Deep thoughts, cheap shots & bon mots
Bruce Bochy arrived early for an off-day news conference in St. Louis. Still on the podium was Jake Peavy, who pitched for Bochy in San Diego from ’02 to ’08. “Hey, Boch,” Peavy said, “these guys asked me how you’re different than you were back in San Diego.” Drawled Bochy, “Better lookin’.”
The Giants’ run to the Series has vindicated Billy Beane. The A’s GM traded away Yoenis Céspedes and hot prospect Addison Russell for pitching. Can’t have too much excellent pitching was Beane’s reasoning. Proof: Giants.
If you want to see a homerun hitter having more fun circling the bases than Michael Morse had Thursday, you’ll have to start watching little kids play ball.
Still out there somewhere, presumably ready to pitch: Tim Lincecum.
Madison Bumgarner was born in 1989, 14 years after the Marshall Tucker Band had a hit with “Fire on the Mountain,” Bumgarner’s walk-on song. Possible connection: Bum was born in Hickory, N.C., about 75 miles from Spartanburg, S.C., where the band was formed. Bumgarner speaks with a Marshall Tucker twang.
True fact: There was nobody named Marshall Tucker in the Marshall Tucker Band.
Travis Ishikawa’s home run was caught, then bobbled, then caught by Frank Burke of Oakdale (Stanislaus County). Burke gave Ishikawa the ball after the game, and Ishikawa gave Burke an autographed bat.
The Giants say all the talk about how lucky they’ve been helped motivate them. So give an assist to Chronicle ace Ann Killion, who courageously broached the subject with Bochy and other Giants before NLCS Game 2 in St. Louis.
The Dodgers will outspend the Giants next season, but they can’t buy Giants’-style clubhouse harmony. Dodgers insiders say that clubhouse is a squabbling, leader-free mess. You could say Don Mattingly has lost the clubhouse, but Gandhi couldn’t unite that group.
Proof that it takes more than muscle to play big-league baseball: Matt Duffy. Mix in a steak, son.
Quietly playing third base like a rock star and getting on base every single game, 23 playoff games in a row: Pablo Sandoval.
Huge benefit to the Giants of avoiding Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS: The bullpen comes in fresh as an Irish spring.
On Ishikawa’s home-run trot, as he’s rounding third, Tim Flannery is holding up both arms. Touchdown? Stop sign?
Eventually Buster Posey will make a permanent move out from behind the plate. But for now, Buster Backstop seems to be the right man in the right spot.
The album that featured “Fire on the Mountain”: “Searchin’ for a Rainbow.” Just like the Giants.