For the last several years, I’ve taken my kids on a bit of a baseball vacation. We head out to San Francisco, CA from our dwellings in the South Bay and take in a few games in a row. Ever since the Giants won the World Series in 2010, that trip has doubled in price because of secondary market ticket costs. Our little fun Giants vacation is now a very expensive 3-day vacation. In addition to spending three days at […]
Sweet Chin Muzak
Sweet Chin Muzak – Popblerd’s All-Star Starters
Once upon a time I cared about the All-Star game. Somewhere in a garbage dumpster in heaven, my old VHS tapes of All-Star games from 1985-1993 are gathering dust. It was the one time that you could see all the stars of the game, hence the All-Star game. In 1984, I was there in person at the old wind-bowl known as Candlestick Park to see guys I read about or whose baseball cards I collected. Back then, you rarely saw […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Matt Cain’s Perfecto
The reflection of perfection, the number one selection In the last four years, San Francisco Giants fans have witnessed a no-hitter, a World Series, and now, a perfect game. There has not been a better time to be a Giants fan than the last four years. It was hard for me to write that statement considering all the players who have worn the orange and black, from Willie Mays to Barry Bonds to Will Clark to Will McCovey and Juan […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – SF Giants Heat Check (Bochified Edition)
When your favorite team does despicable things, sometimes it’s easier to be disgusted by them than it is to be happy when they play well. That’s the conundrum I’ve found myself in with the San Francisco Giants. I’m bothered more when they do poorly than I am joyful when they do well. I call it the expectation factor. Before 2010, my hope was that they’d play competitively, maybe make it to the playoffs, and who knows what would happen. But […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Tim Lincecum’s Fastball VeLOSSity
What would Nolan Ryan have been without his fastball? Roger Clemens seemed to cheat to keep his. Doc Gooden wasn’t the same when he lost his. When you’re a power pitcher, everything you ever learned about how to pitch is based off your fastball. You set up your other pitches with it. Ryan could strike guys out with his huge curveball because they had to look fastball or else get blown away. When Clemens’ control was on, no one could […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – SF Giants Heat Check (Opening Day Edition)
Yesterday, I wrote some predictions about the 2012 baseball season . Today, I post the second edition of the SF Giants Heat Check, which is my attempt to discuss my favorite team in depth alongside some of the smartest Giants fans I know. The first edition of the Heat Check was posted last month . Here’s part two: (These questions were sent out before the season started and the Giants currently sit at 1-3 to start the season.) 1. The 25-man roster is now set. The Giants chose to keep […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – 5 Predictions For The 2012 Season
I don’t like the new Opening Day. I liked it much more when Opening Day started on Monday and half the teams would play and then on Tuesday, the other half of the teams would play. This season, the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners “opened” the season in Japan over a week ago and then came back to play more exhibition games. How odd is that? The St. Louis Cardinals and newly named Miami Marlins “opened” the season yet again […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – SF Giants Heat Check (Spring Training Edition)
I enjoy writing about baseball. I love writing national stories, like the one I wrote about that fraud Ryan Braun . And I’ll write many of them during the season. But I also love writing about my hometown team. I’ve been following the San Francisco Giants closely since 1983. Every month or so, I’m going to make sure to write about the Giants here, but it’s not just going to be me. I’m going to feature some of the smartest Giants fans I know. […]
Sweet Chin Muzak: Ryan Braun Wins On Technicality
Ryan Braun’s steroid suspension was overturned on Thursday after arbitrator Shyam Das ruled for the Milwaukee Brewers’ slugger in his appeal on his positive test for performance enhancing drugs. Braun’s sample from October 1, 2011 turned up positive for synthetic testosterone, but because the sample wasn’t delivered to the lab on the same day it was taken, the drug testing process was called into question. Braun called the process “fatally flawed” and was quoted as saying, “I don’t honestly know […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – The Prince Of Motown And Big Time Timmy Jim
Prince Fielder heads to Motown…and more baseball news in this week’s Sweet Chin Muzak column.
Sweet Chin Muzak – Albert Is Going To Disneyland
Albert Pujols, you and the St. Louis Cardinals just shocked the baseball world and beat the Texas Rangers in the World Series. You weren’t favored to do so. You weren’t even favored to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Your city, one of the premier baseball cities in America, has been on a high ever since, hoping that high they feel is what you’re feeling. They really thought they knew you and what was important to you. […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Baseball Podcast
Rather than try to be eloquent in my sorrow (the Giants won’t get to defend their World Series title), I decided to take this show on the road. Actually, I decided to take it to the air. After the St. Louis Cardinals officially caught and surpassed the Atlanta Braves to win the NL Wild Card on Wednesday night, I thought it would be a good time to chat with Daniel Shoptaw, writer and editor of the Cardinals blog C70 At The Bat . We […]
