2K Sports is releasing its widely popular game MLB 2K9 on March 2, 2009. To prepare for the game’s launch, 2K Sports has released a short promo video featuring 2008 NL Cy Young Winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants.
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This post was written by Hank on January 17, 2009
SF Gate reported in a brief blurb that former Giants pitcher Frank Williams had passed away. I remembered Williams as a pretty good sidearm righty, number 47, who was a solid middle reliever for the Giants back in the mid 80s. He pitched for parts of three seasons for the Giants before being traded to the Reds for Eddie Milner. He had put up pretty solid stats (career ERA 3.00) and I had never heard why his career ended so abruptly after just six pretty good seasons.
I poked around and found the original source story, which gave the heartrending answer. His career ended after a car accident, and after that he left his family for Victoria, British Columbia, where other than a brief comeback attempt with the local Victoria Mavericks, he steadily declined over the years, bottoming out as an alcoholic on the streets and hanging out in a local sports memorabilia store, reliving stories of his major league years with store patrons.
At the end, with his major league earnings all gone (according to Baseball Reference, he made $1.44 million in his career), he was all but homeless and alone, sleeping in various shelters and using his old baseball cards as identification. What a sad ending to what had been a promising life.
With this, now three members of the ‘86 Giants are gone: Williams, Jose Uribe, and Chris Brown. Rest in peace, Mr. Williams, you’re now warming up in the bullpen up above.
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This post was written by Hank on January 15, 2009
It looks like the Giants have quietly put back the “Your SF Giants” banner on their website, which was the team’s slogan for 2006-2007. Whether this is a temporary placeholder or whether they’re going with this as the slogan for 2009, I guess we shall see.
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This post was written by Hank on January 14, 2009
On getting elected to the Hall of Fame!
Henderson was named on 511 out of 539 ballots (surprising that 28 people did not vote for him) , and Rice slid in barely safely with 412 votes, just 7 more than the minimum number needed. Out of the misses, Andre Dawson (67%) and Bert Blyleven (62.7%) moved to within striking distance of future election. Tim Raines got only 22.6%, which I hope is just “not the first year but eventually” instead of “no”.
Matt Williams got 7 votes, which unfortunately was not enough to keep him on the ballot.
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This post was written by Hank on January 13, 2009
Tim Lincecum follow-up interview at the MLB Network studios, this time focusing on his mechanics. He breaks down his approach and his motion, and offers some insights on how he can get such velocity from such a small body. I’m no pitching coach, so I’ll just let the video speak for itself.
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This post was written by Hank on January 10, 2009
Giants hurler Tim Lincecum was recently invited to the new MLB Network studios for an interview with Harold Reynolds and Victor Rojas. Some major points I remembered:
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This post was written by Hank on January 10, 2009
I used to write an annual commentary about each year’s Hall of Fame ballot on another blog, but since that blog no longer exists, here it is.
With the New Years festivities beginning to recede in the rear view mirror and with it the winding down of (college) football season, it is once again that time of year, the annual announcement of this year’s enshrinees into the Baseball Hall of Fame
. So without further ado, here is my commentary on this year’s candidates.
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This post was written by Hank on January 7, 2009
So the GIants have signed Randy Johnson to a one-year contract, for $8 million, with incentives that can bring it up to $13 million. Now he can actually wear a Giants cap not in error (a reference to the Giants-Snakes brawl where he put on a Giants cap by accident)
In comparison, Jamie Moyer, who is the only major leaguer older than Johnson, just signed an extension for $13 million over 2 years with incentives that can bump it up to $20 million.
Johnson gives the Giants not just three lefties in their rotation, but also three Cy Young winners (Lincecum 2008, Zito 2002 AL, Johnson 1995 AL, 1999-2002 NL). Assuming that Jonathan Sanchez or Noah Lowry is the fifth starter, that would give a rotation of: Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Johnson, and Sanchez/Lowry. Johnson could also go 2nd in the rotation if Bochy wanted to alternate between righty/lefty.
I remember a very young Randy Johnson, who had the great arm but was erratic and wild until a chance meeting and some advice from Nolan Ryan straightened him out and made him a consistent, dominating pitcher. Here is hoping that Johnson has at least one more productive year, gets his 300th win, and can help tutor Jonathan Sanchez towards achieving his full potential. The Giants marketing team should be happy too as he’ll help move some tickets and merchandise.
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This post was written by Hank on December 27, 2008
We would be remiss in our Giants devotion without thanking Peter McGowan for keeping the Giants in San Francisco, signing Barry Bonds, driving the effort to build one of the most beautiful ballparks in the game (without using public money for construction, no less), and restoring hope and pride in what had become a largely moribund franchise. He is not only a businessman, but a devoted, passionate fan.
If any SF Giants non-player deserves a statue, he does. Thank you, Mr McGowan, enjoy your retirement, and we hope to see you at Giants games for many, many, years to come.
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This post was written by Hank on October 1, 2008
ESPN has an article on the 100th anniversary of Fred Merkle’s play where he forgot to touch second base, which would eventually cost the Giants the 1908 pennant and give it to the Cubs. Of course, 1908 was the last time the Cubs won the World Series.
Reading the article, I couldn’t help but think wow, and I thought Bill Buckner had it tough. At least the fans forgave him in his appearance at an Old Timers event in 1950. If the Polo Grounds were standing today, Merkle’s ghost would probably be still there, perpetually stranded between first and second. If there’s any solace, it can be found on the diamonds of youth and beer league games everywhere, where after a walk-off hit the base coach and teammates will invariably remind the hitter and runner(s) “hey don’t forget to touch the next base!”
Keith Olbermann article (CNNSI)
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This post was written by Hank on September 23, 2008
