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A’s Beat Giants Again, in SF, Despite Everything Against Them

Amazingly, the Oakland A’s held off the ‘Comeback’ San Francisco Giants, this time playing in the Giants home ATT Park in San Francisco after winning the first two games in Oakland of a four game series.
The A’s had to overcome all of the following:
1) Playing in a sometimes ‘hostile’ atmosphere of the cross-Bay rival Giants, with aggressive fans,  turned up Public Address and ‘homer’ Giants announcers
2) Getting cheated on three umpire calls in a row, one of which cost them a run
3) Playing against a team of players, many of which we have shown to be ‘performance enhanced,’ playing well above their career records once coming to San  Frnacisco.’

After getting ahead in the first inning, the A’s built a 6-1 lead only to see it evaporate , which seems to happen to teams often at ATT.  Andre Torrez hit a ball down the third base line that even the hometown Giants announcer Miller  noted ‘could have been’ foul but was ruled fair by the umps. On the same play,  one of those aggressive hometown fans interferred with the ball  which ran toward the stand. Instead of giving Torrez a ground rule double and keeping Blanco at third base, after leading off with a walk, they were allowed to maintain where they ended up – with Blanco scoring the fourth run for the giants and Torrez at third base. Even though Giants announcers gave the umps leeway to make their own decission,  the players were not told to go back a base as you normally see on, say a ground rule double or usual fan interference. Yes, the fan was thrown out – but why bother with that if they’re not going to correct the call . Two blown calls on one play. And then, the next batter up for the A’s, Donaldson, hit a ball down the first base line, and even the Giants announcers said the A’s got jobbed when the ump called him out when the replay showed him clearly safe at first base.

 Then we had two pitchers come into the game for the Giants with questionable reputations, to be kind; we have talked about them in the past and how these veteran players suddenly improved at advanced ages after coming to the giants, like so many other players have done. See stats below and compare for yourself Ramirez and Mijarez stats before and with the Giants.  Ramirez is on his second tour of duty after helping the giants in the 2010 world series, after a undistinguished career. Same for Mijares, who helped the giants in the 2012 World series after doing little in his previous  number of years in the Bigs.

Note Ramirez’ much improved ERA and one strike out per inning ratio when with the Giants

Besides an aggressive San  Frnacisco fan base, loud PA and homer announcers and players with what appear to have inflated stats, the A’s had to put up with umpires, who we have seen this year often play up to the hometown fans, perhaps afraid to hear the wrath of the home town fans.

Note Mijares suddenly improved numbers with the Giants at an advanced age

We have shown many other Giants with similar, suddenly improved statistics after coming to the Giants, the primary example being Marco Scutaro, who , at age 38 , has been batting .325 since coming to the Giants last year – and cutting his strikeouts in half – as compared to Colorado and his earlier career when he never hit over .300.   Interesting that the Giants lead the league with Venezuelan players (6), who like Scutaro, have been   shown to have  similarly crooked numbers… 

Two of those Venezuelan players, nearly put the Giants ahead in the eight inning when Scutaro and Sandoval broke up A’s pitcher Doolittle’s streak of not allowing a run, as the Giants got three. The fact that players like Scutaro and Sandoval have cut down their strikeouts dramatically means that they put the ball in play , inreasingly the chances of getting hits – even against top relievers like Doolittle – and thus, part of the reason, at least , for the Giants ‘magic’ string of comeback victories this year. Now you know… You can check out ‘http://RoadToSuccess.us for some previous  blogs detailing more evidence of htis ‘unlevel playing field’ of the Giants, though our maini website has been taken down, inexplicably, for now, for reasons beyond our knowledge (though we have reason to believe who and why is behind this- not hard to figure out.  So much for freedom of the press…  We just  are sharing this common knowledge with true, ‘old school’   and some new baseball fans WHO CARE that baseball is played    honestly and true,  free of articifial stimulation – though we’re still a long way from that, we’re afraid.

It’s been a month or two since we’ve reported in these pages but we’re back after having , inexplicably, ‘LOST’ our main website blog, Where Did You Go Joe Dimaggio… We’ll give another update here, with a preamble that our only intention by so doing with this and other blogs is to WAKE UP fans and people of the real SIDESHOW that’s going on in baseball, and especially in San Francisco, in our opinion. Yes, we live in a different world today, but theperformance enchancing drugs – though they may help veteran players recover form injuries and enhance their games – are still illegal and make for an uneven and unnatural – and UNFAIR- playing field . It’s now well over 10 years since Barry Bonds got things going, as it were,  and younger fans have only seen baseball played the modern  way . We think they would benefit , as would society, of seeing baseball, again, return , to the natural, REAL Fileld of Dreams, as it were. For  old school fans, like ourselves , it would be nice to be able to , once again, watch games without having to play our own game of  ‘who’s on PEDs and who’s not.  ‘   Baseball continues to sell, despite itself  – and , perhaps, the PEDs are helping sell the sport.  But despite what Al David and Vince Lomaarbdi said about winning – and now what we find happening in places like ATanT park in San Francisco, does it have to be all about winning at any cost, because that’s what’s happening here.  It’s been over 10 years and the same shenanigans (another vintage term you younger folks can learn here) are going on in San Francisco and certainly other baseball towns, to a lesser extent.  We know a lot of people are concerned – for both reasons already mentioned as well as HEALTH concerns- yet few speak out about it . And that’s all we’re trying to do here.  Not to sound puritanical or holier than thou.  Just to make a point by some of us who remember an earlier.

SF GIANTS ALWAYS COME BACK WHEN THEY NEED TO, WANT TO…WIN AT WILL…

How is it that, seemingly, every time the San Francisco Giants go on a losing streak on the road they come back to San Francisco and suddenly turn things around to the point of rediculousness. The starting pitcher will suddenly and ‘mysteriously’ raise his velocity over previous starts , hitters will come off the bench to become world beaters and fielding will improve (largely since the other team is not hitting the ball)…

It happened again Monday night, May 20. After one of their worst road trips (1-5) in Toronto and Colorado where none of the starters went more than five innings and the team was outscored three to one in the series, Ryan Vogelsong suddenly became a pitcher by, again, ‘mysteriously’ raising his velocity, the key to getting the opposing batters out. Two or three miles an hour can make a big difference and that’s what he did this night, shutting out the strong Washington nationals through the first five or six innings. Bench hitters like Andre Torrez will come out of the cold to get several key hits. the batters will rarely strike out.

Then on Tuesday night, the Giants did it again, waiting until the ninth inning to win the game.   A normally marginal player like Gregor Blanco is becoming  the Andre Torrez of 2012, who would normally strike out or make  an out on another team but comes up for the Giants  and works the count before hitting a long triple on  a two strike pitch off Washington’s ace reliever.  Game tied. Then Sandoval come s up and, you guessed it , whacks it out for his  eighth homer. At this rate he’ll have over 40 this season, something he has never come close to…   Washington hardly  had a chance.

You see, some these Giants virtually stopped striking out. They’ve improved, yes, their sight and hand-eye coordination and they’re hitting the ball a lot farther as they get older. Shades of Barry Bonds – and for similar reasons they’re doing it, whicih we’ve chronicled  here.  It gets disgusting to us baseball purists .  Guys like Sandoval , who was a strikeout king all of his career , until last year, and Scutaro , at 38, are hitting rediculously  – yet nobody questions any of it, except maybe for us. But, certainly, people must be thinking ‘what’s going on here…’

‘Dodgers can’t buy chemistry‘ was the big quote from the lips of San Francisco Giants’
starting first baseman,  Brandon Belt, earlier this year.
Funny thing is that the Giants DO have chemistry on their side,
but a lot of it comes in a bottle and syringe. Belt’s confounding 8 spring homers is more
than his  ENTIRE 2012 season output! On top of that , he almost doubled his batting average,
from .275 to .457!   Yes, we know it’s spring training but still, that’s
when the pitchers are often ahead of the hitters – and no other Giant hit more than four homers
(Pablo)… just another piece of wonderment on the Giants. One may not have concrete
evidence but there’s sure got to be questions. And this, in light of Belt’s muffled ‘no’-comments about
the suspension and loss of Melky Cabrera last year…

As for the other Brandon, Crawford, he also raised his batting average  100 points this
spring training vs last season and doubled his slugging percentage with 10 extra base hits.
Note that he has also become mentored and good friends with Marco Scutaro, last seasons
most likely non-caught user of PEDs; Scuatro also raised his average 100 points just
after coming to the Giants from Colorado last season and likely has passed on some of 
his ‘knowledge’ to at least this Brandon, much like Melky passed it onto his fellow
venezuelan when Scutaro first joined the Giants, midseason 20120, prior to Cabrera’s
suspension.’ 

As for Scutaro, who’s numbers are actually down in spring training, it may be due to
injuries, or , maybe he is saving himself for the season.

The fact of the matter is that , with this new knowledge about the Brandon brothers – who heretofore  we thought and hoped to be clean – virtually every Giant  starting player has probably used or is using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). Perhaps the Brandons were under too much pressure to reach that potential that had long gone unfulfilled.   No heavyscience here, just too many questions. And, combine this with some real science and numbers – 
see http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio1.blogspot.com  –  and read all the posts form last year and together you’ve got a mountain of evidence that points the Giants  further advancing a  the PED tradition that began over a decade ago with Barry Bonds where now likely every starter but probably Posey has likely used or is using PEDs. Only the names have changed, in our opinion..

So, now the starting lineup is secure of PED players, either former users or current…
with Buster Posey the only player  unlikely  using…
probably so squeaky clean he doesn’t even know the others have been or are using – and now
his unheard of nine year contract…

PS Don’t you love the way the Giants go out and try to nail down nearly every starting player
to long term contracts, especially with their track record  , going back
to Rennie Stennett and even Orlando Cepeda for Ray Sedeki… Aaron Rowand, Huff, Zito
(even though he’s redeemed himself the past season after four bad ones @ $20K per, etc..

2. MAR

   22

   SELIG, MLB GOING AFTER STRAWS WITH NEW LAWSUIT

   

   MLB Trying To Cover  Itself From Further Embarassment as PEDs Continue To Purvade Baseball
   
          Notice things seem a little quieter in the Spring Training Circuit this year? With only a week before the season starts, baseball hasn’t even reached the First Page of the Sports section.  Along with an unusual amount   of ‘mysterious’ injuries this year, there’s an underlying feeling of discontent in Mudville.  Especially among the old school guys, the broadcasters and sportswriters, who know, deep down, that baseball is far from the pure sport it was thirty years ago when guys named Willie and Micky lead the way. The old ‘spring fever’ isn’t  there. No surprise what with the continuing stream of  players continuing to test  positive for chemical enhancement – and more often those who don’t-  and the unknowing who IS and who ISN’t ‘on’ something…   Sadly,  the young generation – under age 20 –    has never seen baseball played CLEANLY , now over 10 years since Bonds made Ruth turn over in the grave and Henry Aaron wince a lot, when Bonds broke Ruth’s asterisk-free season total of 60 homers with  73  and broke the Aaron’s lifetime total –  and  in cold San Francisco, where homeruns used to be scarce;  Bonds was really the one who set things off,  though McGwire and Conseco played a smaller role,  a mere blip on the radar years earlier.  Now we have players  being invited back to a team a second and third time after playing with performance enhancing drugs – and still making big money while at it. Who knows if they are still on the juice or not?   If they are, they’ll probably perform well; if not, they probably won’t.  It’s crazy that this is happening. Does anybody care anymore?

