The Matt Cain Effect

by Dex on Sep 26, 2007 8:25 AM PDT in News

If the Padres can win 4 games out of their last 5, they can guarantee their playoff spot. I wonder how long the "Matt Cain Effect" will last. I always like looking at the win probability graph after the fact:

Here's the thing. I hate when dudes get cocky after hitting home runs, especially when their home run actually only puts them 3 runs behind as opposed to 4. It's very self serving, though I guess there was talk that Cain was staring down players as he struck them out. So maybe there was some justification in the big bat flip and it's not like Hairston pulled a Barry Bonds and walked to second base and asked for a sip of water before walking the rest of the way home. Those are annoying home runs, those Barry Bonds ones.

That being said, if you're a pitcher and you feel you got shown up, there's a right way and a wrong way to deal with that sort of thing and the wrong way is start acting like a little bitch.

If Matt Cain plunks Hairston in that next at bat... touche.

If Matt Cain strikes Hairston out and just takes his normal around the horn walk around the mound... touche.

What nobody wants to see, and what will fire up the other team, is when Matt Cain strikes the dude out, stares him down, makes gay little waving motions from the mound, makes gay little waving motions from the dugout. That's what we in the business call "a dick move".

Seriously, what's that going to do? You're playing a team that's emotionally and physically spent. You're beating them by a couple of runs late and you're about to play spoiler and you decide to wake them up because one dude called you out for staring down his team.

It's not often that you can thank a dude when he acts like a little prick, but I suppose the Padres can thank Matt Cain. I hope the Padres look at tonight's game and say, "Look. We're beaten down. A lot of crappy stuff has happened these last several games, but f_ck the Giants if they think we're going to let them have any more part in spoiling whatever postseason chances we have."

I always want the Padres to win, but I'd especially like one tonight. And in the postgame interview, when they ask the Padres if Matt Cain had anything to do with them getting fired up, I want the Padres to reply with, "Matt who?"

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I'll repost this here:

From this mornings U-T:

One theatrical difference between the two games was that the Giants and Padres were openly hostile toward one another last night.

The Padres didn't like that Giants pitcher Matt Cain stared down Scott Hairston after striking him out early in the game.

"Matt Cain is a great pitcher," said the Padres' Brett Tomko, a former Giants teammate of the 22-year-old. "But you don't need to stare down people if you strike them out."

And this:

When Hairston homered off Cain in the sixth to draw the Padres to 4-1 - his sixth home run in 43 at-bats against the Giants this year - he flipped his bat some 15 feet in an obvious show of disdain.
Cain erupted, screaming at Hairston as he circled the bases. Two innings later, when Giants closer Brian Wilson struck out Hairston, Cain, leaning over the dugout rail, waved goodbye as Hairston walked to the dugout.

This time, it was Tomko who erupted. He went to the top of the dugout and screamed angrily at Cain.

"I wanted to defend my teammate because I thought it was a bad move by Cain," Tomko said. "Cain had rubbed his eyes, telling me not to cry because of the scoreboard."

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 8:37 AM PDT 0 recs

Still want Matt Cain

to be a Padre?

by jbox on Sep 26, 2007 9:00 AM PDT up 0 recs

Yes

if someone like Trevor smacks him up side the head anytime he starts acting like a little punk bitch, as in this example: Trevor sees said punk behavior, walks across the field (during the inning, mind you) to whump Cain up side the head. Trevor then returns to the bullpen without saying anything to Cain. After Trevor has made batters look silly swinging a balls in the dirt, the players in the dugout line up for the post-game fist-bump (a.k.a. Respect Knuckles), when Cain puts his fist out, Trevor, again, whumps Cain up side the head.

by Pants on Sep 26, 2007 9:08 AM PDT up 0 recs

tell that to Clay Hensley

60-day DL? Hmmmmmm...

by Dex on Sep 26, 2007 9:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

Hmmm

Am I reading this wrong? Or are you accusing future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman of tearing Clay's labrum?

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 9:22 AM PDT up 0 recs

Labrum?

Barely knew him.

