For Dr. B........sorry I don't see it. Far be it from me to contradict Baggs....but Fred looks about the same in the lower body as he did last year.

By request - Merkin Valdez (looking healthy to me) and Jonathan Sanchez

Layout of Scottsdale Stadium Practice Facilities

I wanted to compose a post to let people know the layout and limitations of the practice facilities at Scottsdale Stadium. That way you have some sort of idea of what I can do and what I can't do as far as observing players and taking photos.

The site includes 2 full fields. The main stadium field and a practice field. The practice field is behind that screen on the right side of this photo, beyond the RF corner. If you click on it to get the larger version of the photo, you can see the outfield fence of the practice field behind that screen. If you get right up against the fence and screen in the far right of this photo......you can sort of kind of see what is happening on the practice field......but you can not make out detail and you certainly can't take decent photos. There is an area behind the raised patio area you see in the photo that is called the "gang pitching mounds". It is simply 8 mounds and 8 plates strung out side by side so that 8 pitchers can throw their bullpen sessions at the same time (that's why so many catchers are invited to Spring Training). Further back behind the gang mounds is a practice infield (no outfield, just the infield). Players can take ground balls and practice bunting on this field. The batting cages are located behind the open gate you see located directly under the patio.

The raised patio provides a PERFECT observation deck from which to watch activity happening on the practice field and the gang mounds. The problem is......the Giants allow fans to observe practices from the main stadium along the 1B line.......only. Not only can't you go up on the patio......but you also can't go on the 3B side of the stadium or in the outfield. Therefore it is impossible for me to get photos of the pitchers throwing bullpen sessions or of any activity occurring on the practice field. Not to mention the fact that my photos of players batting will always show the back of left handed hitters and the front of right handed hitters.

The Giants tend to use a kind of "seniority" system when deciding who practices on what field. The youngsters (or non-25 man roster types) tend to practice on the practice field, while the veterans tend to practice on the main field. Two of the biggest requests for photos in past years have been for pitchers throwing and for young players. I will try my best, but unless they practice on the main field.......I will not be able to get their photos. Also, I can get photos of pitchers soft tossing, but I will not be able to get photos of them actually pitching until live batting practice starts ...probably around the middle or end of next week.

That's about it. I just wanted people to know the physical layout and the restrictions the Giants have placed on the fans. So if you make a request for photos of a specific player and I don't get it for you, doesn't mean I am disregarding you. It just may be that the limitations of the facility and the rules enforced by the Giants make it impossible for me to actually get the photo you ask for.

Day One - Baseball is Back (Finally)

Well, folks. It's here. Baseball is finally back. It seems like years since the last time I was in the stands, taking in all the sights and sounds of baseball. To me, the off-season always seems to be excruciatingly long. I can't imagine how long it must seem to most of you, who don't have the opportunity to attend baseball games in October and November via the Arizona Fall League. Must seem like forever. Apparently, Felipe Alou is another person who couldn't wait for baseball to begin. I know he is a Spring Training regular, but I didn't expect to see him on day one.

It is still cold here (for Arizona). I was up and out of the condo at 9:00 am, even though I thought all I would be seeing at that time was stretching and running drills. But at least it's baseball. I got to the park about 10 minutes into the preliminary stretching. Come to find out, that the Giants are now doing their running and conditioning AFTER practice instead of before as in past years. Anyone considering coming out to a practice, get there early. I would say the drills began at about 9:20 or so. Today the Giants completed the day's drills, took 2 rounds of patting practice for the catchers, did their running and conditioning and were off the field by 11:40 am.

The Giants have one of the smallest camps in recent memory. They passed out a roster of all players in camp and I counted only 58 players. Seems like last year there were 65 or so and the year before there were well over 70. Sheer numbers should also help keep the practices shorter. I didn't see a large number of position players around. The only ones I saw were Fred Lewis, Aaron Rowand and Kevin Frandsen. Most early arrivals just hit. I think Rowand just hit in the cages today. Towards the end of the practice, while the pitchers were running, Kevin Frandsen took a ton of ground balls at 2B on the half field. This field is way in the back and I could just barely see the 2B area through an open gate. I was unable to get any photos.

Surprisingly, I did not see Pablo Sandoval, even though he is listed as a catcher on the roster they passed out. Someone told me they got a glimpse of him taking balls at 1B on the practice field, but I didn't see him. With the need for catchers early in Spring Training (there are 4 non-roster catchers in camp) and the talk about Pablo being a 3rd catcher on the team this year, I was very surprised that he wasn't working out with the pitchers and catchers. Seems strange.

