April 7th, 2012
A beautiful Day For Baseball
With the roof open and a light wind the 34,789 fans were able to enjoy a wonderful day of baseball in the desert.
The final score was not what we wanted, but with sunny skies and a starting temperature of 79 degrees it was a great day to play baseball.
In the bottom of the 5th inning Jason Kubel is forced out at second on a great play by Brandon Crawford.
Ryan Roberts flies out to Angel Pagan in the 2nd inning.
Javier Lopez pitched a perfect 8th inning when John McDonald grounded out, Gerardo Parra flew out and Ryan Roberts struck out.
Santiago Casilla made his 2012 regular season debut and struck out one, while walking one.
Pablo Sandoval showed his power with a 2 run home run off Diamondbacks' starter Daniel Hudson in the top of the 4th inning. He would finish the game with a .500 batting average.
Brett Pill is congratulated by Tim Flannery after hitting his first career pinch-hit home run in the 7th inning.
Quick Hits for April 7, 2012 – SF at ARI (Game #2)
TODAY’S GAME…The San Francisco Giants visit the Arizona Diamondbacks in the middle game of this 3-game series…Giants’ left- hander Madison Bumgarner (13-13, 3.21 in ‘11) will face Diamondbacks’ right-hander Daniel Hudson (16-12, 3.49 in ‘11)…
PABLO’S PARK...IF Pablo Sandoval has hit safely in 24 of 30 career games here at Chase Field, batting .351 (40-for-114) with 8 2Bs, 4 HRs and 22 RBI...his .351 avg. is the 2nd- highest at Chase by any active player in the big leagues.
ON THE HILL...LHP Madison Bumgarner takes the hill for his 1st start of the season today...last year, Bumgarner began the year by losing his 1st 6 decisions and 9 of his 1st 12...however, he turned things around in mid-June, finishing the season going 10-4 with a 2.62 ERA over his final 18 starts.
Guillermo Mota.. Entering his 22nd professional season, Mota appeared in 52 games last year with the Giants while throwing 80.1 innings, which was the 5th-most among National League relievers... Is one of 5 active players in the big leagues to appear in 700+ Major League games.
Gregor Blanco... 28-year-old outfielder entered camp as a non-roster invitee and produced one of best springs of any Giant, forcing club to put him on the Opening Day roster...hit .333 (26-for-78) while leading the Cactus League with 13 stolen bases (13-for-14)... This marks just the 2nd time he’s been on an Opening Day roster (also in 2008 with Atlanta).
Clay Hensley... 32-year-old was originally drafted by the Giants in 2002, spending 2 years in SF’s minor league system...rejoined organization this past offseason, signing as a free agent... Is on his 5th Opening Day roster...In 11 spring outings he allowed 6 runs (3er) on 11 hits with 8 Ks (2.61 ERA).
Happy Birthday – John McGraw
John McGraw during batting practice in the 1911 World Series
“In playing or managing, the game of ball is only fun for me when I’m out in front and winning. I don’t give a hill of beans for the rest of the game.” – John McGraw
Called “the best player to become a manager” John McGraw still holds the record for National League victories with 2,669, while holding the third best on base percentage in ML history with .466 (behind Ted Williams and Babe Ruth). Baseball was everything to him, and he is credited with many baseball innovations, including using a relief pitcher to save a game, the hit and run and using signs to talk with players on the field. In the 31 years he spent with the Giants we won 3 World Series and 10 National League Pennants. As Connie Mack said, “There has been only one manager, and his name is John McGraw.” Happy Birthday John!
McGraw made his Major League debut at the age of 18, in 1891, with the Baltimore Orioles
Near the end of his career McGraw started wearing a suit when managing games
McGraw came out of retirement to manage the National League in the 1933 All Star Game. He is pictured here with AL manager, Connie Mack.
In his first 4 years in New York (1902-1906) McGraw was the Giants player/manger
John Joseph McGraw was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1937
