Christian Koss hit an apparent game-winning home run leading off the bottom of the 8'th inning only to have it ruled a foul ball on instant replay. That allowed the Dodgers to break through for 4 runs in the top of the 10'th inning to complete a sweep of the final series of the season. Key Lines:
Maybe it's fitting to say Nothing To See Here. The Giants lineup managed just 5 singles and a walk while the pitching side was a bullpen game with Braxton Roxby's 1.2 innings the longest stint.
So the Giants awful, very bad, no good 2026 season comes to an end. This is an organization in need of a lot of soul searching. It should be an interesting offseason, likely complicated by a lockout starting in December.
As I have shared, the past year was extremely difficult for me on a personal level. Despite the Giants discouraging performance this season, the almost daily games and subsequent blog posts and banter in the comments gave me something to look forward to each day and provided structure to my life. Days with no game could get long and quiet. I will continue to find things to write about through the offseason and fill the gap with other interests and hobbies and a great circle of supportive friends and family but the end of the season brings another void to fill until it all starts again in the spring. I love everybody who reads and comments.....well, ALMOST everybody! You all help me keep going.
You give us so much, yours is the best, the first read of the day, You be the "Source"!
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great season of writing and sharing!
ReplyDeleteyou are greatly appreciated, Doc...I am an east coast Gs fan (inherited from my dad, a fan of the NY Ds) who suffered thru the 60's heartbreak which made the 2010, 12, 14 seasons so much fun (at least at the end...'10 and '14 , even '12 had some tough stretches)
ReplyDeleteDoc
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your insight and hard work in maintaining such a comprehensive blog. The one silver lining going forward is Doval’s performance this weekend and Bo Davidson’s at bats. He certainly looks like a player.
Ed
I appreciate all you do DOC and I Still read every day, ..but stopped posting (and there was much rejoicing!) because I just wanted to keep my negative vibes away from the masses in what already was a painful year! ..I think there is a rosey future down the line for the Giants but Posey has a colossal undertaking this off-season....should be, um, interesting!
ReplyDeleteHas the AFL started yet this year?
SteveVA
It's hard, with the mammoth requirements of normal life, to have your organization floundering and rutterless, it can feel pretty pessimistic inside. I feel ya SteveVA. Sometimes ya gotta chill until the situation resolves a bit..
DeleteCheers y'all.
SF Fan in MI
Well SteveVA, there were certainly plenty of negative vibes to go around and in the end your's were not at all unfounded. Just a total dumpster fire of a season and on almost every level. As I said in the post, this organization has some major soul searching to do. I don't think it's out of the question we will see an earth-shaking announcement as early as today or tomorrow and it will be almost disappointing if there isn't. If I'm Greg Johnson and Larry Baer, I have some very tough questions for Buster Posey and Tony Vitello and if there are not clear answers about what they see moving forward it's time to once again clean house. If you ask me what direction they should go in the aftermath I would say, get seasoned MLB level baseball people in both the POBO and field manager chairs and give them at least a 3 year rebuilding window and finally admit that it has to be a rebuild.
DeleteI agree with you 100% on this Doc, but my simple, easy answer if I'm Buster or Tony V. is, "We literally set records this season for injuries."
DeletePulling the plug on Buster and Tony V. at this point would mean those two completely screwed the pooch on a very clear, compelling explanation.
But, I think the problems are deeper than Buster and Tony V. though. Pride Night response was a problem. Even if management completely supports the players and thinks this all stupid (I certainly don't), there was a competent way to respond. They failed miserably.
If they can't handle PR...what hope does the team have.
This season was long down the toilet before the injuries set in. And what's up with 4 young pitchers getting TJ in short succession? Was that just a run of bad luck?
Delete"You mention injuries. I want to be clear, we were already in a bad spot before the injuries happened. I don't think we can sit up here and any of us say that injuries were the key reason why we were not successful this year." Buster Posey.
DeleteKrukow thinks the rash of injuries across the big leagues is because of the use of the sweeper.
DeleteThat could be. I think it's also clear there is a direct correlation between velocity and arm injuries. When I first started attending minor league games about 20 years ago, it was relatively rare to see a pitcher break 90 MPH. Now, they all roll out of bed throwing at least 93 and I would say the mean/median is 95.
