Mickey Garagiola Passes Away

Mickey Garagiola, the brother of baseball's Joe Garagiola who gained local fame on St. Louis TV as the ring announcer on the old "Wrestling at the Chase" show, has died.
His son, Bob Garagiola, confirmed that Mickey Garagiola died Sunday at Mary Queen and Mother Skilled Nursing Care in Shrewsbury. He was 88 and had cancer.
Mickey Garagiola was a waiter for 45 years at Ruggeri's, a restaurant on The Hill, an area where the Garagiola brothers grew up with baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. "Wresting at the Chase" was a popular St. Louis-based program from 1959 to 1983.

Joe Garagiola was a catcher for the Cardinals and a longtime NBC baseball broadcaster.

AP

Is This the End of LaRussa-Ball?

As the Cardinals creep into September with the record of 69-61, this underachieving team may have LaRussa thinking about 2011. LaRussa continues to sign on a yearly basis based on if the the team is responding to him.  So far 2010 team has not been responding to him very well nor playing like a competitive team. With the feud LaRussa has with Rasmus, it has come down to who is going and who is staying. This sounds very familiar, doesn't it? For example, Scott Rolen wanted to be traded to get away from LaRussa. Tony has had countless run ins with Edmonds, Kline, Ozzie Smith, Brian Jordan, and Tino Martinez. LaRussa does love control over this team. If he doesn't he will show his anger towards anyone that gets in his crawl-hole. LaRussa has taken the Cards to two World Series and won several Central Division Championships, so is it time for LaRussa to move on? The heir apparent to the manager throne seems to be Jose Oquendo. Other Cardinals alumni that has shown verbal interest in coaching for this team has been Mike Matheny, Vince Coleman, John Mabry and Andy Van Slyke. There has been reports that Joe Girardi may leave the Yankees after this season to coach the Cubs. What if there is an opening with the Cardinals, would Joe take it? It will be quite interesting how everything will unfold during the last five weeks of the season. Will LaRussa return or head back to the west coast.

Stephen Strasburg broken = EPIC FAIL TOPPS

Stephen Strasburg has finally broken!

Like I have said since the beginning of the season, this kid is the next Mark Prior. So who's at fault? Did the Nationals push him up through too fast? Was it all of the hype laying tons of pressure on him? Was Stephen unable to handle the pressure and finally break his body in trying to live up to the hype? Well he has finally broken down and now has to get Tommy John surgery and will be out the 2011 season possibly. I bet TOPPS is sweating and crapping in their pants now. But now that I think about it...it makes perfect sense in a way. Stephen is now a broken over-hyped product much like how TOPPS is kind of right now and Stephen has been slapped on TONS AND TONS of TOPPS PRODUCTS. Yeah.....I wonder how many people are kicking themselves right now. I wonder how many have already begun placing their Strasburg cards with the Mark Prior, Brien Taylor, and Todd Van Popple files? How are them prices on EBAY? Did I just hear a loud clunk? I wonder how long it will be till TOPPS starts removing his image from their products? I wonder how long it will be till TOPPS lowers the price to get his auto? I wonder how many people are slapping themselves with a 2x4 for paying what they did for his card prices? Yes I feel sorry for the guy and it sucks that he has to have surgery but there is a lesson to learned from all of this as well: Patience is truly a good thing. Perhaps now some people will learn of it.

Giants' Rotation Laboring Through August

What's been the strength of the team for the last couple of seasons has all of the sudden become a liability. The starting rotation which was one of the ML's best throughout the first half has looked downright bad through most of August.

