Frustrating loss Wednesday night. Shawn Estes actually looked better than I’d expected. More aggressive. I was thinking he’d be Darrell May, Part II, but Estes has okay stuff. I liked the way he pitched to Barry Bonds, not afraid to work him inside.
First baseman Adrian Gonzalez’ opposite field homer accounted for the Padres’ only run in the 3-1 contest, and although his hitting has been terrific so far, what I’m really liking is the way he handles himself around the bag. Gonzalez looks very comfortable on defense, which I haven’t been able to say about a Padres first baseman in a long time. With news that Ryan Klesko may be facing shoulder surgery sooner rather than later, we could be seeing a lot of Gonzalez this summer.
On the plus side, the circus has left town. And there will be no more sad attempts by spotlight seekers to seem somehow relevant. Again, I cannot condone throwing objects onto the field, but as a buddy of mine asked, “Where was Jesse Jackson’s outrage when Tom Gamboa got attacked?” It’s a good question.
Off day today, then the Rockies for the weekend. With Matt Holliday in left field, presumably the Padres will reopen the standing-room-only section directly behind the fence. And the national media can follow the circus wherever it goes, leaving the rest of us to watch baseball games.
What, Geoff, no comment on X Nady going hitless in his last 4 at bats?
J/K, keep up the good work!
Right now, I was very encouraged by Estes’ start; he was even hitting 91 on the gun. Walks and ground ball hits are to be expected from him; generally, though, the infield defense looks pretty good, Barfield’s non-factoring flub of a Bonds’ line drive notwithstanding. I’ll take 3 ER in 6 IP from Estes every time, and like the team’s chances in those games.
If I were to jump to any conclusions after the first two games, I would be concerned about lack of production from the top of the lineup. If 1-2 guys don’t get on, they won’t pitch to Giles; no need, just walk him to get to Piazza and hope for the DP. Also, pinch hitting could be a big problem this year, at least compared to the great run they had last year from their bench in such situations. Khalil’s plate discipline also does not appear to have improved. But since I’m not jumping to conclusions this early, these will just be things I’ll keep an eye on for the future.
Disagree, Goff, about the syringe thrown at Barry. Thought it was an excellent statement about how the fans (ignored by everybody although we pay the freight) feels about cheating. (agree that you should not throw things at players, but this is an exception). Nowhere has the fan been able to make a comment that was picked up by the national media.
Another point. I really get peavy about Bochy always playing matchups, a la last nights seventh inning. Bochy has no instinct for the flow of an inning or when to take a rsik. Let Sledge bat. EY is nice but the book on him is known, were as Sledge has is an X-factor in the game with a greater risk reward ratio. But Bruce doesn’t seem to understand this nuiance (playing the hunch) at all. The game is more then righty on lefty.
I have no problem with Dave Roberts & Sledge at the top of the lineup, though I wouldn’t put them there. I do have a problem with EY batting higher than 7th. The guy is a cipher at the top of the lineup.
It’s not worth removing a good righty or lefty for a bad lefty or righty just to get the match up. Whatever, though…
Where was this fan passion for the purity of the game in 96 or 98? I’m not saying it’s a race issue, because Sammy Sosa was almost as popular as Big Mac. But the fan desire for a pure game wasn’t there for a long time. Most of us were happy to see bulked-up sluggers hitting the ball 450 feet, as long as their names were Caminiti, McGwire, or Sosa. Anyone but Bonds.
Heck, where was the outrage when Termel Sledge came up? He actually tested positive!
Good point, Alan. Termel Sledge and Derrick Turnbow both tested positive for steroids playing on the US Olympic qualifying team back in fall of 2003. I don’t think the mainstream media ever picked up on the story because both players were Triple-A players at the time.
Ok guys, lets be accurate. Neither Sledge nor Turnbow tested positive for a steroid, as defined at the time. Both tested positive for derivites of andro, neither illegal in the US nor banned by MLB at the time. While it was banned by the IOC, calling it a positive steroid test is inflammatory.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/040114sledge.html
I really have no issue with Bonds as it regards steroids. So far, there’s nothing to suggest that steroids have much of an effect on performance. Until there is, I just don’t care.
I still hate Bonds, though.
Richard, I used to think that way about steroids. Recommend you read Andy Andres’ presentation on their impact on athletes:
http://sabermetrics.hnrc.tufts.edu/Files/Andres_Steroids_Talk.pdf
Not saying this will change your mind, but it’s worth reading.
