Bill Laskey knows what\u2019s coming. The former Giants<\/a>\u00a0starting pitcher and postgame radio host feels some of it himself, yet meets the disappointment of his callers with perspective and a reasonable nature.<\/p>\n How reasonable? Sometimes too reasonable. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda once talked him out of an All-Star Game roster spot in 1982 in favor of a more established veteran in knuckleballer Phil Niekro. And it happened right in front of Giants manager Frank Robinson.<\/p>\n \u201cI was young and dumb,\u201d Laskey said in a recent phone interview.<\/p>\n Laskey\u2019s listeners, on the other hand, go back a ways. Some of them even saw him pitch as a Giants right-hander from 1982 through 1986. They know him from being a coordinator at Giants fantasy camps for 18 years before beginning a camp independently three years ago.<\/p>\n Mostly, they know Laskey from being the air traffic controller for fans who are flying in the clouds or in danger of crashing based on the day\u2019s results. When the Giants dropped a doubleheader<\/a> in Philadelphia with two walk-off losses<\/a> Thursday, it was the latter.<\/p>\n Laskey did 122 postgame shows last season. Now he\u2019s a self-professed \u201cweekend guy,\u201d usually working Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with an even temperament that takes on callers both optimistic and angry.<\/p>\n The fans want answers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they lose, you get all the people who want to dish on them; when they win, you get all the glorious calls about how they knew this was going to happen,\u201d Laskey said.<\/p>\n Laskey, 68, is the host of \u201cExtra Innings\u201d on the Giants\u2019 flagship KNBR-680 and occasionally mans the station\u2019s \u201cSportsPhone\u201d show. After the regular broadcast crew is done giving its breakdown of the team\u2019s latest game, Laskey takes over in a studio in his San Mateo County home. Unlike the in-game broadcast crew, Laskey navigates the slings and arrows following victory or defeat directly.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of my listeners say that one thing Bill Laskey does is tell the truth,\u201d Laskey said. \u201cI don\u2019t sugarcoat it. I don\u2019t put frosting on it. If they\u2019re playing great, I\u2019m bragging about all of them. If they\u2019re playing terrible, I\u2019m explaining why they\u2019re doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n In a medium filled with hot takes and instant indignation, Laskey believes in letting things play out. He rebuffs the most extreme calls about the weight and contract of left-handed slugger Rafael Devers, while acknowledging things must improve.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fans are expecting more, and the first thing that comes up is the money \u2014 how much money he\u2019s making,\u201d Laskey said. \u201cThat he should be hitting better and run the bases better and that he doesn\u2019t run hard to first. You know what? He\u2019s here. He\u2019s not going anywhere and he\u2019s got to get settled.<\/p>\n \u201cI never thought money ever had anything to do with it. I didn\u2019t look at Jack Clark and say, \u2018Jack, you\u2019re making $700,000 and struck out three times.\u2019 He\u2019d have probably punched me in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversations these days tend to run the gamut. It\u2019s therapy for frustrated fans after a bad game looking to let off some steam. It\u2019s relief when the Giants pulled out of a bad streak and won two of three from the Dodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is this going to go? Is it going to get better? Is it going to get worse?\u201d Laskey said. \u201cSomebody asked me that, and I don\u2019t know how this plays out. I don\u2019t know if this team can turn it around. I don\u2019t know the nucleus in the clubhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n A 6-foot-5 right-hander, Laskey threw a shutout in his first major league start against Montreal at Candlestick Park and also got a hit. He played for the Giants into 1985, was traded to Montreal, then finished with Cleveland in 1986, his arm ruined by biceps tendinitis, which Laskey believes now could be treated in two weeks.<\/p>\n Healthy in his first two seasons, Laskey was 26-22 in 37 starts with eight complete games. He was 42-53 in six seasons with a 4.14 earned run average.<\/p>\n Laskey got into broadcasting after coaching high school softball in San Mateo, doing both local radio and television with Vida Blue as a co-host. Asked why softball and not baseball, Laskey said, \u201cBoys know everything. Girls want to know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n While Laskey didn\u2019t go to college in Toledo, Ohio to be a broadcaster, the preparation he needed to be a major league pitcher has followed him into radio.<\/p>\n It\u2019s apparent at first listen Laskey has done his homework, whether the subject is the newest Giant on the roster or a Hall of Famer such as Cal Ripken during the Baltimore series. Laskey will peruse the internet for biographical and statistical material while watching a game and tape interviews during the week for use on the weekend. He still charts games as he did on days with the Giants when he wasn\u2019t the starting pitcher.<\/p>\n And while Laskey is genial and non-confrontational, he can reach his limit just like fans can. It just takes him longer to get there.<\/p>\n When the Giants went south under manager Gabe Kapler, Laskey didn\u2019t hold back and heard about it from the Giants\u2019 president of baseball operations.<\/p>\n \u201cI got a text from Farhan Zaidi saying, \u2018Hey, can you take your foot off the pedal?\u2019\u201d Laskey said. \u201cI asked the producer, \u2018Are you kidding me?\u2019 And I said we\u2019re going to push it down farther. That\u2019s how I felt about it.\u201d<\/p>\n After one particularly galling loss, Laskey compiled a list of 12 bullet points and let it go on the air. When it\u2019s coming from a voice that is usually more even-keeled than reactionary, the message comes with more force.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was 40,000 people at Oracle and no one gave a damn,\u201d Laskey said. \u201cIt was lackluster. No intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n There were members of the coaching staff, Laskey said, who told him privately the Giants had it coming.<\/p>\n Laskey has come to no such conclusions under rookie manager Tony Vitello. That will come later after more observation, which will be relayed to his listeners.<\/p>\n \u201cHow long will I do it?\u201d Laskey said. \u201cUntil they tell me. I love doing it. I really do. I just wish they\u2019d win a little more. Makes for better postgame shows.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete from the Peninsula: \u201cWe\u2019re talking about the same thing every year. They can\u2019t hit.\u201d John in Santa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2408],"tags":[5,87061,30102,162,13254,4,863,378,66,4343,4340,4344,4341,4342,1870],"class_list":{"0":"post-689379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-giants","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bill-laskey","10":"tag-duane-kuiper","11":"tag-giants","12":"tag-mike-krukow","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-rafael-devers","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-giants","17":"tag-sanfrancisco","18":"tag-sanfranciscogiants","19":"tag-sf","20":"tag-sf-giants","21":"tag-sfgiants","22":"tag-tony-vitello"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116511647804937007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BNG-L-LASKEY-05XX-2.jpg\")
Bill Laskey poses for a photograph in his office in Burlingame, Calif., on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BNG-L-LASKEY-05XX-1.jpg\")
Bill Laskey poses for a photograph in his office in Burlingame, Calif., on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/BNG-L-LASKEY-05XX-3.jpg\")
Bill Laskey poses for a photograph in his office in Burlingame, Calif., on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n