2005 March

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Archive for March 2005

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

Tuesday, March 22, 2005
by Geoff Young

When the light's on, it's less dangerous. I feel stupid and contagious. But enough about me. Welcome to Ducksnorts. To my current readers, this is the cool thing I've been talking about for a while. Was it good for you? (Hint: the answer is yes.) To those of you just stumbling onto us for the first time, glad you could make it. Grab a drink and sit a spell. Go on, any drink will do. We'll wait. Okay, so let's get this awkward stuff out of the way. Things to know: Ducksnorts was born in 1997 with a rant about Hideki Irabu. About the name: A ducksnort is a bloop base hit that falls between fielders. The original idea was that Ducksnorts would cover stuff that the "big ...

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Yuma Recap

Sunday, March 20, 2005
by Geoff Young

Thanks to a late night out with my singer on Saturday, I overslept on Sunday morning and didn't make it to Yuma till the top of the second. On the bright side, we got to play a semi-acoustic version of "Stacy's Mom" to a near-empty house in an obscure part of town. As for the game against the D'backs, the Padres won it, 17-9. Steve Sparks started and pitched reasonably well. Sparks flew through the first three innings, before sparks flew in the fourth (oh, how clever we are). Randy Williams, fighting for the last bullpen spot, worked a scoreless fifth before losing the plate and being victimized by a couple of misplayed fly balls in the sixth. Williams walked the first three batters ...

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Padres Preview at BTF

Sunday, March 20, 2005
by Geoff Young

It's up: Looking Forward to 2005: San Diego Padres Preview. Have a read, let me know how you like it. Thanks again to everyone for the excellent suggestions. I tried to incorporate as many of them as possible. Sorry if I missed yours. Yuma, Anyone? I'm heading out there for this afternoon's game against the Snakes. I'll be wearing a Chin Waggers T-shirt: Stop by and say hey if you find yourself in the neighborhood. In Other News Bush moving on from last year's arrest (NC Times). Matt Bush says he's learned a lot from last year's experience and is more focused now than ever. The first pick overall will start 2005 at Ft. Wayne of the Midwest League. ...

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Here, Have Some Links

Thursday, March 17, 2005
by Geoff Young

Ryan Klesko's disappearing power? Guess someone forgot to tell Klesko: he smacked two homers in a 16-7 victory over the Rox. Chris Lindshield at SportsCentral identifies Mark Loretta as The Most Underrated Player in Baseball. Damn straight he is. Over at San Diego Spotlight, Rich Campbell is calling for the Pads to extend Ramon Hernandez' contract. He's 29 years old and he's the first really good catcher the Padres have had in a very long time. I'm with Rich on this one. Kevin Nicholson sighting: former Padre first-round pick signs with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League. Not what anybody had in mind, I'm sure.

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Themeless Thursday

Wednesday, March 16, 2005
by Geoff Young

I should be working on the preview, but despite your best efforts, I'm still having trouble motivating myself to write about Darrell May. The best I can say is that "more left-handed than Ismael Valdez" is gaining momentum as a catchphrase. Speaking of May, he struggled again in Wednesday's loss to Oakland. Everyone is downplaying it, and we should remember how miserably Brian Lawrence did in the Cactus League last spring. But still... Meanwhile, the folks over at Baseball Analysts have put together their preview of the NL West. The discussion is lively, even if some of the assertions (e.g., "Jason Schmidt is, by far, the best pitcher in the division", "No, just think of him [Sean Burroughs] as Jerry Royster, ...

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Padres Preview, Um, Preview

Tuesday, March 15, 2005
by Geoff Young

I'm about three-quarters of the way through with my Padres Preview for BTF. Here's a sneak peak at a player near and dear to our hearts, Khalil Greene: This time last year, the shortstop job was wide open in San Diego. Greene took control in spring and proved to be one of the stabilizing influences on the ballclub until a freak injury ended his season in early September. Last year in this space I said: "Greene frequently is compared to Rich Aurilia, and if Greene takes the job, he'll hit about like Aurilia did in his first full season (.266/.319/.407)." Turns out we underestimated Greene's hitting ability, as he finished up at .273/.349/.446 (including a whopping .294/.337/.647 in 85 at-bats as leadoff hitter). Particularly ...

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Spring Training Notes

Monday, March 14, 2005
by Geoff Young

Pads beat the Mariners yesterday, 4-3. One hit each from 11 different players. Paul McAnulty doubled in his only trip to the plate. Xavier Nady, getting the start at third, singled and stole a base in four at-bats. Although he was reported to be out six weeks with a bum elbow, Freddy Guzman did appear as a pinch runner. He ran for Ramon Hernandez and was caught stealing. On the pitching side, Brian Lawrence surrendered all three runs in just four innings of work before giving way to a bullpen that shut down the M's the rest of the way. Akinori Otsuka, working the seventh, allowed one hit and struck out three. (Speaking of Aki, is it great ...

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