My first year of Blogging my random scattered thoughts…. So WordPress sends me my stats, and I guess it wasn’t a total disaster!! So I thought I’d share some of my blogging stats on this Jan 2nd of 2011
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 4,500 times in 2010. That’s about 11 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 75 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 274 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 150mb. That’s about 5 pictures per week.
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, digg.com, healthfitnesstherapy.com, dating-online2u.blogspot.com, and storagesavvy.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for general charles krulak, livingsocial interview process, giants rookie of the year, buster posey, and livingsocial interview questions.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
It’s right in front of us San Francisco. We can smell it, touch it, we can see it. Our Giants, who’ve made it to the post season just 4 times in 56 years…. lost the World Series in 62, 89, and 2002. Took the Yankees to a game 7 in 1962, when my personal hero Willie McCovey’s screaming line drive was caught by Bobby Richardson for the final out with Matty Alou on 3rd as the tieing run. in 1989, they got broomed by Oakland, you remember doncha?? The earthquake series? Unreal that one was but for all the wrong reasons. And in 2002 the Giants were up 3 games to 2 and lost that one too…. SIGH………. it almost felt like we were the damn Cubbies or something. And they’ve been waiting for the same thing longer… since 1945 fergawdsakes!! The rebuilding years, the building of the best pitching staff I’ve ever laid eyes on… The entire starting rotation that came up through the ranks, up from the farm system, an unheard of thing in today’s free agent, gimme the money game we still love. For those of you who just don’t get it. For those of you who don’t really understand the grab and the hook of the game of baseball, and what it means to us Giants fans….. I’m going to try to explain it to you. I hope I can do this justice, here goes.
In 1957, New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham, and Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley got tired of their old ballparks and their crumbling neighborhoods and after trying ( a little ) to grab new stadiums from their cities, decided to move their two baseball teams out west. It took a little planning and scheming, and they needed each other to pull it off, cause the other owners told them that two teams needed to move west because they weren’t going to pay the extra travel expenses to go out west for only one series. So they cut a deal, after decades of these two franchises hating each others guts in New York City and Brooklyn, they decided to hate each others guts in San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was a huge deal at the time for the city of New York to lose their two National League teams at the same time. A horrible thing for those baseball fans for sure, and much has been written about it. It seems to have affected the borough of Brooklyn more because they really had a close relationship with their Dodgers, and the hate of Walter O’Malley even today still emanates from Brooklyn. New York sure didn’t want to lose their Giants either, but when asked by reporters about how the kids would feel after they left, Stoneham quipped ” I feel sorry for the kids for sure, but I haven’t seen their fathers much at the ballpark lately.” So off they go, both of em. Gone.. A Sad day for the state of New York turns into a fantastic day for the state of California as they now have hit the bigtime!!
Now I’m going to focus solely on my Giants cause the Dodgers have had their Championships since moving out west, they’ve had their day. But that’s all in the past…. ISN’T IT GIANTS FANS!!!
The Giants get a parade down Market street just for living, they play their first two seasons in beautiful old Cozy Seals Stadium while the disaster that became Candlestick Park is built. You had to be a real fan to romp out to Candlestick and see our beloved Giants play. Cold, wind a terrible place to play, watch, umpire or visit a baseball game. But I grew up there. One of my first baseball memories was me begging my Dad to take me to see the New York Mets doubleheader @ Candlestick in 1965, I had started listening to the Giants games in my room on KSFO, and the voice of Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons would blare out of my room as the Giants came in 2nd place year after year after year. So, off to the game we go, only to be turned back in the parking lot of the stadium because the thing was sold out!!! I was devastated!!! I’m sure I pouted for days, and eventually got to go to my first Giants game, and the love affair was on.
When the Kansas City A’s moved to Oakland in 1968 it was harder for my Dad to justify driving to Candlestick and freeze our butts off, so he took me to see the A’s and then they started winning, and the Bay Area’s love affair with the Giants cooled off a bit. I went to High School, my parents divorced, I joined the Navy, and lost track of my Giants for a while. They were sold a few times, were going to move first to Toronto, then to Tampa Bay. Thank God they stayed, thank god the wait is almost over, because they’re NOT going to blow this one. Tonight, the Freak goes for all the marbles folks, tonight a 26-year-old, two-time Cy Young award winner with the GUTS of a burglar goes for the grand tamale… It won’t be easy, as a great one, Cliff Lee goes for Texas who is fighting for their proverbial lives. There is no tomorrow for the Rangers, this is a MUST win. How will they stand up to the pressure?? Tune in at 5:00 pm on Fox to find out.
This Giants fan would love to see them win it right here, and I’d be one of the happiest I’ve ever been as a baseball fan. I was out-of-town on business last week for the first two games of the series. I have purchased tickets for my wife and I to go to see game 6 at AT&T park IF there is a game 6. I’ll NEVER root against the Giants, but really I’m in a no lose situation here. How cool would it be to go to my first WS game ever? How cool would it be to be in the stands and see them win game 6 and celebrate at home??? I don’t have to tell you.
This one is for Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Jim Ray Hart, Tito Fuentes, Hal Lanier, Kenny Henderson, Bobby Bonds, Barry Bonds, Will Clark, Johnny LeMaster, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Mike McCormick, Bobby Bolin, Ron Herbal, Ray Sadecki… ( you remember him?) Orlando Cepeda, Darrell Evans, all of em…… all of US..
So here we are Giants fans, after 56, FIFTY SIX!!! years of waiting till next year….. It’s next year Giant’s fans.. It’s next year…..( insert huge smile here )
My brother worked for KTVU for many years, so here’s a tribute video of their season :
So, the season is winding down. And as I said in previous posts, I’ve just fallen in love with my Giants again. It happened last season really as I spent a lot of time in the City and just got bit by the bug. Last year the Giants were in it until the last week. They had a similar bullet proof pitching staff, but last year the bats were more like Superman on kryptonite. Without Pablo Sandoval last year they would have been eliminated early on. His huge sophomore season, his ” Kung Fu Panda ” schtick created the excitement and kept this team going throughout the season.
