Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants Bullpen Coach Mark Gardner and Non-Roster Invitee Chris Marrero join us, plus we hear from Madison Bumgarner after his Sunday start in Scottsdale against the Royals.
Photos courtesy of the San Francisco Giants and The Mercury News
Gardner talked to The Sports Virus about the Giants bullpen: “…those young guys have another year under their belt. The Stricklands and the Laws. They were put in some pretty tough situations last year and did remarkably well. I’m looking for them to turn the corner, be more consistent and give us the bridge to the closer.”
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
We go to the bullpen for our second podcast of 2017 and welcome in our new “regular” guest, Giants reliever George Kontos. He is slated to join us most home stands for “Kontos Inside The Pen”
Photo courtesy of William Yee
Kontos, who was a Cubs fan growing up in Chicago, tells The Sports Virus about his emotions during the 2016 post season which ended with a title for the team that beat San Francisco in the playoffs: “The 8-year-old inside me was ecstatic, but the grown-up pitcher in me was not really thrilled about it, just how we ended. If they really deserved to beat us I think I might have felt a little bit differently, but I think that we did a little bit of beating ourselves in that (NL Division) series. I think that on the field we were the better team. and we deserved to win, but we just didn’t play to our capabilities in that last game and they won and they deserved it…Now that it’s healed a little bit, I’m happy for the city of Chicago and for the Cubs organization for ending that drought.”
Evans tells The Sports Virus why the Mark Melancon acquisition means more to the team than just him saving games: “…When the phone rings down in the bullpen they almost know who it’s for. I think that’s part of our success in these three World Series is guys knew when that phone rang, what time of the game it was, what the score was, they knew who was going to be getting up. I think that really puts guys minds at ease and they don’t have to give a second thought to the position that they’re being put in. We put ourselves in a tough position last year as we weren’t clear who would pitch the ninth. Now we can allow that to play out for the other guys with a clear ninth guy.”
Regularly throughout the 2017 season we sit down with Giants right-handed reliever George Kontos for Kontos Inside The Penas part of The Sports Virus Inside China Basin podcasts.
Kontos is in his sixth season with the Giants, garnering World Series rings in 2012 and 2014. As an integral part of the San Francisco bullpen, he compiled a 2.90 ERA over his first five seasons with the Giants and has posted ERAs of 2.33 and 2.53 the past two seasons.
After pitching collegiately at Northwestern, Kontos was a fifth round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 2006. He made his Major League debut in 2011 with the Bronx Bombers. An early season trade in 2012 brought him to San Francisco, where he made a name for himself as a dependable set up man.
Don’t miss our insightful conversations with Kontos all season long.
We talk about the Giants Wild Card win over the Mets and look ahead to the NLDS against the Cubs with SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about the Giants unlikely October heroes:
… “Cody Ross in ’10, (Marco) Scutaro in ’12, (Travis) Ishikawa in ’14, now we have (Conor) Gillaspie in ’16. I mean, he was DEEP down on the depth chart at third base.”
The final push for the post season continues and our final guest of the regular season from AT&T Park is former Giants 3B Coach Tim Flannery, who is now an analyst for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and MLB Network.
The Sports Virus talked to Flannery about pinch hitting:
… “Usually when you’re coming off that bench you have a mental game walking to face the closer. One guy on your shoulder is saying ‘I haven’t hit in two weeks,’ while the other guy has gotta say ‘It doesn’t matter, you can get it done, you can get it done.’ So, it’s a mental thing and a lot of times it’s more for the older player.”
We talk about the Giants final week push for the post season and the tragic death of Jose Fernandez with Giants OF Angel Pagan.
Pagan talked to The Sports Virus about why the Giants have succeeded at this time of year in the past:
… “We have different characters here that like to play under fire. Whenever we need to execute we’ll do it. We’re not afraid to. I think that’s the beauty of this clubhouse. We’re all in this together and we’re going to push each other to reach as far as we can reach.”
As we head into the final 6 games of the season we chat with Giants reliever George Kontos and Giants catcher Trevor Brown.
Kontos talked to The Sports Virus about the state of mind in the bullpen:
… “When the phone rings it could be any of us. Anybody in that bullpen has a chance to contribute in a big spot…We all have confidence in each other and anybody who gets the ball is going to be called on to get some big outs. I think we’re going to do that in these last 6 games.”
Brown told the The Sports Virus the Giants are optimistic:
… “We’re still battling. We all know that we’re still in a good spot and have a chance to make the playoffs.”
We chatted with Steve Bitker from KCBS in San Francisco on Saturday.
Bitker talked to The Sports Virus about the Giants chances of reaching the post season.
… “(Bruce) Bochy says they’re going to have to pitch and they’re going to have to hit to get into the post season. Well, maybe not. Maybe they don’t have to. Maybe a 3-5 record in their final 8 games will get them in. The way the Cardinals are playing and the way the Mets are injury riddled it could happen.”
We talk about the Giants struggles against the Padres, dealing with injuries to Brandon Crawford and Johnny Cueto and the end of the great career of Dodgers announcer Vin Scully with SF Chronicle Columnist John Shea.
Shea talked to The Sports Virus about the injuries to Brandon Crawford and Johnny Cueto against the Dodgers:
… “It’s just the wrong time for this to happen… It’s just not great for moral, not an emotional boost when you lose two key figures like that. But, on the positive side, neither is supposed to miss much time.”
plus we hear from Madison Bumgarner after his Sunday start in Scottsdale against the Royals.
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Kontos is in his sixth season with the Giants, garnering World Series rings in 2012 and 2014. As an integral part of the San Francisco bullpen, he compiled a 2.90 ERA over his first five seasons with the Giants and has posted ERAs of 2.33 and 2.53 the past two seasons.
Kontos was a fifth round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 2006. He made his Major League debut in 2011 with the Bronx Bombers. An early season trade in 2012 brought him to San Francisco, where he made a name for himself as a dependable set up man.
