first pitch: 8:00 p.m., PT
television: ESPN
matchup: Woody Williams vs Matt Morris
previews: Yahoo! | ESPN | Padres.com
Come on down and meet your maker
Come on down and make the stand
Come on down, come on down,
Come on down and we’ll make the stand.
Last time I personally attended a big-league playoff game? 1985. Cardinals at Dodgers. It must’ve been Game 1 or Game 2 (retrosheet.org), but I can’t remember which. My friend Brad’s father had tickets through his company. We sat somewhere in the outfield (right center, if memory serves, which it probably doesn’t), next to a hot chick. I was 16 at the time, so when I say “hot chick,” I mean she probably was breathing, bipedal, or maybe a little of each.
Anyway, I haven’t been to a post-season contest in 20 years. Do I care that the Padres are down, 2-0? Well, I’d rather they were up, 2-0, or even split. But a playoff game is a playoff game, and I’ll take it.
Tonight marks the 14th time a big-league post-season game will have been played in San Diego. The Padres are 7-6 thus far but have lost their last four (two each to the Braves and Yankees in 1998). For those of you still searching for a bright side, remember that the Padres were outscored by the Cubs, 17-2, in first two games of the 1984 NLCS. Anything can happen.
Matchups
Both of Saturday night’s starting pitchers have had good success against the batters they will be facing in Game 3:
| AB | BA | OBP | SLG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams vs current Cardinals | 151 | .245 | .287 | .371 |
| Mulder vs current Padres | 158 | .259 | .310 | .380 |
Williams basically turns everyone into Adam Everett. The guy who has done the bulk of the damage against Woody, believe it or not, is Abraham Nunez (.526/.545/.789 in 19 AB). Woody has handled the rest of the lineup pretty well (Mark Grudzielanek and Jim Edmonds have sub-500 OPS against him, in a decent chunk of at-bats). Woody has faced Albert Pujols three times: two outs and a solo homer.
The line against Morris looks a lot like what Jose Reyes did this year. Brian Giles (.417/.481/.750 in 24 AB) and Ryan Klesko (.360/.407/.560 in 25 AB) have had the most success against Morris. Wouldn’t it be great to see Klesko bust out again? Despite Petco Park’s reputation, he does hit better at home (.250/.367/.438) than on the road (.247/.349/.400). Still, that 651 OPS after the All-Star break is pretty brutal.
About San Diego
Hi, and welcome to San Diego. There are a few things you should know about our fine city:
- Due to a comical and/or embarrassing series of events, we don’t have a mayor. Basically, the former mayor resigned in July due to a pension fund scandal. A few days later, his replacement, a city councilmember, was convicted for taking bribes from a strip club owner. And none of this would have happened if the folks who voted for a write-in candidate in the previous election had remembered to fill in the bubble next to her name in addition to writing her name (or if the folks who count the ballots had the sense to figure out what writing in her name meant regardless of whether a bubble was filled in, depending on your perspective). I’m not trying to get political here; the important thing is, the city is kind of a mess when it comes to these things. But don’t worry, you’ll be plenty safe here.
- We have the best Mexican food outside of Mexico. Yeah, you’ll find the usual McTaco type franchises, but I’m convinced those exist only for tourists who can’t or don’t want to deal with real Mexican food. Steer clear of Old Town. It’s a nice enough place to visit and walk around but the food there, while good enough, tends to be overpriced. If you’re looking for some serious carne asada or carnitas, check out the Ducksnorts Unofficial Guide to San Diego Taco Shops. I can’t personally vouch for all of these places, but I can vouch for all the folks who vouch for ‘em. Follow this guide, and you’ll get some good food.
- I’m told the beaches are nice. I live about 10 minutes away, and I can’t manage to drag my butt down there more than once or twice a year. How lame is that?
- There is some great music coming out of SD. Troy Johnson is the man on the scene, and he gave us a few of his favorites during a Ducksnorts interview back in July.
- There’s lots of stuff to do and see here, but I don’t know what any of it is. Try the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. They might have some good ideas.
About the Series
- Padres manager Bruce Bochy on Saturday’s game (Scout.com). The national story is how much the Padres suck and that they don’t belong in the playoffs. Bochy nails the real story: “Coming into the new ballpark, we wanted to contend. We came close last year. Now we’re in post-season. That was the plan all along.” I am so fired up for this one.
- The Padres are hoping everyone is fired up at tonight’s game. John Maffei at the NC Times talks about the effect the home crowd could have on the Padres in Game 3.
- Larry Borowsky over at Viva El Birdos noticed our discussion of execution and defense following Game 2 and provided a link to something he’d written about the keys to the Cardinals’ success back in July. The numbers are revealing. What the Cardinals are doing in this series (outscoring the opposition despite being outhit by them) is no fluke; they’ve been doing it all year. They play good defense, they run the bases well, they turn an obscene number of double plays. Simply put, they play great baseball. Thanks, Larry, for the heads-up.
- Curtis Bunn over at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution also talks about the Cardinals’ ability to execute. The team simply doesn’t make mistakes.
- Everybody loves MLB’s scheduling during the playoffs. Seriously, has anyone in San Diego or St. Louis been able to watch every inning of this series? The damning thing for the Cardinals is, this isn’t the first time Bud Selig has pulled this move. There wouldn’t seem to be a lot of ways to interpret the statement, “I told our people, No more 10 p.m. starts. That’s the end of it.”
- The Frustration Factor (The Right Place). In which “Mr. Right” attempts to “quantify or measure suffering” as applied to fans of baseball franchises. An interesting read, with some cool charts at the end. The Padres are 10th among current franchises in their present market in terms of post-season appearance frequency (post-season appearances divided by years of existence) at 11.1%. That puts them just ahead of the Detroit Tigers (10.9%) and behind the Cincinnati Reds (11.9%).