I think I will keep it relatively short today. I took many more photos than are posted here, but I generally just try and pick out a good overview day by day and try not to repeat the same players too much. As in past years, if you request photos of a certain player, I will try and fill your request. Obviously, I can't post all 182 photos I took, or even close to that many.

I am also going to re-post a post that I wrote last year explaining the layout and limitations of the stadium and facility. It's starting to cloud up in Scottsdale now, hopefully the weather will allow for a full workout tomorrow.

A group of pitchers, standing around listening to Ron Wotus explain the pickoff drill. Nearest the camera is Jeremy Affeldt, our new lefty set-up man.

Alex Hinshaw, getting his drills in.

Fred Lewis is an early arrival to camp. They even let him take batting practice with the first group of catchers (early arriving position players are usually limited to batting in the cages). His early rounds of BP were less than spectacular, although toward the end he started hitting a few line drives. When asked how his toe was he said "great!". He was much more believable than Noah Lowry.

The ever present spring stretching ritual. This is occurring on the practice field. Because of the layout of the Scottsdale facility, this corner of LF is about the only place I can get a decent shot of what is happening on that field.

A Noah Lowry photo. I wish I could have gotten a better one, but I didn't see him too much. I think he is on limited participation right now. I didn't see him doing the pickoff drills. Although, when asked how his shoulder was (his latest ailment for those who don't know) he said "it's fine". Of course, what would you expect him to say "It's falling apart"?

Bengie Molina finishing up his running after practice.

Looks like the same old Timmy Lincecum to me. Back to try for another Cy Young award.

Despite the stories of Barry Zito's monster off-season workouts, he doesn't look much different to me.

The "Worst Hair of the Day" award goes to Eli Whiteside a 29 year old AAA catcher. I hope he dyed his hair or he has the worst prematurely graying problem I have ever seen. Of course.....if he did it to himself, I'm not sure what it says about his judgment.

Connecticut Defender's (AA) pitcher Ronnie Ray during pickoff drills ( for GRMG).

A couple of photos of the 6 million dollar man, Buster Posey. In the one photo he is with San Jose/Augusta catcher Jackson Williams. Buster has a classic swing. This photo in the cage reminds me of a right-handed version of Will Clark's finishing position. Although he is not supposed to be counted on to provide big power numbers, Posey put a ball out to straight-away LF for the Giants' very first HR of the spring. That was on about his 4th swing. Later he put another one out to almost the same spot for the only 2 Giant HRs of the day. He was spraying line drives gap to gap from the moment he first stepped into the box.

Here is the newest member of the Giants' rotation, Randy Johnson. I arrived when the Giants were about 10 minutes into their preliminary stretching. A couple of minutes after I got there Randy decided to join his team and strolled out to the group. As he arrived, it doesn't look like the coach (Bill Hayes?) is real happy with him......but what are you going to do. A 45 year old superstar is going to do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it. In a good development, I was told that he has been pleasant in the clubhouse, even to non-player personnel.

Reporting Day for Pitchers and Catchers

Just a reminder since the Site Meter shows an awful lot of activity today and I don't want to waste people's time coming back here to see if anything new was posted. Today is only the day that the pitchers and catchers REPORT. There is no formal workout scheduled for today. They just issue equipment and take physicals. A few players will come out on the field and workout a little bit. But the Giants do not let fans in on reporting day.

So.....tomorrow will be the first day of actual photos and information relating to Spring Training practices. The photo to the left is from a couple of years back.

Once I start posting new photos, for those new to this blog........If you click on the photo, you will get a larger and more detailed photo. Feel free to download and use the photos. I only ask if you post them on another site that you give credit to this blog as the originator of the photo.

Rainy Day In Scottsdale

Well, the good news is I am in beautiful, sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. It is exactly 6 days until pitchers and catchers report and exactly a week from today will be the first workout. So we are that much closer to the return of baseball. Always a special time in my life….probably yours too, or why else would you be reading this?

The bad news is; that it is absolutely pouring here in Scottsdale. I arrived on Wednesday and the temperature upon touchdown at Sky Harbor Airport was 82 degrees. Then 80 on Thursday, 75 on Friday and 70 yesterday. It is predicted to be 63 today, then dropping all the way down to 59 by Tuesday. I know that is downright balmy to those of you from cold weather climates, but that is 11 degrees below average temperature for Phoenix at this time of year. Yes, it’s true. The average temperature in Phoenix, Arizona in February is 70. I don’t know what it is, but whenever I come here, I seem to inspire weather that is either 10 degrees higher than normal or 10 degrees lower than normal.

