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M.T. Karthik

~ midcareer archive, 1977 – 2017 plus 2022

M.T. Karthik

Monthly Archives: September 2015

I Concede. I’d Rather You Awesome Guys Just Go Out and Enjoy Some Games

20 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by mtk in Uncategorized

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baseball, best, champions, corner, fading, Francisco, giants, Karthik, League, major, mlb, moments, mtk, National, nl, San, series, sf, world

Go out and have fun.

It’s a shame the season turned out like it did, but not really.

After a weird-bad opening we OWNED May, June swooned, badassed July, and had the bottom fall out in August – injuries.

But there are so many reasons to be proud.

Special Thank You to @Madison05587725 Bumgarner #MadBum You make us all want to play hard,work hard and win. Never Change #TheLegendOfMadbum

Thank you @bcraw35 for quietly having your most outstanding season yet. Love your laid-back, get-it-done style. You are the #NLGoldGlove SS.

Wow! What a ride you young guys gave us! Thanks! @kelbytomlinson, @JoshOsich and especially @JoePanik and @mm_duffy for outstanding play!

Thanks for great stuff this season (good quotes, AlPav) @AlexPavlovic @hankschulman(Get Well, Hank) @extrabaggs @baseballmarty @JohnSheaHey

I really wish, Aoki-san, we could’ve gotten you, Marlon @mjbsr6 and @MikeLeake44 a World Series Championship ring. Thanks to all. @sfgiants

Thank you vets @MikeLeake44, Nori Aoki, @JakePeavy_44, Tim Hudson and especially Marlon Byrd @mjbsr6 for joining our team, giving your all.

Thank you @kelbytomlinson, @JoePanik, @JoshOsich and especially @mm_duffy for outstanding play from rookie/first year @sfgiants @knbr @mlb

Well, we will have won half of the last six world series after this one is played. I’d like to see the Cubs take it all. #Maddon #OddYear

Matt Duffy, NOT Kris Bryant, is National League Rookie of the Year

08 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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baseball, bryant, chicago, cubs, duffy, Francisco, giants, kris, League, major, matt, mlb, nl, rookie, roy, San, sf, sfg, year

Cubs fans, I like your team and your young talent Kris Bryant. I’ve admired your new manager for many years. In fact, I’m excited for your run. But there’s one award you guys don’t get this season, and that’s National League Rookie of the Year.

Before we even begin discussing statistics, I want to be clear why Matt Duffy is the NL ROY.

Simply put, he is the Rookie of the Year because among all rookies Matt Duffy has the most command of baseball’s five tools:

1)  Hitting for Power

2)  Hitting for Average

3)  Fielding Ability

4)  Throwing Ability

5)  Speed

Hitting for power among national league rookies belongs to Kris Bryant. It’s undeniable.

And if you can’t think deeper than that one aspect of the game, I can see why you might think Bryant should be the ROY. Bryant has more HRs, more RUNS, RBI and a better OPS, SLG (slugging percentage) and fWAR.

But back on August 20th, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Corcoran in a piece called Awards Watch had more to say about measuring the two players with adjusted stats.

“Based on the raw stats … you might think Duffy should rank behind Kris Bryant … but Duffy’s stats are depressed because he plays in an extreme pitchers’ park.

“Looking at park-adjusted OPS+, the two are in a virtual tie in terms of production (Duffy is at 125 to Bryant’s 128, with 100 being league average).

After power-hitting, it looks considerably less convincing for Kris Bryant as a candidate for NL rookie of the year.

Hitting for average belongs to Matt Duffy. He has more doubles, more triples, more hits, and a better average by almost 40 points than Bryant. But it’s Duffy’s average with RISP that should surprise and enlighten Cubs fans.

Avg. with RISP Matt Duffy .378

Avg. with RISP Kris Bryant .311

It shows Duffy to have been as clutch as Bryant. In fact, despite lagging in RBI, perhaps more so.

In terms of base running, Duffy has shown an awareness rarely seen by rookies. Recently scoring from first with heads-up alertness on a deep single, The Duffman consistently shows a keen knowledge of base running and how to use his speed. Duffy has never been caught stealing.

To his credit Kris Bryant has stolen four more bases, but he has been caught stealing four times and, like all power hitters, is much more susceptible to striking out.

