Odds and ends today. Mostly odds…

Good article over at Baseball Prospectus about the ways in which groundskeepers "help" the home team. Gary Huckabay is one of my favorite baseball writers, and this one’s a treat.

Speaking of treats (and having nothing to do with baseball), if you ever have the chance to see Willie K. perform, by all means do so. Anyone who can pull off Hendrix’ Voodoo Chile (yes, he used his teeth on the solo), Bob Marley, Pavarotti, and Green Day in the same show has my ultimate respect. The guy is a phenominal guitar player and vocalist.

Back to baseball, I’ll be in Elsinore tonight for the Storm game and fireworks. Bobby Jenks is pitching for Rancho Cucamonga, which should be interesting. The radar guns will be out in full force.

We’re in the process of tilling our backyard lawn so that we can lay down sod. Yeah, it’s late, but better late than never. The yard looks terrible right now and will for a while, but I keep thinking of how nice it will be when the grass is green and we can actually sit out back and enjoy our lawn.

The Padres right now are like my lawn. They are U-G-L-Y. No nice way to say it. Aside from a few key performers, they are not playing well at all. Expectations were overly optimistic coming into the season, and then a slew of big injuries hit. As a result, the on-the-field product that Padre fans have been subjected to for the most part this season has been decidedly substandard.

But I really believe the Padres are on the right track, in terms of building a franchise. There are a lot of good young players in the system, some of whom we’ve seen and others who are still down on the farm. And except for the quick demotion of Ben Howard and the early promotion of Oliver Perez, the Pads have done a pretty good job in handling them.

Yes, it’s painful to watch sometimes. These kids have talent but they don’t necessarily belong in the big leagues just yet. Meantime, a new stadium is being built, and when it’s ready there are going to be some pretty good ballplayers who call it home.

As with my lawn, I’m looking forward to the day when the ugliness is gone and we can sit back, relax, and enjoy. Keep the faith, folks. And have a happy and safe 4th of July.