On a night where the San Francisco Giants won handily in Atlanta, scoring almost every inning, we find out that Messenger lied to us. Randy Messenger, the reliever who the Giants received in exchange for Benitez, had an injury before yesterday’s contest…so he said. Yesterday, Messenger claimed that a line drive in batting practice hit his left hand and broke his finger. Today he came clean and fessed up that he really punched a plastic equipment cart after giving up the winning hit in the 9th.

“I wanted to clear the table and let everyone know what really happened.” - Messenger

Well, thanks Randy for clearing the air…now you’re useless to us for the next 4-6 weeks. Up to this point I have felt that he’s been one of the most consistent relievers out of the pen for us. It’s disappointing to see him go down like this.

In other news, Lance Niekro decides that he’s not going to make it in the big leagues as a position player. Not shocking or much of a surprise. What intrigues me however, is that he’s trying to make a comeback as a pitcher at the triple A level. Now, typically, a kid in Niekro’s shoes becomes an all-time minor leaguer. But a kid with the geneology of Niekro gets a second chance. I know it’s not fair, but the kid does have the genes to make it happen. It’s probably a long shot and I’m even laughing at myself that I am even considering giving this some hope…but with the year we’re having…give his knuckle ball a chance!

Barry Zito took the mound today, delivered another quality start by a Giants pitcher, and yet the Giants still took the loss. The San Francisco Giants got blanked 5-0 today, ending their homestand at AT&T park, completing the sweep by the Bucs. They now head off to Pittsburgh where they have a double-header tomorrow. They begin a nine game road trip back east to face the Pirates, Braves and Marlins before returning home again.

The Giants record has now dropped to 49-67, a whole 18 games under .500. With little to look forward to the remainder of the season, the Giants should begin to give more of their youngsters playing time. “It’s definitely time to evaluate some of the young guys and begin the movement to making this team more youthful.” - Bruce Bochy

Tomorrow’s doubleheader features Matt Cain and Noah Lowry. They’ll need to put in some quality innings in order to help save the arms of the bullpen, which got taxed hard this weekend. Go Giants!

The San Francisco Giants have had a less than stellar year this year, that’s for sure. But when the one bright spot on the season, rookie starter Tim Lincecum, gets hammered, you’ve gotta hurt as a Giants fan.

Lincecum got off to a great start on the game striking out the first three batters he faced on just ten pitches. He then retired the next 9 of 10 batters he faced before the fourth inning which lead to his downfall. He gave up back to back HR’s and a triple as the Bucs scored 5 runs on their way to another Giants loss.

On Saturday night, Barry Bonds on a 2-1 count, hit an outside pitch 386 feet off the upper deck and into the stands for career home run number 755. He moved into a tie with Hank Aaron for the most home runs ever hit by a single player. What an amazing career this man has had. In my mind he is a first ballot hall of famer, steroid era and all. When looking at Bonds’ career, he holds so many MLB records it’s hard not to imagine him being inducted into Cooperstown. In my opinion, he’s the greatest baseball player to ever put on a uniform…period!

Here’s a list of some of the all-time records Bonds holds:

To me, the last one is the most telling of all…

Here’s a list of some of the single season records Bonds holds:

As you can see, Bonds has had an amazing career. It seems like every time I watch a Giants game I hear about some other record he’s obtained. Obviously, I didn’t list them all, but just some of the more important ones. He is for sure, the greatest player ever.

In a game on paper that should have gone to the Giants just looking at the starting pitchers, the Giants lose again. Noah Lowry started off the game struggling with his location, but did a great job hanging in there. I was actually really proud of the job he did today even though he didn’t have his best stuff. He struggled most of the day, but still managed to get outs.

Bonds continued to hit poorly and looked noticeably uncomfortable in the box with his swing. His timing is off and he’s been late on balls. He got a few pitches today that I’ve seen him crush in the past that he just turned over or popped up. Pedro Gomez after the game made several comments that time may be catching up to Barry, blah, blah, blah. I’m not buying it! I’m getting quite sick of all the baseball analysts using his age as an excuse every time Barry looks like he’s struggling a bit. He’s just going through a slump guys, get over it. Bonds is 0-20 in his last 20 at-bats.

It was such a sad day however when a friend of mine who is a HUGE Dodgers fan called to remind me of the win streak they hold over us at home. The sweep over the weekend moves the streak to 11 consecutive losses to the Dodgers at AT&T park. It’s pretty pathetic. The next time the Giants have a chance to redeem themselves will be on September 7th when the Dodgers come back to town for their last series in San Francisco this season.

Tomorrow the San Francisco Giants travel to Chicago to face the Cubs in a four game series. Their night game matchup features rookie Tim Lincecum (4-2) vs. Rich Hill (5-6).

Fast forward to the 8th inning…the Giants are down 7-2, bases loaded, two outs, and Randy Winn at the plate. He fouls one hard off his right foot, and is noticeably hurt. I thought he was going to have to come out of the game he was limping around so bad. He slowly stepped back into the box, and sent the next pitch of the game into the first row of the stands in right field for a grand slam, bringing the team within one run! He triumphantly limped around the bases and took himself out of the game. The only thing missing was the fist pump around first base. It was truly a great moment, one of the best all season.

