Baseball preview 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

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Already a subscriber? Activate your account Baseball 2016: The humor edition Hunter Pence and Stephen Vogt have hammed it up to become two of the Bay Area's most popular — if eccentric — Bay Area ballplayers. Today's Stories Hunter Pence, Stephen Vogt are having a ball By John Shea The funniest man in the room? In the A’s clubhouse, it’s unanimous. It’s Stephen Vogt, who’d be as much of a smash at the Punch Line as he is at the Coliseum. Giants fans may nominate ... Continue Reading Killion: Funny thing about even years By Ann Killion This is the baseball humor issue, and the Giants even-year thing sounds like some kind of silly joke. That is, it did until 2014. Now it’s no laughing matter. Time to take it seriously in 2016. ... Continue Reading Baseball humor: the lifeline By Bruce Jenkins On a June evening in Kansas City in 1984, the Royals hung a 16-0 loss on a dreadful A’s team. It was a ballgame quickly forgotten except for one thing: With the Oakland bullpen a bit overtaxed, ... Continue Reading Baseball lists: funny lines, great nicknames By Bruce Jenkins Bruce Jenkins here. In researching my Chronicle piece on baseball humor, I had the pleasure of coming across some classic lines. On the air with Hank Greenwal d: “Dusty Baker ... Continue Reading A’s find reasons to smile again with better bullpen, lineup By Susan Slusser MESA, Ariz. - You know what wasn’t a barrel of laughs? Last year’s A’s season. After three consecutive playoff appearances, the A’s finished in last place, with a league-worst 68-94 record. ... Continue Reading Cueto, Samardzija add personality to rotation makeover By Henry Schulman Nobody in the Giants’ clubhouse was funnier the past two seasons than pitcher Tim Hudson, whose mind was a Rodney Dangerfield-sized catalog of one-liners. Hudson became good friends with Madison ... Continue Reading Giants’ new challenge in 2016: beyond the Dodgers By John Shea The Giants finished second in the National League West the past two years, each time looking up at the Dodgers, who have become the most problematic team money can buy and have as many holes in their ... Continue Reading Diary of a baseball By Jose Beisbol •Hatched today! Someone pulled the cover off our nest, a cardboard box with 24 little cubicles, and there I was, in the big leagues! We were all scared and awestruck. The old-timer balls in the ... Continue Reading American League Preview By Bruce Jenkins WEST 1. ASTROS (86-76, 2nd) Manager: A.J. Hinch, second season (86-76) Best case: Lance McCullers (who starts the season on the DL) breaks through ... Continue Reading National League Preview By John Shea WEST 1. GIANTS (84-78, 2nd) Manager: Bruce Bochy, 22nd season (1,702-1,682), 10th with Giants (751-707) Best case: Health, after so many players ... Continue Reading Giants scouting report for 2016 By Henry Schulman Scouting report Hitting: The Giants do not get enough credit for building an offense that can produce. In 2015, they led the National League in batting (.267) while ranking ... Continue Reading A’s scouting report for 2016 season By Susan Slusser A’s scouting report Hitting: With the addition of Khris Davis in February, the A’s addressed one potential shortcoming, power in the middle of the lineup. The team has nice balance, with plenty ... Continue Reading Follow these social media All-Stars By Janny Hu HORSING AROUND Haven’t you heard? Horses are the new grumpy cats. Ever since Madison Bumgarner delivered the Giants’ 2014 World Series banner on horseback last Opening Day, riding tall has become ... 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