I had to start one for our bayarea boys... Spring training's around the corner and I'm excited about the new season.

On Sat. Feb. 12th, both the Giants & the A's will be hosting a "fan fest" at their home stadiums: SBC Park and McAfee Coliseum (formerly Networks Associates) in Oakland.

Come out and meet the players and get the season started on the right note. Click the links above for more fanfest info. I'll be going to both beginning in Oakland.

I'm eager to see the many new faces the A's acquired. And I'll definitely be standing in line waiting for a picture with Barry Zito. I heard he and Alyssa Milano are no longer an item.

No word on whether Barry Bonds will be making an appearance. I'd say probably not. :cool:

MLB has awarded San Francisco the *All Star game* for 2007 to be played in SBC Park. Congrats to the Giants!

I hate to see this thread combine tha A's and the Giants. While I follow both teams closely, my heart is with the Giants and I think each team deserves its own thread. Especially since the A's made so many bad decisions in the off-season and the Giants made so many GREAT decisions.

I hope you'll agree and the moderator can split this into two threads.

I know what you mean Bill. I thought about doing that but didn't notice too many individual A's/Giant fans, so decided to combine the two.

The A's actually picked up some studs in Daric Barton and Danny Herren among others... and I'm confident will be in contention once again barring injury. Although, I was pulling for 1 more yr w/ Huddy & Mulder.

The Giants indeed made some great moves and I plan to watch more of them this yr, esp when Mulder's in town.

Vizquel, Alou, Benetez, all great pick ups.

What a bleaping rip-off!

They will always find creative ways to stick it to the fans. Why even get excited about the All-Star game in your home park when the likelihood of you attending is slim and none.

A Scam of Giant Proportions

To guarantee a seat at the All-Star Game in SF, the Giants want you to buy season tickets for each of the next 3 seasons.

But the fact is that 30,000 Giants fans already WILL subscribe to season tickets for three years, so it's really not a scam at all. SBC Park remains almost 100% sold out every year, so I don't even see why this was brought up. Must be some imbecile in their PR department.

The only really bad thing is that non-season ticket subscribers are going to be SOL for that All Star game, unless they can purchase it from a season ticket holder.

The way I read it initially was that the Giants wanted the 2007 game to keep their season-ticket base after Bonds' contract runs out in 2006, and he'll presumably retire, or maybe just leave. People are going to keep them for 2005 and 2006 so it may not be a big deal for them to keep them for 2007, but it's still wrong.

Joe

I agree with BillSF that we should have a separate Giants and A's sections. If the A's fans don't want to post, fine, but please give us Giants fan our place.

I think many of us are waiting for baseball season to start so we have been quite. Most of the action is over at the Giants bulletin board right now. I went to Fanfest, my first experience and it was crowded but I saw many players. It was great walking around so many other fans, all just waiting for Opening Day! I have my 27 game tickets all lined up for the season. It's gonna be a great one! GO GIANTS!!!

Never really a SF giants fan, but I always thought Robb Nen was a stud, especially with the goatee! Now I see that Nen will retire!.

[ February 20, 2005, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: George_Twinsfan ]

It's so sad. We've waited years for this legendary closer to recuperate from his surgery, but unfortunately it just didn't take. We're going to miss Nen a lot. frown

Alleninsf, thanks for starting this thread (so I didn't have to). By the way, I think it's a scam too about the All-Star. Even though they give preference to season ticket holders, there still should be some blocks of tickets, even up in the bleachers or view section, that are freed up for us regular folks!

Back to spring training, Felipe announced the starting line up for the season already and it goes like this...Jason Schmidt followed by left-hander Kirk Rueter, right-hander Brett Tomko, lefty Noah Lowry and righty Jerome Williams.

Now, no one will argue against Schmidty. But Woody in the second spot? C'mon, enough of the team loyalty already. I know he's a team favorite and players can go on rubbing his ear, but he's getting old and doesn't have all his stuff last season. I'd rather see Brett Tomko or even Noah Lowry in the number 2 spot. I see Alou is falling into the trap of Dusty Baker of going for loyalty over strategy in his managing of the Giants.

And now, since this is an A's thread as well, I'm really glad to see this new hottie pitcher with the As.

Kirk Saarloos, what a name.

Coaches almost always favor the veterans and it also has something to do with the lefty/righty matchups...I'm guessing. If you pull woody from the #2 spot, then Lowry would make sense, but didn't he too go through some struggles last yr as well? The rotation is definitely a strength this yr.

And my god! This is the first pic I've seen of Saarloos. He certainly eases the pain of losing Mulder.
Also, was very impressed with Dan Meyer (new pitcher). Saw him at Fan Fest and yes, another hottie!
Sorry, couldn't find a pic of him.

I'm hoping hottie Noah Lowry is sealed into the rotation this year. No loss yet and what a cutie! eek!

Editing, by the way. This is one reason we should have a separate thread for the Giants and a separate thread for the Athletics. This combined thing is insulting.

[ March 03, 2005, 12:48 AM: Message edited by: billsf ]

Another reason to separate the teams is because I don't know which team you're referring to when talking about Noah Lowry. wink

Noah Lowry a cutie is an understatement! He's HOT!!!

I was at the Giants Fanfest a few weeks ago and Noah was signing autographs. I stood off to the side to take in the action. He was dressed in jeans with a white, stripped shirt, with the top button casually open. His hair was cropped short, spiked, with hair gel. And he was sporting what appeared to be a 2 day facial beard. HOT!!! But the real attention was on his smile which light up the room and his set of white teeth. He was so comfortable talking with the fans and just being part of the action. I had to leave as my knees started to weaken....

I look forward to seeing him pitch and those tight white pants...ah dream on....

Can't wait for dollar A's games to start :cool:

I think I'll have to head over the bridge for a Giants game this year...Mike Matheny's ass is well worth the price of admission it seems wink

Now that the A's and Giants each have their own threads, this one can be closed down.