   So,’Commissioner’ Selig and MLB decide  they have to make a point, lest they continue to look even more like  ‘turn the other cheek’  laughing stock,  as they’ve been for over a decade now. They come up with some names, much like Edgar Mitchell did – remember the Mitchell report that went nowhere? – and   threaten a lawsuit against this new Miami-based version of San Francisco’s BALCO.  Good luck guys. Sounds like going after straws again. Give ’em a little scare, I guess.   Without real hard evidence,  you’re putting yourselves in position for a reverse lawsuit – and to further  upset the game.. Nothing’s going to change at this point, especially with the speed and ineptness that Selig and his ‘yes men’ do  things. Baseball’s players union is very strong and you’re not going to get very far. Meanwhile the fans will suffer, or will they?  The young ones don’t know any other way than baseball on steroids.   It’s sad for both  those  who haven’t had the opportunity to see REAL baseball , and , us  ‘oldtimers’ who remember how great the game can be if played honestly. But, like so many things today, there are easy short cuts to easy money, thanks largely to advanced chemicals, computers and , perhaps, a society gone south.
   
    I, for one, have pretty much lost interest in baseball (especially living in the SF area ( PED headquarters) but it looks like things may be going bi-coastal  .  As Buster Olney noted in his ESPN column today,  the problem is now so entrenched . Easily half the SF Giants are on the stuff, in my opinion, lead by the Venezuela connection of Scutaro and  Sandoval. (Scutaro comes over mid season to suddenly become Babe Ruth and ‘teach’ Sandoval his ‘tricks’ just as A-Rod  did with M Cabrera, before Cabrera took his ‘secrets’ back to Kansas City where he taught his fellow Venezuelan Scutaro and Mijarez before THEY came to  the Giants… and on and on it goes.. Incestual relationships all over the place but either I am the only one who sees them or perhaps one of the few who cares enough to speak out.  So the  Giants lose another star of 2010, Brian Wilson.  No big deal.. J ust go back and get old suspects from 2010 , Andre Torrez and Rafael Ramirez, who had their best seasons with Giants, as have most of these guys. Across the bay The A’s bring back Bartolo Colon, who will either still have to be on the juice , at 39 , to perform well, or will be a throwaway. Here today , gone tomorrow,  just like the experiment with Manny Ramirez,  last year; that failed, leaving him out of excuses and into retirement. Finally.   More  @  http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio1.blogspot.com/ 

RARE SPORTSWRITER  SPEAKS OUT on SF Giants, PEDs – Open Letter

Scott Ostler (SF Chronicle sports writer),

Thanks for your column today 3-16-12. You’re one of the few sportswriters who will admit that San Francisco  baseball today is more like professional wrestling and today’s mostly younger fans just take it in stride.

 At least 4 key Giants are currently using PEDs – think Venezuela – and if another gets caught Sabes & co will just bring in another ped guy just as he went for 2010 to 2012. Goodbye Wilson, only the names change…. I guess same goes for other teams to a lesser extent, thus probably why they didn’t complain as the unlikely giants waltzed to 2 world champs in 3 years.

I call it a joke but then I guess I’m older yet age should have nothing to do with it. Now the giants go and try to resign Cabrera but settle on a couple of their old previous suspects in Ramirez and Torrez. NOW Call the giants ‘Steroids on steroids!’… Now likely 7 or 8 players at least.

Locally,  I can’t say much better for the Oakland A’s either . Do they really expect Colon to put up last year’s numbers if he’s not on peds -and so what if he is on them I guess is how they figure. Never thought I’d see such blatant , accepted cheating in my lifetime. At least ex-A’s admitted to their mistakes before it became acceptable – and even opened the door for the Commish to do something, which he never really has done to stop the mess. Baseball still sells. 

It’s 1919 all over again, really,  with the Jints the Black Sox of the day, leading the way. I know most other SF sportswriters know exactly whats going on behind Giants ‘win at any cost’ attitude but continue to live the lie. Mark and Lance had to move on for their good efforts.

 This stuff has been going on well over a decade. I remember when Bonds even told the press in 2002 that he was going to share his secrets of success with fellow players- and he did. (Bernard, Santiago, et al  ) . Few if anyone picked up on Bond’s statement to this day; this could have been more damning evidence against Bonds.

Who To Blame? Commisioner, Giants/baseball management, players, fans? Probably all of them. But it’s not so much a matter  of BLAME as a matter of SHAME.  For the baseball purists – and there are still a lot out there as we can more fan mail from this blog than all 50 others – baseball has been ruined. Until something changes on the PED front, the Giants will continue to win World Series – or other teams that decide to go up against the Giants’ number of PEDers.

 Where did you go Joe D? Please check out my science @ http://wheredidyougojoedimaggio1.blogspot.com/, also http://RoadToSuccess.us 

RARE SPORTSWRITER SPEAKS OUT on SF Giants, PEDs – Open Letter

Sent from my iPad

Has San Francisco become the mecca for professional dopers and cheaters ?

  Now after the San Francisco Giants have surprised with two World Series in three years  we now see the San Francisco 49ers football team suddenly defying the odds and shooting to the front of the pack on its way to the Super Bowl.     For over a decade the San Francisco Giants have parlayed steroids aNd PEDs (perfomance enhancing drugs) ala Barry Bonds and friends into winning seasons. Despite supposedly improved drug testing for MLB the Giants management has not been bothered by Barry Bonds’ conviction while acuqiring not one but at least several more players – most recently the ‘Venezuelan connection’ – that went from journeyman to superstar numbers in a matter of months, namely Marcos Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, Melky Cabrera (no longer on the team following a suspension), and others not  necessarily from Venezuela.   Even with Cabrera’s loss and other losses in recent years, the Giants seem to , magically, bring in new sudden stars ,  like Scutaro, who suddenly become unlikely superstars. More details at http://wwwhttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2133810000215545760#allposts/src=dashboard   And now, the San Francisco Forty Niners foodball team seems to have come from nowhere. As Mike Yellnack bravely notes in the attached video, there may be no exact science to it but … 1) The team boasts the biggest front line and overall team in football; perhaps they should be called the Giants. You have people like Randy Moss, always the skinny guy for years who has suddenly bulked up, the new kicker Akers who was a 40-year kicker with Philadelphia coming to the 49ers this year and now making 60-yard field goals.   Again, there’s no science, just too many coincidences and the fact that this IS San Francisco, the most liberal city in America where anything goes, it would seem. Add the fact that , like the Giants, you have a new ‘win at all costs’ attitude and a new coach, Harbaugh, who is chief proponent of said philosophy. And, San Francisco just happens to be the home of Balco, who’s owner, Victor Conte, literally came out last year and told the world how players are getting away with cheating, using the latest designer PEDs.    

NEW OAKLAND POLICE CONSULTANT NEEDS TO BE GIVEN FULL REIGN

Other cities  have done it, more are doing it –  that is, turning the tables on crime. In light of latest statistics showing Richmond, California’s  high crime rate has dropped significantly as has  New York and Chicago  under then police chief coming to Oakland as consultant, Oakland must not blow this chance.  One thing is for sure and that  Oakland cannot continue cutting it’s police force.  Richmond and others were only able to turn around crime by doubling and tripling its forces. In fact, Richmond, a city less than half the size of Oakland has more than half as many police officers.  Mayor Quan, who has often been on the side of the citizens hostile to police presense, must give the new  consultant full authority , ahead of Police Chief Jordan, who has NOT been able to do things with his limited resources.  Oakland has now spent over $1 million  they don’t have this year on consultants this past year and the $125,000 given the new consultant can be another ‘drop in the bucket’ wasted if Quan and company let their polictics get in the way.     http://www.cafepress.com/fieldofschemes1.702867012

30 REASONS WHY TESTOSTERONE / PEDS  BOOSTED SF GIANTS TO WORLD SERIES VICTORY

  No one thing alone spells PEDs but when you add them all up plus previous history, it’s pretty convincing stuff. In 2002 when Bonds’ head was growing I told those I know there’s something unnatural about his sudden big numbers – Bonds even told reporters back then in an interview nobody remembers that he would share his ‘secrets’ with players – yet nobody else said anything until 5 years later when a couple SF news reporters bravely broke the story. So, look out for a major story again per below some are thinking but nobody’s talking about right now. marco scutaro steroids    

