This Was a Man…

I would like to apologize to my readers for not blogging for a long time now. However as many of you already know, I have recently lost the most important and influential man in my life. On September 1st, 2009 my father, Jeffrey Stewart Walker, lost the battle to cancer. He was relieved from his life support due to an infection and failure of his organs.

Jeffrey was the strongest definition of a man that comes to mind. To try to explain all his accomplishments and attributes in just one blog would be a shame to who he really was, so I will do my best to shed a light on his life.

When I think about my father, I think about the person I aspire to be. I think about the wonderful attributes that make him who he is. My father was a proud and dignified man. He respected his surroundings and welcomed newcomers. My father maked you feel warm and comfortable. He inspired while also breathing in all others’ insight. My father was a magnificent leader and a tremendous friend. He encompassed all that is love and all that is life.

These words actually sum it up best, words I spoke to him as he left us:

Dad, you are the single most important person in my life. You have showed me what being a man entails. You have led me through the dark and allowed me to understand what it means to be successful. You always seem to know when I am making the right or wrong decision, and yet you usually let me make the decision on my own. You have instilled trust in me over the years that I will never take for granite. You may not always be with me physically but I will continue to earn that trust.

My most important goal in life is to become a strong and courageous man. A man that can walk the earth softly and inspire others the way that you did. I want to be a man that can look back on life and regret nothing- the way that you did. We might not have always been on the same page, but if you had done it any differently we would be at a loss.

I am always going to strive to be like you, whether its right or wrong. Its my human nature. I will love you forever. I will cherish are time forever. I will never forget you. In fact I will keep you in my heart everyday that I walk this earth. I only ask that you continue to guide me, that I can take your wonderful characteristics and attempt to make them my own. If I am ever even half the man that you are, I will consider it a success…

And I’ll do my best not to get married before I am 30.

Rekindle the Flame and Burn the Blues

Tonight the Los Angeles Dodgers roll into town to face the Giants. One of baseball’s most storied rivalries will be rekindled in the heart of the dog days of summer. It seems as though there has been a void in excitement in this historic matchup. But on this midsummer-day, baseball fans across the bay will feel the rising tension. The Giants have steamrolled their way back into contention in the 2009 season. They now sit only 5 ½ games back of their heated rivals. Also, 6 out of their remaining 9 games against the Blues Brothers are played in the waterfront stadium in San Francisco.

The Dodger bats have fell silent in the last few games and have lost some timely games to help the Giants stay in the race. Tonight Hiroki Kuroda looks to continue his comeback from an injury ridden season. Jonathan Sanchez will aim to continue his resurgence in the starting rotation.

Sky Walker’s Keys to the Game:

1. Stay hot Bengie. Molina has finally broken out of that awful slump and begun to swing a hot bat. Big Money is hitting .321 with 8 RBIs in the month of August.

2. Keeping the Mo. Jonathan Sanchez’s biggest weakness is not being able to carry over good innings from one to the next. It’s crucial for Sanchez to keep his momentum moving forward. Or as Bip Roberts likes to say, “win one inning at a time”.

3. Take a Hike. There is absolutely no reason to pitch to Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers chose to send Barry to 1st for years. Why not return the favor? Manny has the ability to light up Sanchy and send balls into the arcade. No need to risk it.

Game time is in a couple of hours (7:15). Don’t miss the broadcast on KNBR 680.

The Crabby Tree

Anytime you hear about an athlete’s cousin it should be an immediate indicator that there is something absolutely ridiculous occurring. We all remember A-Rod’s patsy cousin, Yuri Sucart. It was Sucart that A-Rod pinned the blame on for distributing steroids to the star athlete. Now in the last couple of days, the Bay Area and the rest of the country has been introduced to David Wells (not the overweight pitcher), but Michael Crabtree’s cousin. Why do we care about this David Wells? Well it was Wells who spoke out on Crabtree’s behalf, saying that the athlete was prepared to sit out the entire season and re-enter next year’s draft. Crabtree apparently believes he is worth more than the 49ers’ offer.

Let’s put aside the debate on Crabtree’s price tag. The pertinent thing to pay attention to is the dynamic taking place among Crabtree and his entourage. Let’s start with Wells, who is reportedly an adviser to Crabtree. It looks more like he is a mooch trying to pry his way into significance. This cousin probably has nothing of real material in his life and is trying to gain some sort of personal accomplishment by speaking out for Crabtree. We haven’t even heard what Crabtree has to say yet. We are banking all this speculation on the word of some nobody that happens to share the same name as the funniest looking pitcher in the last 20 years.

