Sportscaster Joe Castellano talks to a variety of sports figures from around the country about the latest news. These in-depth conversations take you inside the personalities of the people involved in the sports we love to watch, listen and read about.
Tim Flannery spent 36 years in the major leagues as a player for the Padres and coach for San Diego and the San Francisco Giants. Following retirement, does he miss being in uniform? How does he feel about the way analytics are controlling the way front offices evaluate players? And, what made Buster Posey and Joe Panik great before they decided to hang ’em up in 2022. The answers are all found here on this week’s TheSportsVirus Podcast!
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 12th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
On this week’s Inside China Basin San Francisco Giants podcast former SF reliever George Kontos takes us inside the Giants clubhouse to learn more about the personalities of All Stars Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey. He also analyzes why All Star Kevin Gausman has been dominating this season and gives his thoughts on Shohei Ohtani.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 11th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale joins the Inside China Basin podcast to share his reaction to Giants manager Gabe Kapler and some players kneeling during the national anthem before the exhibition game Monday against the A’s. As we approach the regular season opener Thursday, he gives his thoughts on the Giants chances in a short season without All Star catcher Buster Posey.
Nightengale on new manager Gabe Kapler, who made headlines on Monday when he knelt during the national anthem:“I think he’s the perfect manager for a city like San Francisco. A very liberal guy. Very wide open. Introspective. I’m not sure Gabe Kapler could have (knelt during the national anthem) in Philadelphia to tell you the truth. I’m not sure the fans would have gone for that, but I think in the Bay Area, perfect.”
Bob on the Giants chances to contend in a 60-game season:“It’s going to be a fun team to watch…I think the Giants could surprise people. The fact they have these veterans and everything else. I like the veteran teams rather than the young teams in a situation like this.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating our 11th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
Former KNBR talk show host Ray Woodson joins us as we get ready for the shortened 2020 season.
Ray reacts to the news that Buster Posey has chosen to opt out of the Giants season. We discuss the impact on Posey’s legacy and how Major League Baseball might be effected as it attempts to play through a pandemic.
Ray on Posey’s decision: “He showed where his priority is and I think it’s a message to all of us of what’s most important here, it’s safety and especially those who are more vulnerable in our population. Care about them first, we can deal with others later on, but first you have to live to fight another day…That statement he made yesterday is the most important as far as the Giants season, but also the most important as far as his career because he’s setting an example. The stuff he’s done on the field of course has made millions of people happy over the years…Those games were great moments in a lot of people’s lives, but in the end it’s about saving lives and Buster is making a strong statement about that. I think that’s something that will resonate as part of his legacy a long time after his playing days are over.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 11th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
NBC Sports Bay Area Emmy Award winning reporter Amy Gutierrez joins the Inside China Basin podcast to talk about the San Francisco Giants and Major League Baseball returning during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Amy G is heading into her 13th season covering San Francisco Giants games. This season, of course, will be very different than the previous 12. We chat about adjustments that will be made by players and the NBC crew as they try to stay safe during Covid-19. We also get her thoughts on new manager Gabe Kapler and get to hear about her favorite moments at the ballpark.
Amy G on the decision to play baseball during a pandemic:
“Is it worth it? If one person got it and died from it, was it worth it to play the baseball season? That’s an extremely hard question to answer because, of course not, and then you deal with this need to get back to normalcy and people have to do their jobs and support their families. So, it’s a really difficult question to pose and to try and answer.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Mac Williamson join us for our first Inside China Basin podcast of 2019. Both players are trying to get back to normalcy. Posey underwent hip surgery and is getting back to 100%, while Williamson feels great after dealing with concussion symptoms for much of the 2018 season.
Posey explained to TheSportsVirus about his swing not having as much power in 2018:
“I think mechanically I wasn’t able to swing the way that I always had and I’m sure that had something to do with it overall, but I was kind of having to tweak things to change my mechanics which I hadn’t had to do in the past.”
Williamson thought back on the circumstances that caused his concussion last season:
“I’ve thought back on that night countless times, but I wouldn’t change it. I was going after a ball, trying to catch a ball in foul territory that was a meaningful out in our game…What are you going to do, let it drop? Pack my bags to Triple-A? It’s an unfortunate series of events…I just need to be more athletic and not trip (over the bullpen mound).”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants All Star catcher Buster Posey tells The Sports Virus his thoughts on what’s happening right now with the Giants offense, the return of Madison Bumgarner/Johnny Cueto and the emergence of young pitchers Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez. LHP Derek Holland also joins the podcast as well as assistant hitting coach Rick Schu. Plus, we hear from Giants skipper Bruce Bochy from his daily chat with the media.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea joins us to talk about which Giants players should stay and which should go as tough decisions are on the horizon after a losing season. We also chat about how Buster Posey is dealing with not being on a contending team for the first time in his career.