Selfishly I would love to see Bonds out of the NL west, but from “purity of the game” stand point I don’t think he should be punished until he fails a drug test. I don’t know if you can really punish anyone because of allegations made in a book, or by the media, even though it is long overdue a drug testing policy is in place and it will clean up the game just it did for the NFL.
uh…..
There’s no way to get a positive test from HGH. He could conceivably still be on steroids and he WILL NEVER TEST POSITIVE. Simply not testing positive is not proof that he doesn’t use. This is like saying you wouldn’t believe man landed on the moon without pictures despite the presence of moonrock, a space ship, and testimony of the astronauts and people who watched the launch.
I agree that punishment is futile and this Selig-sponsored witch hunt is ill-conceived and ill-timed. However, there is something funtamentally wrong with the life’s work of other’s being overshadowed by a group of cheaters. The thing is broken forever. That’s all there is to it. Home run records will forever be tainted, so let’s get over it. I hate Barry because he kills the Padres. I cheered when Estes hit him because it meant Barry wasn’t hitting one out.
I hate off days.
There will eventually be a way to measure HGH and come up with a test for it. Plus HGH is a natural hormone produced in the body, so it would be able to be distinguished from others.
The sensible truth is the court of public opinion… outside of San Francisco, most people believe that Barry Bonds used some kind of anabolic steroid, designer steroid or masking agents for the purpose of performance enhancement.
Say, this day isn’t all that bad.. the Portland Beavers open tonight.
If steroids don’t affect performance then there’s a hell of a lot of athletes in all sports who are putting their long term health in jeopardy for a placebo effect. How can larger muscle mass and faster recovery time not help you in any sport?
Jesse’s right though, get used to it because they’re not going away. There’s always substances that can’t be detected, there’s always going to be guys who do whatever they can to get an advantage.
Its been going on from the FIRST day that baseball was played for MONEY. Players have been trying anything that would give them any kind of an advantage. Stuff thats illegal now was perfectly legal in the 20′s and vice versa. Uppers and downers have been rampant in clubhouses for years. Its not going away. Players will always be looking for that edge.
Where do you draw the line. Was Ty Cobb on speed? What was Ruth taking? Did Cal Ripken or Lou Gehrig really get through all those games au’ naturale?
I say, you cant backtrack. Barry Bonds, like him or not, was a great ballplayer before there was any indication of a steroid scandel and still is. Is it possible that he made a serious mistake in judgement? Certainly. Hell, I hated the smug bastard before the steroid scandel, now I think I am even starting to like him(a little)
Steve: You don’t really believe the NFL is clean, do you? Those guys do not get that sort of muscularity at those bodyfat levels by eating steaks, drinking protein powder and taking vitamin supplements. I believe the NFL has no offseason testing program any more than MLB does. And without offseason testing you cannot even prevent use of detectable PED’s. Furthermore, as others have pointed out, there are undoubtedly other designer drugs being used which are not being tested for just because no one has heard of them yet and don’t know how to test for them.
And, yes, steroids do enhance athletic performance, which is why elite athletes have been using them for decades despite risking detection and ostracization.
In Bonds’ case, the same timeline detailed in the recent book about his usage is plainly obvious from his performance alone, nevermind the coincidence of his hiring Greg Anderson and the enormous and rapid growth. Looking at his AB/HR through his career you can see a fairly normal development. He progressed through his early 20′s hitting 1 about every 22 AB’s. Coming into his prime at 27 he dropped that significantly to 1 every 14 and dropped it to 12 the next year and 10.5 the following year. Although it jumped up in 1995 to 15.3, he dropped it down again to 12.3 and then it rose to 13.3 and to 15 at the age of 33.
Nothing unusual there. Most ballplayers learn to hit and to hit for power in their early 20′s, hit their prime around 27 and leave their peak around 33. One would expect to see him maintain a similar ratio into his mid and late 30′s, but experience some age related decline.
Not so Bonds. In an injury shortened 1999 his ratio dropped to its lowest level ever, 10.4, but then it dropped even further the following year to 9.8. So all of a sudden at 35 he is hitting HR’s more frequently than ever, and that ratio is not distorted by all the BB’s he received from 2001 through 2004. In 2000 he only walked 117 times, his fewest in a full seaons since 1991.
His ratios, admittedly distorted by diminshed AB’s due to the huge increase in BB’s, for 2001 through 2004: 6.5, 8.8, 8.7, and 8.3. You can’t look at that, and at his age, and not see PED’s do work.