This is just the tip of the suck iceberg.

by TheGrandHatching on Sep 26, 2007 4:14 PM PDT up 0 recs

This is fair.

The short answer is yes. I've never seen him act that way before. Everytime I've seen him pitch he seems to always have a good outing only to see it ruined by the bullpen. I could see him winning 17 games in San Diego. And he's only 22. Maybe something had happened between him and Hairy previous to last night? I don't know. Regardless, there was no excuse for his behavior last night. I am glad he did it though...we needed something to start a fire under these guys.

But I will admit it...in last night's open thread I said I was an "admitted Matt Cain lover" and that Cain is a "stud". It's not the first time I've written something stupid on here...and it sure as hell won't be the last.

On a totally separate note...those pants look REALLY good on you jbox.

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 9:20 AM PDT up 0 recs

I was just wondering

if he was an ass because he's a giant or if he was a Padre he'd be our ass so it'd be okay the way he acted.

That's why I hate every ball player until they officially become Padres... except for Clay.

by jbox on Sep 26, 2007 9:26 AM PDT up 0 recs

Clarification

He's an ass because of the way he acted. I would hope, that if he were in a Padre uniform, we would have someone with the sense to tell him that sh*t doesn't fly in San Diego. I think it's funny he has a problem with a guy's antics after a homerun when he plays with Barry.

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 9:31 AM PDT up 0 recs

Very funny Graph Dex

I'll admit it, I chuckled.

by jbox on Sep 26, 2007 9:00 AM PDT 0 recs

same here

i didn't really get to see matt cain's dumb antics from last night, but i watched some of it today at work (i'm a slacker), and that guy is an absolute douche. i'm so glad he didn't get the win.

"i kinda feel like nevin and klesko were some fling we (the padres) had in the past and now realize were a bad idea and are embarrassed about."

by freelunch on Sep 26, 2007 1:11 PM PDT up 0 recs

Behind enemy lines

can be rough. People were flipping out at one of the local bars here (Sacramento) after Hairston tossed the bat. You'd swear Hairston had a dog fighting ring in the dugout. I had to cheer the display. It was nice to see someone on the team get his teammates fired up. It is nice to see Hairston back in the lineup.

by sacpadre on Sep 26, 2007 9:09 AM PDT 0 recs

Did we check

Did we check for a little dot on the back of Hairston's helmet? Maybe Milton is in communication with him out in the field.

"Okay, now flip your bat down the line so we can show them what throwing a bat really looks like."

If he stares down the umpire tonight, but has a puzzled an uncomfortable look on his face while doing it, I think we know what's really going on.

And I'm okay with that.

by Boy Howdy on Sep 26, 2007 9:19 AM PDT 0 recs

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this last night

I know there was the posting and comments on O-Rob's walk (seriously, how do you walk Robles in that situation?). But was it me, or did it look like he called time right before that 4th ball. I swear I saw his left hand go up, then quickly went to the bat when the umpire didn't call time (conspiracy!).

by Pants on Sep 26, 2007 9:39 AM PDT 0 recs

Yeah

they talked about this on the Post Game show. He tried to call time on but it wasn't granted by the ump and it was ball 4.

by jbox on Sep 26, 2007 9:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

This whole

"the umps hate us" thing is starting to really blow. And not because I think it's an excuse, but because the evidence is mounting that it's true. It's one thing to legitimately lose, it's another to have astericks next to game after game where you can say "the [home/first/third] umpire [squeezed our pitcher's stike zone/baited our hothead player into a torn ACL/didn't call time/etc]." I'm so over umpires. And I'm firmly on the side of human umpires are a good thing, electronic strikezones take something away from baseball. But only if the umps aren't all dicks.

Grrr.

Not that it hurt us this time, but, still.

by Demoira on Sep 26, 2007 9:47 AM PDT up 0 recs

Tonight

Bochy is planning on starting Bonds tonight.