The really bad news is that I started to write this post to complain that rain was in the forecast for the first workout on the 15^th. Luckily, when I just checked accuweather.com, they have taken rain out of the forecast. Let’s just hope it stays that way. Over the past three days, rain has been in and out of the forecast for next Sunday several times. It’s always disappointing when you wait for something for so long and then it gets spoiled by the weather. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

The real question, rain or shine, is what kind of team will be showing up in Scottsdale when the Giants come to town (“it’s by, by baby”….sorry I couldn’t resist). The pitching is pretty well set. So we know who will be here on the 15^th. Is Lowry healthy and can he contribute? Can the Big Ugly hold it together for one more year and win 15 games or so? How about Jonathan Sanchez? Can he finally get over his inconsistency and be the force that his raw ability seems to suggest? Will Matt Cain finally get some run support and find the strike zone more consistently this year? The walks have just been killing him. Can Timmy Lincecum repeat or perhaps even improve on last year’s Cy Young season? How about the (hopefully) new and improved bullpen? Will Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry help the pen cut down on all the wins they cost the starting rotation in the 6^th through 8^th innings? Good questions all.

It is rumored that the Giants made an offer to Joe Crede. Can that guy stay healthy for just 1 year? Rich Aurillia has been offered a minor league contract with an invite to the Major League camp. I like Richie as a utility infielder and a little right handed pop off the bench. The question is can Bruce (I Love My Veterans) Bochy leave him on the bench, where he should be, or will he make him a starter the first time a youngster falters……as I would fully expect him to do? The Manny Ramirez rumors continue to circle around out there like a flock of buzzards. I love his bat, but boy would his defense kill our poor pitchers. You guys think Bonds was bad in his last couple of years. I don’t expect it to happen. The Dodgers will cave and give him the house.

How about our youngsters? Will they actually get playing time FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR this year? Can Fred Lewis continue his development with the bat and glove or was last year a fluke? Will Pablo Sandoval continue to be a stud with the bat and do an acceptable job on defense? Will the Giants find a position for him to play? Is this the year that Kevin Frandsen finds a place to play regularly. Will management give him a chance to show whether or not his Arizona Fall League performances were the exception or the norm? Can Giants management find a few at bats for Nate Schierholtz or will his ABs get taken by Dave Roberts?

As with the last few seasons, there are lots and lots of questions going into the spring. I am probably in the minority, in that I am a patient fan. I would like to see the Giants not make ANY of the rumored moves involving veteran position players. I like the pitching moves that the Giants have made and the Giants’ Minor League system is stacked with pitchers who are not quite ready but should be studs. BUT, I would just as soon play the young position players this season. It is time to see if Fred Lewis, Pablo Sandoval, Kevin Frandsen, Nate Schierholtz, Manny Burriss and Eugenio Velez can contribute as Major League players/starters. They aren’t getting any younger! If the likes of Roberts, Crede, Aurilia and Uribe take the at bats and innings away from our youngsters, we will still be guessing as to what they can do in the big leagues (or will lose them completely if removed from the 40 man roster). And the problem is, I know, deep down in my heart……..that if the veterans are on the roster………Bruce Bochy WILL play them. He can’t help himself. And that’s too bad, because the good teams have a young nucleus of starters and have grizzled veterans coming off the bench…..not the other way around.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the Giants are vastly superior to where they were at this time last year. I think they are maybe one year away from serious contention. But, absent acquiring a HUGE bat, I don’t see them having a real good chance of going to the top this year. Doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Doesn’t mean I am not hoping that everything clicks and the Giants win the division and go deep into the playoffs. Hope springs eternal in the spring. At least in baseball it does. But you can’t let hope cloud your judgment.

I think the wise move is to play all the youngsters so you can sort the wheat from the chaff. Make a final determination of who is and who isn’t starter and backup material. Then next off-season, you can cut loose the deadwood and have a real good idea of exactly the type of team you have. None of this “oh, we are going to play Sandoval at 3B, or 1B, or catcher depending on who we sign”. Then you can go out and fill the holes via trade or fee-agency…….but at least you will KNOW where the holes are. Right now, you really don’t know……and you didn’t last year…..or the year before……..or the year before….and you still won’t know next spring if all the playing time is taken up by washed up or even soon to be washed up veterans.

Well, I started out to write a 3 paragraph post about the weather, before I got up on my soapbox. But, what better is there to do on a rainy Sunday morning between both baseball and football season? I feel about the baseball season like that old Mervyn’s commercial………open, open, open, open……..

