At Least They Kept Kicking Back
Sun, Oct 9, 2005
by Geoff Young
The rest of the world can be as smug as they want to be, but when all is said and done, I’m proud. The Padres got kicked around pretty good in the NLDS, but they kept kicking back. Yeah, they got swept in the first round of the playoffs (hey, at least they did it for a lot less money than the Red Sox did), but they never stopped battling.
The Padres again got one of their better hitters up to the plate in the ninth representing the tying or go-ahead run after digging themselves into an unbelievably deep hole. (Note to self: Stop spotting the team with the best record in baseball 7+ run leads.) Never should’ve even come to that, but you know the Padres. Can’t do anything the easy way.
Unfortunately, the bell never really rung for the Padres in this series until the sixth inning. In innings 1-5, the Pads were outscored, 19-2, by the Cardinals. From the sixth inning on, the Friars took over, finishing with a 9-2 advantage.
If the Pads had been able to get any kind of starting pitching, this could have been a real interesting series. As it is, the Padres were competitive in all three games, which I think is more than most folks expected. Although there were games that looked like they might become blowouts, there were no 14-2 affairs here.
A Tale of Two Innings
The deciding game was similar to the previous two in another respect. Once again, ability to execute made all the difference.
Game 3 hinged on two innings, or more accurately, two half-innings: The top of the second, and the bottom of the fifth.
Top of the Second
Abraham Nunez strikes out swinging.
Yadier Molina singles to right.
Matt Morris grounds into a fielder’s choice, pitcher to shortstop.
David Eckstein homers to left.
Jim Edmonds doubles to right.
Albert Pujols is intentionally walked.
Larry Walker is hit by a pitch.
Reggie Sanders doubles to left.
Mark Grudzielanek flies to center.
4 runs, 4 hits, 2 left on base.
The recaps I’ve been reading so far don’t even mention this, but the key to the inning was Morris’ at-bat. With one out and a slow runner on first, Morris dropped down a sacrifice bunt. He hit it right back to Woody Williams, who threw to second for one. Unfortunately, the relay throw from Khalil Greene to Robert Fick at first wasn’t handled cleanly (I’d need to watch the replay to see where things went wrong, and I am in no mood to watch the replay), allowing Morris to reach base and the inning to continue.
I’ll grant that Woody still can’t be giving up a homer to Eckstein or plunking Walker (on an 0-2 count!), but if the play on Morris is made, it’s still a 1-0 game at that point. Woody wasn’t pitching real well anyway, so who knows what would have happened. One thing is for sure, though: The crowd would have been a lot more into a 1-0 game going into the fifth than a 5-0 game.
I, for one, was completely deflated by this time. I was watching my team prove all the jackass commentators right. And don’t get me started on the Cardinals fans in our section. Really, don’t get me started.
Bottom of the Fifth
Anyway, the other key point in the contest came in the bottom of the fifth. The Cards had just scored twice in the top half of the inning to extend their lead to 7-0. Then this happened:
Khalil Greene flies to center.
Joe Randa doubles to left.
Eric Young singles to right.
Dave Roberts grounds to second.
Mark Loretta singles to left.
Brian Giles singles to left.
Ryan Klesko strikes out swinging.
2 runs, 4 hits, 2 left on base.
It would be easy to focus on Klesko’s strikeout, but he had a terrific at-bat. He fouled off four two-strike pitches before finally going down.
The key play here was Greene’s fly to center. As is his custom, Greene hacked at the first pitch he saw. This time, he got a hold of one. Most parts of the park, it’s gone. But he hit it to dead center and Edmonds made one of his ridiculous catches jumping into the wall.
I don’t think the ball would have left the yard, but with almost anybody else in center, Greene is standing on second with a double. If that had happened, Klesko would have come up with three runs already in and just one out.
Ramon Hernandez, who batted behind Klesko, led off the sixth with a single up the middle. It’s not at all unreasonable to think that if Edmonds doesn’t catch Greene’s drive, the Padres score four or five runs in the fifth and knock Morris out of the game.