Duffy’s better efficiency at the plate is clear in a comparison of the two young men’s walk-to-strikeout ratio.

While displaying massive power and great clutch-hitting skills, Kris Bryant is not performing defensively like Duffy, and what the Duffman has done is what puts him over the top.

Bryant has played outfield in 26 games, preventing him from having to play position defense. But as a result Bryant and Duffy have each played 123 games in the infield allowing a fair comparison … and statistics are clear.

When playing 3rd base, Bryant has committed 17 errors – seven more than Duffy at that position, and five more than Duffy overall. Bryant’s fielding percentage is 20 points lower than Duffy’s. Duffy’s dWAR exceeds Bryant’s significantly.

Corcoran agreed, back on August 20th:

“Beyond that, Duffy is a better fielder at the same position and has arguably contributed more with his legs (he has taken the extra base 12 times to Bryant’s nine, reached on an error eight times to Bryant’s four and is five-for-five in stolen base attempts, while Bryant is 12-for-15).”

Both these young men have been great rookies this year. Their clutch performances, poise and consistency over the course of the season have been a blast to watch and root for.

But since a decision has to be made, and towering home runs aren’t a single reason to award the Rookie of the Year in the National League, it should be awarded to Matt Duffy for his fullness as a player and for his impressive command of the five tools of baseball.

No One Has Yet Won Back-To-Back World Series in The 21st Century

05 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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back, baseball, commentary, end, giants, mlb, mtk, series, sf, to, world, year

… and with our current seven-game slide, looks like there won’t be one now.

I am quite proud of our biennial success. 2010, ’12 and ’14 represent, at least in the absence of back-to-back championships, a kind of a dynasty. I call it the Bruce Bochy Era and it has been a blast! an incredible ride!

I’m not giving up on us yet, but being swept in LA after losing two to the Cardinals at home put us in need of desperation wins. Every game counts and the loss to the Rockies last night just about puts us away.

It has been another roller coaster season, horrible opening, followed by the best team in baseball in May, then an epic June swoon that turned right into an excellent July.

Injuries claimed our month of August.

HEY, MLB: STOP THROWING AT AOKI-SAN!

The absence of Pence and Panik and Pagan and Aoki at the critical juncture of our season killed us. But the bright spots were brilliant – starting with the National League Rookie of the Year performance put in by Matt Duffy. The Duffman was fantastic.

Joe Panik had an incredible year and Brandon Crawford had his best year yet in every statistical category. Kelby Tomlinson and Josh Osich, rookies who debuted and performed exceptionally well under pressure, were another bright spot.

Cain’s problems, Huddy’s age, and Lincecum’s hip were a bummer, but Chris Heston threw the first no-hitter by a San Francisco Giant rookie in over a century!

Posey was excellent and our hitting was the best in the league for long stretches, with almost five guys hitting over .300!

It isn’t over, but I thought I would wax philosophical about the road to now.

Go Giants, do the impossible – win back-to-back for the first time in the 21st century!

Waking Up After Last Night’s 14 Innings

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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1, 14, battle, chavez, dodgers, Francisco, game, giants, inning, one, ravine, San, sf, trench

In a way we can say we’ve been playing these guys, in this League, for 131 years.

Last night’s was a trench battle.

Games like that reveal what kind of fans we are and today, as we all wake up – some of us to read what happened, others to bemoan having stayed up – it’s also a gut-check.

Here‘s Steve Berman’s take at Bay Area Sports Guy and Grant Brisbee’s can be found here.

My first reaction is often lunging for reasons we lost that are our own responsibility and I landed upon Bruce Bochy – who let Jake Peavy stay in after Jimmy Rollins singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

I have pent-up frustrations from years of having a shorter leash than Bochy, and it makes me, ultimately, irrational, sometimes. So I contain myself and stare at the situation I questioned for minutes after a loss.

Waking up this morning it remains the problem. Leaving Peavy in to allow the homer that tied it 3-3 was frustrating … but then still leaving him in to face the hottest-hitting player in the League? That was just enraging. Too much trust, man.

When Ethier homered to give them the lead, this game felt doomed.

Berman defends Bochy of course; in ways not even Marty Lurie would.

Me? I realize Bochy’s the guy in the chair. Skip has won us three world series, not me or Marty or Grant Brisbee, but I still have so many issues with his crazy decision-making.