30 REASONS GIANTS LIKELY USED PEDS TO WIN 2012 WORLD SERIES

  30) Giants became first NL team with back-to-back shutouts in the World Series since 1919, interestingly enough the year of the Black Sox Scandal. Keep that in mind.   29.) Last time a a team had as low as the Giants 1.49 ERA in the World Series was 1966 and the Baltimore Orioles. Prior to that you have to go back before 1950.   28.) Last time a team held another to one run or less in three World Series games was 1907   27) RT @dmill885: @hankschulman: According to FanGraphs, Giants’ Vogelsong’s fastball in 2012 averaged 90.8 mph. During playoffs and world series he was 92-94. Ryan Vogelsong’s 1.09 ERA in 24.2 IP this Postseason is lowest since Orel Hersheiser had 1.05 in 42.2 IP in 1988 (min. 24 IP).   26) No team has ever won 7 straight elimination games as the Giants just did. . The only team to win 6 was the 1985 KC Royals.   25 ) Detroit had not lost a game at home in the last month and now the Giants not only beat them but SHUT THEM OUT 2 GAMES IN A ROW   24) The Tigers were only shut out twice ALL SEASON. Now they were shut out TWO GAMES IN A ROW by the  Giants   23) Lincecum fastball suddenly up from avg 89 regular season to 93 mph in postseason.   22) Are Detroit fans on to it – booing Sandoval’s unlikely 3 homers in one game off the game’s best pitcher after only hitting 12 all season? National writers calling the Giants wins ‘flukey.’ Perhaps they’re on to something….even more to that.   21) Only 10 pitchers have ever posted a lower ERA in a single Postseason (min. 13 IP) than Tim Lincecum’s 0.69. Lincecum had struggled all season with highest ERA among majors starting pitchers and suddenly this, with little experience in the bullpen.   20) After Sandoval’s 3-HR Game 1, no HRs at all in 2 straight World Series games for 1st time since 1996 Games 5 & 6. Not so surprising last two games without homers in tough, cold park but SAYS A LOT ABOUT SANDOVAL’S 3 HOMERS in game 1   19) Two consecutive shutouts in World Series for 1st time since 1966 (Orioles shut out Dodgers).   18) The SFGiants have now won 7 straight Postseason games for 1st time in franchise history.     17) The SFGiants did not trail for 54 straight innings, 6 full Postseason games since NLCS Game 4 loss. This against some excellent competition that blew by Yankees and A’s, Cincinatti and Atlanta They outscored Detroit and St. Louis a combined 36 to 7  runs   16) Not surprisingly , Scutaro got the Series winning hit after hitting major league leading .360 the past three months since joining the Giants. Pablo Sandoval won the Series MVP for a near .700 batting average in the series and hitting for power which he never did all season until now.   15) Former Giants’ trainer Stan Conte (no relation to Victor) left the Giants in mid-2000, reportedly after years of lack of support from Giant GM Brian Sabean when it came to Bonds bringing in his own trainers and entourage. (www.ladodgertalk.com/…/11-28-07). Bet you can’t name the current Giants trainer – Dave Groeschner   14) Buster Posey was the only Giants player NOT to defend Melky Cabrera and his rather extreme violation of the drug test and his subsequent attempted coverup. Posey may be the only Giant , himself, not using PEDs   13) MARCO SCUTARO and his otherworldly numbers since joining GIANTS: .362 in over 200 at bats since August 1 which is leading the league, only 15 strikeouts as compared to batting .271 the first half season at Colorado where he struck out twice as often in the same amount of at bats but in a much more hitter-friendly ballpark. I guess it was fitting that Scutaro had the game series winning hit     12) PABLO SANDOVAL : What can you say about this guy who only hit 12 homers all season and now near-record breaking 6 in the postseason and 3 in one game against the best pitcher in baseball. Announcers also commented that Sandoval’s batting practice clouts in Detroit were Ruthian, hit further than perhaps anyone else at the Detroit Stadium. Of course, Sandoval got the MVP for his roughly .700 hitting and three homers in the series.     11) PITCHERS’ SUDDEN SUCCESS in PLAYOFFS – Giant pitching .089 ERA in post season. After opening two blowouts to Cincinatti, the Giants’ ratched it up and dominated with the entire staff pitching otherworldly, with higher radar readings and all. I mean there hasn’t been one pitcher NOT doing well. The guys who weren’t doing well in September, eg BumGardener, Vogelsong and even Zito are outperforming ace Matt Cain, perhaps one of two Giants most likely not using.   10) HITTERS who hadn’t been doing well are suddenly becoming the big guns in series. While Posey is holding his own, Sandoval, Pence and Blanco are suddenly getting the key hits, very reminiscent of 2010 when the Giants brought in Ross, who suddenly and inexplicably hit 5 homers in the playoffs and Renteria who had two.Scutaro hit well through the entire post season as he did all season with giants. Again, he credited it to ‘luck.’     9) SAME PATTERN for GIANTS in 2010 repeated in 2012: Sabean brings in a couple of journeymen, cheap, that other teams don’t want who are suddenly transformed into stars, ie Jose Guillen (until drug suspension) and Cody Ross in 2010 and this year Scutaro (.362 since coming to Giants after hitting only .271 at Colorado)) and now Pence hitting big in World Series. Meanwhile, team suddenly performs like world beaters late season – in 2010 they were .500 before August and this year they’ve become unstoppable in September-october with mostly same players who couldn’t hit a lick in June.Would have probably won Series in 2011 , too, if it werent for losses of Posey and Wilson (not that Wilson, or Cabrera for that matter have hurt them. they just go out and get another body     8) VICTOR CONTE: Local insider probably knows a lot more about PEDs than he’s saying but he did say a lot. Most people probably didn’t pay much attention to the man who probably knows more about steroids and PEDs than anyone when he was interviewed after the Melky Cabrera suspension. Well, Conte is a local, San Francisco Bay Area fellow and when he attributed to his knowledge of players using he would not give names but you have to believe much of it has to do with the San Francisco Giants, which he knows so well from his days working with Barry Bonds and others on the Giants. Like him or not, Conte told us exactly how players can inject up to 4x the normal amounts of testosterone, as desired, to get that PED advantage without being caught; he even told MJB about the CRV drug test that he claims WILL detect synthetic vs. natural testosterone;   7.) GIANTS STRINGENT POLICIES: Most local sports writers are on the timid side and won’t challenge a threatening organization like the Giants. Only a couple sports writers have been brave enough to question some of the Giants policies, those being KNBR’s Damon Bruce and San Jose Mercury writer Andrew Baggerly – and when both questioned some policies Bruce was taken off the Giants flagship station and Baggerly was asked to apologize (which he did) to Melky Cabrera for a Factual lead he put out prior to the eventual conviction of Cabrera Some of the other Giant’s items you don’t hear much about include:   6.) Why nobody questions that the Giants announce every game as a sellout (over 100 now) (obviously to make the produc more attractive) or that the Giants turn up the PA system with the Giants fansyelling to give them an edge (though it stopped working this season). I’ve gone to several games l ate and had no trouble getting seats while noting large blocks of empty seats in the stands; I also didn’t care for being given different ticket prices for the same sections at different windows (they call it dynamic pricing). Plus we know that the Giants are giving a ton of tickets away for promotions or for half price thru Goldstar and other prgrams.   5) What was the real reason Giants s CEO Bill Newkomb was let go from the team after being instrumental in the 2010 World Series? Was he at odds with the Giants’ ‘win at any cost’ attitude? And how come guys Like trainer Stan Conte were suddennly gone with little or no mention by the Giants / media? Did Conte know too much about the Bondsian habits of players? Did HE leave on his own or was he dismissed?   4.) San Francisco is a very liberal town where ‘anything goes.’ The fans don’t seem to care care – and apparently neither does the management care what players do on their own. Bonds was beloved in SF – and still is- long after his conviction for lying to the grand jury about his use.   3. Giants became first NL team with back-to-back shutouts in the World Series since 1919, interestingly enough the year of the Black Sox Scandal. We repeat this one for emphasisKeep that in mind 2. GREGOR BLANCO , fellow Venezuelan who followed friend Melky and others  from Kansas City to the Giants, credited Cabrera  (10-28-12, USA Today) for his MVP-type performance in World Series!   

2. and 1.: Yes, did you guess it? PERFORMANCE ENCHANCING DRUGS! (PEDs)

  NOT SURPRISINGLY THE 2012 WORLD SERIES HAD THE LOWEST TV RATINGS EVER. NOT SURPRISING. LOOKS LIKE SOME ARE ONTO THE JINTS.   So, 10 years later the Giants are still at it. Even after Bonds and Melky, Guillen and Mota – and leading the league in players convicted of PEDs  – the Giants continue to  get away with it and win it all, this their third World Series (*) during this 10 year period. Only the names have been changed – Melky’s loss was Scutaro’s gain, or any other body team changes. How did they win without Wilson or Melky they ask?   Jints nearly made it last year too – without Wilson and Posey!   Is it because the Giants are playing in the liberal and Silicone city of San Francisco where anything goes or that people around the country haven’t really heard the WHOLE story. All the info is out there. Conte, like him or not, has explained in detail how ‘up to 50%’ of players (think Conte’s hometown San Francisco) have to be ‘dumb’ to get caught. You  can’t ignore this but many do or don’t pay attention or don’t care.  Hard to believe this web blog WAS perhaps  the only or one of few asking these questions -AGAIN – but we’re starting to see more and more.     

GIANTS UP PED LEVELS for SERIES – SANDOVAL HITS 3 IN 1 GAME , already 6 in Post Season

After hitting only 12 homeruns all year, San Francisco Giants’ Pablo Sandoval has already half his entire year’s output in in 11 games and just over 50 at bats. That’s 1 homerun per every 8 at bats! Unheard of! Even Babe Ruth didn’t touch those numbers. And last night’s three in one game coming off the premier pitcher in baseball in a tough hitter’s park (ATT).  PLEASE! Even  this is somehow a fluke, it’s no fluke that the entire Giants team is hitting well up from their season average, which was high to begin with – especially in the second half. When you have a 37 year old journeyman player like Marco Scutero suddenly hitting .360 over half a season and .400 in the playoffs – he never hit over .299 during his best years- you have to wonder. … Even more amazing is that Scutaro has only struck one one time in his 50 plus at bats during the playoffs. And then, there are Pagan, Blanco, Belt and even Crawford all hitting .20 to .50 points higher than last year �or improved their extra bases significantly . And the pitching… Casilla, Majias and now even the weakest starters like Zito, Vogelsong and Linzecum are dominating the �other teams, much like Giants pitchers did �uring the 2010 playoffs and world series… Only some of the names have been changed.   But, it’s nothing �new for the Giants. In fact it’s very reminiscent of 2010 when the newsly acquired Cody Ross hit 8 homeruns �during the last month of the season and in the playoffs – and the entire team started hitting like crazy after a mediocre year until then… Torres, Uribe, Renteria… Remember? A bunch of mediocre players suddenly hitting like Bate Ruth! And the pitching… Guys who never did anything before, guys named Casilla, Ramirez and Mota �suddenly becoming world beaters… �And it’s happening again, only with some different �names �. � 2011 would have been the same except for some key season ending injuries to Brian Wilson and Buster Posey. Figured it out yet? Well we’lll help you. �Starting with Barry Bonds, the Giants have made steroids and PEDs acceptable �in baseball – well, at least in �liberal San Francisco . � Only in San Francisco could Bonds remain a hero – we was almost brought back as a coach. �San Francisco fans don’t seem to mind, nor do management. � Get a player cheap other teams don’t want. So what if he’s got a questionable record, like Melky Cabrera in Atlanta . So what if he’s been on three teams in three years, often a teltale sign, like Melky or Scutaro. �With so much juice running rampant in the home of Balco and Victor Conte, �getting the PED of choice is not a problem, whether testosterone or whatever – and there’s probably enough already in the locker room. �Heard of the ‘cockroach theory’? YOu see one and then you see a lot more. In 2010 it was Jose Guillen who ignited the fire. After he came (and was subsequently banned by baseball for banned substances found in his mail �after one previous drug �violation that was enough to set off the rest of the Giants. Their hitting literally doubled the last months of the �season. This year it was Melky – or Moto – who may have �brought the goods �and Scutaro -who came to the team just before fellow Venezuelan Cabrera was let go – was the apparent key benefactor. GET IT? The stats are there… every Giant in the lineup �is hitting over .270 for the year except Hunter Pence, who just got here after Melky, but is still contriubuting with RBIs and Brandoon Crawford , who has still upped his average 25 points. � And now we have Sandoval – who wasn’t necessarily your classic user prototype, but now one must even wonder about him. Only Buster Posey might be clean, but then… Nah….SEE �MORE STATS BELOW @�https://bayareacoupons.info/blog

SCUTARO UNWORLDLY NUMBERS SINCE JOINING GIANTS QUESTIONED

One strikeout in first 50 at bats in playoffs and a near .400 average, this after hitting .362 over the past two months since coming to the Giants from Colorado, where he was only batting .271.  Marco Scutaro today told Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News that luck was responsible for his sudden, otherworldly stats since joining the Giants. These include only 14 strikeouts in over 300 at bats since coming to the Giants, half  what he did in Colorado with same number of at bats and a near .400 batting average.  Luck can happen for a game or two, maybe even a series. But, in half a season, hitting in a tough ballpark   and at age (37 ) when most players are retired one has to wonder. Is this superman or did Melky Cabrera slip Scutaro a little something before Melky was booted off the team. We think the latter choice…Or maybe it was Mota, still with the Giants…who gave Scuatro some GIANT secret elixir that, apparently  Scutaro is on.  Not the first time this would have happenEd in Giant Town. I guess that’s why they call them the GIANTS.

