Telling It Like It Is:
ANNUAL 'NON-PC' REVIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
and AT&T ( 'PC' )PARK
Once a year, we make a visit to AT&T Park to see a Giants game just as we do to see the Oakland A's at the Oakland Coliseum (officially known as O.co Park). The reason we only go once a year is because we're not big baseball fans anymore for reasons we've expounded upon in these pages, but we like to go to one game a year to make note of any changes at the ballpark - and we do follow the teams on TV and in the media to some extent. We have lost a lot of interest in baseball in recent years as we feel baseball has changed and we offer some of those reasons in our annual review, below.
It begins with,
1) GETTING A 'FAIR'-PRICED TICKET (AT AT&T)NOT SO EASY
It used to be -until this year - one could simply walk up to any number of ticket windows at AT&T and buy a ticket. Now, you walk up to a 'funnel', as we just found out - a funnel, like at a bank, in which you must wait your turn to get up to one of those windows to buy a ticket. This has become a more involved process now. It used to be if one didn't like the price of a ticket -the Giants use 'dynamic' pricing which means the prices can change from minute to minute. Last year we went to three different windows within five minutes and got three differrent 'offers' starting with $80 and ending with $30 for essentially the same seat location. This year we would have to go back in the funnel if we didn't like the price at the first window; this process could take a long time if we had to go back three times;obviously, with the 'funnel' approach, most people will pay the higher price rather than have to go back and wait in line again and again until they get the price they like. There happened to be a guy quietly scalping tickets for $15 so we were able to avoid the Giants' devious new methodology. But most people, especially tourists, don't; many first timers don't even know about 'dynnamic pricing' - perhaps one of the most devious practises in itself. Why not just charge one fair, moderate price for each seat range as done in the past. Must we be so greedy. This certainly isn't helping the fan , though the Giants will say it affords people lower priced seats for less popular games/ teams. No, we say, it charges people more money for the more popular games/teams. 1st NON-PC Complaint Done
2) 'MOST BEAUTIFUL STADIUM?'
Yes, ATT is an improvement, for sure, over Candlestick if you don't like viewing games in a generally cold, windswept venue (not to say ATT doesn't have it's cold nights, like the first one I ever went to there where I couldn't wait to leave). If you like bright lights, then ATT is also for you; I hate to think about the electrcity bill - and that scoreboard; As Dodgers announcer Rick Monday, kept commenting, this was 'theater' baseball; he likes it and most do - funny how everyone that comes to ATT seems to take on the "PC' climate - even the opponents - though the Giants announcers will NOT always or often say good things about the other teams, home or away.
Back to the so-called beauty of the park. So, the lights are bright so you can see the green grass better but you CAN'T SEE the water and Bay Bridge backdrop everyone talks about unless you're at a day game, which only happens 2-3 times a week; night games don't appear a whole lot different than at other parks - and some of the seats are pretty far away- and with the all the 'sellouts' one can't move down to better seats like, say, at the Oakland Coliseum. So, right off the bat, we don't buy into all the 'PC.'
3) WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SF 'MELTING POT'-NOBODY OVER 30! WHERE HAVES ALL THE FLOWERS, er, CHARACTER(S) GONE?
The next thing that we readily noticed were the fans. Everyone looked the same - all in their 20s and mostly caucasian. It was, like last year, a bit of shock to see what seemed about 90% of crowd 'millenials' with no sense of history. We didn't even see any African Americans in a city with a large African American population; the Giants, until recently, also had no African Americans on the team.They have special 'ethnic nites' to be politically correct and all; I wonder how many would even show up at ,say, African American night as we sure didn't see any, except folks working at AT&T.
Nothing wrong with millennials - especially if you like cell phones and selfies- but , like last year, we missed all the characters of various ages and colors with colorful nicknames who used to share old stories about early Giants days, both in San Francisco and New York , while making colorful 'catcalls' from the stands. Remembering old 'Sharky' who sold 'Zamner's (San Francisco Examiner newpapers). or Gus, the friendly, regular beer vendor or Pete, the Peanut thrower.