So I disagree with him, but what do I know? There have to be hundreds of more reasons than I can possibly fathom for putting in Broadway instead of Petit last night.

But a second point sticks with me about that fateful bottom of the sixth: blatantly and in extreme close-up and high-definition, Jake Peavy shook off Buster Posey on the pitch he delivered to Ethier. What did Posey call? What did Peavy throw?

(Jenkins informs me later: “It was a curve, and not a good one.”)

If Bochy left him in because he still had enough in the tank, did he also approve him blowing off whatever Buster Posey put up against the hottest-hitting batter in the league?

Bruce Jenkins, Alex Pavlovic, anyone ask that? Probably not much time or desire for such a question after a gut-wrenching loss.

Imagine asking the guys that. It would be hard to do. It takes being a kind of a dick as a reporter. But it ought to be done.  In New York they do it.

But we’re nicer guys than that. So much so, the guys kicked Baggs out for asking too many such questions. Which in my opinion was bad-form, whether we won the World Series or not. I do not like the way Comcast has us going – toward rah-rah coverage and TV-series spoof videos.

I’m the kind of fan who misses the days of reporters being in charge and being able to ask tough questions. I despair over the bimbo cheerleaders on TV asking catch-phrase rhetoricals. I honestly don’t think CSN Bay Area is good for the SF Giants.

Comcast turns coverage of local teams into collegial homerism. I find it clownish, actually, and the focus of the sportstainment-driven Comcast is way too far off-the-field. I rarely say any of this, of course, because it’s bad social-media form. When I do mention it, I immediately lose followers, so, enough of my media criticism.

We fought back after what I consider Bochy’s managerial mistake. I am proud of this. I love our never-say-die attitude. Bochy himself has it and he admires his guys for it. We don’t quit. It’s team-wide and seems infectious … every new guy gets on board.

In this regard, Marlon Byrd has stepped right in for Hunter Pence. It has taken exceptional effort by this crafty, very professional veteran to keep us in this race. I really love his hustle, heart, smarts – just the way he plays the game. Thank you, Marlon, you are a good Giant.

When my new favorite Giant, Josh Osich – the big lefty rookie – came in last night, he looked shaky, so it was George Kontos’ turn in a tough situation at Chavez Ravine. Yikes.

I have been harsh on Kontos in the past and also tried to praise him when he does well. He muted me a few weeks ago for being critical. I don’t feel bad about being critical. I do think the guys ought to take it.

In Los Angeles late yesterday George Kontos was excellent in relief in a place where he must have been haunted a bit. He dealt with it and hopefully even put it behind him with his performance. Forced to enter because Affeldt was unavailable, Kontos rose to the challenge. Way to Go, George!

One issue however was at the plate, where Kontos, like Adrianza earlier, botched a bunt to advance runners, dropping three straight fouls wide of the first base line and showing little control.

“So the inability of Kontos to bunt took all the pressure off the Dodgers. Here they come, bottom of the 13th, four to four!” -Vin Scully, midway through the 13th last night.

Kontos, Adrianza, and, I surmise, half the team should be practicing bunts every single day until the end of the season. Do they not know about Aubrey Huff’s critical bunt – the only bunt ever in the month of November – that helped us win our first World Series? and Bochy telling him to take bunt practice in September? uh, Hello?

Still, it was a great game. Both defenses were crisp, base running was excellent. Pitchers were good just up until the moment they weren’t, which means it was taut.

Duffy continues to impress to the point that he should be gaining ground in the race toward his ROY award for the National League.

The Dodgers let us hoist ourselves on our own petard – which in this case was injury-depletion – and they closed it out.

It hurts to lose one of those like a kick in the gut, but to be frank, I love baseball and that was a gritty 14-innings.

Waking up today, perspective is important. We’re the champs and still mathematically in this. But if we go down, let us do so with grace.

I believe we can do it: win back-to-back, especially since we have those four games against the nemesis at home to end the season and our schedule in September is much better than August was and we are finally getting back Joe Panik …

I still believe.

M.T. Karthik

This blog archives early work of M.T. Karthik, who took every photograph and shot all the video here unless otherwise credited.

Performances and installations are posted by date of execution.

Writing appears in whatever form it was originally or, as in the case of poems or journal entries, retyped faithfully from print.

all of it is © M.T. Karthik

a minute of rain

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