The San Francisco Giants have a long history of looking the other way and actually searching out such malcontents or players other  teams don’t want for various illicit reasons… Besides Cabrera and Scutaro, both on their third team in three years, you have Pagan and Blanco  all hitting either more homers or for higher average in the past   or same as at kansas city , which seems to have become a hotbed for Sabean trades, , what with Blano, Cabrera and most recently pitcher Mijares coming from there.  Speaking of Mijares, he fits the same pattern as Cabrera and Blanco – a good season at Kansas City after mediocre years before and then , suddenly a trade – and for next to nothing. KC must have known something which the Giants probably knew too…   Anyway, the stats are there. As in past years, the Giants have acquired a bunch of journeymen with questionable records and reputations who did little the year before but suddenly sprout wings with the Giants…  Besides Mejias, there are also Casilla and Mota among pitchers, though Mota may have finally stayed off the juice (now on his third strike).  Don’t be surprised to see the Giants bring back Melky, who would be eligibale for the Series- if they need him. Though they may feel they don’t need him  the way the weak hitting Giants of June  are becoming World Beaters -just as they did late 2010 with sudden acquisitions Ross and Guillen,  before MLB booted Guillen off the team for finding him receiving streoids in the mail. Balco founder and San Francisco  Bay Area resident and perhaps leading authority on Performance Enhancing Drugs,  Victor Conte says one has to be ‘dumb and dumber‘ to get caught using PEDs, so there are probably many besides Cabrera and Mota who just haven’t been caught. Anyway, as an old school baseball fan, we don’t enjoy seeingartificial baseball. The Giants are making teams look like pushovers just as they did in 2010, yet their players numbers are inferior. What’s wrong with this picture. In a word, PEDs.. Yet nobody seems to care anymore, even with the Giants’ reputation as the Kings of Steroids.  Too bad Detroit. You deserve better. The better team will probably go down again, just like St. Louis and Cincinatti did recently and just like Texas and Philly did in the 2010 post season.  Joe Dimaggio, where did you go? Bring back old school baseball or do something about the Jints! more @  http://bit.ly/QCHCIB  http://roadtosuccess.us/sf-giants-peds

  ‘LATIN CONNECTION’ PROPELLING GIANTS THROUGH  PLAYOFFS , AGAIN

Ever notice that two-thirds of the San Franciso Giants’  starting lineup is comprised of Latin players: Scutaro, Pagan, Sandoval, Blanco, Arias (when he plays) and Sanchez (when Posey plays first base) and Cabrera (before hewas banned for using an illegal substance) . As for pitching, there’s Mijares, Casilla, Mota and Romo. These players have mostly shown a surprising increase in production and numbers after joining the Giants as compared to their previous team(s)  Saturday’s playoff game against Cincinatti, the only non-Latin player to get a hit was Pence in the 8-3 drubbing of Cincinatti by the Giants. We only bring this up because the same thing happened in the World Series year of 2010with names like Torres, Uribe, Renteria, Guillen, Ramirez, Romo and Mota, again. We find it moreï than coincidental that these players would suddenly sport significantly improved numbers once joining the Giants. Perhaps not so surprising when you note what �we call the ‘cockroachï infestation’ theory,  where PED (performance enhancing drugs) players, already on the team are attractve to these new, fellow Latin players – willing and wanting to boost their own  performances like the players to which they look up. The stats for the new Giants speak for themselves, comparing previous years to the current season:

1) MARCO SCUTARO – Most surprising increased numbers, this for a 37 year old player  playing in the difficult San Francisco �hitter’s park

2)  JUAQUIN ARIAS hit 5 homers for Giants this year after never hitting one before.

3) ANGEL PAGAN power numbers up since coming to SF with Melky Cabrera

4) GREGOR BLANCO who was red hot, ala Torres in 2012 for first half of season, hit more homers this year than in all previous seasons combined

5) SANTIAGO �CASILLA �suddenly halved his ERA after coming to Giants in ‘magic’ year, 2010.

6) JOSE MIMARES , teammate with Cabrera in 2011 in Kansas City and this year , saw instant success like he had at Kansas City . Funny that the Giants would go after another Latin player off Cabrera’s KC team? …and there are other possibles…  Add to this that GM Brian Sabean– never real great at making good trades for ‘normal’ players – found a new ‘secret’ source (or secret sauce) for trades. Ever since the Bonds era Sabean has been able to ‘get away’ with bringing in known tainted players like Cabreara�and Mota. Even if such players ARE caught, Sabean and the Giants still get the benefit�of a partial season of success, probably 5-10 game winning hits in the case of Cabrera. Guillen‘s short stay with the Giants in 2010 when he had three game winning hits was more�than enough to push the Giants past the Padres by one game to win the Western Division. As for risk, there is none (yet) to Sabean and the Giants and, as PED guru, Victor Conte�says, one has to be ‘dumb or dumber‘ to get caught, what with all the new anti-detection�techniques, most notably with testosterone, the current PED of choice among players. That Conte has come out recently stating that ‘up to 50% ‘ of baseball players�are using PEDs, according to many baseball players he would not name could be pretty damning. (Conte’s likely source was the hometown San Francisco Giants). Say what you want about Conte, he knows more about PEDs than you or I. That Conte is �San Franciso local one could �speculate that at least some of his sources came�from the local ball team, none other than the San Francisco Giants. Enough evidence yet?

Perhaps baseball really doesn’t care nor do other teams (other than Kirk Gibson and�his �Arizona Diamondbacks, who have questioned the Giants’ seemingly unfair advantage. Sure, other teams could probably get away with it – and some probably do – but not to theextent of the Giants, Kings of the PEDs for over a decade now. But most other teams�probably rather not deal with the fallout and possible reaction that the Giants have received to some extent, thought not what it should be. How can one watch and appreicate�a team like the Giants when knowing peformance -enhanced players have affected outcomes�of a number of games in the Giants favor. �Perhaps in liberal San Francisco the Fans Don’t care. Even manager Bochy stated that a player like Mota deserves a ‘second chance.’�How’s about a third? ( He has been convicted twice of PEDs yet the Giants took him back again. (The ironic thing is that a player like that would probalby need to continue on the PED�of choice to maintain his performance. Perhaps Mota, afraid of ‘strike three’ has gone off�the drugs since his performance since rejoining the team has been far from spectacular. GIANTS’ LATIN CONNECTION CONTINUE LONG San Francisco PED TRADITION, CHEATING WAY THRU PLAYOFFS, CINCINATTI

GIANTS’ LATIN CONNECTION CONTINUE LONG San Francisco PED TRADITION, CHEATING WAY THRU PLAYOFFS, CINCINATTI

As we often lament, Where have You Gone Joe DiMaggio? Say it ain’t so Joe. Little pipsqueak players they call Giants are rising up again at the eleventh hour when the Giants need a fix. Hey bring in Scutaro who stopped striking out, with his inflated .350 plus �, best ever average since joining the Jints in July at age 37 . (Best average in majors in recent weeks, too) �Bring in Joaquin Arias over name players Boche and Sabean because you KNOW he’s on something and will hit once again . Bring in Gregor Blanco ala Torres in 2010� to hit homers even though he never used to. And what about Angel�Pagan and his best ever year hitting in San Franciscoc’s tough ballpark. Poor Dusty, who has the much better team but Pagan stepped out without warning and caused lead pitcher Cuerto to go disabled. Just look at the stats. Year after year the Giants bring ’em on… the PED players since Sabean can’t get a legit player the correct way… Bonds, Santiago, Bernard, Guillen, Melky, Mota, likely Jason Schmidt, Cody Ross, Torres, Uribe, Casia, possibly Huff �like torrez for their one good year until tighter testing scared them off….Fool the people once and fool them again. Or maybe nobody cares anymore. especially giants fans… but some of us DO! http://www.BayAreaCoupons.info�

MORE SF GIANTS AND PEDs – MARCO SCUTARO NEXT?-PEFORMANCE ENHANCING SUPPLEMENTS

Find us on Google+ � Meanwhile, the SF Giants got more games out of soon to be banned Melky Cabrera, but not before he went on to become most valuable player in the AllStar game while giving the Giants 5-10 game winning hits, alone, during the first half of the season. MARCO SCUTARO (stats below), baseball player, �age 37 , has seen his average jump 70 points since coming to San Franicsco mid-season. Never before has he hit over .300 and now he’s batting .350 for the Giants in over 200 at bats in a usually unfriendly hitter’s ballpark, at an age when most players are retired or slowing down. Now, make that over .400 in the playoffs, ala Cody Ross -another suspect from �2010 Just the latest in a long string of questionable legit which bring into question baseball’s true legitimacy. You’ve heard of Mota and Cabrera.. well, they were just the ones that ere caught. �So, the Giants lose a tainted player. No problem. for a small price they get a .50 player’s production for half a season. Then they just go out and get another similarly tainted player other teams rather not touch, out of decency. But the Giants could care less. Win at any cost they say.. No problem without the Milkman. Just go out and find some other similarly tainted players other teams won’t touch… �to go along with the recently reactivated and two time offender, Guillermo ‘ it was in the cough medicine’ �Mota, Cabrera (who will be available to the Giants for the playoffs) �and several other likely suspects, like Scutaro, �on the Giants, just this year. Get my drift… When one looks back at the world series year, it’s easy to reason that just the KNOWN steroid users had enough winning hits to invalidate the Giants one game margin that got them in the playoffs and sinimlarly to World Series win… Giants had more �known users and suspects than all toher major league teams combined! The Giants are the bottom feeders of baseball. They’ll take the tainted players other teams respectfully turn away. It’s San Francisco, much like the rest of the city, where anything goes… all the way to making a mockery of baseball today. Much like when Bonds was the cartoon figure blasting homers into the Bay and Giants fans could care less, looking the other way from steroids, today the Giants are still at it and , amazingly, getting away with it! �

MORE GIANTS AND PEDs – BRIAN SABEAN, MARCOS SCUTARO?�https://bayareacoupons.info/blog