No hide nor hair of such characters today. Of course, everyone knew Crazy George at the Coliseum, not to mention the split-personalitied banjo player who showed up for both A's and Giants games, or the 'Swingers'band that paraded through the park playing Dixieland music, thanks to Charlie Finely. I don't even think they still have vendors at AT&T. Another thing missing this night - that old 'sing-song'cadence ('Beah Heah!' 'Get Yer Red Hots')
4) SELLOUTS? Who's (Not) Counting?
As last year, we were surprised to see all the empty seats. Well , at least they moved them from the corners to all over the stadium. As we're told- and most everyone accepts- every game at AT&T is a sellout. We were not shocked but still surprised to see the stadium at least one-third empty - for a Dodgers game no less (September 30, 2015).
Even the Dodgers announcers, who tend to go along with inside-baseball's 'PC' crowd trumpeting the long streak of Giants 'sellouts', were even, albeit politely, questioning the definition of a 'sellout' after noting all the empty seats; they ended up concluding that a sellout has nothing to do with the number of butts in seats. But then, why isn't the sellout 'number' the same every game. They noted how there were 750 fewer seats counted this night than the night before.
The bottom line, we've finally concluded, is that a team can call any game a sellout by reporting that all the tickets were accounted for, either through sales, discounted seats or giveaways. Can't imagine giving away 10,000 plus seats that nobody filled,or, 10,000 paid seats that nobody showed up to fill - or a combination of both. Perhaps San Francisco has a wealthier population than we thought and/or the Giants are extra generous,despite their 'dynamic pricing' gimmick.
5) HOW QUICKLY FORGET - Candlestick vs AT&T
Even the names of the Parks spoke says a lot the pastoral 'Candlestick' vs. the corporate 'AT&T' monikers. It's trendy now to condemn Candlestick Park, where the Giants (and Forty-Niners) played (Giants until 2000) - including the Dodgers announcers, who are obviously used to the warm climes of Los Angeles and hated those cold Candlestick] nights. It's PC today to knock Candlestick, just as they're carrying away the last remaining carcasses of an old friend (to some of us, anyway).
But when you think about it, Candlestick was real baseball. Nobody ever complained about the cold when the Giants were winning in the 1960s with Mays, McCovey and company. Even when they weren't winning, they team and fans learned to turn the cold weather into a PLUS. Remember the Croix De Candlestick buttons everyone wore. The cold nights game the Giants an edge up on the other teams that hated to come to Candlestick. But, it wasn't that bad. You dressed warmly and brought a thermos of coffee (when they'd still let you bring picnics to the game).
AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTIME ( PAST TIME)
There was no questioning baseball as anything but America's Favorite Pastime, which it WAS then (Football has since become more popular - we wonder why. Ha) Replays would have never been considered then. Umpires played a bigger and more colorful role back then. It was hardy weather. Yes. People smoked then. Yes. (I used to enjoy the smell of a stale old cigar being puffed on by a longshoreman in the box below; funny how nobody used to complain about the smell of smoking then - even though it was killing people.
All the things that WERE NOT PC made for a colorful experience and allowed us to overlook or even sometimes appreciate the cold nights. We knew that the coldest nights meant true fans showing up at Candlestick. And, again, fans of all ages and colors.We remember when everyone could afford tickets, which were, at one time $3,$2 and $1 for a bleacher seat - well within most people's price range.
In this PC world that supposedly caters to people of all colors and ages - especially in liberal San Francisco- we miss the older fans, the old characters -the Real Feel and Smells of Baseball. If the fans are knowledgeable today, it's largely due to sabermetrics and technologoy in their very hands. Back in the day, fans kept score with pen and paper on a free score card when you bought an 'Examiner' and were into the games in a more natural, without the ability to pick apart every sabermetric statistic.
Back in the day, nobody talked about pitch counts. If you were late to a game you didn't have to worry about Marichal or Perry coming out in the sixth inning due to a 'high pitch count.' And,surprise- there weren't all the injuries we see today despite the fewer innings pitched and the greater dependence on relief pitchers.
