Opening Day GTD! 4/6/12 The Defending defending World Series Champions vs. D-Backs

[SFGRTB]

Rosters are set, the sun is out, the grass is indeed greener on the other side. It's baseball season.

Here is what we know:

Lincecum vs. Kennedy 4pm PST on CNSBA, KNBR and ESPN2. Lineup will be posted on the days following, but there is no hurting guessing.

I'm thinking:

CF-Angel Pagan
RF-Melky Cabrera
3B-Pablo Sandoval
C-Buster Posey
1B-Brandon Belt
LF-Aubrey Huff
2B-Emmanuel Burriss
SS-Brandon Crawford
P-Tim Lincecum

vs.

3B-Ryan Roberts
2B-Aaron Hill
RF-Justin Upton
LF-Jason Kubel
CF-Chris Young
C-Miguel Montero
1B-Paul Goldschmidt
SS-Willie Bloomquist
P-Ian Kennedy

 

[Heathbar012]

Wooooooohoooooooo! Is it Friday yet?

 

[tzill]

Rosters are set, the sun is out, the grass is indeed greener on the other side. It's baseball season.

Here is what we know:

Lincecum vs. Kennedy 4pm PST on CNSBA, KNBR and ESPN2. Lineup will be posted on the days following, but there is no hurting guessing.

I'm thinking:

CF-Angel Pagan
RF-Melky Cabrera
3B-Pablo Sandoval
C-Buster Posey
1B-Brandon Belt
LF-Aubrey Huff
2B-Emmanuel Burriss
SS-Brandon Crawford
P-Tim Lincecum

vs.

3B-Ryan Roberts
2B-Aaron Hill
RF-Justin Upton
LF-Jason Kubel
CF-Chris Young
C-Miguel Montero
1B-Paul Goldschmidt
SS-Willie Bloomquist
P-Ian Kennedy

I don't think the lineup will quite shake out like that:

CF Oxy
RF Melky
C Buster
3B Panda
LF Huffer
1B Baby G
2B ManBur
SS Stamos
P Freak

 

[filosofy29]

CAN'T FECKING WAIT!!!

 

[CameronFrye]

We need someone to get in tight with Mother Nature and convince her to push that next storm out for a few days. According to the latest weather reports, rain is moving in Wednesday the 11th and staying through the weekend. We cannot have that. Opening Day has to be sunny and 70 degrees.

 

[SFGRTB]

New Jerseys will be unveiled tomorrow:

 

[Epic Voidfield]

I don't think the lineup will quite shake out like that:

CF Oxy
RF Melky
C Buster
3B Panda
LF Huffer
1B Baby G
2B ManBur
SS Stamos
P Freak

For the love that is all holy. Anything but that...!

 

[msgkings322]

For the love that is all holy. Anything but that...!

Get used to it. Huff is the starting LF for now I think.

 

[GiantsPackersChamps2011]

GO GIANTS

 

[TheSaboteur]

I'm excited!

 

[msgkings322]

Just noticed the thread title. I guess every year we don't win the WS we can just add another 'defending' to our description.

:pops:

 

[calsnowskier]

Just noticed the thread title. I guess every year we don't win the WS we can just add another 'defending' to our description.

:pops:

Why are you setting us up for failure like that?

In one year, the thread title will be "The Defending World Series Champions..."


Just ask Sports Illustrated.

 

[Heathbar012]

Fucking fuck yeah! Happy Real Opening Day, everybody!

 

[SF11704]

Don't know about the rest of the board but opening day has always been something special for me. Never could explain it, but I always feel as if I'm 10-12 years old again (as opposed to 65+) and reliving that seem feeling I had as a kid. Always optimistic that this was going to be 'THE' year that we showed the rest of the league (only national at the time) what we could do. No thoughts about how the line-up is or isn't capable. No thoughts about pitching or fielding. Sort of like being lost in the moment and just embracing the essence of 'my team'. This is (for me) the most magic time of the year!