No Sour Grapes
Yeah, I know. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Cardinals are the better team. The above just serves to illustrate exactly how they are the better team.
The Padres couldn’t turn a double play, and it cost them four runs. The Cardinals got a spectacular catch out of their center fielder, and it saved them at least one run, possibly more. That’s your ballgame, your series, and your season.
Trevor Time, One Last Time?
The other great story in Saturday night’s game was the standing ovation Trevor Hoffman received when he entered the game in the ninth. We’ll start talking about these things in earnest shortly, after the dust has cleared and we’re all able to think a little more clearly, but the crowd knew that this might be their last chance to see Hoffman pitch as a member of the Padres.
If that turns out to be the case, I’m real glad I was there to be a part of it.
Okay, Now What?
Now, I’m taking a few days off because I desperately need them. I’ll probably be back with something by the middle of the week. At the very least, I’ll have a rough agenda for the off-season. We’ll have a lot to talk about, but all in due time.
Thanks to everyone for hanging out and chatting with me during the season. As always, it has been a blast.
And with that, he awkwardly ended the post…
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
October 9, 2005 at 9:25 am
The Padres went out like Duke Cunningham.
Bochy’s boys had a nice season. Now, with Giles and Hernandez going and most of the veteran starting pitching sans Peavy long, long, long, long, long gone, the real work begins in San Diego.
October 9, 2005 at 9:44 am
I agree about the little things not being executed properly. I just wish some of the medium sized things would have gotten done as well, like preparing a sensible lineup, or selecting a started who truly deserved to be starting the game for you on the basis of his actual play throughout the season.
In any case, like Iced Coffee says it’ll be fun to see how this team shakes out for next season. It’s just a game, so it should hardly feel like “work” seeing the 2006 Padres take shape.
October 9, 2005 at 10:23 am
Looking at the innings you discussed, I kind of find it hard to fault Woody for the Walker beaning. The replay showed Larry pretty much dropped his knee so he would get plunked, which technically the ump is supposed to call a strike, or is Larry out? Of course I really didn’t want to see Woody go out like that, he was a favorite of mine and a lot of other Cards fans during his time in STL.
As for that fifth inning, all I know is my roomies were laughing at me because I kept looking at Morris and saying “Curveball, curveball. Throw the goddamn curveball Matty! No, not the fastball, I said curveball you bearded imbecile!” And then he used the curveball, and it helped him get Klesko out, which made me happy (God I hate Klesko).
Any possibility Padre fans could convince Hoffman to come our way, provided he doesn’t resign with San Diego? As you can tell we could use some bullpen help, any bullpen help really.
October 9, 2005 at 11:41 am
Again, I ask the question. How does Bruce Bochy still have a job? Someone explain to me why Williams starts this game. All we needed was someone who could keep us close and get to the bullpen. But Williams couldn’t get anyone out. What a chump. Of course, a chump we’re overpaying and stuck with next year because of the mutual option. If only Towers would stop consulting the marketing department when making trades. You know how much he likes to bring players who either once player in San Diego or grew up in San Diego back home (Woody Williams, please stand up! Dave Roberts, go ahead and take a bow! David Wells, welcome home!). In all three of those situations, we gave up too much for too little and for a very short time. I’m sick of complaining.
PADRES IN 7!
October 9, 2005 at 12:32 pm
There are a coupla jokes in the Padre Mike’s house that we enjoy. First, we don’t say the B-word as in we don’t say George Bush in the house, as a joke. And this morning, the new joke is everything is Klesko’s fault.
I’ll be blogging now about how the entire season of mediocrity is Klesko’s fault.
Hey Geoff, you deserve tremendous credit for the fine blogging you do. Your stuff is timely, well researched, and best of all, well written. I said it once, I’ll say it again, you deserve to be paid. Come on NCT, UT, pick this guy up.