What goes hand in hand with a selfie-taking, beer and wine-drinking mellenial crowd is a lack of noise. September 30 was the quietest game we can remember going to in a long time. (We like the fact that this night there was less 'music' than last year. ) Quiet isn't bad, but missing was that old 'roar of the crowd'-even on a night on which the Giants had things to cheer about (and won the game).
OAKLAND VS SAN FRANCISCO
Little old Oakland usally comes in second to San Francisco - and not for a lack of trying, except for year like this where management has blown up the team. Yet, the Oakland fans -even this year- come out in force without all the trappings AND GET INVOLVED in a REAL ball game. In Oakland, there aren't the distractions of AT&T - nor the higher prices - and folks really get involved in the games - even for a last place team. Some nights 15,000 Oakland fans might sound louder than 40,000 ( or 30,000) San Francisco fans. No, the lights aren't as bright and the stadium may not look as pretty - especially since Mt. Davis, but the emphasis is on the ball game - and fans and A's have had their share of of exciting games over the years.
Do you know that while the Giants were winning three world series in five years, the A's actually had more total wins than the Giants? An interesting statistic. I know we're sounding like Oakland 'homers.'Then, maybe we are. And, again, it's politically incorrect to say, but unless you're into PED players the A's have had far fewer PED players than the Giants' (25) since Bonds. Of course the A's had McGwire and Conseco, which we admit was a blemish, but were among the first such players beginning when there was yet a ban on 'steroids'- it changed midway therough their careers - and McGwire and Conseco were among the first to admit to their wrongs. Call it good old blue collar, or green collar baseball, in Oakland.
There was a time Oakland fans may have been envious of the shiny new park across the bay - and Oakland city fathers should have probably gotten a new stadium off the ground by now - yet Oakland fans continue to come out in generous numbers considering the current state of the A's and lack of new stadium. BORING GAME
Frankly, the Giants-Dodgers game at AT&T this night was quite boring. Perhaps, it had something to do with, in part, to the Dodgers clinching the division title the night before, but there were no loud 'roar of the crowd' moments the entire game - even with a couple Giants homeruns, one a near-splash hit from yet another over-achieving rookie (Nick Noonan)!
People didn't really seem into the game. WE realize this was just one game but it was quieter than any game we remember at the Coliseum. TO EACH HIS OWN
We suppose if you like the newer, trendy scene then AT&T park is for you, which may explain part the allure to millenials and Coliseum for the more 'old-school' baseball fans. For those who have been to both parks, think about it. And, when the Coliseum is filled it really makes a marked difference over AT&T. Oakland is more 'REAL' baseball. There aren't all the different foods and distractions. And, the ticket prices are about half that of the Giants -people's prices. We often have wondered how do the millenials afford going to Giants games where the cheapest seat (standing room ) is $15?
6) THE PLAYERS and PEDs - Talk About Unreal
And, then, talking about REAL baseball in Oakland, and we're going to go Non-PC again, but looking at the San Francisco players, many of them have not appeared totally 'real' to go along with the other artificial aspects of the situation in San Francisco.
Too many unlikely situations on the Giants that might make the most casual baseball fan wonder how the Giants have won three World Series with the teams they've put on the field. Many say the 2015 team is better than the ones that have won the three World Series - and this one has but one bonafied starting pitcher (Bumgarner) and one bonafide .300 career average hitter, yet year after year different 'no-name'players magically appear near season end to propel the Giants into the post season, though we believe this year's major cache of injuries is saying something about such players nobody is really addressing.
Frankly, It's called PEDs - and the Giants have had six KNOWN PED-indicted players during their three world series years without whom they wouldn't have snuck into the playoffs or resulting world series in any of those years, in our opinion. and hitter (Posey). From Andres Torres and his career year in 2010 to Melky Cabrera in 2012 before he got busted giving the Giants enough momentum to Michal Morse and his great first half in 2014, the Giants were fortunate to live in a city and time when PEDs has, seemingly, gone off the radar again and this team hasn't skated into three world series victories after not winning one for 56 years before that- even with Barry Bonds.
