Lincecum Report – Start #3 - Review

Prediction:

IP: 5, K: 5, BB: 4, H: 6, ER: 4

“This game has young pitcher over-confidence and over-preparation written all over it. I think Lincecum fails to locate his pitches and ends up giving up a couple of big extra base hits. The Giants are going to lose and I don’t think it will be as close as most would predict”

Actual:

IP: 6, K: 11, BB: 1, H: 6, ER: 2

At least I got the hits right.

I could not have been more wrong about what happened yesterday. Lincecum pounded the strike zone and continued to be aggressive in the zone even after the Cardinals strung together 3 straight hits in the 3^rd inning. While he did leave a few pitches over the middle of the plate, the big extra base hit never arrived. To say my prediction was inaccurate would be an understatement.

Overall Thoughts:

First of all, LaRussa gave Lincecum and the Giants a gift by not starting Pujols. Their line-up was considerably weaker than normal and that favorably influenced Lincecum’s final strike out numbers. Of course, this should not be viewed as a knock on Lincecum because most of those guys are legitimate major league hitters and he cannot control the line-ups he faces.

To me, the biggest thing to take away from this game was the poise and confidence Lincecum showed on the mound. As I preach to anyone who will listen, throwing first pitch strikes is crucial to having a good start. Similar to my prediction, the first three innings proved my theory is not always valid. Here are the numbers Lincecum had posted when Righetti made his visit to the mound.

IP: 2.2, Total Pitches: 62, K: 5, BB: 1, ER: 2

Up to this point in the game, the Cardinals were hitting .500 when Lincecum started the batter off with a strike. In addition, the last three batters had all seen first pitch strikes and all three got a hits.

During the visit to the mound, Krukow made a very astute observation by saying the Cardinals were sitting on Lincecum’s first pitch fastball so he needed to mix in something different. While I would normally agree with Krukow, it doesn’t hold water when you are talking about Lincecum and his start to the season. Lincecum does not have enough control of his change-up or curveball to throw it for a strike with any kind of consistency. Taking this fact into account and the fact that batters are hitting a combined .174 when Lincecum starts them out with a strike, the overwhelming odds suggest that he should start the next hitter off with a first pitch fastball.

So what happened …

First pitch fastball right down the middle of the plate for a strike (as the hitter was probably looking for something off speed after seeing the visit to the mound) and an eventual swinging strike out to end the inning. Despite giving up three consecutive hits, Lincecum remained confident in his best pitch (the fastball) and got out of the inning.

Grading His Performance:

As I mentioned above, Lincecum got knocked around in the first three innings and he looked destined to be out of the game by the end of the 5^th. However, in his last three innings, he faced 10 hitters and struck out 5 of them. Most young pitchers would have lost conviction in their stuff and struggled to get through another inning. Lincecum did the exact opposite by dominating the Cardinals in the 4^th, 5^th and 6th.

Grade: A-

(Honestly, I think Lincecum is even better than I thought he was. The fact that there are quite a few people calling for him to be traded so we can get some prospects is ridiculous. Out of all the pitchers under the age of 24, I think the Giants might have the best one)

Three Things to Remember:

* The 1^st Pitch:
Here are Lincecum’s first pitch stats from yesterday’s game:
(He threw a first pitch strike to 17 of the 24 batters he faced – 70.8%)

First Pitch Strike:
* Batting Average: .313
* Walks: 0
* Strike outs: 5
* On-base percentage: .313

For the Season:
* First Strike %: 62.3
* Batting Average: .231
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 11
* On-base percentage: .279

First Pitch Ball:
* Batting Average: .200
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 6
* On-base percentage: .500

For the Season:
* Batting Average: .400
* Walks: 4
* Strike outs: 11
* On-base percentage: .500

A rough game for the first pitch strike theory but it is going to happen once in awhile

* Duncan, Pujols and Ankiel:
Duncan: 2 for 3 with a double
Pujols: Did not face Lincecum
Ankiel: 1 for 3 with a double and a RBI

This game would have been real interesting if Pujols was started. Lucky break for the Giants and Lincecum

* Location:
Even though he struck out 11 and walked only one, his location was not great and the evidence is the fact that he gave up an average of a hit an inning. It is obvious that Lincecum still struggles to control the considerable movement he has on his pitches. For now, he is going to leave a couple fastballs over the middle of the plate in each of his starts. As long as he doesn’t throw them to the wrong hitter, he will continue to post impressive numbers.