Crabtree's bum foot clearly is dictating his contract

Even more important than the cousin, is the reflection that is being portrayed on Michael Crabtree. Because he has yet to speak publicly on his own behalf, this incident makes the former Texas Tech wide receiver look like an immature sniveler. He is holding out on signing a deal because he wants the same amount of money as counterpart, Darius Hayward-Bay of the Oakland Raiders. Crabtree believes he deserves #7 pick money and not #10 caliber dough. Well… TOO BAD. Guess what Michael? You got drafted in the ten slot and that’s that. It doesn’t matter where he thinks he should of been drafted or how good he thinks he is. The point is, Crabtree has never played an NFL game and was not drafted where Hayward-Bay was, thus he deserves less money. Most importantly, he should not allow an unprofessional adviser (with no experience in PR) to make nationwide statements on his behalf. Grow up Michael Crabtree.

Giant Update

I apologize to the faithful viewers out there for not blogging in the last two weeks. I guess I needed an extended All Star break. I am back now though to feed you the best of Giants’ knowledge.

Since the break the Giants have had a mini roller coaster ride. They started off playing absolutely atrocious, scoring less runs than even the dismantled Mets. The passing of the wonderful Sue Burns only added to the post break growing pains. However, the Giants returned home to San Francisco after a 3-7 road trip and kicked it off by celebrating the accomplishments of Sue. Of course, the pitching has been fantastic, and all of sudden we don’t find ourselves cursing the Giant failures.

Tim Lincecum pitched a career high, 15, strikeouts in a dominate performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Tuesday, upper management finally rewarded the young guys by bringing in an extra bat in Ryan Garko. The Giants welcomed Garko to San Francisco by pulling off another close victory on Tuesday night, despite Zito’s marginal outing.

As Wednesday rolled around, fans were left wondering why Freddy Sanchez (rumored to be a trade target for the Giants) had not yet played against them in the series. The Pirates stated that Sanchez was experiencing knee problems. However, we soon came to understand that Sanchez was being evaluated by the Giants for last minute trade precautions. After an incredibly quick 10 inning game, the Giants released a statement that they had acquired second baseman Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates.

THe G-Men enter tonight with an improved right side of the infield (Garko and Sanchez) against the reigning world champion Phillies. Jonathan Sanchez looks to make his third start since tossing his no-hitter and the Giants aim to remain atop the wild card standings. Meanwhile, the Dodgers continue to struggle and Manny can’t seem to avoid headlines.

First Half Recap: Giants Atop NL Wild Card

If you had told me before the season that the Giants would be 10 games above .500 come the All-Star break, I would of said “FAT CHANCE”. This is something that I have found many Giants fans repeating in the last couple of weeks. The “G-Men” have simply shocked their fan base with the first half that they have had. There has been so many spectacular sub-plots to support this exciting run that has taken place. Whether you want to begin with Pablo’s emerging bat or with the continuing dominance of Tim Lincecum, the Giants are filled with feel-good stories in the first half of 2009. Now that the All-Star break has finally commenced, Strike Walker will look back on the top 5 stories of the first half of baseball in San Francisco.

1. Avoiding the Sophomore Slump
Tim Lincecum dominated in his first full season in the “bigs” (2008). In 2009 he has picked up right where he left off. Lincecum has posted a 2.33 ERA and a 10-2 record in 18 starts this season. He is on pace to break his 265 strikeout mark set last year and walk 21 less than his 84 in 2008. Lincecum has yet to show weakness and is most definitely a prominent contender for a Cy Young honoring.

2. Vote for Pablo
Pablo Sandoval broke into the major leagues last year in the latter portion of the season. He chocked up a .345 batting average and slammed just 3 jacks. As it turns out, Sandoval is capable of maintaining that high average over more at-bats. Pablo is batting .333 and has seen a huge jump in his power in the last month. Sandoval, who only had 3 home runs through the end of May, now holds 15 in that column- hitting 12 since June 1. Pablo is a consistent threat in the middle of an otherwise anemic lineup. He has even drawn the occasional intentional walk, allowing fans to remember the days of Barry Bonds’ at-bats.

3. Check Out My Slow Junk
Many would argue that the success of Matt Cain this year is mainly associated to his increased run support. While I do agree that the offensive support allows Cain to pitch with confidence, I do think there is a more pertinent reason for the success. As Krukow often refers, Cain is a “hard country ball thrower”. This year Cain has supplemented his plus fastball by mastering his breaking ball for a first pitch strike. He has also increased his first pitch changeups. Cain’s ability to mix up his repertoire has allowed him to fool hitters and avoid the high home run totals. He has cemented the Giants’ rotation as the best in the business.

4. Hold Your Horses
If you want evidence of my doubt just scroll back to one of my preseason blogs. I was one of the first to doubt the effectiveness of Jeremy Affeldt, but I was clearly wrong. Affeldt has not allowed an earned run since May 7. He has become such a valuable asset to one of the league’s best bullpens. Jeremy also does a great interview.

