first pitch: 5:05 p.m., PT
television: Channel 4
matchup: Brian Lawrence (7-13, 4.61 ERA) vs Chris Capuano (14-9, 3.61 ERA)
preview: Padres.com
I’ve hit the wall, folks. Padres are finally playing well again and I’ve gone and hit the wall. I could tell you that Capuano destroys lefties and who should sit for whom against him but I’m not feeling it. I could talk about Ben Johnson‘s line drive homer off the left field foul pole Thursday night but there’s not much more to say than what I just said.
Never fear, the Internet is here:
Links
- Five former BayBears called to majors today (Birmingham Star). Three of ‘em are with the Padres: Paul McAnulty, Craig Breslow, and Chris Oxspring. I am happy to see Oxspring finally make it. He’s a tad old (28) for a guy just now reaching the big leagues but Oxspring can pitch.
- Padres served by youth in Milwaukee (U-T). Nice words for Thursday night’s heroes, Johnson and Khalil Greene.
- Yost Takes Relievers to the Woodshed (Four Blocks to Miller Park). Brewers blog talks about the guys who made Johnson and Greene heroes. The 0-2 pitch Kane Davis threw to Greene was particularly awful.
- Missed this when it came out, but Baseball America has an interview with Matt Bush. Quoth Bush: “The draft is in the past, and I’ve been working toward the future since then. I don’t want to be known as a ‘bust pick’ and I’m going to work as hard as possible to have the best career I can have.”
- Living a Comerican dream (Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette). Speaking of Bush, the Wizards recently played a game at the Detroit Tigers’ home park. How cool is that.
- Portland players set to pack for big leagues (NC Times). John Maffei takes a look around the organization.
Okay, I feel better now. Long weekend coming up, Pads are in the playoff hunt. Life is good. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the game…
Yes its definately mile 22 of the baseball marathon. Keep running G, keep running.
I think the boys are feeling it, the playoffs that is, and a little youthful energy is what we needed.
Never seen a player just drop a ball like that.
Leitner started to get critical of Klesko, but Flannery shut him up with his, “well, you’ve never played the danmed game before,” tone. Teddy got the message. Hey, shit happens out there.
I think the Flan is good for the Ted.
Eric Neel over at ESPN:
SAN DIEGO PADRES
Ben Johnson (OF) is a good first step. Someone to take out the trash at the Peavy house, however, is the difference between in and out of the playoffs. Like Costanza the hand model, you ought to be wearing oven mitts, Jake. No messing around.
I volunteer to take out the trash until the end of the season.
Geoff, LM, Richard et al,
Does anyone collect team baserunning outs data? If so, I’d be curious to know where the Padres stand. To this layman, it seems that the combination of Boch’s aggressive approach to stealing, hit & run, run & hit, the squeeze, etc, along with frequent poor execution, missed signs, not to mention just falling asleep (how many pickoffs?), has been deadly to Padre rallies this year.
The Padres do a good job getting runners on. Their lack of power certainly is a large part of why they aren’t getting those runners home, but I I’m guessing they might also rank very high in baserunning outs.
Any websites you can point me to?
I’ve noticed the oddly frequent baserunning blunders. I suspect it’s mostly coincidence, as the Padres aren’t loaded with guys known for stupid baserunning.
It seems to have affected even the “heady” and “scrappy” types, like Loretta, Young, et al.
According to Joe Morgan, organizations have quit stressing baserunning fundamentals, instead adhering to the precepts touted in that “Moneyball” book that Billy Beane wrote.
Yeah, Joe Morgan is an idiot.
Amazing that such a smart ballplayer could become such a stupid analyst.
You know, he was EXACTLY the type of player statheads love, yet everything he blathers on about contradicts the type of player he was.
oh my, dodged a big bullet there. thank goodness that was foul….
way to come back blaw…
I agree about Morgan. He was a hellva ballplayer but I wouldnt call him a “smart” ballplayer. He just had a world of talent and played the game hard. not to mention having the opportunity to play with some great players.
Yeah, Morgan was one of the highest percentage players ever. And he shuns every statistical formula that backs up that fact.
Morgan was a very smart ballplayer. His on-base was always among the league leaders. His stolen base percentage was always high, and so was his fielding percentage.
The “Pads are in the playoff hunt.”
No offense, Geoff, but I think the Padres are more than in the hunt. They have a fairly commanding lead.
Come on Blaw, u can do it!!!
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The San Diego Padres activated catcher Ramon Hernandez from the 15-day disabled list on Friday.