The very next inning the Giants looked like they were done for with Bonds at second, two outs and Pedro Feliz at the plate. I was sure we were packing it up and going home, as I’ve seen him let us down time after time for the past several seasons. But no, he pulled through with a base hit up the middle sending the game into extra innings. The excitement in the ballpark was nuts as fans began to chant louder and louder, “Beat L.A., Beat L.A.”

The excitement was a little preemptive however, as the Giants went on to lose the game in the 12th inning as Patrick Misch gave up the winning run. It looks like he could get sent back down with Ortiz and Sanchez just about ready to get back from rehab stints in the minors.

It’s a disappointing loss to the Dodgers, one I won’t forget for a while now. It secures the series win for them with one game left. I hate the Dodgers! Tomorrow’s matchup features lefty Noah Lowry (9-6) vs. ex Giant Bret Tomko (1-7). This should be an automatic victory for the San Francisco Giants as it’s a disgrace to the game that Tomko is even pitching at this level still.

The San Francisco Giants had a lot of things to say over All-Star weekend about how they were going to turn it around the second half and come out with a fury. After the first night against their hated rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, they looked like they were ready to pack it up for the season. The Giants lost 9-1 on a night that seemed like they had all been enjoying the festivities a little too much!

Matt Cain got the start, took the mound, and gave the Giants another quality start on his way to another tough luck loss. I feel bad for the kid as his team has given him very little run support this season. In fact, they have only scored more than two runs in six of his eighteen starts this season. But as usual, Cain blamed the loss on himself, stating that he should have been putting batters away. He did a pretty good job of that only giving up seven singles in the whole game, many of which were little bloopers that fell in front of the outfielders.

There were very few chants of “Beat L.A.” as the Giants fell to 38 - 49 on the season. It was their ninth straight loss to the Dodgers at AT&T Park, extending their winless streak at home stretching back to August of last year. A couple of bright spots came defensively however, when Dave Roberts threw out Rafael Furcal at third on a play where he got caught between bags trying to squeeze in another base as Andre Ethier scored from second. Also, Omar Vizquel made a great catch on a ball that should have been a bloop base hit behind short that he somehow snagged looking straight up over his head. He’s definitely the greatest shortstop of all time! No offense Ozzie Smith…

Tomorrow’s game highlights Matt Morris (7-5) vs. Derek Lowe (8-8).

The San Francisco Giants finished the first half with a miserable 38 - 48 record, 10 games below .500. The Giants have had a dismal year at the plate and it has cost them dearly. At the end of the first half they don’t have a single starter who has a batting average above .300. It’s been simply pathetic for all Giants fans this year who have, like me, watched almost every game this season. It’s been one of those years.

You have to think that at some point they will turn it around and get hot. But with the old guys that they have, you can’t exactly bank on them having stellar performances the second half of the year when the season gets long and hard for seasoned ball players. Most of the players on the team this year have sub .250 batting averages. Wow!!!

There are a few bright spots for the Giants however this season. Their starting pitching has been stellar! I love watching their rotation this year. With Barry Zito, Matt Cain, Matt Morris, Noah Lowry, and Tim Lincecum they have a chance to win every night. The Giants starters have the second lowest ERA in the National League at the half. Very impressive. Just imagine where we would be if we could get on base…

The Giants kick off the start of the second half with a three game series against their rival Los Angeles Dodgers. Booooo!!! I can hear the chants of “Beat L.A.” already! Let it be known, that I hate the Dodgers. There is nothing worse in this world than them. In fact, it’s a joke with some of my buddies that when the Giants win and the Dodgers lose it’s a GOOD day in baseball. Throw in the Yankees losing too and it’s a GREAT day!

Make sure to get out to the park and root our boys on as the good vs. evil series begins. I hope Barry Bonds puts a few in McCovey Cove just to let them hear us all chear him on!

Velvet Revolver comes out with a new album on July 3, 2007 titled “Libertad”. It is their sophomore album as a group and it’s just that, a sophomore album. I had really high expectations and was hoping for a flashback to the good old days of Guns N’ Roses…but I was sorely disappointed. I think some of the songs have some serious potential, but none of them really got to me. First of all, they have a lead singer, Scott Weiland, who sounds like a little boy on most of the tracks…so they get what they asked for. If they had a lead singer like Chris Daughtry these tracks would be 100 times better. I can’t stand to listen to Scott and his same whiney sound on every track. Also, quit writing songs about machines…they’re not that cool dude! I can’t rock out to some guy whining about machines. What ever happened to some good ol’ sex, drugs and rock and roll?

Anyways, their sound has changed some and I think they were trying to appeal to the younger crowd with this one. The problem is, no young kid is going to listen to guys old enough to be their dads trying to reach out to them. I wish they would just write songs to appeal to their target audience…us. Get rid of that weak drum set you tuned up to sound like you are in a bubble gum punk band, get a lead singer who has some balls, crank up your guitars, and rock out like you used to!

Here’s my review of each song:

Overall, this album sucks. I will only support it out of respect to the greatest guitarist of all time and the coolest bass player on the planet, who thinks he’s the main man we all go to see. I wish they would get rid of that skinny druggy behind the mic who ruins all of God’s gifted musical talent behind him. They’d sell a lot more records without him.

I’d love to hear your responses.