DeleteHi Doc. Since 2010 when I somehow stumbled onto your blog, I've been a devoted reader. I love your contents and insights. Please keep it up. Couldn't thank you enough.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another season of posts!
ReplyDeleteDoc, appreciate your great work and insights on your blog this season. Your blog posts gave me and other fans something to look forward to. Thank you! Enjoy the off season. I'll try to make my comments sensible, not too positve or negative. Hope Buster spends most of his off season capital improving the pitching staff, please.
ReplyDeleteLG, your posts are a must read also
DeleteSecond Anon on that, LG. Thanks for being a regular reader and commenter.
DeleteDoc, you are a treasure of the Giants community. Know you have a devoted set of readers that respect your voice, even when we disagree! Eager for the offseason to get rolling and for 2027 to start already.
ReplyDelete- Fan
Hey Doc.
ReplyDeleteBeing from the UK we rarely get chance to see live games on TV let alone go to a game. I used to check into MLB first thing in a morning to see if we had won.
Now I don’t bother, I just come straight here for the review. Despite your difficult year, you have entertained us whether that be 50 miles or 5000 miles away so a huge thank you.
Stay busy and keep smiling. Roll on March for Spring Training. All the best. Matt
Hey Doc, been reading your posts since Ainsworth, Williams, Foppert. Hard to believe its closing in on 30 years. Hell I dont even enjoy the MLB games any more. I think the refusal of players to allow an NFL/NBA style salary cap and the greed of the billionaire owners who need to recoup the cost of buying a team have destroyed MLB.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is something just very appealing to reading your take on the youngsters making their way through the system. I look forwards to seeing what you have to say. Thank you!
Thank you again for soldiering on through this most difficult year. With baseball, though, there’s always hope.
ReplyDeleteThanks for helping us get through the most difficult Giants season I can recall in 50+ years of being a fan.
ReplyDeletewho knew that this would be my go-to site for 411 about the Giants. love it so much. i will enjoy it as long as you enjoy it and continue posting. humble thanks, Doc. -es
ReplyDeleteHello Doc,
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a tough year for us - few more than you.
I just want to say it was comforting to read your thoughts about games, players, and other members of the Giants family.
It is not easy to do what you do, and you make it look easy.
I appreciate it.
-kar120c
I’ve been reading every post for what must be close to a decade now. You are GREAT at what you do and thank for you sharing your talents with us.
ReplyDeleteThe architecture of MLB is such that the Dodgers have been able to skim the cream of the free agent crop year after dispiriting year. They've also managed to accumulate organizational depth, which remains a feather in the hats of their scouting and development sides, although that may have begun to swing in the Giants' favor. The jury remains obviously out on whether Posey knows anything about roster-building beyond over-estimating and overpaying players past their prime. For a catcher who was deservedly credited for handling the pitchers he caught, he has shown little insight into assembling even a semi-reliable and consistent staff. Needless to say, neither Posey nor Vitello have proven that they're up to snuff.
ReplyDeleteAdmire your forbearance and steadfastness.
Thanks Doc, I am grateful for all of your work, nit just posting about the Giants games, but also covering the minor league teams. Hopefully, the silver lining of this year will be some of the players who got called up will continue to develop and bring the Giants back. Take care and enjoy the off-season. Derald Cook
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dr. B. You helped make this really, really bad season a lot more bearable.
ReplyDeleteI would say there was a little to see in this game in the form of TV getting tossed in the 3d and the way to crew chief umpire walked all the way across the diamond to try and intimidate TV by getting in his personal space. The umpire initiated the contact and should be fined. TV appeared to see it coming and did not back down from the initial contact. To top it off, TV was right about the ump missing the call. All that and it was Krukow’s last day. I’m going to miss that guy.
ReplyDeleteDoc, thanks again for all the effort and level-headed analysis you put into the blog and the discussions you facilitate. The minor league focus was never more important than this year with virtually all the AAA prospects and others (Cox and Davidson, et al) making their way to the show.
It will be interesting to see how everyone shows up next year…whenever that is.
