Did ya miss me? Never mind, I don’t want to know.

I’ve been absent due in part to my disgust with the looming labor situation, which has put me in something of a foul mood when it comes to discussing baseball, and in part because I’ve been spending a lot of time this past week finishing up and launching a web site for my band Tunesmith. Check it out if you’re so inclined. We play parties.

Okay, enough of the shameless plugs. Let’s get back to baseball. Amazing game the Pads won last night. Brian Lawrence scattered 12 singles, the Dodgers had the leadoff man aboard in each of the first six innings, and the Pads infield showed a profound reluctance to record outs.

Honestly, have we all seen enough of Deivi Cruz at shortstop yet? Two steps to either side does not constitute range. The thing is, early in the season I could understand the decision to play him over Ramon Vazquez. The latter looked completely lost at the plate. But over the past couple months, Vazquez’ approach has changed and he looks like one of the few legitimate leadoff candidates on this club. He’s a better hitter than Cruz, and much better with the glove. And younger. Why isn’t he playing?

Ron Gant was spectacular last night. Incredible diving catch of a drive off the bat of Dave Roberts that kept the Dodgers from getting back in the game. Great throw to home to nail Mark Grudzielanek to end an inning. Had a couple of hits, too.

Speaking of Grudzielanek, the Padre announcers were mentioning last night that he reminds some people of Paul Molitor. Excuse me? I dunno, maybe Bubba Trammell reminds those same people of Mike Schmidt.

Down on the farm, Sean Burroughs had a triple and a homer in five at-bats at Portland, in the Beavers’ 11-5 victory over Omaha. Burroughs played an errorless second base. Xavier Nady singled and struck out three times in four at-bats.

At Mobile, Tagg Bozied is starting to show signs of life. He collected two doubles, a single, and a walk in five trips to the plate last night in a 9-8 win over Huntsville.

At Visalia, Mark Phillips had his second straight rough outing, surrendering six runs in four innings, but the Storm tallied eight runs in the seventh to win, 8-7. Khalil Greene tripled in four at-bats and is hitting .244/.277/.400 in 10 Cal League games.

Ft. Wayne lost to Dayton, 3-2. Greg Sain accounted for the Wizards’ only two runs with his 10th homer of the year. Josh Barfield had two hits. Lefty Nobuaki Yoshida pitched six solid innings but took the loss.

Catcher Omar Falcon is putting up some fascinating numbers in the Pioneer League. Despite striking out 45 times in 89 at-bats, he’s managed to hit .281/.420/.573. When Falcon makes contact, he’s hitting .568/.701/1.159. Yeah, it’s a freak stat but it’s fun. Here’s hoping he learns to make better contact…