Interesting Moment from Yesterday’s Game:

I have watched 4 Giants games broadcast by the Giants television crew (sometimes Extra Innings gives you the other team’s broadcast team) and Krukow has only acknowledged this Amy person once. At what point are the Giants going to start to realize that sideline reporters in baseball are worthless unless they are named Peter Gammons.

Here are the three major reasons they don’t work:

1) Unless they are a former ball player (except for Peter Gammons), the broadcast team doesn’t respect them and it is obvious when you watch the broadcast.

2) What can they possibly add that the broadcast team cannot!?

3) Who in their right mind doesn’t want to turn off the TV and listen to John Miller on the radio when a soccer Mom (not in the good way) from Mill Valley comes on to talk about how much fun the party patio is?

It is only a matter of time until either Kruk or Kuip forgets to turnoff their mic and says something completely degrading about Amy on the air. Is it worth losing Kruk or Kuip over Amy?

I didn’t think so......

Until next time

Lincecum Report – Start #3 - Preview

Last Start:

Despite not being very economical with his pitches and only throwing 53.8% first pitch strikes, Lincecum was fantastic in his last start. It is hard to complain about 7 Ks to only 1 walk. What I enjoyed most about the last start was his ability to dominate an opponent he should control every time he takes the hill. Everyone is familiar with the concept of “playing down to your opponent” – well Lincecum did not fall into that trap and it was nice to see.

Stat line (for the last game):
IP: 6, K: 7, BB: 1, H: 7, ER: 1

Stat line (for the season):
IP: 10, K: 11, BB: 5, H: 11, ER: 2, ERA: 1.80

Pitching Psychology:

Lincecum has been charting pitches for the last three games and he is well aware that the Cardinals have struggled to score runs in the first 4 innings (1 run total in the first three games of the series). This fact and the last two starts have to give him a lot of confidence going into this start. I have to believe that Lincecum may come into this game with the most confidence he will have all season.

Opponent Overview:

The Cardinals have had a really nice start to their season. They have won in a variety of ways including being no hit for six innings and end up winning the game 8-7 in the game yesterday. The biggest surprise has been their starting pitching which was considered pathetic by most as the season started but they have been better than good. As for their offense – as all Giants fans know – if you have one dominant hitter in the middle of your lineup, you can easily disguise the shortcomings of the rest of the starting nine. Pulols has been his normal self - hitting .390 to start the season with 3 home runs. Now if the rest of the line-up gets it together (especially Ankiel, Glaus and Duncan), the Cardinals could be a serious contender come August.

Three Things to Remember:

The 1^st Pitch:
Lincecum will have to have a better first pitch percentage than he had against the Padres if he wants to post numbers similar against the Cardinals.

Duncan, Pujols and Ankiel:
I fully expect this to be the 2, 3 and 4 hitters for the Cardinals today and all three of these guys are serious threats to hit a home run every time they step to the plate. If Lincecum is able to keep the bases empty when facing any and all of these guys he should be in good shape. However, if he finds himself in the stretch with this part of the line-up coming to the plate, it could be a long day.

Location:
While locating your pitches is always important, it’s importance is magnified when you are facing a good fastball hitting team. If Lincecum is all over the place with his pitches early, he will be more susceptible to leaving a ball over the middle of plate to the wrong hitter.

Prediction:

This game has young pitcher over-confidence and over-preparation written all over it. I think Lincecum fails to locate his pitches and ends up giving up a couple of big extra base hits. The Giants are going to lose and I don’t think it will be as close as most would predict.

Final Score:
Cardinals 7 - Giants 2

Lincecum’s Stat Line:
IP: 5, K: 5, BB: 4, H: 6, ER: 4

Lincecum Report – Start #2 - Review

Prediction:

IP: 7, K: 7, BB: 2, H: 3, ER: 1

“I think the Giants win tonight. Lincecum will be coming into the game with some confidence and he will keep it close by holding the Padres offense in check. If the Giants realize they can still win the game by the seventh, they will find a way to scrape together enough runs for the team to be successful.”

Actual:

IP: 6, K: 7, BB: 1, H: 7, ER: 1

I think the Giants win tonight. Lincecum will be coming into the game with some confidence and he will keep it close by holding the Padres offense in check. If the Giants realize they can still win the game by the seventh, they will find a way to scrape together enough runs for the team to be successful.