5. Chemistry Over Physics
The increasing youth on the San Francisco Giants has contributed to one of the most fun clubhouses in the MLB. The Bondsless dugout has allowed for the young guys to act carelessly and in jovial spirits. At one point it seemed as though every player was sporting a mohawk- a symbol of the tightness that exists between these men. Brian Wilson and Jeremy Affeldt do a great job of lightening the mood while Sandoval bridges the gap between Latino and American players. The entire clubhouse omits positivity. All of this translates to their field play. Their team chemistry urges each batter to make a productive out or move a runner over. Their team chemistry encourages them to pick up the pitcher with their defense (i.e. Rowand saving the no-hitter).

Sensational Redemption

Jonathan Sanchez erupts with excitement after tossing a no-hitter.

It was just a couple of weeks ago when Jonathan Sanchez was demoted to the bullpen for poor performance. It was just a couple of a weeks ago when every fan wrote off Sanchez’s 2-8 record and his plus five ERA. “Trade Sanchez” rolled right off the tongue just a couple of weeks ago.

Friday night the city of San Francisco erupted as Jonathan Sanchez stunned fans across the nation with a no-hitter. Sanchez was fantastic from start to finish. He dominated San Diego’s lineup with his fastball for the first three innings. Then in the fifth Sanchez unloaded the junk, dazzling the opposition, the umpires, and the crowd. Sanchez struck out a career best, 11, and 8 of those K’s came in the fifth inning or later.

As each frame read “0″ across the scoreboard, fans began to understand the uniqueness of the occasion. Sanchez was perfect through seven innings. No hits, no walks, no errors. He even managed to get by Tony Gwynn in the 7th. Gwynn had broken up Lincecum’s no-hit bid in the 7th the night before.

Meanwhile the offense poured 7 runs of support for Sanchez. Pablo Sandoval contributed to his rock-star season with a 420 ft bomb to deep right-center field. Although it didn’t matter at that point, Sanchez was untouchable.

As tension mounted around AT&T Park, fans began avoiding the words, “no-hitter” and “perfect game”. In a community full of superstitious freaks nobody wants to jinx the bid.

Sanchez is greeted in the dugout by his father.

With no outs in the top of the 8th inning, Adrian Gonzalez stepped into the batter’s box. Gonzalez, the perennial slugger, smashed Sanchez’s fastball into deep left field. However John Bowker stopped the ball in it’s track just shy of the warning track.

Chase Headley was up next with five outs away from the perfect game. Headley tomahawked a ground-ball to third base. Juan Uribe jumped out in front of the ball and knocked it to the ground with his chest. Uribe, with a rocket arm, bobbled the ball one-too-many times to get Headley out at first. The perfect game was lost. As the stomaches of 30,000 plus people wrenched, the scoreboard flashed “E5″. Relief. The no-hitter was still intact. Sanchez regained the momentum by inducing a fly out and a strike out to end the inning

In the top of the ninth inning, Sanchez toed the rubber in attempt to make baseball history. Renteria fielded the first ball cleanly to put out Luis Rodriguez at first. Edgar Gonzalez batted next. Again Sanchez’s fastball was launched into the deep part of the outfield. Jonathan didn’t even bother to watch the ball, he was disgusted. But as Aaron Rowand went full sprint into the wall, he somehow ended up with the ball in his glove. There was simply magic in the air. Rowand completed yet another fantastic play in center.

26 outs of no-hit baseball and now Everth Cabrera was the only blockade between Sanchez and a trip to the history books. Sanchez threw two quick balls but got a foul and a called strike to follow up. One pitch left. Sanchez hung Cabrera up with a nasty curve that bit down from the top of the strike zone. Brian Runge, the home-plate umpire, waved his hands with authority to call the third strike. The stadium and the players burst into celebration. Possibly one of the most exciting moments since Barry Bonds set the homerun record. Fans began hugging each other, some even broke into tears. Sanchez and his father certainly did.

Jonathan Sanchez sent shock waves through the San Francisco baseball community. He let the nation be introduced to just how special 2009 baseball has been for San Francisco. He overcame his recent struggles and took advantage of his chance for redemption. Sanchez imprinted his name in the history of baseball.

Pitch Count
It was the first no-hitter by a Giant since 1976 and the first in the waterfront stadium. The last Giant to pitch a no-hitter was John Montefusco. Ed Halicki did it as well the year before Montefusco. There have been 5 players to pitch a no-hitter as a San Francisco Giant and 13 total in franchise history; Christy Mathewson did it twice (1901 and 1905).

Jonathan Sanchez tips his cap to 30,000 fans chanting his name.

Shocking Finish

At 1:00 pm yesterday it was announced that Shane Victorino snatched the final All-Star spot from Pablo Sandoval. After a record setting 68.6 million votes for the Sprint Final Vote, the Tigers’ Brandon Inge and the Phillies’ Shane Victorino outlasted competitors for the final spot.