Just for fun, he lost about 1/2 an AB per game during those years. He averaged roughly 3 versus 3.5 prior to 1999. Even if you add the extra .5 AB per game back in and don’t give him credit for a single extra homer, the ratios woud be: 7.6, 10.3, 10.1 and 10. So if you believe PED’s don’t work, you have to believe he naturally dropped his AB/HR ratios to career low levels from age 35 to 39. Unlike any other player in history, he experienced no age related decline and in fact improved his performance to career best levels.
I never said that I don’t think that Bonds is innocent, what I said is that baseball can’t suspend him without failing a drug test. Show me where in the rule book it says MLB can suspend a player for hear say allegations made by the media and/or a book.
I don’t believe that the NFL is fully clean but I do believe it’s a lot better than it was in the 70’s though.
The real culprits in this are MLB, for letting obvious abuse go on because it was bringing in the cash; and the MLBPA which vehemently opposed any drug testing. In my mind, the MLBPA was driven by the leadership, which were older players, who benefited more from steroids, to the detriment of younger players. It places players in deeply unfair predicaments: stay clean and get paid less, or sacrifice some of your ethics, use and get paid more. I would like to say I would stay clean under such a choice, but it is a horrible choice. I don’t cheat on my taxes, which is the closest thing I have to compare against. A lot of people do, though. Probably some of the people livid about steroids cheats.
Anyway, I was also impressed with Estes. He pitched well and really only had one ball hit hard (Vizquel single to right), and it was a bit of bad luck that they scored 3 on mostly infield hits.
The top of the order has been bad: Roberts has looked awful in his AB’s; EY did hit one pretty hard, and I thought his AB’s were OK. I thought Bochy managed things OK; I kind of liked him sending up a lefty to face Kline knowing that Alou wanted to pull Kline. Sending a rightie would have played right into his hand, so he had to have a rightie face Bellhorn.
Regarding Bellhorn’s AB, I was very frustrated by the strike call on the second pitch. The ball was close but it was a ball, and he called almost the exact same pitch a ball in the next half inning. I live in SF, so have to watch the SF broadcast, and they did not mention it all. If the ump calls it correctly, and it is 2-0, bases loaded. The big miss was Bellhorn not hitting the hanging slider on the 1-1 pitch. Another plus was that the Padres worked deep into the counts on Morris. He did only last 6 1/3; many Padres worked it to 3-2 counts; they almost busted through against the bullpen. They got a bit unlucky with some smoked balls that started DP’s; a couple find a hole, different game.
I read (maybe on this site) that the Padres are hoping Klesko has surgery, so they can get some of the $10m back on insurance. Given what Gonzalez is doing, that suits me OK.
I’ve heard Gagne’s doing to have elbow surgery … Baez will close … so much for getting HOLDs in DS#2 … a sacrifice I’m willing to make
The reason NFL guys are huge is they pump raw testosterone into their system. The NFL DOES test for testosterone (sp?) but allows 5X the average amount a normal male produces. So guys find their baseline and to get to the 5X level…
Stauffer with rough start @ AAA Portland … hmmm, it just dawned on me that the Padres have Walter Young at the expense of Tagg Bozied … it’s a cruel world … life goes on, I s’pose … HR for Cust … Portland fans enjoy a nice Opening Day!
Peter’s right on testosterone, but it’s not just that. They don’t test for HGH and can’t test for a variety of designer drugs.
The idea that the NFL is cleaner than it was 25-30 years ago runs smack into a wall of 320 pound linemen running 5.0 40s.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/265906_sonx07.html
Great all we need is for moores to start looing money on the sonics as well.
You know what really sucks. I was listening to Boch interviewed this morning and they were talking about how he is a little surprised at AGon’s bat speed/power, etc. You know what the first thing that went through my mind was?????
I wonder if he’s on the roids.
That’s the effect Barry, BigMac, Sammy, Raffy Palmeiro, etc. have had on the game.
All this Barry talks is giving me a headache. Yes, I believe he cheated. Too bad for him since he was a very talented player to start with. Now, people are going to remember him as a cheater, not the great baseball player that he was. Yes, was. I don’t think he’s been any good with all those IBBs given to him but still valuable to the Giants, perhaps.
This whole faux-investigation by Bud and Co. is just sick. Having pretended to not know anything about PEDs used by players, now, they are going to screw Barry just because some people in wrote a book. The steroid policy is not even dried yet on the paper it’s written and already a player is going to be crucified for things that happened before said rules were put in place. That’s unfair. Big Mac wasn’t treated this way even when Andro was found in his shelf. Raffy was treated better than this even after tested positive on steroids.
I hate to say this, but the coincidence of Bonds’ getting closer to Ruth’s record and all these hoopla looks suspicious to me.