If other teams coming up against the San Francisco Giants really want an even playing field they should keep on top of the Giants. Sad to say, even after Melky Cabrera’s drug bust -don’t be surprised to see him back for the playoffs- and Guilermo Mota’s reinstatement after his second illegal – there is reason to believe there could be at least another or two more tainted Giants on the team. Simply consider the following: Infielder Marcos Scutaro is 37 years old. He was batting .271 when the Giants acquired him mid season. He is hitting .341 since coming toh the Giants in a tough hitters’ ballpark especially as compared to Colorado. The Giants got Scutaro for next to nothing, a sixth rated minor league prospect, Charlie Culberson and cash. Scuator has been with three teams in three years. There Sounds alot like Melky Cabrera, right? But Melky was already had one big year before coming to the Giants Add the fact that Scuator is from Venezuela, one of the main countries, along with the domincan. where convicted ballplayers originate from- supposedly, the quest to do well in the majors and to bring glory and money back to the home country is the motivator. And, Scutaro is coming to a team with known users and a number of Venezuleans and Dominican players. One could say Scutaro has had only 200 ad bats with the Giants but that is nearly half a season worth and a seventy point batting rise over that long a period is no mere streak of luck. Gregor Blancoo has had similar streaks early in the season that would be questioned but that wasn’t even a 70 point rise over his past average. There are others ont he team like Arias and pagan who are having significantly above average seasons again in a tough ballpark. One can now look back at Andre Torrez, who had an otherworldly season the year the Giants won the Seies. Then there’s the long list of tainted players from Bonds’S gang to Jose Guillen, another convicted user during the Wrold Series year. You gotta wonder. Giant’s fans in liberal San Francisco welcome the entertainment at any cost. ‘Give the player a second and third chance’ they say… ‘ That’s baseball today ih San Francisco. I wouldn’t put it past GM Brian Sabean and the SF Giants and their ‘win at any cost’ attitude to find more players on testosterone or other substances. One cockroach on a team leads to two and four, etc… Kirk Gibson is the only other team member to far make an issue of the Giants and how a player like Cabrera has already had an unfair advantage, singlehandedly giving the Giants at least 5-10 victories this season. So they lose him; they just bring in another likely user, Scutaro, who is literally filling Cabrera’s numbers. Whether it’s turning up the PA louder than any other stadium to excite the fans or overstating it’s sellouts the Giants must be brought to the table of true justice or they will continue making a mockery of the game. Even if Sabean and the Giants aren’t techinically guilty of anything they are taking advantage of a weak baseball structure and ‘dumb and dumber testing,’(as Conte puts it) thanks to Selig and Co, going after suspected or know users who other teams are more respectful to turn away. No other team comes close to spitting in the face of the National Pasttime.

PEFORMANCE �ENHANCING SUPPLEMENTS – Mota: Giants Continue to Thrive , Get �Away with Drug-enhanced Players

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PEFORMANCE �ENHANCING SUPPLEMENTS – Giants Continue to Thrive , Get �Away with Drug-enhanced Players

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SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, GM SABEAN MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR CONTINUING TO BRING IN TAINTED PLAYERS

CABRERA JUST THE LATEST IN A 15-YEAR STRING OF TRADES BY THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS FOR FORMER OR SUSPECTED ILLEGAL DRUG USERS. Most people are blaming the player, in this case Melky Cabrera for his selfish, disregarding use of performance enhancing testosterone. And, yes, of course he’s to blame. But, it’s time to look at the team who leads the major leagues in drugged players. Of the four players found guilty this year of using performance enhancing drugs, two of them were on the San Francisco giants, namely Cabrera and Guerellma Mota from earlier this year. Of course the Giants have had a history of substance abusing players – far more than any other team. In it’s World Series year there was Jose Guillen, who came to the Giants mid-season and sparked a late season surge that vaulted the Giants into the playoffs and World Series. Before he wascaught and suspended , he’d singlehandedly won games fot he Giants and quite possibly influenced others; note the comic August stats in players like Cody ross, Jose Uribe and others. Twice convcted Mota was undoubtedly using at the time, too. The Giants only won the penant by a game over San Diego, and steroids certainly werre probably enough to make the difference There are signs that are easily visable re. players on illegal drugs. Even if a player shows no outward physical signs a player’ suddenly increasing stats must be a signal (added to the other sluces) , as were Cabrera’s between last seasonat Kansas City and the previous one, one has to question things. And whenyou add the fact that Cabrera trained with convicted user Alex Rodriguez , of the Yankees, one has to get more suspicious. Brian Sabean, GM of the Giants has blatantly ignored condemning players’ use of drugs and, instead, has continued going out and getting known or suspected users.like Guillen and Mota most recently.. He defended Barry Bonds for years and was ready to bring him back until the commissioner’s office told him not to. Guillen and Mota had had previous histories of drug use before Sabean went after them. Therewere a host of others over the Bonds years with whom o Bonds was known to share his secrets. The Giants readily apologise for the player’s use each time they’re busted, but then every year seem to come back with more such players. Perhaps not only the players should be penalized but teams like the Giants should be penalized after, say, two of their players are found guilty of drug use in a year. When the Giants were supposedly ‘given’ Cabrera by Kansas City for Jonathan Sanchez last year everyone was shocked. Now, looking back, perhaps Kansas City knew something – at least that Cabrera could be a malcontent, as he had beenat Atlanta, and that his batting average suddenly shot from .255 to over .300,from 4 homers to 18 homers relaltively late in his career after leaving Atlanta. One has to consider all these factors and wonder why the Giants acquired Cabrerarelatively easily and for a low price while other teams weren’t pursuing him that much.It’s an old story with the Giants. Try to win at any cost – even if it means acquiringdamaged goods,’ which has been the case over and over. Not that thew playersthey received were ALL users but many were just bad trades, eg Rowland, Zito, Huff (except for the one world Series year) The Giants have overpaid dearly and nearly signed Cabreraand Lincecum to long contracts except that the players balked. And NOW one can look back and wonder why the Giants unceremoniously dumped head man Bill Neucomb after their world series year when the Giants started seeing the after effects of 2010.. Perhaps Newcomb didn’t like what was going on, seeing the Giants make k dangerous trades that WEREe now biting them in the butt. Without Newcomb, Sabean is more free to continue the trend he began with Barry Bonds some 15 years ago. OTHER NOTES: And, by the way, WILL Bonds make the Hall of Fame. Check statistics and be reminded that Bonds was a ‘mere .290 hitter who never hit more than 34 homers with Pittsburg, before coming to the Giants in the mid-90s. And, will the so-called sellouts continue at AT&T without the Giants’ star around and with one of the weakest hitting teams that doesn’t hit homers and currently has a losing record at home? (Between you and me the Giants have NOT been selling out every game, despite what the team announces for marketing purposes.   I’ve gone to games and gotten tickets in the 3rd inning and have seen large blocks of empty seats. GM Brian Sabean claims to have done his ‘due diligence’ in acquiring Cabrearaand his other trades and it is mere coincidence that the Giants have had as many drugged players as have all the other teams together.. LOL. Many were shocked when the Giants backed into their World Series victory in 2010, wondering if it was a fluke, a one year anomoly. I think that query has been answered. And, finally, people are questioning whether the National league really deserves home field advantage, based on it’s victory in the World Series highlighted by none other than Melky Cabrera and his three run homer. The Giants are not only affecting and infecting their own situation but now all of baseball. If MLB doesn’t start clamping down on them perhaps repuation will finally come into play and teams and fans in other cities will let them have it. Sabean likes to say he does his ‘due diligence’ researching his trades. LOL CABRERA DRUG BUST LATEST IN STRING OF QUESTIONABLE GIANTS TRADES – ‘DUE DILIGENCE’ GM BRIAN SABEAN more @�http://www.BayAreaCoupons.info/blog

SF Giants No Shame Continues – Team Backs All Star Ballot Stuffing

As if the San Francisco Giants don’t already have a bad enough reputation for going beyond the limits to win at all costs, to do anything to get brownie points. �The Giants, more than any other team, have parlayed illegal �steroid use to the World Series and even this year had at least one player, Mota, suspended for use. �During their World Series year there were at least three players and probably more. Just one of them Jose Guillen helped them win a couple extra games when he joined thme in August, prior to his subsequent suspension. For the past five years the Giants ownership has refused to even discuss allowing the Oakland A’s to move to San Jose, where the Giants claim territorial rights. It was the A’s under Walter Haas, who even allowed the Giants such rights �20 years ago, but the Giants are intransigent. The Giants will go out over the top on everything, like going after problem players other teams don’t want. Now, �it’s turned to ballot stuffing. How the heck could a Pablo Sandoval, out half the season, with only 8 homers and a .300 average out vote the Mets David Wright for starting position at 3rd base? (Wright was ahead of Sandoval in nearly every category.) Of course, New York has a much bigger fan base, yet the Sandoval got more votes. Same goes for Posey, at catcher, was no lock with a mere .300 average and only 9 homers, but his votes were way ahead. �How could the Giants, in a smaller market, out vote the Mets fans? Well, Giants ownership not only turned the other cheek but encouraged ballot stuffing. � How else could this �mediocre team, know more for it’s pitching, place three players in the starting All Star lineup? No wonder the national announcers made an issue of this, rightfully so. �Sure, the Giants players had some key hits; well, they were one-third of the starting lineup, hitting against a pictcher, Verlander, who was �taking it easy – every one was hitting him this day. The Giants and their fans’ boorish attitude can only backfire. Wait until they go to New York �and face the �Mets and their fans. �They will be allr eady to give �a special beating to the Giants. Other tieams may follow suit. � Some opposing team members �like Gibson and Matt Latos have already spoken out against the Giants and their tactics such as turning up the PA �volume during games to give themselves an unfair advantage (per �Gibson and Loatos). No wonder they have a huge homefield advantage. �(They have a losing record on the road.) And, by the way, all those ‘sellouts’ are not really sellouts for Giants games. You can generally buy tickets �anytime,even after games start. And, you’ll see large sections of empty seats, and the Giants have to give away seats at half price through Goldstar. �The media continues to buy into their ’90 straight sellouts (or whatever the number is…) These are the same Giants who unceremoniously �let their new �No. 1 man , Bill Newcomb, go following their world series year; this was �the guy most responsible for the GOOD THINGS that helped them win it all. �Because he didn’t go along with all the off color and �’win at any cost,’ steroids and all and didn’t get along with the curmudgeonly personalities of Baer and Sabean. �(Manager Bochy’s not a bad guy, just caught in the middle) Finally, the media that is giving the Giants THREE credit for winning the all-star game are way off base. �Cabrera, Sandoval and Posey were facing Verlander, a guy who said after the game he was ‘just having fun. EVERYONE was hitting him in the first inning including non-Giant plaers. The fact is that the Giant players just happened to be up in the batting order while he was pitching. No doubt David Wright or Ruiz would have had just as much or probably better �chance of getting hits than Sandoval or Posey �(Posey didn’t get a hit, but walked)… � Cheating, ala stuffing the ballot box , may work for awhile but… wait until the Giants face the Mets late July, not to mention other teams unhappy with what the Jints did… TimeTraveler