I’m really starting to appreciate Bruce Bochy as their manager. When ” Boche” was hired away from San Diego, I didn’t see it. He’s always been a players manager but I wasn’t sold that he was the right guy . He was hired to replace a Giants legend in Felipe Alou and is only the 4th Giants Manager in the last 24 years. Roger Craig held the post for 7 years, Dusty Baker for 9, Felipe for 4, and Boche has been at the helm for 4 years now. His first year was NOT good, the Giants finished 5th in the west losing 91 games that year, but give the front office the credit to stick with him through two 90 loss seasons and rebuild the talent so he had something to work with. I really like the way he handles this team, he’s pushed all the right buttons and has gotten the best out of his players, who love playing for him. The real turn around started with the draft day GIFT courtesy of the Seattle Mariners.
Tim Lincecum, the two time Cy Young award winner is heading for his 3rd straight season of 200+ strikeouts and has the personality to match, if not the size and stature. Which by the way is the reason Seattle decided to select Brandon Morrow in front of him, one of a thousand reasons the Seattle ballclub continues to struggle year after year. Bad decisions in the front office, and on the field. The Seattle fans deserve a much better product than given to them the past decade, yet they continue to draw well at Safeco Field. Go figure. Seattle gave up on Morrow sending him to Toronto for Brandon League, who has a good arm, but all they have to show for one of the worst decision in baseball history is a middle reliever whose claim to fame is he’s got the most tattoos in the league.
But obviously the Giants have more than just Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito are in this fans opinion the best 1 – 4 rotation in all of baseball. And that rotation and the bullpen is what carried them last year. Sanchez’ July 12th, no-hitter with his father in the stands to see him pitch for the first time gives chills to all Giant fans, including me. See video at the end of the story.
It was one of those moments in franchise history that will be always remembered. A very special accomplishment for a young man who is the 3rd starter on a great staff.
So in the off-season realizing that he needed to add some lumber to this team, Giants GM Brian Sabien signed Aubrey Huff on Jan 13, 2010 to a one year deal. At the time, I wasn’t too impressed with this signing, because it was obvious that Huff was expected to join Sandoval as the only two real power hitters in this lineup, and I hoped Sabean wasn’t done. The same month he re-signed Brian Wilson, a self-proclaimed ” mental assassin” to a one year deal. Check out this guys interview with Jim Rome and you’ll know why he’s such a good closer http://www.sportsfilter.com/news/15335/giants-closer-suffers-too-much-awesome, ya gotta luv this guy… a total headcase, fearless, self effacing.. PERFECT mentality to close games, and he’s done just that this year 47 times to be exact. Then the GM continued to sign and deal his way to a contender. Heres transaction list this year, and you can see how good management has turned this team from a weak hitting, good pitching team to a Good hitting Great pitching team http://espn.go.com/mlb/team/transactions/_/name/sf/san-francisco-giants.
That deal to sign Huff has had incredible results, he’s leading the team in Batting Average: .291, Home runs: 26, RBI’s: 85, On base %: .382, and Hits: 162. Not bad for a one year deal @ 3 million bucks. He very well could receive the comeback player of the year award in the National League, he’s played 1st, OF, and 3rd base for the Giants this year. Another move that Sabien made was addition by subtraction, he traded very popular Catcher Bengie Molina to Texas in early July picking up reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later, but that wasn’t the real deal. The real deal was to move Molina out of Buster Posey’s way and allow this talented young catcher the opportunity to put his skills to work each and every day for SF. And you have to be living in a box not to know what this rookie of the year candidate has done this season. He’ having one of the best seasons from a rookie catcher since Cincinnati called up a young man named Johnny Bench. He’s hit, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, anywhere he’s been put, he hits, and his ability to call a great game from behind the plate only makes the Giants pitching staff better… if THATS possible. Also added to the offensive mix this season was Pat Burrell, who added mucho power and OBP to a team that needed it, Burrell mind you was sent packing by Tampa Bay where he just couldn’t hit, a great example of a guy who needed a change and got it and is now producing. Same goes for Jose Guillen, a hitter traded for to improve the teams chances during the pennant run, and his most notable hit was a grand slam homer propelling the Giants to yet another win during this magical season of 2010. And adding yet more OF depth was the waiver signing of Cody Ross, left unprotected by Florida. He’s been great insurance, bringing his great glove with him . And before I close this and we all watch the Giants on MLB Channel this Friday take on the Padres, let’s discuss one of my favorite players in the league right now. Andres Torres…. stand up!!
A much traveled utility player until this season, he’s always been quick, always been a switch hitter with pretty good pop vs. Lefthanders. But not until this season has this guy been able to hit righties, and his improved numbers have saved the Giants as well this season, he’s been moved to the leadoff spot and played a great CF, taking over for Aaron Rowand whose numbers have decreased for the past few years. His 15 Hrs, 43 doubles ( league lead) 24 SB’s and .343 OBP have set the table for this team now 3 wins from heading into the post season. Watching them come together has been one of the reasons this long time baseball fan and historian is calling the 2010 baseball season one of his best ever. I’d also like to give credit to the MLB channel for their fantastic broadcasting that is baseball 24 hours of the day, heaven for me. They are the best in baseball coverage, finally I don’t have to wait for ESPN, or other news to finally get to the baseball scores. I have them anytime I want them.
Here’s every out of Jonathan Sanchez’ no-hitter last year, worth the 3 minute watch.
Senseishaw's Blog 