A big reason for the rotation's downfall has been the struggles of Tim Lincecum, which we broke down in our last post. However, it hasn't just been Lincecum. Barry Zito, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez have all been pretty inconsistent lately. And the bullpen hasn't been much of a help either. The Giants lost 2 of 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals, again losing to a first place team, and gave up 17 runs in the process. Even when the Giants offense is on, it's asking a lot of them to score 17 runs in a 3-game set, and they just can't keep up with teams when they get behind by a large margin early in ballgames. Surprisingly, it's been rookie Madison Bumgarner who's really been the most consistent Giants' starter throughout the month of August. Cain and Sanchez have sprinkled in some decent starts as well, but have been terribly inconsistent. The excuse some of the pitchers and fans are hinting at is that the loss of Bengie Molina has had more of an impact than people originally thought. Not that Buster Posey is a bad game-caller, it's just that he's only caught a handful of games at this level and doesn't know these hitters nearly as well as Bengie did. I'm hoping this staff though, which is packed with Cy Young winners, perennial all-stars and top-prospects, will be just fine eventually no matter who's behind the plate.

The Giants also made another move which added some depth to their outfield Sunday, grabbing Cody Ross off waivers from the Florida Marlins. I think they claimed Ross to block him from somebody else (my guess is the Padres, Cards or Braves), but ended up with him. And since he's here, they might as well use him. Ross brings value to the team in a number of ways. Although he's not having his best year (.265, 11 hr, 58 RBI, 60 runs, 9 SB) he's been a pretty solid hitter over the last couple of seasons. In 2008-'09 he averaged 23 homers, 82 RBI and a .799 OPS with a .265 average. Not too shabby considering he's a pretty darn good defensive center fielder, with the ability to play either corner outfield spot flawlessly as well. That said, I don't think he's going to get a heavy playing load right off the bat here. I don't think he'll play over Guillen in right or Burrell in left, but could be used as a defensive replacement late in ballgames or insurance for Andres Torres incase he fades down the stretch. If Ross catches fire though, like Burrell did, he'll undoubtedly find himself in the lineup more days than not. He's also under team control through the 2011 season, meaning the Giants can either use him as trade bait this winter, or they could keep him in the mix as a viable center/right field option for 2011. Everybody in the Giants outfield, outside of Schierholtz and Rowand will be free-agents after the year, so Ross would immediately become their best outfielder on the roster once everyone files for free agency. I really like the move considering they didn't have to give up anything, and, again, now posses a 29 year-old right-handed hitting outfielder who plays good defense and will give you 20 hr/85 RBI per year.

Cardinals Trade for Pedro Feliz

The Cardinals got some help at third base on Thursday, acquiring Pedro Feliz from the Houston Astros for minor league pitcher David Carpenter.

The Cardinals also placed catcher Jason LaRueon the 60-day disabled list. LaRue sustained a concussion in a fracas with the Reds earlier this month.

"We really felt it was in his best interest to not have to feel like there's pressure to come back," general manager John Mozeliak said. "He recognizes why we had to make this decision, but he also told me he would do whatever is best for the organization."

Felipe Lopez has been starting at third base since David Freese was sidelined by injuries in June. He's slumped at the plate and in the field lately, committing two errors on Wednesday, prompting the Cardinals to go after the 35-year-old Feliz.

He started for the Phillies 2008 World Series team, and has played 97 games for the Astros while batting .221 with four homers and 31 RBIs. Feliz also has the second-best fielding percentage among third baseman since 2007 at .967, and Mozeliak said that was the biggest selling point.

"He ranks up there with almost any third baseman in the game today," Mozeliak said. "I understand this is not the biggest deal in the world, but I do think it addresses a very big need."

He's made 60 starts at third base and 10 at first base for Houston.

"It's been a tough year for him, and with the changes that we've made, his playing time would continued to be limited," Astros general manager Ed Wade said. "This deal puts him back into a pennant race and his veteran presence should help the Cardinals."

Source: AP

My take: Like the trade no loss for the Cards in regards of the trade. Pedro is an excellant defensive third baseman. Since playing with the Giants in 2000 to the present his fielding percentage has never gone below .900. Pedro can also play shortstop, outfield and first base. Pedro just might be the Ceasar Cedano we needed to lead the Cardinals to the 85' World Series against the Royals.

Giants Struggling Vs. Top Teams

I've been noticing a pattern here lately with the Giants, and it's becoming a tad disturbing. Yes, the team is still 13 games over .500 and in pretty good position to make their playoff push in the final month of the season, but they just can't seem to figure out the NL's better teams lately.

