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 whitelist my email so you get the blog posts and ticket offers all season long.
The Giants are playing it safe for the fans with a 50% occupancy limit at the stadium, mandatory covid vaccinations (or negative tests), masks required and either isolated seating groups or vaccinated sections (where our seats are for June). Charter season ticket holders have priority, so we have four seats for the June home games in Section 113, the same view of the field as our traditional 118 but from the right side of home plate. Vaccinations required if you bid for tickets.
The 2021 Giants are for Real
The Giants run for the roses continued in May. The Orange and Black are slipping in an out of first place against a very talented Padres team, and a very determined Dodgers team. The G-Men are tied with the Dodgers for second place in the NL West with a 31 and 20 record that would have them in first place in any other NL division race. Before the season we were talking about this being a rebuilding year with a young team. More and more the Giants are looking like a contending team in the toughest division in baseball.
Friday night against the Dodgers in LA (after 4 losses in a row against LA – 3 at home last weekend in a sweep) showed grit, determination, and defense. That was the best game they have played all year. A Buster 3-run dinger to go ahead in the 8th inning of a tie game filled with drama and great defense. A 9th inning 3 run shot by the Dodgers against Tyler Rogers (who had not given up a HR in this season) to tie it up and then the capper - Tauchman making the defensive play of the year by reaching over the left field wall and robbing Pujols of a game winning home run. This was followed by three more Giants runs in the 10th inning including a two-run double by Longoria. That game alone was worth the price of admission for the season.
However, this still does not make up for the Dodgers sweep at Oracle last weekend exposing the Giants weaknesses (pitching, bullpen, and reliance on home runs rather than hits) that must be addressed by the brain trust. Injuries are also taking their toll. Belt (the best defensive first baseman on the team, and one of the three Amigos with Posey and Crawford left over from the championship years), Ruf (coming into his own) and La Stella are out but their replacements (especially Wade and Duggar) are stepping up.
May continued to feature good (if not solid) pitching, good defense, timely hitting, low batting averages (except for Posey – who is up there in the stratosphere) but at the top of MLB stats for dingers. It seems like the innings go by quickly and then -POW – another ball sails into the stands or the bay. The power shown up and down the line-up makes for anxiety but fun baseball.
We are all becoming fans of Kapler, but that may be because he is winning. His decision making has been good and it’s hard to fault game management skills when steering a team to a 31-20 record (11 games over .500). Even the analytics seem to pay off. We are all getting used to the 2 strike shift; now to see more left handed batters bunt down the line past an abandoned 3rd base bag (like Belt did in the last series). Bunting is how you beat the shift – major leaguers must learn how to bunt better, a skill that seems to have eroded in an era of power baseball.
Who is hot, and who is not?
This is a group of good-looking players playing well. Posey is the team leader with a .333 average, 21 RBI’s, 25 runs and 10 dingers. Credit goes to Kapler for keeping him fresh by playing 2 games on, and 1 off. Longoria is batting .268 (down from last month) with 24 RBI’s and 7 HR’s and Crawford is leading the team with a .250 average, 11 HR’s and 24 RBI’s. Runs are coming from dingers and that is not expected to end. Timely homers are the name of the Giants game right now. The only team that has hit more homers than the Giants are the Reds, and the G-Men swept them last month in Cincinnati.
The starting pitchers are playing well for the most part led by Gausman and Wood. Beyond them the ERA’ s rise. Johnny Cueto is back but is still not himself. The bullpen is doing the job well – especially Tyler Rodgers, who has displaced Jake McGee as the closer. That Rodgers was lit up last night for the first homer of the season against him by a very tough Dodgers team notwithstanding.
What do we have to look forward to June?
This month will be fun, with home games against the Angels (4th in the AL West), Cubs (2nd place in the NL Central and 6 games over .500), Diamondbacks (down in the NL West, but not out) and Phillies (2nd place in the NL East).
There are a lot of games available this month because the tickets were only provided a few days ago so if you want to see a game, reply quickly – especially for the Memorial Day game on Monday – I’ll be there and am looking for company.
On the board ready to be picked up are:
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
The Czar
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THE PROTOCOL: the firm usually has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. Covid will change the protocol month by month, but real life will reappear at the end of June. 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 has 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.