SFFF GIANTS Season Thread (22-24)

[thasoleful1]

who's this John Bowker kid.

 

[nothingtol0se]

seriously. who is this Bowker dude?
2 games, 2 homerun!

and people said the giants have no power....

 

[TheGodFresco]

Originally Posted by NothingToL0se

seriously. who is this Bowker dude?
2 games, 2 homerun!

and people said the giants have no power....

thats what i'm wondering

 

[androoow]

John Bowker? out of nowhere?
what was it 7 RBIs in 2 games?

behind lincecums 11Ks.
and our whack bullpen managed to hold on.

 

[daddychill]

still can't believe the game cain started yesterday. he did everything, yet the bullpen couldn't close it out. cain must've been pissssed.

 

[paul is on tilt]

Originally Posted by NothingToL0se

seriously. who is this Bowker dude?
2 games, 2 homerun!

and people said the giants have no power....

And people said the Giants have no position players in their farm system...

 

[usedtobecool]

Here's a little bio on Bowker:

John Bowker was drafted out of Long Beach State in the 3rd round of the 2004 Draft. Regarded as a hitter with some power potential, the 6'2", 190 pound OF began his professional career. He established some power while in San Jose with some XB pop but had little on base skills and his SLG was terribly low for a corner outfielder. It was in this past 2007 season that Bowker took off and established himself as a potential starting outfielder for the San Francisco Giants in 2008 or 2009.

Bowker's arriving in Fresno at the age of 24 and has a chance to really catch fire and make a statement. Bowker flashed incredible power in Dodd Stadium, which is notorious for killing power hitters. He's a competent defender, limited to a corner position. He has the arm for RF, but chances are he's better suited for LF. As a lefty and hitting in a park like AT&T, we should hope that he hits the gaps a lot. Otherwise, he could find himself having difficulty hitting the ball out of the yard. Like most Giants hitting prospects, his plate discipline is poor and doesn't walk at much of a high clip. The encouraging news, however, is that his K total has hovered around 100 the past few seasons and his walk rate has risen, showing that he's cutting down his stroke and learning to command the strike zone a bit better, and is perhaps learning some patience.

John Bowker in Connecticut, 2007:

.307/.363/.523 (.886 OPS), 522 AB, 35 2B, 6 3B, 22 HR (39% XBH), 90 RBI, 41:103 BB/K ratio.
Anyways, Lincecum was dealing again today and our young arms are gonna have to keep this up for us to get wins. Fred Lewis is having a nice stringof games too and I hope he keeps it up and holds onto the position even when Roberts comes back.

 

[birdsiview]

Yeah Bowker is crazy good but he can't keep up those stats for long. I just hope he stays consistent and can help us produce runs.

 

[dfresh244]

Yo can we get a Team Giants sig?

I'm not good at making sigs...

But Lincecum

 

[paul is on tilt]

^


SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
- Blah Blah Blah... Insert what you want here -

 

[dfresh244]

Sig check

 

[owensstr8clownin]

been to two games now this year. Both times errors really killed us. Bocock needs more time to practice his glove skills, and I think Durham is about to beover his defensive skills are on the downside.

 

[TheGodFresco]

sig check

 

[franchise 55]

I finally got myself out to a game today. I'm glad that now that Bonds is gone and the team is bad, ticket prices are reasonable. I had first row in theleft field bleachers for $10/ticket. Not bad. Great game. Lincecum was dealing. Too bad his pitch count got up there.


Bowker

 

[red is on nt]

The team is doing a lot better than I expected. I love seeing the young players go out there and do what we should of done about 2-3 seasons ago and thatsrebuild.

 

[dfresh244]

Why isn't Bowker in the line up tonight??

 

[red is on nt]

Just to let you guys know that when I was passing by Serramonte Giants Dugout, I saw a sign saying that Rajai Davis is gonna have an autograph signing overthere on Saturday, April 26. First 300 fans get an autograph and its one per person. The time however, I'm not too sure. I work right across from the store(Footaction), so whoever is interested, I'll let you know the time for the signing.

 

[dr 715]

I guess Rajai won't be having that autograph signing - he got designated for assignment today.

He brought speed and a good glove but our outfield is crowded and I'm not sure we could have carried Davis' slumping bat.

Where is Schierholtz???

 

[dland24]

Saw Bowker play a few times in San Jose. The employees were told not to park in the parking lot behind the right field fence because he was hitting cars andbreaking windshields.

 

[dr 715]

I'm bored so I decided to read up on some Giants prospects.