PED History Not Going Away
It wasn't THAT long ago that not just Bonds but Aurelia, Williams, Bernard, Santiago, et al were quietly leading the Giants to the 2002 World Series and more winning season. Not until the Mitchell Report in 2007 was there concrete evidence that the Giants were helped out quite a bit by PEDs, then generally referred to as steroids. Since then, many more PED-indicted players have joined the Giants - 25 in all. However, since 2007 there's been no Mitchell Report nor any strong reason to believe that PEDs have truly been eliminated from baseball. Ask the one who knows, Victor Conte of BALCO fame, and he'll tell you nothing has changed with 'as many as 50% of players' still using PEDs. We know, for a fact, that 10% of players have been granted permission to use ADDERALL, a PED players are allowed to use for supposed 'attention deficit disorder' ala Andres Torres of the Giants in 2010. Despite Larry Baer's 2014 statement that the Giants would move away from acquiring players with PED backgrounds there's no sign that that has happened;in fact the Giants acquired three players with PED pasts since that statement, namely Michael Morse, Marlon Byrd and Everth Cabrera (assigned to minor leagues). Morse was key in propelling the Giants to a World Series in 2012 while Byrd has hit almost .300 with four homers since coming to the Giants last month. Then there were Torres in 2010 and 2012 without whom the Giants probably wouldn't have been in the World Series those years - and we'd be going on 60-plus years for the Giants without a World Series victory. Since Bonds, the Giants have appeared to develop a culture not only on the team but within the organization; Garrett Brohius told in 2012 of how he was encouraged to 'cheat' in the Giants minor league system as a struggling 27-year-old at the crossroads of his careers (he since got out of baseball). We have little reason to believe that at least some of the 'miraculous'numbers on the Giants upstarts aren't as a result of artificial means - and it's not just the young players on the team. How does weak-hitting shortstop Brandon Crawford suddenly hit 20 home runs - his most ever, by far, leading the team in his abbreviated season?
The Giants, in the land of Victor Conte and Balco, have perfected what Bonds began almost two decades ago and continue to skate by this season with not one but at least FIVE unlikely and little-known rookie players all performing above their past records and nearly putting the Giants into yet another post-season.
(wheredidyougojoedimaagio.downloadebooks.me)
There are PED-indicted players, today, on many teams, it's true, despite what MLB will try to have you believe. But San Francisco , the most liberal city, where 'anything goes' has long led the PED way since Bonds- and gets away with it.
The way the Giants have built their teams, with a focus on getting PED players that other teams were less likely to acquire, is part of the new Giants, artificial trend. Despite Larry Baer's 'promise' to steer away from PED players, he's added three in the past year-plus (Morse, Byrd,E Cabrera) since he made that statement.Before that it was guys like Melky, Guillen, Mota, Torres all the way back to Bonds, who really started it all and who the Giants have lived off of. No wonder Bonds remains a hero to them and San Frnacisco. And, don't forget those players, who may not have been indicted but fit into the framework of the type of player the Giants go after. Huff, Burrell, Scutaro, etc. - interesting how those three suddenly deteriorated the year after they got to the World Series. The Giants began the year with one career .300 players and ended up with six at one point late into the season!
7) GIANTS 'HOMERS'
The Giants have orchestrated everything along their philosophy of 'winning at all costs.' From the ball park to the announcers, everything favors Giants winning baseball games. The Giants may have good announcers but their all 'homers.' It gets old hearing the Krukow and others continually blame 'injuries' on the Giants problems this year. Those 'magical' , sudden rookies or replacements that have come up have mostly hit as well as the guys they replaced (Byrd for Pence, Tomlinson for Panik, Duffy for McGhee, Blanco for Aoki -until Blanco got injured, etc). After Jarrett Parker hit those unlikely three homeruns against the A's, Krukow called Parker 'the most feared player in baseball' - we did you not- despite having had only 25 plate appearances and an after minor league career to date.