And finally, true lovers of the game of baseball know one thing: only 114 wins needed for a WS Championship in 06.
Assumes 100 wins, 4, 5, and 5 in the WS.
Go Padres!
October 9, 2005 at 1:45 pm
Sorry to hear you had Cardinal fans in your section that might have misrepresented the rest of us. I have nothing againts the Padres, and I know how to watch a baseball game with class. Nothing irritates me more than being in St. Louis during a Cubs-Cards game and listening to a bunch of Cubs fan ruin the experience for me. Good series; the way the bullpen performed I feel fortunate my team got a sweep.
October 9, 2005 at 11:12 pm
I still haven’t posted. Almost 24 hours later. I will, and the bile will flow, but honestly, it will mostly be at the baseball gods and people who just don’t get it and still feel the need to spout about how this makes us a losing team or about how we need to fire Bruce…notice it always ends there. Not “so we can hire _______ who will do a better job because _______.”
This was a fun season. Geoff, let’s pick a time this winter to throw back a few at The Field, eh? To the intelligent Card fans…good luck against the ‘Stros. and please remind your less intelligent and respectful brethren that calling a ground ball to second a “can of corn” makes them sound like Dodger fans….
October 10, 2005 at 8:22 am
It’s time to admit that this wasn’t a good baseball team. We were fortunate to reach the postseason with such a collection of mediocre ballplayers.
Towers has his work cut out for him.
October 10, 2005 at 9:06 am
Whew! OK, the season is done. Good job getting to the post-season, Padres.
Thanks for the season, as frustrating one as it was. I’ll remember that somebody once told me that love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Sometimes, the head comes up, other times the tail. But either way, it’s better than not having the coin at all.
I can’t quite put into words how much I love and hate this team. However, for a season I actually care whether or not the Padres do well/not in October. It’s been a while.
Thanks, Geoff for your always enjoyable writings throughout the season. Thanks to everybody who made my visits to this site enjoyable.
I’m ready for some rest now. Whew!
October 10, 2005 at 12:58 pm
I wish the sun were shining today … I could use … but alas, I’m in Oregon …
My first thought is that the Padres should offer a “rain check” to anyone with a Game 3 ticket stub … in other words, they should admit that they didn’t show up for the game … didn’t really show up for the series … and just throw a bone to the loyal fans that plunked down the big-playoff-bucks for a ticket to Game 3! It’d be a gesture that would also help get 45,093 folks to come to a game next season.
Thank-you, CalvinPitt! I was wondering if I was the only person fuming at the Walker “HBP”! Hey, I’m a HUGE Larry Walker fan (I drafted him on my roto team in ~1987 when he was on the major league DL with the first of him many knee injuries), but HE LEANED INTO THAT PITCH! Rule 6.08 says (http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/batter_6.jsp) …
6.08
The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out (provided he advances to and touches first base) when … (b) He is touched by a pitched ball which he is not attempting to hit unless … (2) The batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball;
… he made not attempt to avoid being touch by the ball … period! Bochy’s got to get out an argue that!
Also, as CalvinPitt and Padre Mike have already said, clearly our goat was Klesko … he looked VERY BAD at the plate … just worthless … actually, worthless is an overstatement … he hurt the team by being in the 4-hole for that game … which is both a problem with him and the person who made out the lineup card (and I don’t know what to do with that opinion, because I understand and most of the time agree with Rich’s point = who we gonna get that’s better???).
My bottom line is that I was surpised that the players just didn’t seem to have any hope, any energy, any spirit from the start … I said a couple of days ago how valuable I thought Garry Templeton’s actions were during the pregame before Game 3 of the 1984 NLCS … his spark, his energy ignited the crowd … which created some “MO” … which seemed to make a difference. Hey, I wasn’t at the game … was it flater than you’d hoped/expected?
Onward … rooting for the Cardinals (and the ChiSox a bit, too) … onward … to 2006!