(Ok, a home run in the bottom of the 11^th is not exactly scraping together a run but I would say my prediction was pretty much spot on)

Overall Thoughts:

Last night’s game is about as good as it is going to get this year. A near dominant pitching performance from one of our starters and it takes a couple solo home runs to get the win because the idea of manufacturing a run is about as foreign as building a winning team through the draft for the Giants. As with any victory by a Bay Area team I can find something horribly wrong with the game so here are my quick hitters in bullet points:

* If a major league outfielder has a ball bounce of his glove and he (A) did not dive to make the catch (B) did not run into a wall or another player and (C) did not fall down after almost making the catch – there is NO way that the play can be ruled a hit. (It is amazing to me that Tim Lincecum cannot get a break from his home official score keeper)

* Let me get this straight - we are playing Ortmeier out of position so Aurilla can hit .160? Makes sense to me.

* If the Giants had 4 outs to their opponents 3, the Giants would still not win 80 games this year. So why in the world would you have your number 3 hitter (also known as the biggest free agent acquisition of the off-season) bunt with two guys on a no outs!? The reason is obvious. The secret internal memo from MacBaer (the new name for the double headed monster known as Peter Macgowan and Larry Baer) should clear up any confusion …

Dear Manager Bochy,

When Tim Lincecum is pitching you need to play the game like it is the seventh game of the World Series because he is our only hope of having a sell out after May. If you fail to play with this level of urgency, we will black mail you into quitting.

Truly yours,

MacBaer

Personally, I thought is was against the collective bargaining agreement to bunt a 3 hitter before June but this year’s Giants team is going to blaze many new trails for pathetic organizations to follow for years to come.

Grading His Performance:

Instead of saying everything he did right, I am going to focus on the negative.

* He needs to be more economical about his pitches

* There is no reason any pitcher should ever get to a two ball count against Lincecum let alone a full count.

* That’s it

Grade: A-

(If you start the game, you have to go at least 7 innings to get an A)

Three Things to Remember:

* The 1^st Pitch

Here are Lincecum’s first pitch stats from last night’s game:

(He threw a first pitch strike to 14 of the 26 batters he faced – 53.8%)

First Pitch Strike
* Batting Average: .214
* Walks: 0
* Strike outs: 4
* On-base percentage: .286

For the Season
* First Strike %: 57.8
* Batting Average: .174
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 6
* On-base percentage: .269

First Pitch Ball
* Batting Average: .400
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 3
* On-base percentage: .500

For the Season:
* Batting Average: .467
* Walks: 3
* Strike outs: 5
* On-base percentage: .579

First pitch seems to be working pretty well at this point

* Start Down, Stay Down
The Giants started with a lead so they gave themselves a chance to win. Nice to see

* Pedro Martinez
Easily my favorite part of the game was when Lincecum hit Jim Edmunds. It was not exactly the best time to do it (with two runners on and no outs) but it was nice to see. The more he does it, the more batters are going to be afraid to dig in against him. Lets see if he continues to work a little too far inside as the season goes on.

Interesting Moment from Yesterday’s Game

To me, the most interesting part of the game was when a tall, lankey right handed Dominican pitcher came out of the bullpen to hold a one run lead and that pitcher was wearing the number 47. I almost had a heart attack! Of course, Valdez did a nice job and the Padres failed to score in the 7^th.

However, my reaction got me thinking. Why don’t teams retire numbers that bring back such bad memories? If you are a true Giants fan, you have to cringe when you see the number 47 come out of the bullpen. There is no reason to bring back memories of the 2002 World Series and countless other blown opportunities by Felix Rodriguez. Will someone in the Giants organization please give Merkin a new number!? I think the die hard fans deserve it (especially given the fact that we are going to stay loyal throughout this season)

Until next time

Lincecum Report – Preview Start #2 (actually #1)

Last Start

To say his last start (relief appearance) was unconventional – would be an understatement. I would like to know how many starting pitchers have made their season debut by starting the 4^th inning of the game they were supposed to start. If I was to take a guess, I would say nobody.

As for the performance, he did an adequate job staying ahead of hitters which led to the Giants only victory of the season. Besides throwing first pitch strikes, he also mixed in enough first pitch strikes to keep the Dodgers from sitting on his fastball (which is hard to do even when you know it is coming). As I said in my review, I think he did an outstanding job.