According to Keith Law, the following are the top 5 prospects in the organization:

San Francisco
1. Angel Villalona, 1b
2. Tim Alderson, rhp
3. Henry Sosa, rhp
4. Wendell Fairley, rf
5. Madison Bumgarner, lhp
[table][tr][td]

20​

[/td] [td]

Angel Villalona​

[/td] [td]

3B​

[/td] [td]

San Francisco Giants
TOP '07 LEVEL: A (Salem-Keizer)​

[/td] [td]

17​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td] The Giants of the early 2000s were notorious for skimping on amateur signing bonuses, giving away first-round picks and doing little in Latin America. So when they paid over $2 million to sign Villalona just days after his 16th birthday in August of 2006, not only was it a surprise, it was a signal that the organization was committing to acquiring top-flight amateur talent. Signing Villalona was tantamount to getting an extra top-10 pick in the amateur draft -- perhaps better, since he could be in the organization for what would have been his senior year had he been an American-born prospect. Villalona himself is very physically developed, with an early-20s build even before he turned 16; while this will probably force him over to first base, it does provide for significant power potential. He has a quick bat and a fluid swing, and has shown the ability to use the whole field. He's a long way off and has only played five games above rookie ball, but the physical promise here -- a middle-of-the-order bat with a 40-plus homer ceiling -- is tremendous.

[table][tr][td]

59​

[/td] [td]

Tim Alderson​

[/td] [td]

RHP​

[/td] [td]

San Francisco Giants
TOP '07 LEVEL: Rookie (Ariz.)​

[/td] [td]

19​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Alderson's an odd bird, working from the stretch even with no one on base. His fastball is already solid-average at 90-94 mph, with more velocity to come down the road. He pounds the strike zone and shows good command. His best secondary pitch is a hard curveball with tight rotation and a late two-plane break, while his changeup is a ways off. Alderson comes at hitters from a low three-quarter slot, and his arm is very quick, so the ball pops out of his hand and gets in on hitters quickly. He has some minor mechanical issues that will require work, including a slightly stiff front leg and a tendency to throw across his body to get deep to his glove side, but nothing that would prevent him from becoming a No. 2 or 3 starter in the majors.[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][/table][table][tr][td]

74​

[/td] [td]

Henry Sosa​

[/td] [td]

RHP​

[/td] [td]

San Francisco Giants
TOP '07 LEVEL: A (San Jose)​

[/td] [td]

22​

[/td] [/tr][tr][td]Sosa has a live arm in a system that now has more than its share of live arms. He has a promising three-pitch mix, sitting at 92-94 and touching 97 on his fastball and sporting a power curveball in the mid-80s and a solid-average changeup with good arm speed. His control is poor and his feel for pitching is weak. He's too happy to try to overpower guys with heat rather than use his secondary stuff to put guys away. His delivery is odd with a dice-roller arm action and problems rushing his arm through, neither of which is conducive to good fastball command. He shouldn't move up quickly, but if he's given time he has a chance to be a No. 2 or 3 starter.[/td] [/tr][/table]


Fairley and Bumgarner didn't make the list of 100 top prospects.

 

[eg47]

They have a debate going on ESPN.com right now, on who's the biggest FA pitching bust of all-time - Zito vs. Hampton

I'm an A's fan and it saddens me to see this dude just fall into Bolivia. Zito used to be filthy and had great poise on the mound, he's never had ahuge arsenal of pitches but now he only has 2 - Changeup (really his fastball) and the once nasty curve. Its really gotten to the point where dude in theMercury is calling for Zito to fake an injury

THE CASE FOR ZITO

This was one of those contracts that looked like a bad idea at the time, and looks worse now. Zito is a year and a month into a $126-million deal, with most of the money (gulp) back-loaded. Since arriving in San Francisco, he is tied for the most losses by any pitcher in baseball (19). He has the third-worst winning percentage (.367) among pitchers with more than 25 decisions in that time. And over his last two starts, he has allowed 19 baserunners in 6 2/3 innings. But while the Giants have talked about having him skip a start, it's tough to like their chances of finding a way for him to skip six more years' worth of starts.


http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=20399

 

[TheGodFresco]

i wonder if Zito will make his debut tonight

 

[paul is on tilt]

[h1]AP source: Magowan stepping down from Giants[/h1]
By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 5 minutes ago

• [h5]Buzz Up[/h5]
• [h5]Print[/h5]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)-Peter Magowan, the owner who brought Barry Bonds to San Francisco, built a new ballpark and kept major league baseball in the city, is stepping down as managing partner of the Giants.

The team called a news conference for Friday to reveal Magowan would retire from his duties at the end of this season, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had yet to be made.

Magowan's future plans were not immediately known.

The 66-year-old Magowan, one of the more public owners in baseball, was mentioned in the Mitchell Report that came out in December. Magowan then met with commissioner Bud Selig during spring training about whether members of the Giants' front office knew players were allegedly using steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.

The decision to bring Bonds to San Francisco came soon after Magowan bought the team before the 1993 season. The Giants were close to moving to Florida before Magowan's group bought the team from Bob Lurie.