Pablo Sandoval, Giants’ thid baseman, had led the balloting each step of the way. Every time MLB.com published an update, Pablo maintained control of the lead. Ian Kinsler did the same on the American League side up until the second to last update. 

However, somewhere between all the campaigning for Pablo, San Francisco fans became blind to an alliance in the 
making. Reports surfaced yesterday that Philly fans and Detroit fans coined the term “Bran Torino”, an alliance to vote for one another’s All-Star candidate. 

Both Pablo and Kinsler were overly deserving of the final spot. In fact many argue that both deserved the starting spots over their counterparts- David Wright and Dustin Pedroia. 

It’s unfortunate that Sandoval is unable to join teammates, Lincecum and Cain. It would have been one of the first times in franchise history that three guys under 25 suit up for the midsummer classic. 

Luckily for both Sandoval and Kinsler, they have long promising careers in front of them. You can count on seeing each of these young stars in future classics to come.     

Post-Game Wrap

It was just one of those days for the Giants today. The bats fell silent and found absolutely no way of waking up against pitcher Chris Volstad. The Marlins’ Volstad worked a very quick game today, 2 hours and 10 minutes, completing the game and earning the shutout. Volstad only threw 105 pitches. An astounding 74 of those pitches were hurled for strikes.

Chris Volstad and Ryan Sadowski battled through three innings of no score. Sadowski even struck out the side in order in the top of the third. However, in the fourth it was the Marlins who struck first on an RBI single from Jeff Baker. The Giants had a chance for a big inning in the bottom half of the fourth with Sandoval at third and Renteria on first. Travis Ishikawa sent the first pitch on the ground to Emilio Bonafacio, who turned two and silenced the threat.

The Marlins squeezed a run in each of the next two innings off sacrifice hits- one fly and one sacrifice double play. Meanwhile the Giants’ offense managed only one hit from the fifth inning onward. Jorge Cantu RBI singled in the top of the seventh to make it 4-0. Then in the ninth, Dan Uggla blew the game open with a three-run bomb to left field. Uggla’s shot was extremely well-hit and looked like it was gonna cross the bay.

Today was only the fourth time the Giants have been shutout this season. It also marked the first loss for Ryan Sadowski, who now holds an ERA of 1.00.

Pitch Count
Hanley Ramirez sat out for the third straight day against Giants due to a sore hip flexor. Ryan Sadowski had not allowed a run for 16 consecutive innings until the top of the fourth inning. If the Giants had swept it would have been their fourth 3-game sweep at home of the season. Kevin Frandsen and Eli Whiteside each earned the start over counterparts- Juan Uribe and Bengie Molina.

Clean Sweep?

Today the Big Sadowski toes the rubber to try and sweep the fish out of San Francisco. With Randy Johnson’s lingering injury, each start becomes that much more important. Outside of Lincecum and Cain, it will be up to Zito and the young guys to maintain the consistency within this rotation. Sadowski, or The Dude, has yet to allow a run in his major league career. The Giants are also averaging 10 runs per game that he starts. That’s a tall order for consistency, but if the Giants can put up even half that- they have a good chance of winning. These days a 3 run lead garners a victory for this club.

It should be a good one today. Nice weather and a lot of open seats. Get out to the park and get back to my blog after for a post-game wrap and plenty more!

Say Thanks and Vote

I am going to be short and sweet tonight. While Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum were just awarded slots on the 2009 All-Star team, Pablo Sandoval is left with a nomination for the final spot. Pablo is arguably the most valuable player currently on the team. Yes, both Timmy and Cain are pitching at incredible rates, but they only play once every five days. Sandoval goes out every single game and contributes to the success of the Giants.

If your a dedicated Giants fan or even just the casual follower, you owe your time to Pablo Sandoval. Pablo has rejuvenated sports in the Bay Area. He has made going to games not only bearable, but exciting. His easy-going attitude and affable ways have shed sunlight on the cloud storms that Barry Bonds brought to the clubhouse. Pablo makes playing baseball feel like a kid’s sport again.

Aside from all of this, Pablo is tearing up the diamond. He ranks among the top 10 in 6 batting categories. He is batting .333 and has 12 jacks. Sandoval has also been extremely above par defensively. He is a stud at third base, but will gladly fill in at first or catcher when called upon.

You can vote at MLB as many times as you wish. Sandoval deserves our time and is certainly going to need it against all the East Coast markets that he is competing against.

Pitch Count
Pablo said that the nomination was one of the “biggest” things to happen in his life, but winning the spot would be deeply meaningful for him. Sandoval, just 22, was playing in single A ball a little more than a year ago. I voted about 200 times already.