I’m pleased to note that last week’s post about Greg Maddux coming to the Padres has been published in the latest edition of the San Diego Reader (p. 195, also online). [Full disclosure: Back in the mid-'90s, I played in a band with the editor who decided to run this. On a personal note, I hadn't been in contact with Robert for several years, so it was awesome to reconnect with him.]
If you’re just discovering Ducksnorts via the San Diego Reader, welcome and thanks for swinging by our little corner of the Web (and if you’ve been coming here for months or years, please bear with me as we get folks up to speed — you might enjoy looking back at some of the old posts, and there is a book update buried in here somewhere). Feel free to take a look around the place. If you’d like to join the conversation, read our comments policy and jump on in — we won’t bite. Well, maybe a little.
Here are some of our most recent posts:
- Maddux Comes to San Diego — Gee, this looks familiar.
So, what do you think of this signing? - Remembering Gwynn’s 3000th Hit — Feel free to add your recollections of that dribbler into right field in Montreal.
- Scoring at Petco — I sometimes do heavier analysis; this one takes a look at how well (or not) the Padres are using Petco Park to their advantage.
- Waiting for NOG, Pondering the Best in Padres History — As part of the book I’m working on (more info below), I’m trying to figure out who are the best Padres players ever at each position; maybe you have a suggestion?
And here are some blasts from the past that you might enjoy:
- Nine Signs You Think About the San Diego Padres Too Much — General silliness.
- Gap Dirt — Wow, I’d totally forgotten about this guy; one of the most ineffectually obnoxious fans I’ve ever met.
- Scoring at Petco — I sometimes do heavier analysis; this one takes a look at how well (or not) the Padres are using Petco Park to their advantage.
- Ducksnorts Unofficial Guide to Restaurants Near Petco Park — Pretty self-explanatory; we also have one of these specifically for taco shops.
- Ducksnorts: Best of 2005 — This is a downloadable compilation of posts from 2005.
- Padres Final Baseball Game at Qualcomm Stadium — Honestly I didn’t think I’d ever miss the Q, but sometimes I kind of do; not enough to ever leave Petco Park, which is a great place to watch a game, but there was a lot of history in Mission Valley.
Finally, I’ve got my hands in a few other things that might interest you (book update alert):
- Geoff’s Other Baseball Writing and Media Appearances — I’ve done some writing for other web sites, and I also pop up on the occasional radio program.
- Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual — I’m writing a book about the Padres; this has all the latest information (publication date, price, contents, some excerpts, etc).
And if you still can’t get enough, I also write at a more general baseball blog called Knuckle Curve.
Okay, that should do it. Again, welcome and have a look around the place. If you want something to talk about today, this morning’s U-T is reporting that the Padres are looking at signing Marcus Giles (no shock there) and also everyone’s favorite ex-Dodger, Jayson Werth.
There you go. Happy Thursday!
Question … why didn’t Tony Gwynn draw more walks?
Highest career batting averages without making the .400 Club
.342: Davey Orr (.366 OBP)
.341: Willie Keeler (.388 OBP)
.341: Bill Terry (.393 OBP)
.340: George Sisler (.379 OBP)
.338: Tony Gwynn (.388 OBP)
… kinda a crummy list to be on …
Tony swung at the first pitch he thought he could do something good with… and often swung at pitches only he could do something good with. Do you remember that unhittable Randy Johnson slider in the ’98 playoffs he laced down the left field line for a double? Almost no one even makes contact with that pitch, and no one else keeps it fair. With his eye and bat control, he’s one guy I’m willing to say the usual rules about plate discipline need not apply.
If a hitter hits .350 (which he did often, and that’s a decent OBP by itself) and you don’t strike out much, not walking very much isn’t a knock against a hitter.
LM raises an interesting question. How many walks is it possible for a batter to draw? How does that tie in to SLG%? My immediate reaction to his question was that pitchers didn’t pitch around T Gwynn like they do to a Bonds or Pujols. Especially with the bases empty they were probably willing to go after him.
dprat is right, Tony would swing at pitches most guys would lay off. I’d bet that a large number of his 5.5 hole hits were on pitches out of the zone.
Most batters are looking for a pitch they can drive. Guys like Bonds might even pass up a pitch they can hit for a single, instead waiting for a pitch in their zone. If they don’t get it they’ll take the walk. Tony wasn’t looking to hit homeruns so he’d happily slap that low and outside pitch the other way. Wade Boggs was very similar in that respect.
Wade Boggs was a another level from 1983 to 1989. He hit between .325 and .368 with between 89 and 125 walks. He had 200 hits and 100 walks for four straight seasons. For a short period of time, he combined Gwynn’s hitting ability with Rickey Henderson’s walk ability with the speed of neither.
Thanks dprat for that memory. It was awesome.
I think TGwynn just a freak with controlling his bat.
Why is PMac not considered for LF? Wouldn’t he be just as good as Sledge?