The Thrill is Back

The Giants announced today that Will Clark will be returning to the Giants as a "Special Assistant". I became a season ticket holder (partial) the year before Will and Robby Thompson came up from the minors. Both these players will always hold a special place in my heart. My son grew up idolizing Will. Will was his favorite Giant for years....still may be even though my son is now 30.

Welcome back Will..........LONG overdue. You never should have left. Now....Billy Neukom.....how about Robby????

Giants Press Release

How does this relate to Spring Training you may ask??? Well, one of his duties will be to attend Spring Training. It doesn't say in what capacity.......but hopefully it will be as "Attitude Coach". He would be just the guy to teach the new guys the old "Giant Attitude". Gotta love that Nuschler!!

You can bet there will be photos as soon as he shows up to Scottsdale Stadium.

Almost That Time Again

Well folks, it's almost that time of year again. 23 days until Giants pitchers and catchers report. Hard to believe isn't it? Each year seems to get shorter than the last.

I will be heading down to Scottsdale, Arizona on February 4th this year. Plenty early to get prepared for the "big day". After all.......I do need to acclimatize myself to those 75-80 degree days. You can't just go cold turkey from the cool windy climate of San Francisco to the warm desert weather. Just like in the past few years, I plan to attend most, if not all, of the Giants' practices and games for the duration of Spring Training. As in the past, I plan to post photos and narrative on each day's happenings.......at least until "burn out" sets in.

For those that don't know, Spring Training is A LOT longer this year than in past years. Even though the regular season is starting 6 days later than in 2008 (the latest start I can ever remember and I believe the latest in history)........the Giants first game in Arizona is on February 25th vs. the Indians.....3 days EARLIER than their first game in 2008. The Giants' schedule includes a total of 37 games in Arizona.......7 more than in 2008 and 21 home games..........6 more than in 2008. That's something like 6 more games than the Giants have EVER played in Cactus League competition. They claim the WBC Tournament is to blame.......but ever being the cynic, I think it is just a way to make more $$$$ without raising the ticket prices.

I am not sure how the Giants got away with scheduling 21 home games vs only 16 away games. Usually, it's pretty near 50-50. Not only that, but of the Giants 16 away games, 3 are split squad affairs where they are also playing a home game at the same time. So that means only 13 games to attend on the road. Good news for me, since I have season tickets for all the home games. Shorter drive........easier to find the time after the games to post here. All around win-win situation for me....except the additional cost of 4 more tickets to 6 more games.

Which leads into a short commercial interruption here. I have 2 tickets available to each of the home games from February 26th through March 7th and from March 29th through April 1st. They are 5 rows behind the 3B dugout, about as close as you can get to the action......face value $25 per ticket. If anyone is interested post a comment and we will work out a way to exchange e-mail addresses and get it done. End of commercial.

In other Spring Training news the Cactus League continues to grow. The Cleveland Indians are returning to the desert this year, to a brand new facility in Goodyear (SW Phoenix area). They used to play in Tucson when I first started coming to Spring Training, but moved to Florida about 15 years ago. Some of you will remember their old Spring Training site, Hi Corbett Field (where the Rockies now play), from the movie "Major League". The Dodgers (BOOOOOOOOO) are also coming to Arizona, for the first time, this year. Although they are not changing leagues, the Chicago White Sox are moving up to the Phoenix area from Tucson and will be sharing a field with the Dodgers in Glendale (W Phoenix area). Starting next year, the Cincinnati Reds will also be moving to the Cactus League and will be sharing the facility with the Indians in Goodyear.

When the Indians moved to Florida, the Cactus League was down to 6-7 teams. And of those teams, the Padres played in Yuma, Arizona and the Angels played in Palm Springs, California.......both VERY long road trips. Many predicted the collapse of the Cactus League in those days. Far from it. Now, there are 14 teams in Arizona and in 2010, there will be 15.........exactly the same number as there are in the Grapefruit League. What a change. Back in the day, we used to watch the Giants play the same teams 5-6-7 times in the spring. Now, the most they play any team is 4 times (Oakland) and they play most teams only twice.....even with the inflated 2009 spring schedule.

Well, enough of the history lesson. Suffice to say that I have seen many changes over the years.....mostly for the better.

That's about it for this post. I will probably post a few more times over the next couple of weeks, as I work on some technical things and as subjects come to mind. I won't be posting regularly until the first official workout of the pitchers and catchers on February 15th. I hope that most of you that I lost over the regular and off-seasons will tune back in for Spring Training 2009 - Youth Movement Phase II.