We continue our spring training coverage chatting with two players who were an important part of the last two championship teams for the Giants, pitcher George Kontos and outfielder Gregor Blanco.
Kontos tells The Sports Virus that “you’re not going to be able to replace a Jeremy Affeldt. My locker was next to his every day I ever spent in the Major Leagues with Giants. I’m going to miss him. I know the team is going to miss him. His experiences and his knowledge about the game really helped me and molded me into the pitcher that I’ve become in the Major Leagues now.”
We continue our spring training coverage from Scottsdale, AZ chatting with a pair of Giants prospects, SS Christian Arroyo and 3B Ryder Jones, who played together in San Jose last season.
We continue our spring training coverage chatting with Giants Executive Vice President of baseball operations Brian Sabean and Giants pitcher Chris Heston, .
Sabean tells The Sports Virus that having a lot of home grown players… “creates a common bond within the walls of the clubhouse. It helps with the chemistry.”
We continue our coverage in Scottsdale, Arizona chatting with former Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia, who is now an analyst for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.
Aurilia tells The Sports Virus: “…I want guys up the middle that make routine plays. Anyone can make a great play…but give me the guy who can make the play right at him, turn the easy double play. (The Giants) have two guys right now (Crawford and Panik), that’s exactly what they do. They work on the fundamentals of the game and it shows in their play.”
We continue our coverage in Scottsdale, Arizona chatting with two players who battled injuries last season, pitcher Matt Cain and catcher Andrew Susac.
Cain tells The Sports Virus his injuries: “…are going to benefit me in the long run. It’s not something you want to go through, but it’s a part of the game. It’s a hurdle you have to go through. It shows who you are as person.”
We go back to late September and hear our last podcast with San Francisco Chronicle columnist John Shea in 2015. Get ready because John will be joining us every other week on The Sports Virus.
Shea called the late Hall of Famer Yogi Berra: “…a wonderful character…In middle of everything in NY.” Compared to Buster Posey “…3 MVPs not 1, 10 championships not 3. There was only one Yogi.”
We continue our coverage in Scottsdale, Arizona chatting with a pair of right handed pitchers: Jeff Samardzija, who signed with San Francisco as a free agent this off season,
and Tyler Beede, who was a 2014 first round draft choice out of Vanderbilt.
We continue our coverage in Scottsdale, Arizona chatting Giants Senior Vice President and General Manager Bobby Evans, and new CF Denard Span, who hit over .300 three times in his eight-year career.
Span tells The Sports Virus about playing in the spacious AT&T outfield with his new teammates: “…It’s going to be big that we’re all on the same page.”
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