October 10, 2005 at 2:34 pm
Thanks, guys, for the comments.
IC: I really hope you’re wrong about Giles going. Also, thanks a lot for all the Tim Stauffer insights earlier in the season. Hopefully he’ll be a part of next year’s rotation and we can get more good stuff from you then.
Dex: Agreed about sensible lineup, although I’m not sure there was a way to do that with the guys Bochy had at his disposal.
CP: Thanks for the info on the Walker beaning. From where we were sitting, I had no idea he leaned into it.
PM: Thanks a lot for the kind words. I don’t think we can pin this all on Klesko. Really, aside from Peavy, Linebrink, and Giles, there is *nobody* on this team that I don’t take to task (and even Peavy I have some issues with, but he did *so* much for the team that I’m mostly willing to overlook those). But again, we’ve got all winter to talk about these things.
Sprayahen: No worries, I put those guys more in the category of “drunken idiots” than “Cardinals fans.” I appreciate you, CP, and others from Cardinal fandom coming over and engaging us in good discussion. Best of luck the rest of the way.
Rich: I look forward to reading your thoughts and also to hooking up at The Field this off-season. Yes, it was a fun season. The frustration we all felt during the playoffs was a logical extension of and conclusion to what we’d been experiencing all year (except for May; ah, remember May).
Lance: You are right, we were fortunate to reach the post-season. That is also why I am not quite as bitter right now as I might otherwise be. I’m still psyched that they made it.
LM: I don’t know about the spark. Can’t speak for the first two games, since for the most part I didn’t see them. But Game 3 was pretty electric. And it pretty much began with EY. The guys really fought, right up to the end. They were overmatched by a better team, but they never gave up. Yeah, it still sucks we lost. But I can live with it. If the game had finished 7-0 (or worse), I’d have had a real problem. But they battled. In the end, they just didn’t have enough firepower to do any real damage.
October 11, 2005 at 12:22 pm
I am pretty thankful we made the post-season. Offensively, we survived a pretty dire implosion of our core offensive players:
Giles, steady.
Nevin, complete crash.
Klesko; second half crash
Loretta; complete crash in power.
Hernandez was so-so, despite a nice surge at the end.
Couple this with steps back by Greene and Burroughs, a lot of the expected offense just vanished.
Towers pick ups did nicely; Fick was solid, Sweeney a great platoon, Randa was crappy but it was a desperation move; DJ, Young filled in pretty well and Roberts was a solid CF.
Starting pitching was a big let down as well. Peavy was very solid; Eaton started strong but struggled with the injury; Williams and BLaw really struggled. Astacio was a huge gift.
The pen rocked; it would have been even nastier if not for the injuries to Hammond and Seanez, but I guess those were predictable.
I am not sure what next season holds, but I don’t expect Hernandez, Randa or Giles to be back. Klesko will probably be here because of his no-trade. I think we can keep a good pen and solidify the rotation. The giant question will be what will we do for offense? Perhaps Nady playing everyday will blossum. Johnson doesn’t look quite ready. I don’t see much in our farm system that can step in and compete next year.
My best hope is we can find some flexible platoon types, guys like Young and Sweeney who are designed to be platoon players, but find the right mix of players. That could be an affordable, competitive solution as the farm talent matures.
October 11, 2005 at 8:20 pm
I love da Pads good or bad..I have been a true fan everywhere I have lived in the lower 48. I always blame Klesko the last few years..he has been useless..and Bochy’s lineups left alot to be desired at times..Towers bargan-basement pickups were pretty good and occasionally clutch during the second half..The Pitching is always suspect for me, we can never get that one or two top flight starters..our pen has always been decent and Trevor..i love that man.
I want Bochy and Towers to remain with the Pads, I so respect what they have been able to do with so little funding over the years..
Outside of Trevor and Peavy..they can do what they see fit..their the brains of the Organization, not me. Hopefully Alderson will be of some help..
I’ll be in their corner next year, regardless..