Doc, do you think there's a chance that 2026, the Giants' 2nd worst record this century, will go the way of the worst, the 2017 Giants who had one more loss but actually finished rather strong, going 7-5 to end the season, or will they rebound with an influx of new players and better seasons by their veterans?
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to be excited by 23-yo Bo Davidson's 22 PAs and hopefully a full season of Eldridge and Schmitt, but the pitching won't be any better unless Buster spends a lot of money WITH SUCCESS.
There's a possibility that Drew Gilbert will develop and Jonah Cox is interesting, but who else might step forward? Can we even hope for a rebound by Chapman and Adames?
Five players will be paid over $22,000,000 each next year, totally more than $135,000,000, which is far more than half the Giants' expected payroll in total. Can Buster afford to add more Big Tickets?
2018 was a 9-win improvement over 2017 but still well under .500 and far out of contention.
As the saying goes, Hope springs eternal, but why will 2027 be even that much better than 2026?
Those are some very tough questions we will get into. I am pretty sure there are a lot of fans who are having a hard time feeling any excitement about either Chapman or Adames coming back. Rafael Devers finally convinced me he may at least have 2-3 good years left in him. Jung Hoo Lee looked like he finally found traction then completely collapsed in the last 4-6 weeks.
DeleteI am optimistic that Chapman will have a medium bounce back season but still will be a low average hitter. I feel less optimistic about Adames. JHL had a second half batting average of .236 and I'm hopeful they can offload the salaries of JHL and Adames somehow.
DeleteFrom the post-mortem press conference today, they are not going into the off-season with blinders on and they know what is going on. They are not using injuries as an excuse because all teams have had them.
DeleteI think mission number one of the off-season should be to move Chapman, even if it's for very little return. There is very little or no drop off putting Casey Schmidt in that spot. Chapman still had a 2.7 WAR season in only 84 games. With 3/75 left on his contract, he is movable.
DeleteIf Chapman and Adames come back, it might affect the way Vitello manages the team. He seemed to be hesitant to sit those two even if they were harming the team on the field.
DeleteDespite the long last half of the season, the video montages for Kruk and Kuip were very stirring. If only we could inject positivity into the game that we love watching like Mike Krukow, the world would be a better place. Let's hope that after the smoke clears in 2027 we're able to cheer again for the team that makes this site fun to read every day. Thanks drB for making this site another place to read about the ins and outs of the Giants.
ReplyDeleteThanks docgroo. Maybe I'm speaking out of turn here but doc and I have been colleagues, friends and fellow Giants fans for many years. He goes to Cal League games with me and texts back and forth while watching games on TV. He's been one of my very faithful friends who helped me get through this Annus Horribilus year.
DeleteWe don't always agree...but I think that makes the board and discussions better. When I sit down in front of my computer with my coffee first thing in the morning. I open up two websites.....my favorite news and yours. I do appreciate the time, effort and coverage you provide that is hard to get elsewhere(the minors results/updates are awesome). The fact you get to see many of the players in person while they are in the lower reaches of the minors also provides insight we could not get anywhere else. As a P.S. I heard the end of season press conference featuring Buster and Vitello.....was not impressed. I guess it is not fair to judge Vitello on only one season of work....but he has to be more prepared next year. He was out managed in many games this year. He has to be better. Buster also HAS to give him some weapons too.....BULLPEN followed by the rotation have to be addressed in a strong manner.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anon. I agree re. Both Vitello and Buster.
DeleteUsually at these kinds of post-mortem press conferences, they usually speak in a lot of generalizations and I was not very impressed, also. Buster did say that while they got to see a lot of young players at the end of the season, they are not ignoring the fact that they did not play very well and if you extrapolate the post-deadline w-l record over a full season, it would have been 104 losses. Radio guys on KNBR and 95.7 were going on some serious rants before and after the press conference and its safe to say the honeymoon period is over.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great year of Giants write-ups, Dr B and all those that comment. Yeah, it was certainly a dumpster fire of a season in more ways than one, but it was still Giants Baseball. I know it’s been a tough year for you and I hope you found a break working on this blog. My 19 y.o. son was recently diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma on the spine and being able to even just get 5-10 minutes away from it all each day has been very helpful. Thank-you...
