Panda gets first career Splash Hit

[Upton]

It was Pablo's 16th HR of the year but this one meant a little more. Not only was it part of a demonstration aimed at Phillie manager Charlie Manuel, but it was his first career "Splash Hit."

Sandoval picked a fitting evening to reach McCovey Cove, since this was the 50th anniversary of the ML debut of the man who gave the Cove its name. McCovey himself was in the broadcast booth watching as the Panda homered, telling Giants' broadcasters Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow that Pablo was "his favorite player."

Sandoval said that he has tapped the wisdom of McCovey, who attends nearly every Giants home game, and frequently visits the clubhouse.

"He taught me a lot of things about hitting," Sandoval said.... "Every time he's here we talk a little bit."

An interesting note...The final score of McCovey's debut game?... Giants 7, Phillies 2.

[trumad]

1. In 2014 it will be reported that he did Roids in 2009.

[Onceuponalife]

2. No one cares

They don't even count all the visiting splash hits. Down with nepotism.

[Upton]

3. The Splash Hit counter is unique to AT&T Park

it's for the benefit and enjoyment of Giants' fans...why should the number of splash hits by opposing players be displayed?

[madinmaryland]

4. Funny, but I see an asterisk after the "40".

[El Supremo]

9. Here you go >>

And here are the splash hits from the opposing teams:

18 Brian Giles, SD 8/24/08
17 Prince Fielder, MIL 7/19/08
16 Lance Berkman, HOU 5/15/08
15 Adam LaRoche, PIT 8/11/07
14 Carlos Delgado, NYM 5/9/07
13 Carlos Delgado, NYM 4/26/06
12 Cliff Floyd, NYM 4/25/06
11 Carlos Delgado, FLA 7/23/05
10 Larry Walker, STL 7/8/05
9 Russell Branyan, MIL 4/23/05
8 Cliff Floyd, NYM 8/21/04
7 Corey Patterson, CHC 8/7/04
6 Hee Seop Choi, FLA 4/30/04
5 Ryan Klesko, SD 4/9/03
4 Luis Gonzalez, AZ 5/30/02
3 Mark Grace, AZ 5/28/01
2 Luis Gonzalez, AZ 9/23/00
1 Todd Hundley, LA 6/30/00

If you take away Barroid Bonds' 34 then the Frisco Small Men actually have less than their opponents.

[inthebrain]

7. What a lame stat to keep track of like that

The Red Sox have the Green Monster and they don't post outside the park how many balls are hit over it.

Stupid.

[madinmaryland]

8. Actually, the Orioles mark the spots where home runs have landed on Eutaw street.

That's the street in front of the warehouse buildings.

I imagine there are a few asterisks on those markers, also.

[Onceuponalife]

14. It says "splash hits"

Not "Giants splash hits--all others need not apply".

I like the asterisk thing. There definitely should be asterisks all over that park. And a big one on home plate.

[Upton]

16. Look who's talking

a fan of a team that had their star player suspended for 50 games..but still he cheers for the cheater and the team.

You're such a a big time hypocrite, I think you deserve an asterisk: Onceuponalife*

[El Supremo]

5. Here is my "Splash Hit" for ya:

[Upton]

10. Is that another pic from the Rockies game?

I didn't know you were into that kind of thing.

It must have been rough on you this past week...watching your beloved Rockies lose 3 of 4 to the Mets, getting shutout twice, and falling out of the Wild Card lead.

[madinmaryland]

6. Panda prefers laying next to his brother...

:shrug:

[Upton]

11. I'll assume Panda's the one on the right

doesn't look like he has much power.

[madinmaryland]

12. Yeah. Panda is kind of a wimp. The five pound cat (not pictured)

pushed him off of our third floor deck a couple of years ago.

[Yavin4]

13. If Sandoval Keeps Eating...

He'll be the first ever ML player to play both 3rd and SS at the same time.

[inthebrain]

15. He looks like a juicer to me

he has tits.

[Upton]

17. You're not very good at recognizing a juicer

case in point..the following has raised eyebrows throughout baseball, but you continue to ignore it..

David Wright HRs

2005-27

2006-26

2007-30

2008-33

2009-7 Little Davey is currently on pace to finish with 11 HRs in 2009

[madinmaryland]

18. If anyone would know what qualifies as a juicer it would be the Frisco Kid.

[inthebrain]

19. And the fact that Pablo has suspiscously grown a pair of tits

since spring training. One of the hallmark signs of steroid abuse.

[Upton]

20. Here's Pablo during spring training

looks the same to me..Meanwhile, Wright's numbers speak for themselves...

[inthebrain]

21. Here's one before Spring Training

No compare that to titty boy now;



Look at those tits and the 15-20 lbs he's put on.

