too; I quickly  stopped feeling sad for you once I remembered you get paid millions of dollars because of an intrinsic talent to hit a ball far and throw it hard.

Keeping it real, my heart wants the Giants to succeed. As well, there are other Giant related topics I could keep sh**t real on, but the key ones have been touched on. If management or players happen to read this, please take some of the points to heart and make the appropriate moves/changes.

Here are a few sluggers who could be a fit in San Francisco:

Burrell: The 33-year-old has struggled this year, with two homers, 13 runs batted in and a .202 batting average, which prompted Tampa Bay to designate him for assignment. He never hit his stride (or managed above a .221 batting average) in two years there, though prior to that, he was a perennial 30 home run threat in Philadelphia with a batting average in the .250 to .280 range. The Giants could (and have) done worse than him.

Carlos Pena: This is the bat I want for the Giants, and another person Tampa Bay could make available ahead of the July 31 trading deadline. Pena and Carl Crawford will both be free agents this fall, and it will be difficult if not impossible for the Rays to resign them both. My money says they opt to keep Crawford, who’s three years younger and offers an all-around package of skills. The left-handed, pull hitting Pena seems ideal for AT&T, perhaps the biggest threat on McCovey Cove since Barry Bonds.

Lance Berkman: My Dad suggested Berkman yesterday, and I agree. The Astros are in last place in the NL Central at 17-33 and look like they could start rebuilding at any moment, with top pitcher Roy Oswalt having requested a trade. Though Berkman has played his entire career in Houston and is a franchise cornerstone, he is also 34 and making $14.5 million this season. Though he’s only hitting .234 thus far, his five home runs would tie him for second on the Giants and his .358 on-base percentage is 31 points above what San Francisco is managing collectively.

Graham Womack is a writer in the San Francisco Bay Area and the author of Baseball: Past and Present

Is it me or have the last few series (v. Pads, Dbags and A’s) been notated mostly by the sports press with “pitcher’s duel!”. Please. Aside from Timmy’s implosion the other day in AZ, few of our opposing pitchers are dealing, per se. Good performances? Sure. But it’s become a developed skill of our pathetic offense to make pitchers we face all look like Cy Young. 2 runs in the A’s series? Ouch. We’ve scored 17 runs to opponents’ 40 in the last 5 games which we’ve lost. You know all the stats and I’m just venting.

Solution:
Giants hitters take. Go to the therapist. Seek out slump busters. If I have to watch another 5 pitch inning, I’m going to croak.

We all do it – psych ourselves out – at work, in romance, in sports – and start to think stuff that isn’t true. That we can’t see the ball, that we can’t make a sale, that we can’t get a hit, that we can’t bust a slump. We go on trying to hit 5 run homeruns desperate for a change of heart and mind.

Giants hitters let it go. Relax. Have fun. Quit trying so hard. Accept loss. Embrace failure and get cozy with the worst that could happen. Who cares? Take some pitches and work some pitchers over. We’re facing average pitching talent (until we face Ubaldo – Jesus!) and we need to quit pining over San Francisco 7’s.

Fresh start on Tuesday vs. the Nats.

I’m worried. The Giants are back to their offensive anemia we all knew so well from 2009. The kind of anemia that keeps you up at night, that makes you order decaf coffee and keeps you obsessing on cat hair on your car seat even if you own a dog.

Watching last night’s limp schilling of the Giants by the Pads (we’re 0-7 now but who is counting?) made me feel for our starting rotation. Guys aren’t loose and each and every one of them is simultaneously trying to hit 5 run home runs and not make a mistake for fear of giving up the one run that’s going to bury them.

I can tell we’re the 2009 Giants because, well, everyone one is screaming again for a big dumb ridiculous bat.

San Diego again tonight. Let’s see if someone can awake from their slumber and grow a pair at the plate. (these 8 pitch innings are just killing me.)

For anyone who’d like, here’s the link. Enjoy!

For those of you who did not read this morning’s Sporting Green in the San Francisco Chronicle, a piece written by Scott Ostler was entitled, “Bochy’s not-bad move comes at a very bad time.” This article was in reference to Bruce Bochy’s decision to pull Tim “I’m a G” Lincecum with one out in the ninth inning of yesterday afternoon’s game. While I was not at the game, apparently the fans were booing Bochy as he was walking out to the mound, and as Ostler states, “He was a man doggedly powering through an invisible snowstorm.” I have an opinion on this matter, Bochy was stubborn and egotistical (in the moment), made a bad decision, and should not have pulled Lincecum out of the game. While Ostler does make a similar point in his article, I did not find his views to be as concrete. Listed below are a couple reasons why I felt the way I did:

NUMBER 1: Timmy is legit. He’s the real deal. When he’s on the mound, the man does work. Simple and to the point, HE IS AN ATHLETIC G [1]. Therefore, that means you don’t mess with that. At the very least, practice some active listening and here what the “G” has to say. Quotes from Timmy after the game were “I still felt strong…I felt the innings on me, but nothing to the point that I couldn’t continue”. .

Dear Mr. Bochy,

IF YOU ARE GOING TO CONTINUE COACHING THE SF GIANTS, PLEASE BEGIN TO LISTEN TO YOUR PLAYERS! THEY ARE GROWN UPS JUST LIKE YOU AND CAN MAKE GROWN UP DECISIONS OR AT THE VERY LEAST COMMUNICATE WITH YOU IN A GROWN UP MANNER. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE.

SINCERELY

GIANTS GALORE WRITER,

TAYLOR ANGEL

NUMBER 2: Bochy was quoted saying he left the game up to one of the best closers in the game (or something like that). While I respect Brian Wilson and feel like he has done a good job as a closer, in general I’m not a fan of the closer position and feel like any good pitcher could become a 40 + save closer. And Timmy, Timmy as a closer would save between 50-60! When one of the best pitchers in all of the game is on the mound, a 2 time Cy Young winner, if its between him and any closer not named Rivera (and even that is questionable) for the final two outs I let him finish the game PERIOD; unless, HE TELLS ME, he needs to come out of the game.

NUMBER 3: The Giants need the wins. As I stated in one of my first articles (pre-season), the Giants did not acquire the proper tools in the off-season to become a championship contending team. Outside of Sandoval, the Giants do not have one other legit hitter. The Giants do not have a good lineup. Mainly I’m talking to Mr. Brian “I could have picked up through free agency or deals Vlad Guerrero/ Adam Dunn/ or multiple other power hitting forces in the time I have been GM” Sabean right now. Outside of the Jeff Kent acquisition, I have not been a fan of his moves to make the team better. Therefore, if the Giants are at least going to have a shot at the postseason, getting any win is crucial.

To conclude, it seems that Ostler was holding back a little on condemning Bochy; maybe because he is paid writer working for an accomplished newspaper and I’m a volunteer writer for a newly developed sports blog. Either way, I’m not a fan of the move yesterday and in the future if Timmy can close out a win, he has earned that “little extra” that Ostler still does not believe he has achieved, to say “Coach, I’m still feeling strong and want to stay in the game, please go back to the bench and let me earn a REAL PAYCHECK for helping my squad ACTUALLY win games.”