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 is back this week to talk about the Giants entering June with the best record in the National League. He explains why bullpen roles are important, discusses the Giants winning three out of four in LA and shares some Cubs stories.
Kontos on the Trevor Bauer/Maurico Dubon showboating rivalry: “If you’re going to dish it you need to be able to take it. After Dubon hit the homer and put his sword back in the sheath they asked Bauer about it and the response he gave was little hypocritical when he said you are barking up the wrong pitcher’s tree. I hope Dubon does it again and every single time after that. There’s always a two-lane street.”
Check out our other Giants Podcasts throughout the season.
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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 relates to Mike Tauchman making the move from the Yankees to the Giants since he was in the same situation in 2012. Also, we talk about Madison Bumgarner’s 7-inning no-hitter, pitchers hitting, why Buster Posey and Evan Longoria have been back to their old selves and freak injuries.
Kontos compares playing in New York to playing in San Francisco: …“(In New York) you’re going to have 50 media members in the clubhouse that are going to micro-manage everything and give their opinions and judge and criticize. It takes a very mentally strong individual to have long term success playing for a New York market team…Coming out West and playing for the Giants you are already built up and you’ve been toughened by that market. When you come to the West Coast, everything is still talked about, it’s just not made such a buzz about and you’ve already hardened your emotions to it where you can just go out there and play and not care what the media says. It allows you to have a lot more success and be yourself.”
Check out our other Giants Podcasts throughout the season.
Subscribe to INSIDE CHINA BASIN for free on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify through
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This podcast is sponsored by (Click each image to visit the sponsor’s website):
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 won two World Series rings with San Francisco. Now he’s an analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area and he’s helping us dissect the Giants on a regular basis this season. Our second 2021 podcast took place on Tuesday following back-to-back shutouts in Miami and Philadelphia and a San Francisco studio stint for George.
Kontos discusses the hot start for the Giants rotation and cold start for the lineup. He tells Joe Castellano why he doesn’t like the extra innings rule, how he got the number 70 and who convinced him to grow his trademark beard. Plus, he analyzes rookie 
reliever Camilo Doval: “It’s been impressive how he’s come in and done his job and managed his emotions…His slider is very, very good. He throws it with the same intent and arm speed as his fastball, so out of the hand it looks just like a fastball which is why he’s getting some of those swings that the hitters look a little bad on.”
Check out our other Giants Podcasts throughout the season.
Subscribe to INSIDE CHINA BASIN for free on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify through
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This podcast is sponsored by (Click each image to visit the sponsor’s website):
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 won two World Series rings with San Francisco. Now he’s an analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area and he will help us dissect the Giants on a regular basis this season. Our first 2021 podcast took place on Thursday before the Giants home opener against the Rockies.
We discussed the rotation being the strength of the team so far and how a manager like Gabe Kapler should decide 
when to take a starter out of the game: “My view is, every game should be viewed as an individual variable. You have to watch the game and you have to see how the flow of the game is going and you have to see the contact and how hitters are reacting to the pitcher’s offerings and if the guy is cruising, the numbers in the third time in the order don’t really mean much to me.”
Check out our other Giants Podcasts throughout the season.
Subscribe to INSIDE CHINA BASIN for free on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify through
(Click on Facebook and Twitter images to interact with TheSportsVirus)
This podcast is sponsored by (Click each image to visit the sponsor’s website):
Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 11th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
Former Giants reliever George Kontos won two World Series rings with San Francisco, now he’s an analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area. On Monday he told us about his decision to retire and he reacted to the MLB coronavirus news, which led to two games being postponed.
We discussed the opening four games for 
the Giants in Los Angeles and how manager Gabe Kapler handled the pitching staff: “In these situations now where it’s kind of all hands on deck at any point in time, everyone doesn’t know what to expect quite yet…In order to give your pitchers the best chance to succeed, they have to have confidence going into these situations knowing their job and what’s expected of them…(Having a defined role in the bullpen) in my opinion is the best way that guys who are routine oriented like relievers are, function at their highest level.”
Kontos on Shaun Anderson: “He’s got a demeanor and a kind of presence on the mound that is a little bit for me Hunter Strickland like…You can see once he hones it in a little bit more, he’s already nasty, but he’s going to be really, really good. He’s not afraid and does not shy away from any situation.”
Check out our other Giants Podcasts throughout the season.
Subscribe to INSIDE CHINA BASIN for free on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify through
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This podcast is sponsored by (Click each image to visit the sponsor’s website):
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.”
Come back MONDAY for Giants bullpen coach Mark Gardner
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Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Giants Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
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.”
Come back WEDNESDAY when ANGEL PAGAN is our guest.
Check out our other Podcasts all year long. INSIDE CHINA BASIN is also available on ITUNES. PLUS YOU CAN NOW FIND US ONSOUNDCLOUD, PLAYER.FM, STITCHER and our STITCHER WIDGET.
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Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Giants Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
Giants reliever George Kontos joined us Wednesday before the game against the Red Sox.
Kontos took The Sports Virus inside the Giants bullpen: “We trust in one another like we have in the past, although guys are being used a little bit differently, a little bit more match-up style I would say this year. When one guy comes out with his runs on base you trust that the next guy is going to come in and do his job to pick each other up as well. That’s what I think has made us so successful over the past 5 or 6 years. Everyone goes out there and you pitch for one another, you do your job and that’s how we’ve come on top in those close games that we’ve become so accustomed to being on top of.”
Come back TUESDAY when we will have a special guest from AT&T Park.
Check out our other Podcasts all year long. INSIDE CHINA BASIN is also available on ITUNES. PLUS YOU CAN NOW FIND US ON SOUNDCLOUD, PLAYER.FM, STITCHER and our STITCHER WIDGET.
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Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Giants Podcast
Updated 3 times a week on TheSportsVirus.com!
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.”
Come back WEDNESDAY for Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and infielder Kelby Tomlinson
Check out our other Podcasts all year long. INSIDE CHINA BASIN is also available on ITUNES. PLUS YOU CAN NOW FIND US ON SOUNDCLOUD, PLAYER.FM, STITCHER and our STITCHER WIDGET.
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