Marty Lurie is a Godsend on the weekends. Last night’s traffic jam we slogged through would have been downright impossible to handle without him. And I know that if you’re on the radio for 10 hours a day, you need to come up with topics. That said, stop trying to come up with nicknames for Buster Posey! He already has a nickname — it’s Buster! AARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!
Back to your regularly scheduled free associations and speculations (which are also free)
— Lots of comparisons to Derek Jeter for Young Buster, but doesn’t Posey already have more power than Jeter ever had, even though Posey doesn’t get to play in a park where righties can just flick their wrists and hit oppo-tacos? For swing/hitting comparisons I’m going with Paul Molitor and George Brett until someone proves me wrong.
— Got a text from my buddy Mac when I was rolling in and out of service range (thanks AT&T!) that said maybe it’s time for a Greenwald-for-Flemming campaign. Do you guys agree? Flemming is just too corporate, too Joe Buck-ish for my tastes. He’s good, but a little too into the whole, “And that makes 16 pitches for Lincecum this INNING, and he’s only recorded ONE OUT” thing. That said, Doug Greenwald needs to be a little more of a smartass if he’s going to sound that much like his dad. On any sample Hank Greenwald broadcast you could catch up to 25 wry, sarcastic jokes that would make you chuckle. His son is pretty straight-laced, although he doesn’t seem as interested in jinxing the Giants at every turn.
— Anybody else frightened of hearing these words this weekend?: “The Giants have acquired lefty reliever Will Ohman from the Orioles for 1B prospect Brandon Belt.” Um, me neither.
— In case you didn’t know, Ohman has walked 17 dudes in 28.7 innings. Not surprising, since there’s only 19 lefty relievers who’ve made at least 20 appearances and have a WHIP less than 1.30. The only ones who aren’t on contending teams are Sean Marshall (who the Cubs would probably demand the house for), Craig Breslow (who pitches for the A’s, who would probably rather take the tarps off the upper deck stands than help the Giants reach the playoffs) and Scott Downs. Downs is a Blue Jay too, and everyone knows Toronto’s one of the only teams that Brian Sabean will call back. Prediction: Downs will be in a Giants uniform by Sunday, and the Giants will certainly overpay.
— If Alex Hinshaw can’t get a Major League job now, it’s never going to happen.
— I know the Giants have some lefties in the division to contend with who can hit, like Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez and … wait, why are we getting so worried about this? You have to assume Jeremy Affeldt will come back in a couple weeks or so, and there are only 12 non-Aubrey Huff lefties in the NL with an OPS over .800, and most of them aren’t in the NL West. And if the Giants get to the playoffs you have two lefty starters (Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner) who are murder on lefties and will probably spend half the time (Sanchez) or the entire postseason (MaddyMaddy) in the pen.
— Which is why if I had my druthers (and it’s rare that I do), I’d have the Giants go all-out for Joakim Soria. Sabez would have to outbid the Yankees, but this is a younger, better version of Mike Jackson/Roberto Hernandez we’re talking about. Suddenly coming up with the best 8th/9th inning combo in baseball would mask the minor difficulties against lefties, wouldn’t it? The Giants are getting scary close to being good enough to contend for a World Title. I think that’s worth Zach Wheeler.
— Pretty much the only way Bumgarner could perform any better than he has since being recalled is if he threw 98 mph consistently and learned gymnastics.
— Who cares if ESPN mentions Bumgarner or Posey? If you’re still watching ESPN, you’re part of the problem. If they see their ratings drop to almost zero on the West Coast, they’ll change their focus.
— Pablo Sandoval had to go all the way to Venezuela to figure out his divorce; I have a feeling we’re going to be reading feel-good stories about Sandoval next year and how “The distractions in 2010 have made way for a renewed batch of Panda-power in 2011.” Sure, it sucks for Pablo that he’s getting divorced, but isn’t this a more hopeful reason for sucking at the plate than, “He had a botched lasik surgery” or “He took a job at Pizza Hut on the side for the meal discounts”?
