Welcome to the INSIDE CHINA BASIN Baseball Podcast
Updated once a week and celebrating its 12th season on TheSportsVirus.com!
Steve Bitker from KCBS radio in San Francisco tells stories from his 30+ year career as he nears retirement and gives his thoughts on the 2021 Giants. Will Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt still be in San Francisco in 2022? Do the Giants have a chance to make some noise this season? It’s all discussed on this week’s Inside China Basin.
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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.
when to take a starter out of the game: 
Welcome to CATCH IT! — Joe Castellano’s personal observations about what’s going on in the world of sports outside of The Sports Virus Podcasts
I had the privilege of spending five seasons working alongside Joe in the radio booth covering the Rochester Red Wings (1998-2002). He was a kind soul with an easy going personality. Everyone loved Alto.
days managing the San Francisco Giants. I loved to reminisce about my hometown Giants with Joe, asking him what it was like to manage Jack Clark (my favorite player when I was in high school) or about his memories of Mike Ivie’s grand slam against the Dodgers in 1978. He had the Giants in first place for a while that season.
proud of playing him every inning of every game during his record playing streak.
another title with Alto in that booth. We won the Governor’s Cup in 1997, the year before he started broadcasting with me. Then the team fell flat in the years when we were together. But, that doesn’t diminish the joy we had and the cherished memories I have of that special time in my life.
Former KNBR talk show host Ray Woodson joins Inside China Basin to give his thoughts on the Giants outlook for the post season with six games to go in the regular season. We also discuss MLB’s plans to have fans in the stands at the NLCS and World Series.
cobble it all together with the bullpen because it really is all hands on deck now. You’re going to have to manage like it’s a playoff game and I think you’ll see that reflected in how Gabe Kapler gives starting pitchers a much shorter leash.”
Seattle Mariners television play-by-play announcer Dave Sims joins Inside China Basin to talk about the mid-week series against the Giants which was moved from Seattle to San Francisco due to unhealthy air quality in the Pacific Northwest. He gives tells us a bit about new Giant and former Mariner Justin Smoak and reminisces about Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Lou Brock who recently passed away.
big man he’s got good hands and good feet around first base…His deal is power. He’s going to swing and miss and he’s not going to hit for much of an average (career .229 batting average), but he can run into some fastballs.”
that when he makes contact that it is loud contact to all fields. He’s got impressive power…It’s just going to take some time. He’s a smart player. He’s definitely coachable. You’ve got to have him go out there and learn the hard way.”
The Voice of the San Jose Giants Joe Ritzo joins Inside China Basin to discuss the promotion of rookie catcher Joey Bart and chat about Logan Webb’s development, the emergence of Austin Slater as an offensive force and the Giants designating Hunter Pence for assignment. Joe also describes his MLB debut emotions from 2019 when he was called on to do four games on the radio for San Francisco.
us in San Jose. All the different ways that he can impact a game. I love watching him hit because a lot of his power can go out to center and right. It’s power to all fields which isn’t very common for such a young hitter. He can also make an impact defensively.”
Giants catcher Tyler Heineman has embraced his underdog role. He went from being a walk-on at UCLA to starting catcher in the Major Leagues after Buster Posey opted out of the season. Heineman tells the Inside China Basin podcast about playing during the pandemic and his goals as a player. He also addresses the three catcher’s interference calls that have gone against him.
Heineman on his journey to the Major Leagues: 
that have gone against him: 
Former Giants LHP and current NBC Sports Bay Area analyst Shawn Estes joins us to discuss manager Gabe Kapler’s head scratching moves, try to figure out why the defense has been failing and examine the slow starts for veteran hitters. Also, we go down memory lane and hear some entertaining stories about Shawn’s career.
the 7th inning on Sunday in LA with 80 pitches thrown: 
the Giants in Los Angeles and how manager Gabe Kapler handled the pitching staff: 
Kontos on Shaun Anderson: