Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 12th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
Joe Castellano has been joined by former Giants reliever George Kontos all season long and on this 2021 season finale they discuss game 5 of the NLDS, which concluded with an egregious umpiring call by Gabe Morales that ended the Giants season and sent the Dodgers to the NLCS. They go in-depth about Camilo Doval’s pitch selection in game 5 and review the Giants record-breaking season. Plus, they look to the future and discuss the possible return of Brandon Belt and Kris Bryant.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 12th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
Former Giants reliever George Kontos has been our analyst all season and now he assesses the Giants/Dodgers NL Division Series matchup. He explains why Buster Posey is the leader of the team and gives his thoughts on how the pitching staff could be used against LA.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 12th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
George Kontos takes exception to comments by ESPN’s Karl Ravech on a recent Baseball Tonight podcast about the Giants talent level compared to the Dodgers. We give complete analysis of the residual effect of the Giants taking two out of three from the Dodgers last weekend in San Francisco with only one starting pitcher going in the series for the Giants. We tell you why San Francisco is in first place after a brief slip. Also, with Derek Jeter set to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday, George tells a story about his time with Jeter as a New York Yankee.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Ray Woodson joins us to talk about game 1 of the Giants/Dodgers series. We analyze the Giants 9th inning comeback and decisions made by managers Bruce Bochy and Dave Roberts. Just when Brandon Belt is set to make his return, the Giants might be without Brandon Crawford, who is going through concussion protocol. Plus, a little follow up on Barry Bonds’ number retirement ceremony.
Joe Panik was also a topic of conversation. Joe Castellano said he looked like he was “perpetually seething” sitting on the bench. Ray stated the importance of his presence:
“…It’s been an injury-plagued season…You could just see he was grinding, he was chewing nails. He should be in there, that’s what he’s thinking. He’s an every day player and to have to sit against a lefty, especially in a marquee game like this against (Clayton) Kershaw, it’s got to hurt your pride…This is a guy they’re absolutely going to need to have and be right down the stretch if they have any hope of making the playoffs.”
Join us again Thursday when Tyler Kepner from the New York Times is our guest. Plus we will check on the Giants farm system with Melissa Lockard from The Athletic and hear from Augusta broadcaster Joe Laurendi.
Check out our other Podcasts all year long. INSIDE CHINA BASIN is also available on ITUNES.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
The Giants salvaged the final game of the series in Miami in 16 innings. We’ll talk with Ray Woodson about that marathon game, the Evan Longoria injury and the upcoming Dodgers series.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated twice a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Just another ho hum Giants/Dodgers game Friday night in San Francisco. Well, actually it was another back and forth thriller with the Giants coming away 6-4 winners in game 1 of the 4 game series. Joe Castellano and Ray Woodson break down the game, discuss the outfield situation and talk about fan behavior.
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea joins us for a final month evaluation of the Giants and a glance at the Dodgers, who host San Francisco for three games over the weekend.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about Joe Panik’s September surge: “…Does that improve the Giants pursuit if they do want to trade him in the off-season to get more for him? Here’s the one guy in the lineup who has good numbers but doesn’t have a huge contract. So, he would be the first guy that a lot of teams would ask for when they’re giving up a player close to free agency or they’re giving up a prospect that the Giants like. To move Panik would be a huge deal, much bigger than moving Matt Duffy which was a huge deal. In a lot of way they haven’t recovered from that.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants OF Jarrett Parker talks to us about the impression he is trying to make in September, while Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger and LA manager Dave Roberts answer questions about their 11-game losing streak which finally ended on Tuesday night with a win in San Francisco.
Parker talked to The Sports Virus being healthy again: …“I’m just excited to be back on the field, just being able to be play baseball again. I’ve never had an injury where I’ve been off the field for an extended amount of time so I just really want to be out here and play.”
When Bellinger spoke to The Sports Virus before Tuesday’s game he seemed to know that LA was on the verge of snapping its losing streak: …“It’s just a matter of a few balls that haven’t gone our way. Whenever we get runners on I feel like we’re lining out right at someone, so that’s just how crazy the game is.”
Roberts told The Sports Virus that the recent losing streak has put pressure on his players to try to do more than they should: …“It’s just important for us to simplify. We gotta play better baseball…It’s kind of back to the basics where a lot of things get overlooked at times when things are going really well and right now they’re not. There is a tendency to try to do more, but there are a lot of guys in that clubhouse that have played a lot of years in the big leagues that understand that doing more is not always the right path. We gotta find a way to get it done in all aspects of the game.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea joins us for part 2 of our conversation. We discuss the Dodgers moves at the trade deadline and what might happen with Johnny Cueto and the Giants. Plus, Bill King and the Ford Frick Award at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Shea told The Sports Virus that he could envision Johnny Cueto not opting out of his contract with San Francisco: “…This might be a blessing in disguise for the Giants believe it or not. Last year we all remember how dynamic he was. He started the All Star game…This year he has a bad ERA, he’s got the blister issues and now he’s got the elbow issue…If he had last year’s production, he would opt out and he would get more money than what’s on the table for him in the next four years, which is $84 million. But, do you opt out now with the injury issues, with the ERA that’s ballooned, with the fact that you’re not pitching deep into games? You’re not the same Johnny Cueto.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Baseball writer Doug Padilla joins us from Los Angeles to talk about the Giants/Dodgers series this weekend.
Padilla gave The Sports Virus his thoughts about a possible Giants strategy to be competitive in 2018: “…What model do you want to choose? Does the Cubs model make sense? Probably not. Not a franchise like the Giants. The Dodgers model seems to make more sense, maybe adding a key component here and there. Count on guys to rebound to more of their norms and to fill in holes…Even if they roll the same guys out there next year they wouldn’t be this team, they would be better, even a year older. I think we could safely assume that. I think it would make sense to maybe get a little younger in some spots.”
Joe Castellano has been joined by former Giants reliever George Kontos all season long and on this 2021 season finale they discuss game 5 of the NLDS, which concluded with an egregious umpiring call by Gabe Morales that ended the Giants season and sent the Dodgers to the NLCS. They go in-depth about Camilo Doval’s pitch selection in game 5 and review the Giants record-breaking season. Plus, they look to the future and discuss the possible return of Brandon Belt and Kris Bryant.
<Connect With Us On Social 
Media>
the Giants 9th inning comeback and decisions made by managers Bruce Bochy and Dave Roberts. Just when Brandon Belt is set to make his return, the
Giants might be without Brandon Crawford, who is going through concussion protocol. Plus, a little follow up on Barry Bonds’ number retirement ceremony.
grinding, he was chewing nails. He should be in there, that’s what he’s thinking. He’s an every day player and to have to sit against a lefty, especially in a marquee game like this against (Clayton) Kershaw, it’s got to hurt your pride…This is a guy they’re absolutely going to need to have and be right down the stretch if they have any hope of making the playoffs