The Sports Virus criticized Buster Posey for his comments after the hit-by-pitch by Phillies pitcher Hector Neris. Shea talked about Posey dealing with a losing year: “…(Bruce) Bochy really didn’t put out the flames the next day when he called Neris an idiot…That’s the epitome of frustration. Two guys who go out of character to accuse a guy of something that most people might think is an innocent act…It’s been a frustrating year for Posey. He is used to winning. This is Derek Jeter West. A guy who just showed up and started winning titles right away and a big reason the titles were won was because of him, just like Jeter. Jeter never went through a year like this…You’re seeing the frustration develop and show on the field and Posey’s always been reserved and constrained when it comes to showing emotion…This year is totally different.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
USA Today baseball writer Jorge Ortiz joins us in part 2 of our conversation to chat about Buster Posey’s comments after being hit by a pitch and the future of Johnny Cueto.
Ortiz talked to The Sports Virus about Buster Posey being upset after a recent hit by pitch: “…I like seeing that spunk out of Buster because Buster is a guy who keeps all his emotion inside and all the passion inside and you know he has it…It’s not going to be what Buster is going to do all the time, but I like it because this is kind of a lost season, it would be easy to kind of stop caring but you know guys like that still do care and I like seeing it with my own eyes instead of just assume he has that passion because of the terrific player he is.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
National baseball writer Jayson Stark joins us to examine Buster Posey’s season, Madison Bumgarner’s return and the Giants priorities with the trade deadline approaching.
Stark talked to The Sports Virus about Buster Posey’s low RBI total: …“This is a reminder why RBIs don’t mean what they used to mean in baseball because you can’t drive in runs when you’re coming to the plate with nobody on base…The Giants rank next to last in the league in on base (percentage)…The whole team seems like it goes through this when those opportunities come along, a lineup full of guys who have always been great at situational baseball, it seems like they feel the weight of those situations in a way they never did before because they’re so much more infrequent. The disparity between Buster’s numbers with runners in scoring position, men on base vs. nobody on tells you that even he’s done it.”
Tim Flannery spent 36 years in the major leagues as a player for the Padres and coach for San Diego and the San Francisco Giants. Following retirement, does he miss being in uniform? How does he feel about the way analytics are controlling the way front offices evaluate players? And, what made Buster Posey and Joe Panik great before they decided to hang ’em up in 2022. The answers are all found here on this week’s TheSportsVirus Podcast!
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On this week’s Inside China Basin San Francisco Giants podcast former SF reliever George Kontos takes us inside the Giants clubhouse to learn more about the personalities of All Stars Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey. He also analyzes why All Star Kevin Gausman has been dominating this season and gives his thoughts on Shohei Ohtani.
USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale joins the Inside China Basin podcast to share his reaction to Giants manager Gabe Kapler and some players kneeling during the national anthem before the exhibition game Monday against the A’s. As we approach the regular season opener Thursday, he gives his thoughts on the Giants chances in a short season without All Star catcher Buster Posey.
who made headlines on Monday when he knelt during the national anthem: 
Bob on the Giants chances to contend in a 60-game season: 
Ray reacts to the news that Buster Posey has chosen to opt out of the Giants season. We discuss the impact on Posey’s legacy and how Major League Baseball might be effected as it attempts to play through a pandemic.
his priority is and I think it’s a message to all of us of what’s most important here, it’s safety and especially those who are more vulnerable in our population. Care about them first, we can deal with others later on, but first you have to live to fight another day…That statement he made yesterday is the most important as far as the Giants season, but also the most important as far as his career because he’s 
setting an example. The stuff he’s done on the field of course has made millions of people happy over the years…Those games were great moments in a lot of people’s lives, but in the end it’s about saving lives and Buster is making a strong statement about that. I think that’s something that will resonate as part of his legacy a long time after his playing days are over.
NBC Sports Bay Area Emmy Award winning reporter Amy Gutierrez joins the Inside China Basin podcast to talk about the San Francisco Giants and Major League Baseball returning during the Coronavirus pandemic.
season, of course, will be very different than the previous 12. We chat about adjustments that will be made by players and the NBC crew as they try to stay safe during Covid-19. We also get her thoughts on new manager Gabe Kapler and get to hear about her favorite moments at the ballpark.
“Is it worth it? If one person got it and died from it, was it worth it to play the baseball season? That’s an extremely hard question to answer because, of course not, and then you deal with this need to get back to normalcy and people have to do their jobs and support their families. So, it’s a really difficult question to pose and to try and answer.
Giants catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Mac Williamson join us for our first Inside China Basin podcast of 2019. Both players are trying to get back to normalcy. Posey underwent hip surgery and is getting back to 
100%, while Williamson feels great after dealing with concussion symptoms for much of the 2018 season.
“I think mechanically I wasn’t able to swing the way that I always had and I’m sure that had something to do with it overall, but I was kind of having to tweak things to change my mechanics which I hadn’t had to do in the past.”
times, but I wouldn’t change it. I was going after a ball, trying to catch a ball in foul territory that was a meaningful out in our game…What are you going to do, let it drop? Pack my bags to Triple-A? It’s an unfortunate series of events…I just need to be more athletic and not trip (over the bullpen mound).”
Giants All Star catcher Buster Posey tells The Sports Virus his thoughts on what’s happening right now with the Giants offense, the return of Madison Bumgarner/Johnny Cueto and the emergence of young pitchers Dereck Rodriguez and Andrew Suarez. LHP Derek Holland also joins the podcast as well as assistant hitting coach Rick Schu. Plus, we hear from Giants skipper Bruce Bochy from his daily chat with the media.