A’S OWNERSHIP CONTINUES ‘NO MONEY BALL’ ,� COULD WIN OVER GIANTS FANS IF THEY WANTED TO

I’m just one of many frustrated A’s fans who still views the team, butfrom afar. It’s because of an overship that runs the team for it’s ownstrange interests, rather than to win games. And they’ve been doing thatmuch too long. Bascially, with baseball’s crazy revenue-sharing rules, the A’s are making money and just sitting pat until the ‘little babies’ get their new shiny ball park. Whenever the A’s start playing well, it’s almost as if ownership instructs manager Bob Melvin NOT to do so well. E.g. Like in this latest key weekend series it’s almost as if they are attempting to lose, by putting in a catcher who has never caught the pitching staff before, by leaving in an inexperienced first baseman in late innings, by putting in their weaker, inexperienced ord new pitchers (Blevins, NOrteno and Fuentes) who also haven’t played with the team much. In the first two games the A’s were sitting pretty , leading the Giants, but with inexplicable moves like above, the lead quickly changed – and the A’s blew a big opportunity to noto only go to .500for the first time in a long time BUT TO CAPTURE THE RESPECT, AND INTEREST OF SOME FO THE LARGE� SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS FAN BASE. Here you have a packed Coliseum (albeit losing 15,000 fans to the still closed third deck -another crazy A’s ploy we could go into further. If they A’s won even two games of the weekend seriesthere would be a Bay momentum shift and they could pick of at leasta few hundred true baseball fans who would come across the bay,if not disowning the Giants but to see another good baseball team. But, the way the A’s gave the games blew any possible momentum.Imagine the story, team with one-third the payroll Makes Mincemeat out of Giants. But, whenever the A’s approach .500 ball this same theme seems to happen. Ownership couldn’t standit if the A’s actually contended. Beane has fun moving players like monopoly. With all the movement, sure , he makes good tradesbut he also gives away top prospects time and again , just whenthey are winning over fans. Go figure. This is a team that would hire Bob Geren -ns over fan favorite Ken Washington as manager, who would go on to win the three AL championships the next three years while the A’s were were sub-parteam for the next four years under Bob Geren -, the first time underBeane’s regime the A’s were under .500.� Here’s a manager that wouldthat would intentionally walk an opposing team hitter with NO OUTs (minnesot’as Morneau) a a few years back. And Beane just left this incompetent manager in until the fans finally revolved and forced him out or Beane’s friend would still be there. Beane doesn’t watch games. I can see why.� Now with Bob Melvin , a good manager, the ownership appears to still� pulling strings such as in this weekend series. Why can’t the A’s settle on a lineup of players who at least know each other and have played together for some time? But worse than all this is that the� A’s are blowing a huge marketing opporoutnity that costs them nothing.. The weekend draw should show ownership that fans WILL COME� to the A’s ‘crappy ballpark.’ Even if a lot of themare Giants fans, people will still come. The Haas family had already proven that� with major marketing and now the A’s are benefittingwith doing little marketing.� Hit these ‘new’ fans up with somereal deals for tickets for rest of season, etc. but, better, don’t preventthe team from� playing good to great ball as they were until thethe late innings in Giants games.� . Ownership seems to want the team to do just well enough so they can’t be critisized for purposely hurting the team, even though. What else can explain why the A’s approach but NEVER stay above .500 these past five years? Beane has all but admitted the A’s will run the team differently, i.e. hold back on spending money, until the A’s have a new ballpark. Sure the A’s shocked the baseball world with the token gesture of getting Cespedes. Let’s see how long he’s with the team. Call him Trader Billy. And the saddest thing is that the A’s HAVE� the money. It’s really a shame how Wolf, Fisher and Beane (now a minority owner himself) have tarnished the proud legacy of the team and worse, it’s the first time the A’s haven’t been to the playoffs for five or more years since coming to Oakland. Moneyball Shmunyball! If Beane still has real credibility in Baseball -albeit the ill-timed, over-rated movie- I’d be surprised. For Wolf and fisher it’s even worse. I guess I kind of like seeing them being ‘held up’ for years by Selig, who comes out the better man this time in my opinion for not giving into their demands at the expense of repeatedlyliquidating the team. Before I praise Selip too much, perhaps heshould be questioned for letting Beane get away with hurting the team year after year. Perhaps thats the or a reason he hasn’t moved faster on the ballpark issue. Kudos to the head of Clorox for his ‘open letter’ to Fisher last month asking him to ‘get off the pot,’ in effect. The A’s response, or lack thereoff was typical. We need more action like this letter from local business and fans. Just like the fans forced Bean’es hand to fire Geren the same COULD put pressure on the� A’s ownership to finally get off the pot. more action like this, from business AND fans. **** NOTES: Bob Melvin says he did not� pinch hit for rookie Hicks in a critical situation because Hicks needed the xperience and didn’t want to lose his confidence. Maybe risking a loss is better. Why even bother having pinch hitters then. Another crazy thing that probably comes down from above from Beane, such as not believing in bunting and that the manager of a team doesn’t really make any difference…Well maybe when Beane is doingall these crazy things Take Sunday, in a key closing game against cross bay rivals, they start a rookie pitcher in his first ever big league game, Griffin.� I really think Beane is simply feeding his ego showing he can bring in all these new players to do well. Sure some do well, most don’t. Meanwhile he’s LOSING THE CONFIENCE OF HIS REGULAR STARTING PITCHERS and so forth. Beane is a big paradox and I feel sorry for Melvin. Meanwhile the As baseball announcers, are ‘yes’� men, going along with most of the front office nonsense. I guess they want to keep their jobs if they’re hired by the A’s, but not sure. Finally, check the record. Every time the A’s have approached .500 the past 5 seasons it’s like something is done to stop it from happening. And , yes, I’m looking at the front office. Sounds crazy that they would want to sabatoge their own team but just look at the record – and stuff like the above that happens continually. Sadly, I am� going to have to give up the team. I camn’t take it any longer with the front office meddling. Especially after seeing� the hated, obnoxious� Giants sweep by the A’s when the A’s shouldhave won at least two of the games… Of course, this is probably what Wolf, Beane and Co want to they have more reason (ie fewer fans)to move the team. On the other hand, if more fans, announcers, etc finally really speak out I’ll be right there with them , as I havebeen doing, like this open letter. � BREITBART DEATH MYSTERY?: Moving away from Coupons for a minute ANDREW BREITBART was a rare person. He spoke his mind and wasn’t afraid to even speak against the President – like recently saying he had videos that would ‘vet’ Obama out of office. Yet, he didn’t show anger and was always willing to debate the other side. Of anyone, perhaps it was Breatbart who should have had a bodyguard, or two, yet he walked alone, as he did that night at 12:30 am when he collapsed and died. They say he had health issues. Yes, he was overweight, but he was only 43.�Why did he die in the �short � time after he went outside �and not during the two hours while he was in the bar ? Think about it.Hopefully, it will be a thorough autopsy just in case there ARE indications of foul play. After all, Breitbart, more than just about anyone, could be a target. He was out daily railing against the system, yet on the ‘civil’ side , generally made up of while collars and this could have antagonized someone – it just takes one person – who might want to bump him off. And Breatbart was not one to hide. We shall see. Just a sub-plot I have not heard mentioned. Yes, some have brought up a possible murder but not the even more conslusive reasoning of the timing. We shall see.

OBAMA – Yes, He Did :Poster and other items by burtkauf sell my posters online at Zazzle.

OBAMA on GAS PRICES… Looks like high gas prices could be here to stay. March 1 President Obama said there’s ‘no silver bullet’ for lower gas prices, basically nothing he could do about it. Wait a minute… It seems that past Presidents have spoken, even threatened the oil-rich countries with boycotts and such. The people could even help out by cutting back on driving or switching more to alternative fuels. So, please Obama, let’s be a little more open to change, even if you’re not going to be the one to bring it. �

From Finley�s �No-Money Ball to Billy Ball to Funny Money Ball -The A�s Come Full Circle