The Giants announcers are paid by the team and they happen to be the most critical and sacrastic in baseball, whether arguing strike and ball calls that go against the Giants or criticizing the Diamondbacks leaf-blowing equipment . We've listened to all the other team announcers and the Giants are the biggest 'homers' of all whereas other team announcers tend to be , if anything 'too nice ' by contrast.
But, not all former Giants employees have been so willing to accept the 'win at all cost'/ political ways of the Giants. There was popular announcer, Hank Greenwald, who was forced out after criticizing Larry Baer.There was trainer Stan Conte who had enough of Barry Bonds, his entourage of personal trainers and band of PED Players and there was even co-owner Bill Newcomb who was pushed out by Baer and Company after trying to rid the team of the Bonds-associated baggage while being the key guy to orchestrate the first Giants World Series victory in 56 years; there were likely others NON-PC too, like pitcher Brian Wilson, for criticizing Baer once too much.
It even looks as though The Giants now LOOK to hire the 'type' of person, from announcer on down, who will 'drink'the koolaid and go along with the flow. The Giants have gotten by on marginal, often tainted, players for cheap that other teams didn't want. In San Frnacisco nobody says anything. Fans don't mind the fact they haven't had a legitmate power hitter in decades - and when Bonds was there they were more than happy with him -attitude, PEDS and all.
CHANGING SAN FRANCISCO
We've seen too much change in San Francisco over the years - from the landscape that has all but removed cars in favor of bikes on Market and beyond to the over-priced housing problem. Old San Francisco which featured the old neighborhodds like North Beach and Chinatown has taken a big hit in recent years. It's Sanctuary City status may have opened doors, pushing out the old in favor of a new, younger population that somehow is able to afford to live in San Francisco, albeit without homes and cars! The old tried and true restaurants are moving out in favor of new, trendy ones. And, AT&T Park reflects much of that change with it's focus on 'new baseball'and 'millennial fans.'
ACCESS TO GAMES - $78 Parking Ticket
It's no longer easy - and very expensive- to come to a game by car. And, public transportation is not always easy , especially for older folks, which may explain part of the reason we don't see many seniors at the Giants games.
Living in the Eastbay, we did try to come by car, and eschewing the $35 parking lot - at least that's what it was last year- we found parking on the Embaracadero a mile away. Little did we know the parking meters apparently run 24 hours - or at least through Giants games; it was dark when we parked and nothing was visably posted on the meters such as valid hours and coming from the Eeastbay there are no meters that run past 6 pm we took a chance. The $78 parking ticket we got would negate the money we thought we were saving.
With food ticket and parking ticket it was , easily, a $100 night per person at the old ball park. Contract that with Oakland, where parking is free on Tuesdays and one can spend well under $50 a person even with $15 parking there.
So, the $78 parking ticket put a capper on the night and reminded me why I only go to one game a year. Again, no wonder you don't see more seniors on fixed incomes at the games - besides difficulty getting there it ain't cheap. As for millenials if they ever want to buy a house or car, perhaps they should think of cutting back on some ATT ball games.
So, good bye to AT&T for another year or more. Good luck to the young Giants 'fans.' What will these 'every-nighters' do when the season is over? Find a life? Or, start saving up for next season maybe?
Again, we write these words that the local PC media will not. Hope sometimes appreciates our candor and honesty in a changing world where the above attitudes are not only reflected at the baseball stadium but in mainstream society - at least in San Francicsco (think Barry Bonds skating free on perjury appeal(thanks to only-in- san francisco Ninth Circuit Court), think Kate Steinle murder by 5x illegal for which the city/supervisiors have yet to regard, think Willie Brown million dollar defense and victory of child molestor),etc.