Meetup Before the Game
Remember, if anyone wants to meet before the game, my wife and I will be at The Field. We’re planning to head down around 5:30 or so. I’ll be wearing a faded 1998 National League Championship shirt and blue cap with silver “SD” on it.
Come on down and we’ll make the stand.
“And none of this would have happened if the folks who voted for a write-in candidate in the previous election had remembered to fill in the bubble next to her name in addition to writing her name”
Wasn’t that a run-off election? What kind of stupid system does the city of San Diego use to draw up a ballot? Also, how much of a dumbass do you have to be to write-in a candidate in a run-off?
Wish I could join you @ The Field … I can recommend the Shepard’s Pie
I just went to BP and voted for the MVP, CY, ROY, MOY at the IBA site (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/iba/index.php?mode=login) … here’s what I did, in case you care
NL MVP
Albert Pujols 1
Derrek Lee 2
Andruw Jones 3
Chris Carpenter 4
Roger Clemens 5
Morgan Ensberg 6
Dontrelle Willis 7
Carlos Delgado 8
Todd Helton 9
Brian Giles 10
NL Cy Young
Chris Carpenter 1
Dontrelle Willis 2
Roger Clemens 3
Chad Cordero 4
Jake Peavy 5
NL ROY
Zach Duke 1
Ryan Howard 2
Willy Taveras 3
NL Manager of the Year
Tony LaRussa 1
Phil Garner 2
Bruce Bochy 3
AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez 1
David Ortiz 2
Manny Ramirez 3
Vladimir Guerrero 4
Mariano Rivera 5
Mark Buerhle 6
Paul Konerko 7
Francisco Rodriguez 8
Bartolo Colon 9
Travis Hafner 10
AL Cy Young
Johan Santana 1
Mark Buehrle 2
Bartolo Colon 3
Mariano Rivera 4
Francisco Rodriguez 5
AL ROY
Felix Hernandez 1
Huston Street 2
Joe Blanton 3
AL Manager of the Year
Ozzie Guillen 1
Terry Francona 2
Mike Scioscia 3
Hey Geoff!
I don’t think we’ll be able to meet up with you at the Field, but the wife, kids and I will definitely be at the game! Like you I am very geeked up for this and am hoping it will be the first Padre postseason victory I’ve attended since game 3 against the Braves…let’s hope we arre all singing Donna Summer tonight…”I love the nightlife!”
hmmmmm., that was quick
woody can’t get the curve over for a strike, and is throwing a lot of pitches…and I, apparently, am the only one not at the game…
Walker doesn’t have the wheels he once had, but he gets to the ball quickly…good read, good route
I’m here too.
But admittedly not half full.
c’mon, Brian, crack open a cold one and get HALF FULL
When David Eckstein goes big fly, I’m thinking of getting fully full.
oh, crap, I might have to get much more than HALF FULL…. friggin’ Eckstein for god’s sake
Bochy MUST manage this game differently than he has the previous 164. Woody ain’t foolin’ them much.
Time to get ??? who? Eaton? up? Or should we not screw around & get Linebrink in now?
Lawrence? Oh, my.
Too late.
Blood draining from my body…. I am only HALF FULL… can anyone stop this bleeding?
Starting Woody was stupid. It should have been Hensley or Eaton all along. Now the game is over early. Even if it]s not, why put your team in this position?
Useless trivia: The last team to hit into at least three DPs in back-to-back playoff games…?
1960 Pittsburgh Pirates
OK, time to move on….
LM,
I voted the same AL MVP, AL Cy, & NL ROY #1 as you. Your #2 NL MVP, NL Cy, & AL ROY were my #1s.
And why, oh why, was Fick bunting there?
Now we’re bunting while behind 5-0. Where’s Richard to rant when you really need him?
Down 5-0 and giving away outs.
Predictably, Joe Morgan defends the bunt.
Extremely half full prespective: At least we stayed out of the DP.
Later, Morgan will be defending polyester, Richard Nixon and other bad ideas.
Thanks, Brian, needed that. I’m in so much pain, I’m sneaking over to My Name Is Earl between innings. Soon, it may be that I’ll be sneaking over to the game during Earl’s commercials.
The good news is that we get to bat 5 more times…1 run in each inning and we’re tied..
Did you see Fick searching for the bag with his foot?
My Name is Earl, the show where Earl Weaver spreads the word of pitching, defense and the three-run homer.
Insert metaphor now….
Here comes the comeback..
I see a beach ball in the stands behind home plate = no respect for the game.
What’s on after Earl?
Law & Order – SVU. Not a big fan, like L&O Classic better.
What’s tomorrow’s headline, Kevin?
we’re only down a touchdown…
And the extra point.
Eckstein and Edmonds: Four plate appearances in the first five innings.
C’mon Ryno…just one time baby…
No bunt from Fick there?
Lance?
Lance is probably at the game, so I’ll pick up the torch and commemorate the moment belatedly, but appropriately….
ding
Ramon…. DONG
double switch… drink up
tieing run to the plate… deja vu
wow… i’m going to go lick my wounds for a week or so… (reminds me of a joke… why do dogs lick their… never mind). Anyway, best to you all… & thanks, Geoff, for this great blog… i’ll want to talk with y’all later about the series, the season, the off-season, but not for a while… CUP EMPTY
Well..that sucks..but it was a great season…anyone know how many days it is until opening day?
I think Bochy should be fired for starting Williams in this game. Eaton or Lawrence would have kept us close. But Williams was a dead man walking. Just embarassing tonight.
PADRES IN 7!
Will Brian Giles be a Cardinal next year?
Will Brian Giles be a Cardinal next year?