��http://www.BayAreaCoupons.info/blog

When Charlie Finley owned the Oakland A�s ��it resembled more a three ring circus than a baseball team. He even brought out live elephants on the field on occasion. After all, the team logo is/was an elephant and the team certainly lived up to its image, a bunch of misfits dressed in canary yellow and white shoes. The team even featured what Finley called his �rabbits,� track stars more than the ballplayers �named �Washington,� as in �Herb and Claudell. Then, lo and behold the A�s actually started winning baseball games under Finley and his carefully-selected managers, Alvin Dark and Dick Williams.� Result culminated in Three World Championships in a row, circa 1972-74. Then, free agency came along and destroyed Finley�s� �No-Money Ball� approach to building a team ��as he couldn�t afford to keep his veteran talent.� Move ahead three-plus �decades when GM Billy Beane, part-owner Lew Wolf and company DO have the money (� silent partner Fisher is reputed to be the fifth richest owner in baseball) yet they�ve been running the team like Finley, only worse.� While they can afford to sign an untested Cuban player for $40 million , they virtually give away their top players and prospects at an alarming rate, only to pick up journeyman players to bide time.� Mike Piazza, Matt Holliday, Nomar Garcia-Para, Hidecki Matsui, Johnny Damon, Dave Justice, Frank Thomas�you know the names in which Billy Beane�s revolving door of players � come through . Unfortunately, they rarely come THROUGH (as in �effective�).� They are either THROUGH (as in �done�) �when they come to the A�s or they go on to another team to have success, like Holliday. ���Frank Thomas actually stuck around part of a second �year, in spite of Billy Beane, only to be traded off after� hitting .300 and becoming a fan favorite � and only costing 1 mil. �Seems Beane can�t stand to sit pat and build a team � even with low-cost players.� Sure, sometimes, he makes a good trade, but more often than not he gives away quality players that go on to have success once they leave the A�s. �No surprise if players are less interested in coming to the A�s now. This wasn�t the case five or ten years ago. �So you have the players with not much left in the tank or those like Mat Holliday, who do, but for various reasons the A�s don� t get much out of them and/or just have no intention to resign �them.� It�s as if Beane� is getting them for the �stretch drive,� but sadly, there hasn�t been a �stretch drive� for years. In fact, �the A�s haven�t been in the playoffs since 2006.� �Seems Beane and Co. can�t stand prosperity. If a player performs well he�s gone. � Last year Jeff Willingham was able to hit 29 homers in the Oakland �Mausoleum� where fly balls ��die. His agent even told the press Willingham enjoyed playing here (shock) and would return for a lower pay than if he went elsewhere. No such luck. The A�s one bonafide homerun hitter is gone. And , that�s the way it has been. Perhaps Beane, Wolf et al are trying to punish Oakland and the fans for not coming out to games in larger numbers. Tell Lew Wolf it would help if he didn�t bad mouth the fans and Oakland and tell Beane it would help if he didn�t keep trading away real young talent. The fans are there, new stadium or not (and please take that stupid tarp off the third deck� You could pick up and extra 10,000 fans at least when San Francisco, New York and Boston come to town� or maybe you just want to see the A;s attendance go further down to give further �reason� to move the team). You have to wonder about a GM/owner who would choose a Bob Geren over Ron Washington for manager. You probably know the story. The A�s began their big descent and four losing seasons in a row , �in 2007, �after hiring Beane�s �best friend� Geren while the Texas Rangers would go on to two World Series in a row after hiring A�s third base coach Washington. Whereas Finley only started liquidating the team� after free agency and high prices took hold, Beane has been doing it all along, �And Beane and Wolf can�t blame their demise on free agency.� With the� �fifth richest ownership in baseball they are able to go out and sign an unproven Cuban player for $40,000,000 but won�t keep around their prized, young pitching staff, whose combined salaries don�t equal that of the Cuban ball payer. And now, they go out and get washed up, twice convicted �user�, 40-year-old Manny Ramirez , a sure �cancer� if� there ever was one, who is certainly capable of ruining whatever is left of clubhouse chemistry.� Even the San Francisco Giants, most known for acquiring wayward drug users and malcontents for cheap, weren�t interested him Ramirez. In fact, they just got rid of a pitcher with the same last name.� Perhaps, again, A�s ownership is �punishing� Oakland and the fans. Who knows for sure? Beane does admit to running the team �differently� , not knowing the future stadium situation.� Meanwhile, Beane is doing nothing to enhance whatever positive �money ball� status that still remains. Seems like the right thing to do for any ownership would be to ��put it�s best food forward regardless of where the team plays, rather than �pulling the plug� and acting like babies because they haven�t gotten their new toy (ballpark) yet. For Beane to get the �money ball� credit ��is astonishing.� He did have winning teams his first six hears in Oakland, but no World Series .� As Chris Corcoran points out in his SI �Inside Baseball� column,� the players ��lost in 2002 to free agency, like Johnny Damon �and Jason Giambi were not coming off great years, so most any new players would be improvements, which Hatteberg and Dave Justice ��were, indeed. The newly acquired Jeremy Giambi was actually an A�s farmhand, who �was actually replacing himself,� says Corcoran. Neither was assistant GM Paul Depodesta any great genius when it came to picking players. The A�s already had a great pitching staff with Mulder and , Hudson ��� a point overlooked in the movie. �A couple more capable players to replace the outgoing free agents would solidify a good team, if not World Series- caliber one. The fact that the A�s could win 20 games in a row is a testament to the players and manager Art Howe, even if Beane doesn�t (or didn�t , at the time) believe managers make much difference in a team�s winning or losing. Certainly finding under-valued players in the scrap heap is a good thing and Podesta and even Beane are capable in this area, but then so are many other GMs and baseball people. Billy Beane just happened to be the new wunderkind �at the time and got all the credit as the A�s were also playing well. However, it wasn�t long before the younger Giambi� was found to be much over-rated as value dropped dramatically, as did that of David Justice� whose better days were behind him� .� �As for Hatteberg, he was no superstar but had some timely hits in 2002 including a 19–game hitting streak,which helped in the 20 game win streak and �added to the mystique which helped create the �money-ball� illusion out of an exciting 2002 A�s season. ��������� Today, the A�s haven�t a single bonafide slugger on the team, let alone player. CoCo Crisp is probably the only name player, other than Ramirez, now, and largely because his name sounds more like a cereal.� Beane has blown through yet another generation of talented pitching.� Beane will talk about the new prospects he�s acquired. But that�s old news. We�ve heard it before � and those guys will be gone in a few years, too, as long as Beane is still running the show. Teams used to get fined for dismantling themselves as the A�s have done, but with Bud Selig as Baseball Commissioner don�t expect it. �Who knows what will happen with the Oakland A�s. Will they really move to San Jose and a new ballpark or continue to languish in Oakland under the ineptitude of Beane and Wolf.� Crowds, er , gatherings were continue to dwindle down to minor league numbers at the Oakland �Oracle,� as the stadium is now called. �Oakland politicians certainly aren�t capable of helping the problem as any funding for a potential Oakland ballpark goes to pay off criminal� lawsuits, �occupiers� and the like. Oakland baseball�s Golden Era �when the Haas family� owned the team, cira 1980s and early 90s �days are only fond memories now.� The �earthquake� series of 1989 when the A�s knocked out the Giants in 4 straight �was legendary,perhaps the A�s best team.- and attendance was good, over 2 million fans.� The early 80s and Billy Martin �Billy Ball�� bring feelings of nostalgia now. Even the days of Charles Finley and his �skeleton crew� and small crowds look ever so bucolic today in light of current situation. ������� So, we�ve come full circle, from Charlie’s ‘No-Money Ball’ �to Wally(Haas) and �Billy’s ‘Billy Ball’ �to Billy and Lew and their �’ Funny Money Ball,’ if you will. We see real similarities in the teams of Finley and Wolf but� while the Lew-Beane version of today resembles the low-budget, stripped-down team �of Charlie some 40 years ago, the difference is that Charlie had a method to his madness � and the fans had something of which to look forward. Small crowds and controversy didn�t dissuade Finley from eventually building great teams a few years down the road. With Wolf and Beane, the potential of the early-2000 teams has been negated. Instead of moving forward the� A�s have actually gone backward. The first seven years , through 2006 were at least winning seasons for Beane and Wolf, the last five have� all been losers � and things appear to be getting worse as management seems to proceed without any real direction, perhaps only biding time and hurting the fans, whether intentionally or now. The Haas era showed that Oakland CAN attract the crowds but, alas, the Lew era has not picked up on what a good team and good promotion can do.� It�s not surprising that Billy Beane never watches the A�s� games � especially of late; must be pretty painful. ������� �Perhaps, if there are enough A�s fans left we should try a revolt again, as we successfully did got �rid of manager Geren last year.� Writing letters to the commissioner may or may not work but blogging (like this) , letters to the editor, speaking out, etc .,couldn�t hurt. Here’s an easy one to start with: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5782/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=663&tag=facebook Don�t be complacent. If it upsets long time fans as much as it does this one,� tell it like it is and, if nothing else at least you�ve done something. Yes, baseball�s such a good sport it seems nothing can ruin it , but certainly things can make it better in Oakland. Today Paul DePodesta is a talent scout for the New York Mets, �no longer doing what he was so �famous� for in �Money Ball,ie, that of using his computer skills to find under-valued talent. �Billy Beane continues to languish as GM of the Oakland A�s .� He has the second longest tenure as GM in the Bigs, next to Brian Sabean of the Giants,� who has a similar track record -though his one year of 2010, when the Giants backed into the World Series has helped make people forget all his mistakes and sub-par seasons. �Beane and Sabean are basically given free reign by owners who know little about baseball � or, at least act like they do.� DePodesta, who at least helped bring the Los Angeles Dodgers a legit World Series victory in 2004 and several trades as GM was let go in 2005.� Perhaps its more than time the same should happen to Sabean and Beane.� Much like they said about Al Davis (may he rest in peace) , perhaps their time has past them- if it was really ever there. ��� Burt Kaufman � Click above for Baseball and Sports Memorabilia -autographed baseballs and souvenirs and more…

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For People Who Wanted to Throw Out Barry Bonds Trial

I can’t understand the number of people who even suggest we disregard baseball player Barry Bonds’  perjury trial. Just because one was a fan of Bonds or because one is black doesn’t mean we should change our legal system. If Bonds had simply done what Palmeiro, Tejada and all the others did and simply admit to it he would not have had to endure this trial, which is now wrapping up – and taking longer for jurers to decide than  defense and most pundits ever expected. People say it’s a waste of taxpayers money, that it’s dragged on and on, etc. Well, it’s dragged on because of Bonds’ defense… � Bonds’ trainer unwillingness to testify, stalls , etc.  As for money, � why should Bonds bec let uff the hook. Afterall, he was already basically given immunity if he hadn’t lied.  People would have fogotten and Bonds would probably be a cinch for the Hall of Fame, despite the sterooids that made him perform above his natural ability. Bond’s own arrogance and ego finally caught up with him. He got away with the steroids and comic-like stats for 10 years.  If it weren’t for a good investigative reporter he would have probably gotten away with everything. I say let justice prevail.  I would have felt bad, as a citizen and tax payer that if Bonds wasn’t at least tried. Others have gone to  jail -  just for the steroids – in other sports like track.  Witchhunt? Bonds was given every chance anyone else was, only the others confessed and didn’t lie. Roger Clemens, a white ballplayer, is due to come up on a similar charge of perjury as Bonds.  You think they’ll just stop the trial because Clemens is white?  Certainly, if Clemens came to his senses and ad mitted guilt there could be some kind of a pleabargain. Bonds could have saved himself a lot fo time and embarrassment(?) – but , then, I’m not sure Bonds is capable of being embarassed… The world  has changed.  Instead of helping out the good guys who need help well defend the rich celebrity in this media-driven society but we’ll throw the little guy under the bus.  What about all those others , mostly black, who went to jail for ONLY using steroids and Not lying, like Jones, the � female strack star? How would they feel with an unequal justice system that lets a bigger name off and convicts her? �

Bonds Trial: Perhaps Prosecution Not So Stupid as Portrayed by Media

So just as they’re telling us  the trial should never have taken place, Bonds should go free and will go free, the Prosecution has no case, etc.,  much to the Defense (and media’s) surprise out comes an incriminating tape of a conversation between former Bonds aid and friend, Hoskins and Doctor Ting in which there are purportedly 50 references to Bond’s use of steroids. � This only days after Ting testified that he had no knowledge of Bonds use of steroids. I never trusted Dr Ting and hope this will stick if  accurate, acceptable evidence.  I liked that the Prosecution probably help back the tape – despite Hoskins claim he just found it -  until after Ting testified instead of entering into evidence earlier and allowing the defense to make an elaborate excuse. They will still try, but it will be harder after the fact.

Dodger Statium Beating – Not the first time

Glad to see the media take to this story.  There are killings every day in big cities like LA but not in a public place like Dodger Stadium on opening day of baseball. � The poor gentleman in question, irionically a paramedic, is still with us and our best wishes go out to him. Roughly 37 years ago I went to a ballgame with friends and after the game the five of us were confronted by three Hispanic-looking men. Being from Oakland I saw trouble and walked around them but my friends tried to  walk straight by them as our car was directly on the other side of them.  For no reason – we weren’t even wearing Giants uniforms or any colors of note – they got out some crutches from back of their car and started clubbing my friends. Though my friends weren’t beaten as seveely as the paramedic, they did require medical attention. The incident was never reported in the media, at a time when there were many fewer such incidents than there are today. Just an interesting sidenote. Not sure why the media would pick up on this story as much as they did but its a good thing. Maybe the hoodlums will think twice before doing it again and maybe the rest of us will be a little more cautious as we live in a world today when you never know what could happen next. We’ve got to try to do whatever we can to decrease the odds of such things happening.