[Upton]

23. I think you're imagining things

or more likely you hope to deflect attention away from Little Davey. When Sandoval suddenly exhibits a power outage or rise equivalent to Wright's, then you may have something to discuss..

Until then, based on the mysterious numbers, it is my contention that Little Davey was very likely using PEDs up until this year.

[inthebrain]

24. Would you like to compare body types between Ortiz and Sandoval?

Look at the fat distribution and the fact that they both have tits. Not to mention oily skin complexion.





Even the jowels.

I got news for you.

STEROIDS!!!!

[Upton]

25. I've got a better idea

how about we compare the body types of one known and one suspected NY roider. And then there are those suspicious numbers: 27,26,30,33, 7

[inthebrain]

26. Yaah, Arod has man tits whereas Wright does not

You're denying that even given the simialar body types, truncal Obesity and moon face, not to mention how Sandovals power numbers are completely at odds with his projections, that there's no suspiscioun of Roid use by Sandoval.

Then again, you also deny Bonds Steroid use and look.



His Moon face and tities are simialr to Sandoval's and Ortiz.

[Upton]

27. Continue the deflection

it won't work.. I'm going to continue posting Wright's suspicious numbers, something you've been unable to explain..

27, 26, 30, 33, 7

[inthebrain]

28. Typical Republican Response "Accuse other of what you yourself are guilty of"

But hey, don't take my word for it. Take Chipper Jones';

Chipper Jones Hates CitiField, David Wright Nods in Agreement

It's no secret that Chipper Jones loved hitting at the Mets old digs, even going so far to name his (unlucky) kid "Shea". Clever! No wonder, he slugged 19 tater tots at Shea Stadium, more than any other non-Atlanta park. Still, Chipper obviously never actually sat in the stands or tried to park anywhere except the players lot. That place was a dump!

Here's what our old pal Chipper Jones had to say about the Mets new joint, CitiField, during an interview on Sirius/XM Radio's Ripken Baseball program:

"It is the biggest park that I have ever played in in my life. It is a huge ballpark to center and right center and right field. You know, I actually feel sort of sorry for some of the guys out there because their power numbers are really going to take a hit; guys like David Wright, Beltran, Delgado. The days of them hitting 35, 40 homers -- they're over."

"(Last month during the Braves-Mets series) I juiced the ball just right of center field as hard as the good Lord can let me hit a ball, and it hit midways up the center-field wall for a double. And every time there was a long fly out or a double that hit off the wall or something, David Wright would run by me and go, 'Nice park.'"

First of all, Chipper, the good Lord isn't helping you hit the ball that far, that's done with the help of Jobu. But he's right about David Wright struggling at the new digs. NY Sports Dog dug up the stats, and it turns out the splits are quite telling. David's having a great year, ranking second in the National League in on-base percentage but he's hitting .271 with a .785 OPS at home against .413 with a 1.090 OPS on the road. He's slugging just .427 at home with only eight extra base hits as opposed to .567 with 14 extra base hits on the road.

Shea Stadium used to play as a pitchers park too, yet Wright slugged .555 there in his career and OPS'ed .958. There's just something about CitiField that leaves a bad taste in David Wright's mouth. Maybe he just needs to try the pork tacos.
http://www.walkoffwalk.com/2009/06/chipper-jones-hates-citifield.html


You've just been pwned.

[Upton]

29. Does your Citi Field excuse explain

why Wright only has 3 HRs in 50 road games?

27, 26, 30, 33, 7

[inthebrain]

30. Yup, last season Wight had 21 HRs at Shea and 12 on the road

PWNED!!!

Again.

No please explain why Sandoval was never projected as a guy to put up power numbers and why his physique is simialar to that of Ortiz, Bonds and Manny.

STEROIDS!!!!

[Upton]

31. I don't think so

David Wright road HRs

2005-15

2006-14

2007-14

2008-12

2009-3

Actually, if nothing else, these numbers bolster my argument that Little Davey was getting a little "help" previous to this year.

[inthebrain]

32. Nope, it shows a trend

You are also using partial evidence to make your claim.

In your arguemnt here it's that the Steroids worked at Shea and didn't work on the road.

You're busted.

Case closed.

Point set match.

[Upton]

33. What the numbers show

is that Wright's HR totals are down not only at home, but on the road too. Thereby completely invalidating what has been your main argument...Citi Field.

15, 14, 14, 12, 3


It's game, set and match all right...only for me.

[inthebrain]

34. They show that they've been dropping consisistently for the past 5 seasons

Wanna explain how the roids work at home and don't work on the road? Is there some kind of roid switch we don't know about?