First off, the Giants were punished by the Padres, once again, in their own home ballpark, losing 2 of 3 to the first place Friars in a series the Giants really needed to make a statement in. Just a few weeks back, they were really cruising but lost 3 of 4 to the NL East leading Atlanta Braves in Atlanta, then beat up on the lowly Cubbies before sinking vs. the first place Padres. Now they're struggling again vs. a solid Philly squad. It seems like the Giants just can't seem to win the big series vs. these winning ballclubs, and that's going to hurt them down the stretch. A big reason for that is the fact that their dominant starting rotation has hit a bit of a bump in the road, especially ace Tim Lincecum. Fans are starting to worry about "The Franchise" after his era's blown up to 3.62 (a staff high) and he's lost his last 3 starts in a row. Not too mention, his fastball that once averaged 94-96 mph is down around 90, and he just doesn't have that uncanny command that he's used to. I've seen Lincecum win without his best stuff. I've seen him dominate teams even with the 91 mph fastball consistently, but he seems like a different pitcher right now. The logical guess is that maybe all his work over the last 3 seasons is catching up with him (450+ innings last 2 seasons). I'm not at all panicked over Lincecum right now, but I think it would be wise for the Giants to consider sitting him down and missing a start to get some extra rest. Not sure if that's the issue or not, but I'm sure taking an extra 5 days off wouldn't hurt the matter.

It's not just Lincecum though either. It seems that the rest of the Giants' starting rotation have all had their era's balloon here in the last couple of weeks. Luckily, they've gotten some clutch offensive performances that have won some games for them recently, or else they'd really be in a tail-spin. The two right-handed power hitting outfielders the Giants added in-season have both been paying dividends. Jose Guillen just arrived, but has arrived in style, going 5-12 in his first 3 games as a Giant, including an impressive homer run off of Roy Oswalt to bring the Giants to within 1 late in Tuesday's game (a game the Giants eventually got blown out in). But it's really been Pat "The Bat" Burrell who has really exploded here lately. Burrell's taken sole reigns of the everyday left-field job and has prospered. In his last 10 ballgames, Burrell has gone 11-39 with 5 home runs and 13 RBI. One of those homers ended up winning a game for the Giants, and one of them ended up tying a game in the 8th inning in which the Giants ended up pulling out.

Besides Burrell, prize rookie catcher Buster Posey has continued his assault on NL pitching, collecting 8 hits in his last 4 ballgames and keeping the Giants lineup afloat. Bruce Bochy has recently been experimenting with Posey in the 2 hole, but I really would like to see him moved to the 3-spot permanently. I think that spot best suits him and will likely be the spot where he ends up in the long-term. With the way everyone's swinging the bat right now though, Boch doesn't have many other options for that 2nd spot. One idea I have would be to place Pablo Sandoval there for a few games to maybe get him going. Hitting him in front of Posey, Huff, Burrell and Guillen would probably be the spot that would provide him with the best possible pitches, and probably the best fastball ratio. Pitchers won't want to walk the Panda to set things up for the hot hitters in the Giants lineup, so I think they'd go right after him. Just an idea, but I don't see any harm in trying it out.

LaRue Placed on the DL

The St. Louis Cardinals placed catcher Jason LaRue on the 15-day disabled list Friday with concussion-like symptoms.
LaRue was involved in Tuesday's scuffle against the Reds. X-rays revealed that LaRue does not have any broken bones, though he is still dealing with significant bruising and soreness in his ribs along with the concussion.
In 29 games this year, LaRue is batting .196 with two homers and five RBI.
To take the spot on the roster, outfielder Nick Stavinoha was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. In 60 games for the Cardinals this year, he is hitting .258 with two homers and seven RBI.

UUGGHHHH .....Nervous thoughts, Random Thoughts, Ignorant Thoughts!