Stat line (for the last game):
IP: 4, K: 4, BB: 4, H: 4, ER: 1

Stat line (for the season):
IP: 4, K: 4, BB: 4, H: 4, ER: 1

Pitching Psychology

As expected, the Giants are awful. They have played three good teams not great teams and they have lost every game except for Lincecum’s one appearance. While the team is bad, Lincecum’s confidence has to be high as it is now obvious that he will be one of the few bright spots for the 2008 Giants. Pitchers at any level feed off of being the ace of the staff and Major league pitchers are no different. Lincecum should be coming into this start with the confidence of an ace and the desire to get the first home win of the season. This frame of mind can only help the Giants in tonight’s game.

Opponent Overview

The Padres come into tonight’s game with a 5-3 record. No matter who is pitching, the rest of the NL West knows that they should win every series they play against the Giants. Tonight should be no different as they have a solid veteran starter in Randy Wolf going and the mental edge over the Giants (save Lincecum). However, the Padres line-up is less than menacing and should be considered their Achilles heal when it comes to their chances of winning the NL West. Lincecum should be able to keep the Giants within striking distance as the game moves into the later innings.

Three Things to Remember

The 1^st Pitch
I am not sure when this point will be removed from the list of things to remember but I can promise you that it will not be in April. Lincecum needs to continue what he started in his last appearance by starting hitters off with strikes. His stuff is too good to do anything but pound the strike zone.

Start Down, Stay Down
When you pitch for a bad team, you need to keep the game close from the beginning. The Giants are incapable of coming back from multi-run deficits for two reasons:

(1) Once the Giants get down by 2 or more in the early innings, the entire team (and fans if they are at home) start the “here we go again” chant and the team is in a defeatist mindset before they even step up to the plate

(2) The Giants need at least three hits to score a run as nobody is a real threat to hit a home run.

If Lincecum gives up a couple of runs in the first three innings, you might as well pull out that book you always wanted to read because the game is over.

Pedro Martinez
Another logical step for Lincecum is turning into an intimidator. The more he backs hitters off the plate, the more dominant he will become. Pedro Martinez set the standard for this style of pitching for guys weighing less than 160 pounds and Lincecum should follow his lead.

Prediction

I think the Giants win tonight. Lincecum will be coming into the game with some confidence and he will keep it close by holding the Padres offense in check. If the Giants realize they can still win the game by the seventh, they will find a way to scrape together enough runs for the team to be successful.

Final Score:
Padres 3 - Giants 4

Lincecum’s Stat Line
IP: 7, K: 7, BB: 2, H: 3, ER: 1

Lincecum Report – Start #1 - Review

Prediction:

IP: 6, K: 6, BB: 3, H: 5, ER: 4

“TL is going to come out of the gates pressing and over throwing which will result in too many Dodger runs for the Giants to overcome. The final score will match opening day 5-0 Dodgers.”

Result:

IP: 4, K: 4, BB: 4, H: 4, ER: 1

All things considered (a rain delay in Los Angeles, TL not starting the game, etc..), I made a decent prediction of his performance. He did seem to overthrow at times but he was really sharp when he needed to be which resulted in a win for him and the Giants.

Overall Thoughts:

There is nothing quite as stupid as not starting a guy because of the weather report. Lincecum and Billingsley had been preparing for this start for 6 weeks and then they get yanked because of weather!? If it is not raining at the start of the game, then the guy slated to start the game should. If it is raining and you decide to pull him, then he should start the next game and not come out of the bullpen. However, this mistake--which was a mistake no matter what the outcome was--was not Bruce Bochy’s. Larry Baer and Peter McGowen told Bochy the following in the third inning “We need to win this game or we will not sell out opening day so get Lincecum in the game ASAP”. What a joke.

Grading His Performance:

That being said, Tim Lincecum was awesome last night. I promise you that most starting pitchers in this league would have refused to go into an April game in the 4^th inning. (Can you imagine what would have happened if this situation occurred with Zito as the starter!? His head would have exploded). Not only did Lincecum go out there, he pitched well enough to win AND even stayed in the game after the rain delay. His numbers were good (not great) but he found his out pitch when he needed it and that is all you could have asked for given the circumstances. The bases loaded strike out of Martin was especially impressive.

