Welcome to Czar’s blog #2 of 2019.
For those new to the Czar’s Blog we started sharing our Giants tickets with our friends in 2000 when the new park was built (and we moved from our two tickets at Candlestick to four at PacBell Park – now Oracle). The Czars Blog started soon after to report on the teams progress throughout the year and distribute our tickets. We have lived the ups and downs that included four world series, three trophies and one crushing Game six in 2002. We saw Barry Bonds hit 762, Travis Ishikawa hit a walk-off to get to the WS, Matt Cain pitch a perfect game, Lincecum throw a no-hitter and Bum walk out of the bullpen for a five inning Game 7 save. It has been magical, and it will be this year. We have four seats 25 rows behind home plate at the most beautiful ballpark in baseball. We do not charge our friends for the tickets and we favor children (of all ages). I am the Czar and I decide who gets the tickets, typically the first one responding with a request after the blog goes out. The rules are below.
This year we have moved to mail chimp so give permission for the blog to arrive in your mailbox if you want to receive the blog and participate in the fun. Past blogs can be found at www.beveragelaw.com at the Czar’s blog archive.
The available games, dates and number of tickets will be shown at the end of the blog before the rules. Remember when you email me back to identify the game, the date and the number of tickets you want. Please white-list my email so you get the blog posts and ticket offers all season long.
Four Weeks into the Season – What can we tell at this point?
The national baseball press has written off the G-Men as too old, too slow and lacking pop. The question is whether that is true. At week four the Giants are 11 and 14, tied for last place in the NL West (4 games back of LA) but coming off a 4 and 4 road trip to the east coast. That 4 games separate first from last place in the division says parity – not desperation.
What we can tell is that the Giants bats are slow to come around but the pitching (especially the bullpen – lowest ERA in the majors) is nails. We can also tell that adding Kevin Pillar to the outfield (with the movement of Duggar to Right and Parra to Left) has settled down the defense - - which is the best in MLB at the moment (with the lowest team BA in the league). Who would have thought that the leader in BA at this point would be the Panda off the bench? Defense and batting, the yin and the yang of baseball.
The road trip also brought some home run pop from a line-up that has struggled against right handed pitching. The shot that Belt hit in Toronto (that broke the sign on the third deck) was massive and as impressive as when the Big Cat hit the glove.
My take at this point is this team is jelling and there is no panic in the organization. This is the advantage of having Bochy at the helm. Pillar came in late and his teammates are now getting used to him. Longoria is settled down, Panik is hitting, Belt is having an early power year and Posey just hit his first run since last June. I’d like to see Crawford get his bat untracked but his defense is gold glove regardless.
Other early season notables are Dereck Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz as starters and Duggar in right field. Duggar is a smart player, and will be a fixture.
The Giants are trending upward and if they can solve right-handed pitchers, the future looks bright - - but they must score runs early in games. Always coming from behind is getting very tedious.
The Upcoming Homestand
The upcoming short six-game homestand (three against the Yankees, three against LA) will be a very interesting test. The big bat Yankees are injured (there has been a lot of early season DL visits) but the young guys are playing well. The Yankees series will be an exercise in nostalgia, given the Giants historic NY roots.
LA is hanging onto the NL West lead by the skin of their teeth and the power of new kid on the block Alex Verdugo (super stud Cody Bellinger is also part of that picture). LA Pitching has been spotty but we will see next week what they look like at Oracle. That is the open series for games, and those will be fun.
On the board ready to be picked up are:
MON 4/29 v. Dodgers (6:45 – 4)
TUES 4/30 v. Dodgers (6:45-3) – I’m going
WED 5/1 v. Dodgers (6:45 – 4)
That’s it!
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
The Czar
THE PROTOCOL: the firm has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. These are awesome seats directly below the press box and 25 rows behind home plate on the left side behind the screen. It is foul ball territory for left-handed batters so bring your glove – I have collected 16 foul balls myself over 19 years, and I am looking for more (although since the screens were raised in 2018 it’s become tougher to get a ball). If we can't use all the tickets ourselves (or clients and friends of the firm don't claim them by calling me and reserving a game), then my next step is to give the tickets TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO GETS BACK TO ME PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE SERIOUS. If you ask for the tickets and don't use them, you will be taken off the list unless there is a seriously good reason. There will be a wait list.
When there are four seats available (we split up a lot of games) we will allocate the tickets two and two if the first people back just want two tickets. You can also go for four and might get them. I'm the Czar, my call.