Nothing on cards today. Today is a random thought session:

I have been making full use of my XBOX 360 as of late. I recently had completed "Just Cause 2" which is an awesome and fun game to play IMO. I absolutely love having the freedom to do whatever and whenever and shoot whomever I want to in a game. I just recently started playing "Red Dead Redemption" and I'm really enjoying this game so far. I love western themed movies and western themed games and I love how the game has stayed true to it's western roots by doing such acts as shooting the animals and skinning them to sell for cash/supplies. You perform such acts as lassoing a wild horse and then trying to tame it/break him. Heck you even have to learn about controlling the speed of your own horse during missions or else he'll buck you off his back. There's poker, whores, rattlesnakes, wolves, dust bunnies, tumbleweeds, snake oil, and even cattle!

My son found out the hard way on "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" that Daddy will get a tactical nuke after 25 kills on the deathmatch/free for all levels. Yes I know....A Dad devastating his son's ego but yet teaching him to be competitive in the long run....so to speak. Sorry but we can't play online out here in Amish Wonderland. We don't have broadband access and my only internet connections are at work and my data phone. However we manage to do just fine without it and we seem to both enjoy working together and playing against one another. He has still yet to beat me in Halo 3, Left for Dead 2, and Smackdown vs Raw 2010.

BTW...it seems that a lot of people have been complaining about how their XBOX 360 has died or has had the 3 RROD or some other godly death issue. I happen to have the 20GB system and I have not had any problems with it at all and it works great! I have both the PS3 and the XBOX360 and both are good systems IMO.

Violence in the workplace seems to be on the raise again. Perhaps I should take a different approach for when I get fired from work. I'll be nice and give AchMed Bullubihabla and Haven Benfocked their tactical nuclear bomb back that I bought off of them and was planning to use on my exit. Instead I think I'll just eat 8 cans of baked beans along with a gallon of milk and some fresh brussel sprouts and then I will light a match. My mushroom gas cloud will be visible from the moons of Saturn. My gas will make the paint peel off of cars and boats and will instantly vaporize cockroaches. Even Bin Laden would go, "Holy Shit I'm outta here! I've never seen terrorist gas so bad!"
Somehow I would still manage to find a way to blame the gas on the dog. I always do!

Brett Favre is like a prom dress....it's on it's off...it's on it's off...it's on it's off.

How can a mother can kill her own children? How can any parent kill their own child makes me sick and sadly puzzled. The lady in South Carolina who drowned her own 2 children should go right to the Electric Chair and save the taxpayers a boat load of money.

How about Eli Manning getting his head ripped open? How about them Giants beating the Jets? And who the heck is this Cruz Wide Receiver for the Giants (6 rec 145 yds and 3 td's)? I BE HAPPY!

Tila Tequila going after ICP juggalos......Yeah....I wonder who's gonna win that one. One big clown going after a bunch of smaller clowns. Tila is fake like her tits like the juggalos who are fakes. Fakes going after fakes. What's next...Miley Cyrus at OZZFEST? Then to top it off she takes her top off and you reward her with rocks.......Morons. What if that silicone leaks all over you or worse....they bounce off of her chest and it leaves a dent in your forehead? Morons.

Cardinals Have Intrest in Brandon Inge

The Cardinals search for a third baseman is now high priority. Felipe Lopez's defensive skills at third base is sub par at best. Brandon Inge is a better defensive third baseman than any of the other candidates the Cards have. This will be very tricky and hard for the Cards to obtain Inge. With a .560 winning percentage the Cards have means that all AL and NL teams with a lower percentage will get first crack at Inge. Would love to see Inge playing third base here but it might be a hard waiver deal for the Cards to make.

Giants Add Guillen, Lose Game 1 vs. SD

The Giants started their most important series of the season to date on Friday, and hours before the first of three with San Diego, the Giants added that final offensive piece to the puzzle that they had been looking for.