�Giants Back into Season with Losing Streak, � Bad Radio � Giants Rookies Beat A s Starters

� If it wasn t � bad � enough that the A s didn t �have their radio station together for the game, the A s couldn t even win the third game of the Bay Bridge series the Giants tried to hand to them. As it was, the A s �have lost seven games in a row going into the season with a 12-25 win-loss record and show no sign of improvement over last year.

FLASH! � SIGN  RADIO CONTACT WITH ‘THE WOLF’ 95.7 FM Just in as we compose this blog, the As have their radio station, one day before the season begins, and it’s not KTRB, the 50,000 watt powerhouse but ��The Wolf, � 95.7 FM,   country and western station. It’s probably the first time the A s or maybe any station have been broadcast on an FM station.  This should further affect the A’s downward attendance, as many don’t have access to FM.  Another example of poor planning and seeming indifference by A’s ownership, as they wait to get out of Dodge (Oakland) __________________________________Too bad, because Dallas Braden did great as did the other starters in the series. Funny that with such a great staff the A’s still can’t win… They say pitching wins it but the A’s haven’t had a winning season the past four years despite themselves.  More reason we point fingers at the Manager.  Perhaps Manager Geren could have even tried to salvage a final win for the Spring to boost the team’s spirits and get some momentum going by putting in Fuentes to close    not to mention some players who could field in that troublesome ninth inning. Things started out bad  Wednesday morning, when the A’s website listen KNBR, the Giants station as their radio for the game!  Actually,  KFRC 1550. a low watt, forgettable station at the end of the dial did broadcast the game, but who knew?  Not even the A’s apparently, or their website person. Hopefully the A’s can get their contract together with KTRB 860 by start of season . We’ve mentioned our problems with Geren and his miscues such as walking an opposing batter with no outs and no men on base last year(!) , lack of fire, incorrect moves, etc. The A’s pitching is holding up despite  losing their star pictching coach.  If  the pitching goes, the A’s could easily finish last as we see it. Cont… What about the great Mr. Money Ball, Billy Beane. The wunderkind general manager has not had a winning season the past four years after a better start. Funny that those four years came after  Beane hired his good buddy Bob Geren as manager.  Even Macha and Howe had winning seasons but Geren, despite the league’s best pitching staff, has yet to see a winning season, let alone a playoff or coming close to a World Series.  In recent years, he’s  traded away more  players  who’ve gone on to have good seasons than he’s brought to the team., eg Holliday, Gonzales, etc. � � Look for another year of new names who probably won’t be around next year. Same ‘ol same ‘ol.   Willingham, LaRoche, et cal… some decent names but simply temporary placeholders for the A’s before they move on to better teams and better performances. Saturday’s game Geren replaced Pennington late in the game with Carson, not really an improvement, while seattle manager Wedge simply  put in a lefty pitcher to throw off Geren’s left-right strategy and  cause Geren to waste another player. Carson flied out. Geren used reliever Breslow for the second day in a row, to see him get shelled. Why Breslow, who is still not recovered from some arm problems when they have a whole string of relievers who haven’t played yet? Only Geren knows… � A’s  won their first game Sunday.  the A’s are good at winning day games. Too bad most games are played at night…

A’s Cannot Win With Geren – 2

A’s GM Billy Beane’s teams never had a sub-.500 season thru 2007 when Bob Geren hired (over Ron Washington, to the amazement of many). Despite having the best pitching staff in the American League much of the last four seasons, the A’s have not had a winning season since. If Geren wasn’t Beane’s best buddy you wonder if he’d still be there. Beane may not believe managers have an affect on a team’s win-loss record, but this is rediculous. Geren does not inspire success. He even pales in comparison to Beane’s other lackluster choices as A’s managers, Ken Macha and Art Howe. Ron Washington certainly would have had a winning record last year if he were the A’s manager; look what he did with Texas with a lesser pitching staff, bringing them to the World Series!

Year after year, Geren can’t inspire the new talented players Beane brings in, people like Holiday and Gonzales and they move on to other teams where they do well. Geren’s inneptitude hit a peak late last year in a game where he walked a Minnesota Twin with no outs and nobody on base! Unheard of! Beane’s outstanding win-loss record as GM of the A’s has taken a major hit the last four years with Geren. Just look at the numbers: three losing seasons and one .500 year after 7 years with winning records with other managers. If the A’s last 7 games of Spring were supposed to be a tuneup for the season -we know many say the spring doesn’t matter but the last games are key when the team should be playing hard as if the real season. The A’s starters couldn’t beat the Giants rookie team in the final Spring game, especially when the Giants tried to give them the game, letting their  pitcher bat with the game on the line, and, again, playing their minor leaguers.. Some expect the A’s to go all the way this year. Not with Geren. If a manager can make a difference, it’s Geren – and not in the positive  way. 6-22-10

What’s Wrong with the A’s?

GEREN. Period

Geren has probably cost the A’s at least 7 –10 games…

You could put a robot in there as manager who would do better.

Every game you find mistakes he makes.

Just last night he pulls out his ace , Bailey,  after he gives up a homerun. Then he  leaves in someone named Carl Bowers to give up two homers after he couldn’t leave Bailey in for another batter after giving up the one hit..

–Why is hot-hitting Kuzmonoff  hitting sixth? He loses about 1 AB per game vs. batting second or third. He would have come up tonight  instead of waiting in the ondeck circle � with a chance to win the game. �Instead , the less-experienced, less  talented Sweeney  struck out and the A s lost the game.

–Why isnt Rosales playing more? He brings energy, power and speed to the game. He’s the type of player who needs to play often to keep an edge. Let Gross be the utility hitter; he doesn t have to play everyday. ��The A s are 25 of 27 when Rosales starts!

These are just the last two days. Last week Geren walked Mourneau with no runners on base! Something no other manager would have even considered… The best chance Morneau had  of hittinga homer was one out of 20,  roughly his average of homes to at bats. Every day there’s something pretty obvious.

Geren is a robot. With a man on first and less than two outs he will inevitably bunt the next batter,even if the hitter is not a bunter, like Kuzmanof or Cust, who often pop up their bunts.

‘Money Ball’ has become a bit of a joke in other major league cities now. Since Beane got here he has made good trades but not much to show for it. One thing I will say is that Beane is good at acquiring players. Problem is that  the players aren’t used right. They aren’t always given the chance and then languish on the bench and are traded off, only to have a great  year on a new team. They get discouraged, injured or both. No wonder players are becoming reticent of coming to the A’s  One example was Frank Thomas. He actually had a fantastic one yearwith the A’s, became a fan favorite, only to be traded off to Toronto.

Now Macha is looking better than ever. Geren could never win 20 games in a row.

Why wasn’t Washington given a chance before Geren.  Washington had been here much longer and knew the players and is showing results now in Texas. Yes, we  know that Geren is Beanes’ best friend. Mr. Deer in the Headlines. Dead Pan Geren. Says something about Beane , too, I guess.

Well, at least Geren can’t  play Jake Fox or Patterson anymore, since they’ve been finally let go, thankfully.

– Get a solid DH player and let them play .. If  you’re going to Bench Davis in favor of Jackson let Davis DH as 1st or 9th batter.

Instead of tinkering the lineup everyday, stick with a tried and true major league lineup as it was. Supposed to be from day 1, plus the addition of Connor Jackson.

1) Raj Davis  of

2) Kuzmanof 3B

3) KoKo Crisp OF

4)  Conor Jackison OF

5)  Suzuki c

6) Sweeney of

7) Barton 1B

8) Ellis  2b

9) Pennington

There you have a solid 9 veteran players. Leave it alone with occasional changes on day  games…

Only question is Pennington, who needs to hit better but ok as 9th hitter. Cust is OK too as  DH. Gross is a fine utility player ro filin for injured.

As for Pitchers we’ll save that for another time. Though , in short, play your best relievers in the most pressing situations. Use the weaker relievers in laughers or   when the game is out of reach.

There. Sign me up as manager. I promise I will do better than Geren. No problem.

Sorry, it ™s hard for me to continue putting up with mediocrity. What’s sad is that the A’s have good to very good players. But a lousy manager �Its hard to

support a team whose management seems more interested in moving the team and saving money than orchestrating a solid, winning team and promoting it. The A’s have and will draw with a more positive environment, but don’t think It will happen under the current regime.

A’s  anouncers are very patient, too patient. Yes men.Thanks for Chris Townsend for  telling it as it is in the after game show, plus knowledgeable listeners.  Hopefully Townsend won’t be let go by the A’s/radio…

BK, Lafayette

6-5-10 GEREN MUST GO – Good Team, Poor Management Time to let Geren  go. Just on tonights and last nights performance alone… not to mention rest of season. 1) Did you see what that  As manager did tonight? He walks Morneau, pinch hitting with no outs and nobody on base On top of that , Morneau was under the weather and Ziegler doesn’t give up many home runs. Ziegler walks the next guy (probably still in shock for being asked to walk a guy with nobody on base) which puts Morneau in scoring position and next guy hits base hit to score him… You don’t walk a batter whoever it is when no outs or even one out and nobody on base, even Barry Bonds… Rediculous. Unbelievable. Plus Ziegler doesn’t give up homers anyway so worse that would have happended is Morneau gets a hit , no different than a walk. If a guy on second base I could maybe understand.. 2)The’re was another controversial call Geren didn’t react to in the fifth, which I missed… people talking about… 3) Plus they’re letting Raj Davis try to be a homerun hitter instead of building runs, which he’s meant to do… he’s not a homer hitter. He’s supposed to just get to first base so he can steal. 4) Geren has no consistent plan with the bullpen. He left Ziegler in to face four lefties in alone for example. 5) No lineup tonight. If you want to rest one of the top three players (eg Sweeney hurting) but all three? Especially against a top pictcher like the Twins’ Luriano. Why are Fox and Patterson playing with .200 averages? Any number of others could do much better… Let them go to options if they have to… Tonights lineup was pathetic. Even Jack Cust is a improvement over those guys… Geren just about gives up the game before its started. Somehow the A’s stayed close so Geren gets another chance to give up the game in the 9th by walking a hitter with nobody on base. 6) Injuries – no excuse. Tired of As using the injury excuse. The lineup was not injured , only some pitchers… – – – – – Last night there was no reason to play Patterson shallow in the 9th. . You never do that in a close game, late innings.. If Beane keeps Geren around this will be a reflection on Beane. Geren simply puts players like Patterson in a position to fail. No wonder more people aren’t coming to the ballpark. I desperately want to go but when the A’s keep pulling this stuff I can’t take it.