 

[tzill]

Today is the best day of the year (until Nov 1, anyway). Tidbit: Stamos is moving up to 7th per Bochy yesterday:

CF Oxy
RF Melkman
C Buster
3B Panda
LF Huffer
1B Baby G
SS Stamos
2B ManBurr
P Freak

 

[tzill]

Here's some Opening Day tidbits:

The league average batting line for all of baseball is currently .191/.264/.295. While hitters are still working on their timing, pitchers seem ready to go. The league average ERA currently sits a 2.13.

 

[CameronFrye]

I have heard two different places that The Riot is starting at 2B today and not Burriss

 

[jingo]

Bochy names Theriot his opening-day second baseman
April 6, 2012, 10:08 am

PROGRAMMING NOTE:Giants Pregame Live starts at 3 p.m. on CSN SportsNet Bay Area, followed by Giants-Diamondbacks at 4, and GiantsPostGame Live immediately following the final out.

PHOENIX -- The Giants included a neat stat on the front page of their game notes: If Emmanuel Burriss were to get the nod at second base, the Giants would field their first fully homegrown starting infield on opening day since 1993.

Oops.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy spoiled the fine work of his PR staff. He told KNBR this morning that Ryan Theriot would be his starter at second base against Arizona right-hander Ian Kennedy.

Theriot is 3 for 9 against Kennedy, but the move probably has more to do with Burriss' late-spring cooling trend. It also has to do with Brandon Crawford's consistently strong showing at the plate. Bochy had planned to bat Burriss seventh in the hopes he could get on base and Crawford could move him over. But the Giants are confident enough in Crawford's ability to drive in runs that he will begin in the No.7 spot.

Also, the Giants do not have an additional backup infielder because Joaquin Arias didn't make the club. Burriss is seen as more of a true backup than Theriot, who really struggled on the left side of the infield.

All perfunctory caveats apply: This is just opening day. One out of 162. No, this doesn't mean you can mark down 600 at-bats of Ryan Theriot this season.

One other news item from Bochy's appearance on Murph and Mac: He said Buster Posey will catch all three games in the Arizona series. Count on Hector Sanchez catching Barry Zito on Monday at Coors Field.

Getting back to that infield note, the Giants in 1993 featured catcher Kirt Manwaring, first baseman Will Clark, second baseman Robby Thompson, shortstop Royce Clayton, third baseman Matt Williams and pitcher John Burkett.

Here are a few more nuggets from the game notes that aren't completely irrelevant:

--There are just 13 players on the opening-day roster who were active for the Giants on opening day in 2011.

--On today's roster, 15 players are homegrown. Last year, just 10 were homegrown.

--Tim Lincecum is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA in three opening-day starts. With his fourth assignment, he's second only to Juan Marichal's 10 lid-lifting starts.

--Yes, it's required that all beat writers work in the term "lid lifter" at some point today. That's one item checked off, and it's not even noon. Swell!



Read more: Bochy names Theriot his opening-day second baseman
Tune to SportsNet Central at 6, 10:30 and midnight on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area for more on this story

 

[CameronFrye]

Rep for you jingo. Here was my first source.

[MEDIA=twitter]188309891721592832[/MEDIA]

 

[ColinCoby]

Don't know about the rest of the board but opening day has always been something special for me. Never could explain it, but I always feel as if I'm 10-12 years old again (as opposed to 65+) and reliving that seem feeling I had as a kid. Always optimistic that this was going to be 'THE' year that we showed the rest of the league (only national at the time) what we could do. No thoughts about how the line-up is or isn't capable. No thoughts about pitching or fielding. Sort of like being lost in the moment and just embracing the essence of 'my team'. This is (for me) the most magic time of the year!

Nice. Rep. I feel the same way. I grew up in Southern California. Today feels like those rare days when my dad told me we were going to Disnelyand. The only difference is I'll be three beers in by the third inning.

Here's some Opening Day tidbits:

The league average batting line for all of baseball is currently .191/.264/.295. While hitters are still working on their timing, pitchers seem ready to go. The league average ERA currently sits a 2.13.

And probably won't be any different with Kennedy and Timmeh on the mound. Read this today:

Kennedy was 3-0 with a 1.22 ERA in five starts against San Francisco last year.

Of course, that was without our present studly (middle of the road?) lineup. Hopefully we get some speed on in the 1st and make him work.