Brian Sabean made a couple of small, but necessary moves before the July 31st trade deadline, adding some bullpen help in Javier Lopez and Ramon Rodriguez, but they saved their big move for August. The Giants obtained Jose Guillen from the Royals for some cash and a player to be named later, bringing Guillen's .255 average, 16 homers and 62 RBI to the Giants lineup likely in time for Saturday's game 2 of the ever so crucial 3-game set with the first place Padres this weekend. Surprisingly, Guillen cost the Giants less than both of those relievers did, and he has the chance to pay huge dividends down the stretch. I talked a lot about Guillen in our last post when it became clear that the Giants had a good shot at getting him, so I won't repeat all the same info again. He was told after the trade that the Giants plan on starting him at least 4 times per week, and if he takes off like Pat Burrell has recently, he'll probably become the everday right fielder. Guillen is very pleased with the deal, and who could blame him. He's going from a last place situation where he was beginning to lose time to younger players in a rebuilding effort, only to arrive on contending team in a great city with a solid cast of teammates.

Although he's played most of his career in the AL, Jose Guillen is no stranger to the NL, playing here most recently in '05 and '06 with Washington. So his transition should be relatively smooth. Speaking of transition, he also wasn't the only guy the Giants traded for this week. Brian Sabean also went out and grabbed Mike Fontenot from the Cubbies after getting news that Edgar Renteria would once again hit the DL. Fontenot brings plenty of versatility to the Giants bench, having played extensively at all infield positions besides first base, and doing so with good defense. He also will provide some occasional punch for a little guy and can be a very streaky hitter. He also brings some value as a pinch hitter, as he's got 7 pinch hits for the Cubs this year, including a homer and 8 RBI. The Giants did call up Emmanuel Burris as well when Renteria went down, and Burriss had a multi-hit game right out the gate, but he's likely destined for Fresno again on Saturday once Guillen is put on the 25-man roster. And after they add Guillen to the roster, they're going to be content with their roster and will have have one of the deeper clubs they've had here in a long while. I think on most nights, we're going to get Huff at first, Burrell in left and Guillen in right and the rest of the bunch in their regular spots. This leaves the Giants with their most potent lineup since the days of Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

Right off the bat, the new look Giants will get a huge test and they failed part 1 Friday night. Game 1 of the highly anticipated Giants/Padres series unfortunately went to the Padres. The Giants got to Clayton Richard early for 2 quick runs in the first 2 innings, but the Pads chipped away and came back to edge them out, 3-2. The Giants sure could have used Jose Guillen tonight against the left Richard, as the Giants just couldnt' get anything going after the first two innings. It's only mid-August, so this series isn't going to make or break either of these teams. The Giants needed a sweep to take sole possession of first in the west, but hopefully they can at least salvage the last 2 and they'd still end up gaining a game on the Pads. Madison Bumgarner gets Mat Latos on Saturday, then Tim Lincecum and Wade LeBlanc wind things up Sunday afternoon, so we're in line for some pretty good pitching match-ups. At least the Giants will have the new look for those games. Here's how I'd like to see Bochy put together the lineup for the next few games:

Torres CF
Sanchez 2B
Posey C
Huff 1B
Burrell LF
Guillen RF
Sandoval 3B
Uribe SS

Cardinals Call Up Steven Hill

The St. Louis Cardinals placed pitcher Jeff Suppan on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a sore groin.
Suppan developed soreness running on Monday after his scheduled start Sunday against the Marlins was rained out in Miami. The veteran right-hander has made eight starts for St. Louis since being signed in early June and has a 4.14 earned run average and 1-4 record.
The 35-year-old was released by Milwaukee earlier this season after appearing in 15 games, making two starts, and posting a 7.84 ERA and 0-2 mark.
To fill out the roster, catcher Steven Hill had his contract purchased from Double-A Springfield. Hill was leading the Texas League with 22 homers and 86 runs batted in at the time of his callup. He holds a .280 average in 93 games this year, having earned Texas League All-Star honors for a second straight season in 2010.

Source: Sports Network

What to do oh what to do......We need a Savior (and not Y2J either)!