This is great:

Bonds didn't have his uniform on when the Giants needed him most Tuesday night. Two players confirmed that Bonds changed into his street clothes in the eighth inning, and he was conspicuously absent when the Giants' rally fell short in the ninth against Trevor Hoffman in a 6-4 loss to the Padres at AT&T Park.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies might be moved by that bit of news. Those two clubs would have pulled into a tie with San Diego atop the wild-card standings with a Giants victory. But with fans chanting "Barry, Barry," Bengie Molina rolled into a double play with the tying runs on base to end the game.

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 9:56 AM PDT 0 recs

Doesn't look good

Bonds will probably hit four homeruns tonight.

I wish the season wasn't over.

by Winfield's Ghost on Sep 26, 2007 10:03 AM PDT up 0 recs

Bonds

sounds like Bonds is legitimately pissed at the Giants. that means he'll do one of two things tonight:

a) he'll go 0-3 with unmotivated defense in LF
b) he'll go 2-3 with 2 HRs and a walk just to show the Giants what they'll be missing next year

and honestly, it's 50/50 as to which way it'll go. i'm hoping he gets into a shouting match with Bochy in the dugout and Boch clocks him.

by obviousman on Sep 26, 2007 10:12 AM PDT 0 recs

33%

his head explodes.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Sep 26, 2007 10:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

RE: The Matt Cain Effect

I missed damn near all the Matt Cain stuff until I watched SportsCenter last night. And I'm pretty sure I was actually paying attention last night.

I'm particularly glad Black didn't go apes**t with the bullpen last night and let Tomko keep pitching, as opposed to how he handled Cassel.

by KaLiBLeeK on Sep 26, 2007 1:44 PM PDT 0 recs

Welcome!

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 1:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

RE: Welcome!

Haha, thanks!

by KaLiBLeeK on Sep 26, 2007 9:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

You are all retards!

You idiots are such a fucking joke. Listen to you bunch of homer fucks. Cain is 23. He got hot because that scrub hit a hr against him in August and fucking waltzed around the bases like he fucking won game 7 of the World Series. I was there I saw it. So he fucking stared him down so what. Get the fuck over it. Cain shouldn't have done it but he is 23. This holier-than-thou bullshit that Hoffman would have straightened him out is indicative of Padres fans. You think every player on the Padres is some fucking saint. If Peavy stares someone down it's because he is a bulldog or a gamer. When Cain does it he is a bitch. When Bradley blows up (come on you are an idiot if you didn't expect that) it's the umps fault. Cain blows up and he is a douche. There is a reason why nobody respects Padre fans and this is it. Your players are just like every other team's players. They are all hired goons. Do us baseball fans a favor and go follow something that is a little more your speed, the 1-2 Chargers.

P.S. If you really have decided that you wouldn't want Cain on your team because of this incident you are fucking dumber than I thought.

by Swingingliars on Sep 26, 2007 4:53 PM PDT 0 recs

So

you are having the same reaction to Bruce Bochy as we did. He has that affect.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~Frank Sinatra

by Sammy G on Sep 26, 2007 5:15 PM PDT up 0 recs

Peavy

I have never, ever seen Peavy wave "bye-bye" to a guy after he strikes out. CAIN IS A BITCH.

GET THE HELL OUT AND ENJOY LAST PLACE.

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 5:34 PM PDT up 0 recs

Furthermore...

Don't come into OUR place spewing a bunch of profanities and name-calling. It's just further proof of what a classless bunch Giants fans really are.

I could care less that he's 23. If he can't be expected to act like a professional...it sure would have been nice if the pitcher you gave $136 million dollars to (you know, the one sitting right next to him at the top step of the dugout when he was waving bye-bye and pretending to wipe away tears)...had acted like a LEADER and told him to cool it.

We're all really sorry that Hairy's celebration offended you guys...I know how hard it must be for you to remember what it feels like to win a game that actually means something.

Show me one person on here that said we wouldn't want Cain in a Padre uniform. ONE.

"Retards"?? Really? Are you Brett Myers?

Lastly, what does it feel like to be so far down in the cellar of the division? With a manager that is a Padre castoff that we LET you have? All with a payroll $30 million dollars higher than ours?

by Drama on Sep 26, 2007 6:54 PM PDT up 0 recs