Grade: A

Three Things to Remember:

* The 1^st Pitch
Here are Lincecum’s first pitch stats from last night’s game:

(He threw a first pitch strike to 12 of the 19 batters he faced – 63.2%)

When Lincecum threw a first pitch strike
* Batting Average: .111 or 1 for 9
* Walks: 2
* Sacrifice: 1
* Strike outs: 2
* On-base percentage: .273 or 3 for 11

When Lincecum threw a first pitch ball
* Batting Average: .600 or 3 for 5
* Walks: 2
* Strike outs: 2
* On-base percentage: .714 or 5 for 7

No further explanation needed

* Batting Practice Fastball
One of the “problems” Lincecum has is that he throws his two-seam fastball (usually a pitch used to generate movement and not speed) 95 mph. Most power pitchers throw a four-seam fastball for speed and a two-seam fastball for movement and to change speeds. Since Lincecum uses the two-seam fastball for both speed and movement, he doesn’t have a change of pace fastball. He will acquire one at some point but I would not expect it this year

* Holding Runners
He gets a pass on this one because the runners that did get on were really no threat to steal a base.

Interesting Moment from Yesterday’s Game:
When it was discovered that Lincecum and Billingsley were pulled because of weather, Krukow made the following comment:

“You know these two teams did not make a deal before the game to pull both starting pitchers because these two teams never make deals*”

Hmmmm …

I guess he's right besides the fact that these two teams made the biggest deal in sports history when the Giants agreed to move west with the Dodgers in 1958.

Furthermore …

Later on in the telecast, Larry Baer came on and said that the Dodgers president called him before the game to tell them that there was a chance the game might get rained out.

In plain English this comment means – “we talked to the Dodgers and agreed to not start Lincecum if they agreed to not start Billingsley”

But these teams never make deals so I am sure that didn’t happen.

Until next time

* This quote is far from being word for word but you get the point.

Lincecum Report – Start #1

Welcome to the first installment of the Lincecum Report. Since the Giants are going to have a dismal season, I have decided to focus on one of the bright spots--Tim Lincecum. I will be watching or listening to each one of his starts this season and I will be writing a preparation report before each start so you know what to look for and a recap report that reviews how he did and how he is progressing through the season. Without further ado, here is the first report:

Last Start

(In this section, I will recap Lincecum's last start. A revolutionary title if I do say so myself)

Do you remember his last start? Neither do I. While the Giants front office has made a lot of mistakes, they did get one thing right, and that was shutting down TL at the end of last season. 146 innings was plenty and there was no reason to waste him on a bunch of September call-ups. Needless to say, TL should be fresh for this season.

Pitching Psychology

(In this section, I will give you a glimpse into what a pitcher is thinking before the start)

The first start of the season is always a big one especially for a pitcher who wants to take the next step in his career. The unfortunate thing for TL is that he knows the Giants are a bad offensive team. TL is all too aware of the fact that if he gives up 4 runs he loses. Pitching under those pretenses is difficult for anybody but it can be devastating to a young pitcher’s confidence. He cannot let a few early runs change his game plan or outlook as the game goes on. Of course, this is easier said than done and I am interested to see how his lack of run support affects him as the season moves into June and July.

(How is it possible that we have not read anything about how much the starting pitchers are going to hate the position players by the middle of the season!? The Giants may require two different airplanes to shuttle them around the country by July because of the rift between the two groups.)

Three Things to Remember

(In this section, I will give you three things to remember while watching the game)

* The 1^st Pitch
The first pitch to a batter is the most important pitch of the at bat unless your name is Greg Maddox. TL needs to throw first pitch strikes to be successful.

* Batting Practice Fastball
TL doesn’t throw one and that is a problem. He needs to learn the art of throwing an 86 mph fastball that gets batters of balance and results in ground outs to the short stop. It might take TL two years to learn this strategy but it is worth mentioning at the start of the season. Throwing 96 is awesome but doing it on every pitch is not ideal for both his potential success and his long term durability.

* Holding Runners
Torre is going to test TL and Molina every time he has the opportunity. TL needs to do a better job of holding runners on base or he could be in for a long night (a long season for that matter)

Prediction

(In this section, I will give you my prediction for the start)

TL is going to come out of the gates pressing and over throwing which will result in too many Dodger runs for the Giants to overcome. The final score will match opening day 5-0 Dodgers.