Today I am officially retiring from purchasing anything that bears the name "TOPPS" on it for the upcoming football season and the remainder of the 2010 baseball season. After seeing the loads of crap today that came pouring out of a case of 2010 Allen & Ginter Baseball and by "crap" I mean poorly cut cards, not getting your "Guaranteed Hit/jersey/auto/someone's swim trunks cards", Coalition issues out the ying yang, and packs of cards missing the proper amount of cards (watched three boxes freshly opened from a case to see 14 packs of cards short 2 cards in the packs to make them full packs). Topps obviously has some serious quality control issues and until things improve I'd rather spend my spare change on toilet paper and tissues then to buy another pack of crap. I felt so bad for my friend Troy after seeing him pull 6 Brian Roberts Game used bat cards, 4 Jay Bruce jersey cards, 3 Matt Kemp jersey cards, 3 Darren Taylor Swim suit relic cards, 2 Adam Dunn game bat cards, 2 Rich Hill auto's, a Cameron Maybin auto, a Ricky Nolasco auto, a Ross Ohlendorf auto, and the BIG PULL: an Avery Jenkins auto. NO MAJOR CASE HITS AT ALL. He took pictures of everything as it was being opened so I hope he'll post it on the web soon. He said he was going to send it to Topps customer service as well. I'm glad it wasn't my money spent! His only bright spot was pulling a David Wright mini limited to 50 for which I may have to kill him for.....I mean trade with him for it!

Jimmy Baseball Traded to Reds

The NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds have made a move to try to strengthen their outfield for a playoff run, getting Jim Edmonds from Milwaukee for outfielder Chris Dickerson.

The trade gives the Reds a veteran outfielder as they try to fend off the St. Louis Cardinals and reach the playoffs for the first time since 1995. The Reds lead the Cardinals by two games heading into their three-game showdown starting Monday night.

The 40-year-old Edmonds batted .286 with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 73 games with the Brewers. He could take over for center fielder Drew Stubbs, who has struggled offensively. Stubbs is batting .234 with 14 homers.

Dickerson has missed most of the season because of a broken bone in his right hand that required surgery.

AP

Giants Have Interest in Jose Guillen

The Giants have been looking for ways to add power to their lineup without giving up the farm, and their best chance to do so may be right now, as the Kansas City Royals have waived outfielder/DH Jose Guillen.

Supposedly, the Giants looked at Guillen when they were scouting Scott Podsednik back before the deadline, buy obviously didn't have enough interest in him to work out a deal. However, now they can scoop up Guillen just by assuming the remaining $3.75 remaining on his contract for 2010 and maybe sending KC some irrelevant minor league prospect. Guillen would definitely bring a potent right-handed bat to the Giants lineup, and solidify one of their corner outfield spots with a guy who's a pretty good defender with a cannon arm. Prior to his release, Guillen was carrying a .255 batting average along with 16 homers, 62 RBI. On the Giants, that would immediately place him 2nd in the HR and RBI categories behind only Aubrey Huff. The real question regarding Jose Guillen though, and a reason why teams are so leary on taking a chance on him, is his negative perception as a teammate and clubhouse presence. He's been compared to Milton Bradley, and one of the big things the Giants have going for them right now is their cohesion as a team and I don't know that they'd take on the risk of adding someone like Guillen.

I personally wouldn't mind them taking a shot on him as long as they don't need to give up anybody. Even though they've stepped things up a bit lately, the Giants still need all the offense they can get, and Jose Guillen is a guy who could come in and hit in the middle of the order with Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff and really solidify things. The Giants have only scored 6 runs over their last 3 games, and were unable to cash in on a couple of solid starting performances because they weren't able to score a couple of runs. In fact, they really should have lost their last 3 in a row but caught a few breaks in Friday nights game which allowed them to eventually win it in extra innings in Atlanta. Yes, it would probably cut into Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholtz's at-bats, but if those guys are playing well, Bochy could still find ways to get them into the lineup. Basically, the question the Giants need to ask is would they rather be giving crucial playing time down the stretch to Pat Burrell or to Jose Guillen, and I'd have to take Guillen right now if I had the option. Guillen is by far the better fielder of the 2, and although Burrell may have more pure power than Guillen, I think Guillen is a better overall hitter at this point in each of their career's. Unfortunately the Giants weren't able to claim Adam Dunn off Waivers from Washington recently, killing any chance of bringing Dunn to San Francisco for the season's final 2 months, so Guillen could be their last, real option at adding power. We'll be keeping a close eye on this situation over the next week or so.

