A Press Democrat Blog

Overtime

Ted Sillanpaa looks at the San Francisco Giants, other Bay Area sports and gives a dad's-eye view of Empire prep and youth sports trends

Why Lincecum’s dominating out of the Giants bullpen

Sunday, at 2:16 by

By TED SILLANPAA Tim Lincecum is particularly well suited to pitch in relief, under the intense pressure of the World Series. He’s got amazing confidence and a resilient arm. When he’s right, his three or four pitches can be unhittable. He’s a craftsman of the highest order. That’s how he won back to back Cy Young Awards. The Lincecum who struggled mightily in 2012 lost some confidence, obviously. He was pitching against the memory of the Cy Young Award-winning Lincecum. Starting… Read More »

Aces set for World Series Game 1: Verlander vs. … Zito?

Monday, at 9:23 by

BY TED SILLANPAA First World Series game I saw featured Whitey Ford against Sandy Koufax in the shadows at Yankee Stadium in 1963. In 1968, I watched 30-game winner Denny McLain face Bob Gibson. I never thought I’d see the likes of those matchups again. Never figured I’d see a mound duel that captures America’s attention like either those did in Fall Classic play past. I was wrong. The Detroit Tigers will send the best pitcher in baseball, Justin Verlander,… Read More »

Baseball gods show Reds are better than Giants

Saturday, at 11:02 by

BY TED SILLANPAA The Giants were put in their place by the baseball gods Saturday night. Oh, don’t think the baseball gods aren’t aware that Giants’ fans had actually started to believe that the team was as good as its winning margin in the NL West seemed to indicate. They knew. The gods always know. The baseball gods showed Giants fans the flaws in their team in a 5-2 National League Division Series loss Saturday night … in San Francisco… Read More »

Giants playoff roster: How many pitchers?

Saturday, at 6:14 by

By TED SILLANPAA The Giants had 11 pitchers and 14 position players on the 2010 postseason roster. There’s no reason to think the club won’t do roughly the same thing this fall. The only real question in 2010 was whether or not to carry Barry Zito on the postseason roster. It wasn’t so much a tough call based on his performance, but rather based on the reality that professional sports franchises don’t typically bench and embarrass their most highly-paid players.… Read More »

Giants dismiss idea of Melky’s return; 4th starter no easy decision

Tuesday, at 8:23 by

By TED SILLANPAA It’s really trendy for Giants fans and the media to poo-poo the notion of bringing left fielder Melky Cabrera back to the active roster if the club’s still alive in the playoffs when his drug suspension ends. Similarly, everybody has an opinion on whether Ryan Vogelsong or Barry Zito should be the fourth starter in the postseason. The Giants have decided that they’re finished with Cabrera, even if they’re still playing when his drug-related suspension ends. I… Read More »

A bad hop, a flare and great pitches get Giants past Dodgers

Saturday, at 1:31 by

By TED SILLANPAA The Giants beat the Dodgers 5-2 Friday night in a game that should show what makes baseball mind-boggling and wonderful. Josh Beckett cruised through six innings for LA. Tim Lincecum walked five batters through five innings and seemed to be on the brink of one of the meltdowns that mark his season throughout. The big difference on Friday night was, of course, that Lincecum came up with that filthy, unhittable strike that froze Dodgers when they really… Read More »