Lincecum’s line:

IP: 6, K: 6, BB: 3, H: 5, ER: 4

Glimpse into the Warriors-Lakers Crystal Ball

After last night’s tough loss, I decided to get in my DeLorean and go for a spin down 5th Ave. Amazingly I ended up back in the future at a Warriors-Lakers game in April 2012. I transcribed the conversation I had with my fellow season ticket holder and most loyal Warrior fan on the planet – Dr. Strosberg.

Enjoy

April 2012 – Oakland Arena – 2nd Quarter – Lakers going for their 77th which would break the single season win mark set by the Bulls in 1997-98.

Dr. Strosberg (DS): “Glad to see you got away from that crazy screaming kid of yours for the night”

RT (RT): “Hey, that’s my little bundle of joy you are talking about!”

DS: “Those are your words”

RT: “Touché”

DS: “Anyways, do remember that crazy back to back series we had with the Lakers in March 2008?”

RT: “Do I remember!? Of course I remember the last time we came within 15 points of the Lakers. What kind of question is that!?”

DS: “You know me, I like to focus on the positive. I just felt like we had so much potential back then. I mean Baron, Monta and Captain Jack were the best scoring trio in the league and every team in the league knew they were in for a battle when they played us”

RT: “I have to admit I miss those days myself. I wish I hadn’t spent all that time bitching about how the most complacent basketball player in the history of the league (Odom) who has never played hard twice in one week--let alone on back to back nights--grabbed 21 rebounds and 22 rebounds on consecutive nights.”

DS: “Our inside game had been non-existent for 8 years and those games just highlighted the weakness. However, if it wasn’t for that terrible call at the end, we would have had a chance to win.”

RT: “While I can’t argue that it wasn’t a horrible call, it didn’t really matter in the bigger picture. We blew plenty of chances to put them away and we couldn’t rebound the basketball.”

DS: “I remember thinking we might be in trouble when they get Gasol or Bynum back”

RT: “Trouble is an understatement. We have lost by an average of 32 points in the last 6 games at Staples and 22 here at Oracle. At least Mullin was savvy enough to convince that free-spending Cohan to use the trade exception to get some help for our big three”

DS & RT: Laughing uncontrollably

RT: “In all seriousness, I thought failing to make the playoffs for 13 years was bad but I think this situation might be worse. We finish 8th or 9th every year so we can either get slaughtered by the Lakers in the first round - three sweeps in four years is getting a little old – or draft a big man hoping we can find the next Andrew Bynum.”

DS: “It sure would have been nice if we would have taken the first Andrew Bynum. However, I am not going to be negative going to the playoffs is still fun.”

RT: “True but I cannot help but think the best we ever had it against the Lakers in the last 5 years was a two game stretch in March when they had two of their top 4 players hurt.”

DS: “Regardless of what happened, that was the best Warriors team of our lifetime. They played hard, they were well coached and their unpredictable style made every game worth watching”

RT: “Again, I wish I wouldn’t have been so negative - especially knowing that Baron would break down the next season. I guess I just wanted to see that team go for the championship. With a presence down low, we still could have given any team a run for their money in the playoffs. Maybe I should have started drinking the Chris Cohan koolaid that year.”

DS: “What’s the Chris Cohan Koolaid?”

RT: “You know – the stuff that fooled Warriors fans into thinking that the Derek Fisher call was the reason we lost and going to the playoffs is good enough and that paying a premium for season tickets while the team fails to increase the payroll is fine.”

DS: “Ahhh that koolaid. Looks like it is starting to wear off given the fact that we are the only Warriors fans in the building tonight and this is the first sell out since the last Lakers games.”

RT: (Sarcastically) “Yeah, that Mark Cuban is crazy for spending all that money on his team. His franchise has tripled in value. He doesn’t know anything about sports business.”

DS: “No matter what I will keep coming. Anyways, enough about basketball, what do you think about the US Open this year?

RT: “All I know is that Tiger will be ready to play. He is not happy about failing to win his 5th straight green jacket.”

DS: “I always wondered what size the jacket was that the winner got to wear after winning the tournament? Is it just automatically sized for Tiger?”

RT: “It is so it was a little small on me. However, I got the jacket tailored on Monday that week so it fits perfectly now.”

DS: “Well, good luck at the Open”

RT: “Thanks”

Just in case you were wondering, the Warriors lost by only 10 that night. I started chanting MVP when Monta went to the line. Of course, I got booed by the Lakers fans so I sat down. I felt like an A’s fan from 2008 during a Red Sox game.