Hernandez was the team’s starting catcher until he needed surgery in late July to repair torn cartilage in his left wrist.
Team officials said Hernandez was available to catch in an emergency, but it likely would be about a week before he would start again.
He was batting .273 with eight home runs and 38 RBIs before the surgery.
Hernandez will be a free agent at the end of the season.
Fundamentally unsound play by Nady – chased a ball out of his range that was gloved by Loretta and should have been an out – turned a one run inning into a disaster. 7-0 Milwaukee.
None taken, Kevin. It’s kind of a superstition I have.
The Padres have turned an Easter egg hunt into a butt-****-a-thon.
Well I am shutting up. I am tired of passing out “Hanks kiss of death”
Morgan, along with Schmidt, Henderson, and Bonds, is among the four greatest players (not counting pitchers) whose primes were spent in my lifetime (born 1-11-69).
A large part of Morgan’s success was due to his on field “smarts,” which enabled him to control the strike zone, run the bases effectively, and consistently make sound decisions in the field.
Ruben Rivera had as much physical talent as Morgan. The difference was between their ears.
But I’ll bet Rivera could do as well as an analyst.
We have a significant difference of opinion about Joe Morgan. I will agree that Morgan was extremely talented “super star” but, I will never call him “smart” or a “smart player”..
I also disagree that Rivera had as much physical talent as Morgan, Rivera had “tools” not “talent”
If Morgan is not a smart ballplayer, then what is one? What are the characteristics? Because Morgan is the textbook definition of a smart ballplayer.
Morgan did a lot of things that one would normally expect a smart player to do. He worked the count, he stole bases at a very high percentage, etc.
Also, Rivera had talent. Tremendous amounts of it. Unfortunately he had no clue what to do with it.
Rivera was a great “combine” player. Look at him run. Look at him throw. He could do it all, except actually play baseball.
From AP:
RHP Woody Williams will try to break a three-game losing streak when he starts against Milwaukee on Saturday night. Williams has not won since Aug. 11, and is 0-3 with a 5.62 ERA in three starts since. In his last 10 starts, Williams is 1-6 with a 6.44 ERA.
Geoff-
Refresh my memory — what is it you find so frustrating/exhausting about this team?
LOL, Brian. I can’t remember. I’m going out for Thai food to ponder that one. Better luck tomorrow…
Geoff, do you think that Nady’s poor range, footwork, and throwing at first may be an indicator as to why Bochy wasn’t comfortable putting him in there at third?
Well I have no statistics to base my opinion on disclaiming Morgan as a “smart” ballplayer. I did however, watch a whole lot of baseball when he was “in his prime”(while he was with the Cinncinati Reds). Remember the “Big red machine”? Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Davey Conception, Bobby Tolan, George Foster, Bernie Carbo and the rest. They had already won a nl pennant(1970) when Morgan joined them(1972) He was 28. Once he was surrounded by these other outstanding players, he proceeded to have the best years of his career.
Smart players? Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, Pete Rose(even smart guys do stupid things)
I have no way to prove Morgan wasn’t a smart player, just my opinion based upon by viewing experience. I must admit to being influenced by his performance after his playing days in reference to his “smartness”.
This is a stupid disagreement in that I am sure there is nothing that you can say to change my opinion and the reverse is probably true.
I wasnt smart enough to realize that before I disagreed with you. The problem is mine as my mind is not as open as it probably should be.
as far as Rivera having skills or talent, it is strictly semantics(I think)
A writer has skills if he is able to put together words correctly without severely violating the rules of the english(or what ever other) language. However, a writer has talent if he is able to put together those words in a manner such as to cause others to see and feel things.
I’m sure I won’t change your mind, hank, but what does Morgan being around other great players have to do with his smartness. That has nothing to do with it either way.
I would like to thank everyone for making this blowout worth staying for. sometimes its really tough to sit through a game like this alone.
He does have a nice voice though.
In mainstream media, the packaging is preeminent. Content is an afterthought.
Hank: Interesting that you should use the word “skills” now with Rivera. Skills are precisely what Rivera lacks. He has talent, but lacks the skills to use it. Yeah, it’s kinda semantics, but I think the distinction between raw ability and usable skills is an important one.
TF: Nady can be worked with if someone has the time and inclination to do it. I believe that Bochy’s reluctance to try Nady at third base primarily has to do with his own managerial tendency to avoid trying new things with young, inexperienced players. Bochy is very conservative that way. Good, bad, or otherwise, that’s what you get with Bochy.