ATLANTA - Major-league ballplayers are not children. Well, most aren't. If a starting pitcher wants to fly with his teammates and get in late rather than fly commercially earlier in the day, nobody is going to make him.
Those who want to blame Giants' 1 a.m. arrival for Samardzija's throttling by a 14-35 team should understand that he will not.
"You can't make excuses in this game, or there are too many to find," Samardzija said after Monday's 5-3 loss to the Braves, a game that began 10 hours after the Giants checked into their hotel after arriving from Denver.