I have offered piled of positive evidence that all converge on a single point to explain the drop in HR totals by Wright.

You can't offer an explanation why Chubby, who was never projected as a power hitter is all of a sudden putting up big power numbers. Nor can you explain why his physique is very simialar to that of Ortiz and Ramirez.



Wanna know why? The answer is simple.....STEROIDS!!!!

Your avoidance of that is confirmation of the obvious. You know it too. And when the news gets out you'll adamantly deny it like you did with Barroid.

[Upton]

35. Wrong again..

previous to 2009, Wright's road HR total had NOT been dropping consistently, unless you want to call a 3 HR drop in 4 years (an average of less than a HR a year) consistent.

Here are the facts..

From 2005-2008 Wright hit 55 HRs on the road, an average of 13.75 per year...in 2009 after 102 games he has but 3.

Lets continue...

From 2005-2008 Wright hit 61 HRs at home, an average of 15.25 per year...in 2009 after 102 games he has only 4.


Your excuses just aren't cutting it. Wright is either coming off the juice or he's on the downside of his career. The suddenness of the power outage makes me think it's the juice but either way, Little Davey is no longer the player he once was.

[inthebrain]

36. MOP UP YOU"RE OWN MESS!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The season is not over yet.

Again, there are more reasons than just the ballpark.

My evidence converges on a single point. You are all over the map now arguing against your own evidence.

[Upton]

37. "more reasons than just the ballpark"

I'm glad to see you now admit that was BS, not much more you can do in the face of the previous numbers, and the rest of your so called "evidence" consists of nothing but the same old injury excuses. :nopity:

[inthebrain]

38. That's right there is why you are the punching bag of the board.

Break out the tin foil hat.

Have fun defending chubby's steroid use like you do Bonds. It's only a matter of time.

[Upton]

39. Lets go over those numbers one more time

since apparently you are suffering from some sort of memory lapse. I hesitate to speculate as to why..

David Wright

HRs hit on the road

2005-2008-13.75 avg

2009 (after 52 road games)-3


HRs hit at home

2005-2008-15.25 avg.

2009 (after 50 home games)-4



Now, until you can reasonably explain the discrepancy or Wright has a big time late season power surge, the topic remains a valid one. A quick search reveals I'm far from alone in asking questions.

[inthebrain]

22. Chubby's numbers in the minors look suspiscious to me as well;

Pablo Sandoval was signed by the Giants out of Venezuela in 2002. He spent 2003 in the Dominican Summer League, then moved to the Arizona Rookie League in 2004 and hit .266/.287/.373 in 46 games. Not great offensive production. Indeed, at this point Sandoval's defense was the thing that drew good reviews. I put him in the 2005 book and gave him a Grade C, noting the strong defensive reports but wondering about the bat.

Sandoval hit .330/.383/.425 for Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League in 2005. The Giants moved him to third base, where he showed a strong arm but needed a lot of polish charging balls and such. Scouts were impressed with the bat, and I liked his low strikeout rate (33 Ks in 294 at-bats), liking the bat enough that I gave him an aggressive B- in the 2006 book.

2006 was an odd year. He hit jjust .265/.309/.322 for Augusta in the Sally League, with significant slippage in his plate discipline and no power. He played first base and third base, but without showing enough offense for either position. I left him out of the 2007 book, but would rate him a Grade C prospect, looking like he might get lost in the shuffle, though he was still just 19.

He recovered some stock value in 2007, hitting .287/.312/.476 for San Jose in the Cal League and moving back to catcher. Arm strength remained an asset, but problems with footwork and polish were present, granted moving positions didn't help him gain consistency. His walk rate was quite low, just 16 walks in 401 at-bats, but the strikeouts weren't out of bounds at 52 and the better power production was notable. I gave him a Grade C in the book this year, writing that the bat was intriguing but that I wasn't sure where he would fit defensively.

Sandoval has been terrific this year: .359/.412/.597 in the California League, .337/.364/.549 in the Eastern League, .349/.366/.500 for the Giants. Given his age, I think this improvement is mostly for real, although I don't think the .349 average will be sustainable over a full season. But I think he can hit .280-.300, with at least moderate power. Defensively, he's spent time at first base, catcher, and third base for the Giants. The sample sizes are too small at each position for the defensive numbers to mean much, so I'm still unsure where he fits best in the long run. Obviously having a catcher who can hit like that is harder to find than a first baseman.

Question for you Giants fans or anyone who has seen Sandoval a lot: would it be better if he settled on one position, or is he best-used the way they are using him now? And if he did settle on one position, which should it be?

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/9/10/611516/thinking-about-pablo-sando


He's been around the Giants long enough to be introduced to Barroid's special diet.