ReplyDeleteBeen a follower since the message board days and have enjoyed every post. If you’re willing and able, you got a lot of followers and for some of us, it’s more than baseball. I gave up on subscribing to MLB TV for the first time since they made it available and instead, went old school like grandpa and just listened to the games (via KNBR app) and turned to your blog to ‘check the box scores.’ Thanks for helping to remind us, you can ‘watch’ the whole game by reading a bunch of stats... And despite the funny looks from others you can get from mentioning that, it’s a good time!
Rob in Vancouver
I am so sorry to hear about your son's medical condition. I was just reading about how there is a cluster of cases of Ewing's Sarcoma in young people in the Ladera Ranch development in southern Orange County and the frustration residents there feel about a perceived lack of concern on the part of public health authorities. Sending out prayers and positive thoughts to you and your son.
DeleteDoc, I’m a lifetime Giants fan living in Sydney Australia. Apart from watching the games on mlb.com, I have two sources information about the team - the Athletic and you. You are very appreciated on the other side of the world and many others geographically closer to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks Doc!
ReplyDeleteOthers have already said what and how an important source of lovingly unbiased reporting you provide to all of us.
I understand well how much of a personal journey you went through.
I to had some challenging personal issues.
Reading your Blog was number after checking the local weather!
Lets hope the baseball brains in the organization come together for a plan forward.
Again Doc! Thanks > you are a scholar and a real fine person.
May 2027 be a great year for all of us on your Blog.
Richard In Winnipeg
Perhaps an interesting tidbit to SF fans, 2 forever Giants, well, maybe just 1 + ⅓, are Starting Pitchers today in Games 2 of the MLB Wild Card Series, Kevin Gausman & Tyler Mahle.
ReplyDeleteGausman is certainly memorable and he's helping his 5th team in the Post Season, once in the WS where he almost got the prize against our enemy.
There are other ex-Giants all over the wild card round. Atlanta: Yaz, Dom Smith, and Luke Williams. SD: Robbie Ray. Boston: Erik Miller, Yankees: Heliot. CWS: Hicks. Cubs: Boyd and Conforto. Surprisingly, out of all of these, Hicks was the one who had a better year than expected.
DeleteFor many years, this blog, and before that the Giants fan site, has been my first stop each morning after grabbing coffee - like a little routine - always grateful to you for your insights, your positive outlook, your candor, and your ability to tell the story in just the right way - your perspective is appreciated as is your time and willingness to share it with us. This was a hard season, in game and in life, on a personal note, I feel for you and want you to know you have been there for me when I needed it - even if you didn’t know it, and even though we’ve never met - but like I said - routine and sometimes that’s all you need to keep it together - so I’m here to support you and thank you for your dedication to this community - anyway, this is my first time reaching out,- I just want to let you know I’m grateful for the community you’ve built and for being able to be a small part of it.. Be easy, stay well, and keep doing what you love for as long as you can do it, or as long as you still love it - I am grateful to you for all you do and really thought was about time I let you know - have a great offseason - my hope is Buster and team have a great one too!. Jason
ReplyDeleteOne thing I appreciate about Dr B is that he never advocates for the Giants to go on a spending spree and that the money allotted by the CBT should be enough. The local media has been harping on the fact that the Giants now have the largest single team market in the country but are still 12th or 13th in payroll, even with revenue streams coming from Mission Rock. Media has been ignoring that a lot of the money is going to upkeep on the 26 year old ballpark and not mentioning the penalties for going over the CBT limits which helped the team get to this position in the first place. Even though the Dodgers are always pointed out as the big spenders, the Mets and Blue Jays were also big spenders and their seasons did not go well at all. The fixes are not as simple as opening up the checkbook to buy bullpen arms and they have to be careful not to spend like the Mets and Jays otherwise they will get caught up in the never-ending cycle of losing draft picks and international bonus pool money (not the best idea for a team that wants to have a sustainable minor league system).
ReplyDeleteWelp, even I acknowledge they must spend some $$ on a Closer and they probably need to add at least 2 above-average veteran SP's this offseason.
DeleteEveryone in our house are big fans of your blog, and as a family, we all want to thank you for all of your baseball wisdom over the years. Here's hoping we''ll all find good health and cheer to meet here again for another Giants season, their 69th in San Francisco.
ReplyDelete