And again, we here at the Giants Baseball Blog encourage all Giants fans to check out the charity event being put on by Matt Cain and his wife, Chelsea, on August 14th. It's looks like there will be some great food and plenty to drink and you can enjoy it all for just $30, check out more information here: http://baseballwivesallstarcookoff.eventbrite.com/!

To all you lovely MORONS posting the links

To all you kind, loving, thoughtful, and 40 yr old virgins with the Stormtrooper cookie jar in your Mom's kitchen while whacking off to the sound of World of WarCraft at your computer while slapping up spam on websites and then using your tears as lubricate while poundin' the Ol'meat stick to pics of a 65 yr old Grandma with floppy knee knocking pancake boobs....GET A LIFE! For the MORON who seems to have a fetish with posting spam comments on my site on a daily basis I leave you this note:

Giants Sweep LA, Ready for Rockies

It looks like the Giants players were glad they didn't do anything too drastic to disrupt chemistry at the trade deadline, as they went out and completed their 3-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday, a sweep that really hurt the Dodgers in the standings.

The Giants did sweep them, but the series was a lot closer than it would appear. The Dodgers lost all 3 games by a combined 4 runs, and their starting pitching did a very good job in keeping down the Giants lineup, but when the Giants starters are on, they're tough to beat, and they were on this weekend. We already discussed Tim Lincecum's solid outing Friday night, and he was followed up with a 7 inning, 3 hit, 1 run, 6 strikeout performance by Barry Zito on Saturday. Unfortunately for Zito, the Giants didn't score until Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning, so Zito was once again left without a decision, but everybody had to be pleased with the way he threw the ball. Zito was followed up by Matt Cain, who won his 3rd consecutive decision, going 7.2 shutout innings, and striking out 7 Dodger hitters. Fortunately for Cain, he did get a little bit of support, not much, but all he needed, on an Edgar Renteria 2-RBI triple in the 6th. The Dodgers young lefty, Clayton Kershaw, had been matching Cain pitch for pitch until that inning, and the ball that Renteria hit wasn't even much of a mistake. Still though, whether it was a mistake or not, the Giants found ways to win those games without producing much offense. They got really good at that in July, and hopefully that's something they can keep going all year.

Speaking of the offense, even though the July 31st trade deadline has passed, a big trade option may have just become available, as the Washington Nationals have placed Adam Dunn on waivers. What happens now, is the Giants have to wait for him to be cleared by each team in front of them, including the Dodgers and Rockies, before they could have a shot at attaining him. The one positive they do have going for them, is that the Dodgers and Rockies don't really have the funds available or the positional space to stick Adam Dunn at, so they may shy away from getting to serious about claiming him. If he does manage to fall to the Giants though, they'd have to strongly consider the possibility of adding the left-handed slugger. They obviously wouldn't have to part with too much, although I don't think the Nats would just give him away, even if it does save them $4 million. This is where I think Jon Bowker would have had some value to a team like Washington. They could have at least been replacing some of the power lost in Dunn with a guy like Bowker, but he's no longer an option. Travis Ishikawa could be though. Is it worth to part with a possible future, cheap, effective first base option for a couple months of Adam Dunn? I actually think that with this particular team, it just may be. The Giants are approaching the 20-game above .500 mark, and that just hasn't happened too often in recent years (not since 2004 at least). They may want to make that one move to put them over the hump, cause the NL is really wide open right now and Adam Dunn is certainly the type of impact bat that could sway the balance of power in this league.