We do this blog to report what the local writers won't- the untold stories that need to be told. There was a time when we were in journalism and news reported both sides of stories fairly and weren't 'bought off'or otherwise. Maybe some of the old-schoolers will appreciate and maybe a few new ones will 'see the light.' How fans could enjoy rooting for teams where they have to guess who's on steroids or not - or don't care - is beyond us - and all the other artificial trappings that go along. In defense of the millenials, they've only known one way since this stuff's been going on 15 years at AT&T and another five years before that when Bonds joined the team. But, perhaps its time to wake up.
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MORE GIANT SHADOWS Ebook:New 'fascinating,hidden story' how SF Giants won 1st WS in 56 Yrs http://ht.ly/ucxl302gv3r
2016 GIANTS PROGNOSTICATIONS
Unless the Giants make some blockbuster deals- which is unlikely with their history- or unless they get a new crop of, yes (this is part of the white elephant nobody else talks about),PED players the Giants will be in for a tough season.
The Giants are already seeing the possible results that PEDs can do, perhaps, if Joe Panik and/or Hunter Pence don't come back to the the same level they were at before. Back injuries, especially to players at young ages, can be early career killers; it's rare to see a young player with no previous history suddenly go out for three months with a oblique/back injury. Pence suffered a combination of three injuries including a pesky oblique, which like unlikely back injuries, could be the result or indirect result of PED use catching up to him, in our opinion (based on medical findings reported elsewhere in these pages).
NO PC HERE: THE GIANTS WILL NEED EVERYONE HEALTHY PLUS NEW KIDS TO PERFORM OR A BLOCKBUSTER DEAL
It's too much of a coincidence that the Giants have had five to eight - count 'em - 'home grown' rookies or young players come up this year to suddenly hit .300 ( or close) in the majors after limited minor league success. Panik, Duffy, Tomlinson, Heston, Parker, Williamson, Brown and even Osage. It's now become a regular part of the Giants plan ( or scheme) since their first World Series year of 2010 for such unlikely players to appear out of nowhere to enhance the team's late-season drives, half the time to the post-season and World Series victories.
It's true that the Giants have done a good job of finding other possible PED users to at least temporarily replace Panik (Tomlinson) and Pence (Byrd) but that leaves the Giants without much of a bench, which was their Achilles heel, if you will, this year. How else can you explain players like Duffy and Panik with average minor league averages and few home runs to suddenly come to the big team and improve on their minor league numbers. What with the Giants' past PED history (6 PED-indicted players in the past three world series years and another this year in Byrd) and with a continuing stream of unlikely minor leaguers (Jarrett Parker, Trevor Brown and Mac Williamson) suddenly coming up to the majors and performing well late season again this year, the Giants might have once again 'magically' found themselves players that could aptly fill in the holes next year either on the bench or as regulars depending if Byrd, Aoki and others come back. Call it 'home grown' players, with the emphasis on 'grown,' the Giants have figured out how to stay below the radar using and perfecting their unnatural techniques begun during the Barry Bonds era; without any whistle blowers in San Francisco, they will likely skate free and could go all the way again for their fourth World Series win in eight years in 2016 IF Pence and Panik are able to come back at full strength or if the Giants do, finally, make that blockbuster deal, preferably for an elite pitcher like David Price or even Zimmerman.
Telling It Like It Is: INJURIES WEREN'T THE PROBLEM
The Giants didn't lose out this year because of injuries, the popular excuse given out by the team and pundits time and again. Again, the replacement players Tomlinson and Byrd filled in with comparable numbers after Panik and Pence ; even Blanco filled in for Aoki in left field with a better batting average than Aoki until Blanco, too, went down the last month and then the new, unlikely 'homegrowners' have taken up the slack in this last few weeks. But the Giants will need ALL players to come back in 2016 to give them not only starting players but a bench OR a trade or two AND the Giants will need for at least two of their current pitchers besides Bumgarner to perform, i.e. Peavy,Cain and/or Heston, though this is somewhat unlikely due to age, injuries and track record; otherwise that unlikely blockbuster deal OR they will need yet another 'home grown' 'sudden success' story starting pitcher to appear, which COULD happen . Only on the Giants. Only in San Francisco.
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