San Francisco Giants Link Dump, 6/12

Hi! The Giants have lost three in a row, so they will literally never win another game again. As a franchise, they will lose thousands of consecutive games until MLB contracts them. It's a shame, really. This season had been so promising.

Giants trade left-hander Huff to Yankees for cash
Now we say goodbye to David Huff. We'll remember so much about him. The way he had a decent ERA for a while before being terrible in back-to-back games. The way he was left-handed. The way he...wore a hat...I assume. Yes, so many memories. And now he's gone, and one day we'll think of him in the same breath as Chris Ray and Scott Atchison. Not Geno Espinelli, though. You have to earn those kinds of plaudits.

Baseball Helps… Sometimes
You know how there used to be a commenter here by the name of "walkoff baltimore chop" who then got all respectable and started using her real name when she became a frontpage writer on an SB Nation baseball site?

/looks at my own byline
/loudly clears throat, continues

Well, here she is at the Hardball Times telling her story of depression, baseball, and Justin Duchsherer. Check it out.

Has the first-pitch take become a losing strategy?
For a long time, taking the first pitch of an at bat was a good tactic. But as more batters have started taking first pitches, the effectiveness of doing so has lessened to the point where it doesn't help at all. Dave Cameron takes a look at how things have changed lately, and why this might have happened. My theory: MEN AREN'T MEN ANYMORE.

I don't know how that relates to anything, but I really want a sports columnist job with some newspaper, and I figure incoherent shouting about ISSUES is the way to get one.

Pinch-blogging: Brandon Hicks
Brandon Hicks takes over for a day at the Brandon blog. Does he really count as pinch-blogging though? Shouldn't he just be on the masthead as a contributor by now? I just feel like that blog should be a safe space for all Brandons on the Giants to express themselves, and right now Hicks's status as an outside excludes him from that. Maybe the Giants will trade for Brandon McCarthy this year and he and Hicks can start their own Brandon blog. Then they can all fight for our affection, which, as fans, is really all we want.

Best/worst position-player pitchers in 2014
This season has been historically great for position players toeing the rubber, and Jayson Stark has a rundown of the highlights from their time on the mound this year. Why can't the Giants get in on this trend? I mean, besides the fact that Brandon Belt or Juan Perez pitching would almost certainly result in an injury to Jeremy Affeldt somehow, I can't see one downside.

Sheepherding Dog Is Very Bad At Herding Sheep, Still Very Cute
Look at him jump! LOOK AT HIM JUMP!