Up Next: The Giants start another important 3-game set with a NL West foe on Tuesday night, as Jonathan Sanchez and Aaron Cook square off at Coors Field in Colorado. The Giants really put LA behind the 8-ball (they're now 9-games out of first) by sweeping them over the weekend, and can really do the same to the Rockies by at least taking the series from them. The Giants have suffered some heartbreaks in Colorado in recent years, and now that they're playing as good as they have in a long, long time, I think they're set for some revenge in the Rockies....

Also, we here at the Giants Baseball Blog encourage all Giants fans to check out the charity event being put on by Matt Cain and his wife, Chelsea, on August 14th. It's looks like there will be some great food and plenty to drink and you can enjoy it all for just $30, check out more information here: http://baseballwivesallstarcookoff.eventbrite.com/!

Cards Sign Nate Robertson

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed left-handed pitcher Nate Robertson to a minor league contract.The 32-year-old Robertson was released by Florida last month. He was 6-8 with a 5.47 ERA for the Marlins and his last start came on July 20.
The Cardinals said Monday that Robertson will report to triple-A Memphis.
Robertson started for the Detroit Tigers from 2004-08. He won a career-high 13 games in 2006 and started Game 3 of the World Series that year.

AP

Six Questions with Matt DeMargel

Matt DeMargel a St.Louis native and a second cousin of mine has spent the last ten years as Director of Media Relations/Promotions for the Durham Bulls. Matt a life long St.Louis Cardinal fan has also written Durham Bulls Baseball: History and Statistical Summary. If your a fan of the Durham Bulls this is a must have when it comes to the history of this iconic team.  I was able to catch up with Matt for a brief interview for The McBrayer Baseball Blog.


McBrayer: How in the world did you become in charge of promotions for the Durham Bulls?

DeMargel: I started my baseball career as an intern with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (COL-AAA) as a promotions intern in 1998. After a great summer there, I was hired by the Lake Elsinore Storm (LAA-High A) to run the 1999 California/Carolina League All-Star Game. Once that was over I became Community Relations Director and Assistant PR Director for the Storm. By fall I was in charge of the Game Entertainment and that winter took over PR duties. When the Bulls had an opening for a Game Entertainment/PR Director in the fall of 2000, I was a good fit. I began working with the Bulls in January, 2001 and have been here ever since.

McBrayer: Congrats with the Bulls being in first place and having a fifteen game cushion over Charlotte. This must exciting for you and the team. Can you tell us who we might see coming up from the Bulls when they expand the roster in September?

DeMargel: The two most talked about talents are Jeremy Hellickson and Desmond Jennings. Hellickson is actually making his Major League debut tonight as part of Joe Maddon's six-man rotation. Jennings is a better bet to last through the Bulls' season and head up to Tampa Bay in September. 


McBrayer: Will we be seeing anything new regarding you in either the Milb or the MLB?

DeMargel: I don't think you will in the major leagues, but you never know in the minors. Right now I'm enjoying what I do with the Bulls and hope to continue doing it for a long time.

McBrayer: What has been your favorite promotion you have done so far for the Bulls organization?

DeMargel: From a team standpoint, it was probably the night we had Clay Aiken here to sing the National Anthem. This was in 2004 when he was a finalist on American Idol and the crowd here was unbelievable. We brought him in with a helicopter, he made a quick speech to the crowd and sang a beautiful anthem. It was great to have such perfect execution on a night where we were featured nationally. 
On a personal level, it was probably doing shtick with WWE legend Sgt. Slaughter. I was a big wrestling fan growing up so getting to participate as a heel was great fun. 

McBrayer: Do you see anything possibility happening to the Cardinal organization in regards to trading through waivers?

DeMargel: Well, my position with the Bulls doesn't afford me any kind of expertise or information regarding player moves with the birds, but if the offense struggles I wouldn't be surprised to see a bat added. I guess it will depend on what's available.

McBrayer: What did you think of the Ludwick for Westbrook trade?

DeMargel: Not a big fan, but will be happy to be proven wrong.

                         Thank you Matt for taking some time out for this interview.  

                                                          
                                             Promotional Press Release