The addition of Bonds revitalized baseball in San Francisco and contributed to the opening of the franchise's privately funded waterfront ballpark in 2000. Last summer, the Giants hosted the All-Star game.

Bonds became baseball's home run king last year. He has since been indicted, accused of lying to a grand jury about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Magowan parted ways with the slugger and seven-time NL MVP in September, about a month after Bonds broke Hank Aaron's record with No. 756.

The Giants made the playoffs four times under Magowan's rule. In 2002, they came close to winning their first World Series since moving West in 1958, falling five outs short in Game 6 against the Angels.


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-giants-magowan&prov=ap&type=lgns

---

Oh and Tim Lincecum is Filipino .

[h1]Lincecum played, prayed for Grandpa[/h1]Submitted by administrator on Thu, 08/23/2007 - 11:54.

• national league baseball

By PAUL GUTIERREZ
Sacramento Bee
Thursday, August 23, 2007

Tim Lincecum is so youthful looking; he easily could be mistaken for a batboy in the San Francisco Giants' gruff and geezer-filled clubhouse.

He is so slight at a listed 5-foot-11, 170 pounds (maybe while soaking wet and with rocks in his pockets), Lincecum could take the mound in a high school game, and no one would question a thing until the ball exploded out of his hand and did sick things on its way to the plate.

And, quite frankly, it appeared Tuesday night as if Lincecum finally succumbed to a childish and petulant prima Donna moment. The 23-year-old right-hander refused to speak to the media, leaving his manager and teammates to speak for him and answer to fans after his ninth-inning meltdown against the Chicago Cubs following eight innings of sheer brilliance.

The kid with lightning in his arm also appeared to be showing up the Cubs, tossing the ball to himself before throwing to first on a comebacker by Ryan Theriot to end the third inning and summoning a little Francisco Rodrmguez with a violent fist-pump and growl following his eighth-inning-ending strikeout of pinch hitter Daryle Ward.

The Cubs noticed.

"You saw him showboating a little," Cubs outfielder Cliff Floyd told reporters.

But there is more to the story.

Lincecum, whose meteoric rise to the majors is as awe-inspiring as his Jim Palmer-Orel Hershiser hybrid delivery, can be forgiven his histrionics.

Turns out he was pitching with a heavy heart -- it was Lincecum's first outing since returning from bereavement leave, as his maternal grandfather passed away last week -- and was simply living in the moment.

He also apologized to reporters gathered around his locker Wednesday afternoon.

"It was my fault," he said of not facing the music. "I had a lot of stuff in my head."

Such as the passing of his grandpa, whose first name he did not know how to spell.

"I just called him Grandpa Asis, because that's his last name," Lincecum said. "It's Filipino."

And you learn something new every day.

"Out there, I was thinking about him," he added. "I was thinking of past stuff as well as using him to help me.

"A lot of people do that -- they look to God and relatives that have passed away. They look to them to help them get through stuff. I guess I used him like that ... and it was great. It's sad to see him go, and it's kind of tough to deal with, but on the field I'm just trying to be as focused on the game as possible."

Through eight innings, Lincecum was dominating with his mid-90s heater -- he said 85 percent of his pitches were fastballs -- shutting out the Cubs while limiting them to two hits on 88 pitches. Then came three hits on five pitches to begin the ninth -- his first journey so late in a big-league game -- and his fairytale beginning had a nightmare ending.

Lou Piniella, the Cubs' fiery first-year manager, saw nothing wrong with Lincecum's antics and sounded like a fan. "The kid was excited," Piniella said. "He was throwing the ball well, and he has as good a stuff as we've seen all year."

The 10th overall selection of last year's draft out of Washington, Lincecum, who debuted May 6, less than a year after pitching in the Pac-10, is 7-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 20 starts. He has a team-leading 132 strikeouts with 53 walks in 124 1/3 innings while opponents are batting .213 against him.

For now, and with apologies to the $126 million man, Barry Zito, they'll have to enjoy the ride with Lincecum, the future face of the Giants, as he astounds them and confounds opponents.

As long as it doesn't come back to bite him.

"I've never done that stuff to show up a team or hot-dog it like I was better than them," Lincecum said. "With the fist-pump, I just felt like it was a big inning ... that's what was in my head. It was just a big pitch that I made late in the game. It wasn't anything I did to show up anybody."

Leave the apologies to forgetful batboys.

(Contact Paul Gutierrez can be reached at [email protected].)


http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/26181

 

[patrickcakes]

Thanks for that article. There was a thread on the General board one time and the topic was "Is Lincecum Filipino?". Didn't know what it meant.

Anybody go to Heritage Night?

 

[paul is on tilt]

Nah, I missed out on Filipino Heritage Night...

@ me. I should have went.

On another note, my brother wants to go on Saturday for the on-field photo day... I don't know if I can make it though. I mean, I would like to butwe'll see.