I think people are forgetting Slege’s year in Montreal during his rookie season…he hit:
398 Ab’s
.269 Ave
.336 OBP
.462 Slg
15 HR
62 RBI
45 R
Those are not bad numbers for under 400ab’s and in Montreal…they guy is a decent player and if you platoon him with Cruz it won’t be as bad as we have had…now, I would rather have 1 bopper, but for Sledge to be your #4 or #5 OF, you would not be that upset.
Sledge and McAnulty have eerily similar minor league numbers.
Sledge 308/401/490
McAnulty 305/398/493
Sledge has a full year’s at-bats in the majors and did just okay, 775 OPS, borderline OBP of 333. McAnulty hasn’t had enough major league at-bats to consider. He’s 4 years younger than Sledge. I’d like to see McAnulty get a shot, but I don’t know that there’s much to separate them.
Yeah but P Mac doesn’t look as athletic as Sledge. That always plays a factor, conciously or not. If we don’t get an established LF I say unleash P Mac and let’s see what he can do.
I’m still hoping for Dunn but it seems pretty quiet lately.
Listening to SA the last couple of weeks on XX, whenever he’s asked about left field, he always throws in the name of PMac along with Sledge, in a “don’t forget we’ve got PMac, as well.”
Sledge showed a lot of promise a couple of years ago in Montreal and the only thing that has held him back are injuries. I like PMac but if it comes down between the two I’d give Sledge the nod especially after the power the showed last year in Portland and my percieved idea of Sledge being much more athletic than PMac (or Kruk Jr. as I like to call him). I would love to see PMac get a shot somewhere but I just don’t know where it would be, he’s overmatched at 1st 3rd and IMO Left.
Cust and PMac need to go to an AL team where they can be hitters like Matt Stairs.
#24- I’m partial to the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.
Free PMac!!!
Something about the Banana Slugs (the real things) that most people don’t know. The native peoples of the Santa Cruz Mountains used them for oral anethesia by rubbing them against their lips, tongues, etc., (so I heard on some nature show in the Bay Area)
True story – I told this to a friend of mine and convinced him to try it. He did and the slug just caused his mouth to get all white & gooey like the jars of liquid marshmallow. I’ll never forget his face when he did it. For some reason he did not feel any numbness either so it was a total bust. He did make a freind for life though in the banana slug. Our friendship didn’t suffer too much thankfully.
The Padres must have come to terms with Cust becasue they didn’t offer him arbitration and he was off their 40 man roster for some time. It looks like no one else had interest in him.
115 – should be anesthesia
I say that if we really want to help Paul McAnulty have a spot on the Padres’ roster, then we need to all agree to stick to the nickname that we heard Kevin Towers use for him at the 2005 Pizza Feed … THE HAMMER!
118, but what do we call Termell if he really start hitting? The Hammer fits him like no one else! Unless they do platoon, then it would be Sledge-Hammer…kinda cool!
TOTALLY UN-RELATED…
Did anyone see the show The Office last night? That show is freaking hillarious and last nights was the best one I’ve seen. I’ve been sitting here laughing to myself all day just thinking about it.
Don’t spoil it KRS1…I tivo’d it and have not seen it yet…
Scrubs too…so shush…
Now, if you want to talk about 30-Rock…that show is freak’n funny as well!!!
CM…
DUUUDE!!! JUST WATCH IT!!!
Scrubs was good too but last night The Office took the cake!
My wife won’t be home for another 2 hours and I am with my Goddaughter tonight…won’t have a chance to watch it until Saturday afternoon…
Go to the Office Blog to talk about it…please…
http://boards.nbc.com/nbc/index.php?showforum=44
Haha okay I won’t ruin it for you!
According to the U-T, the Padres have offered Werth a contract along with St. Louis and 2 other clubs.
Please, please, Werth, take the one that St. Louis offered you. I’ll pitch in a few extra bucks if it helps.
I wonder if they are all minor leauge deals?
Is Barry Zito completely off the Padre radar?
How am I supposed to feel about that again — Disappointed that the Padres, as usual, aren’t players for any of the big free agents OR Elated that the Padres are showing some restraint in the face of insane FA spending?
And, no fair, saying ‘some of each’. It’s one or the other.
Elated, the pads staff is pretty good as it is I dont think they need an over-priced lefty, they need an over-priced righty who plays left.
126: The article says Werth has four major league deals on the table.
128: Well put.
As predicted, the day after Matsuzaka signs, Boston trades for a reliever, —-Donnelly. Scratch that SD/Boston trade for an left fielder.
Philly still needs a set-up/closer…and they still don’t like Pat the Bat!!!
Seriously, I need to get over my man-crush!!
LaMar #72, I go somewhat often to Padre games in LA, but after an incident 2 years ago when I was minding my own business and wearing a modest Padre shirt, I now wear gear with significance to me but unrecognizable to our friends up north. With a group or for day games I’m guessing its safe with Padre gear in the lot.
131: I’ve read enough negative things about Burrell that I’ve grown leary of trading for him. All the positive talk about him that I’ve read here reminds me of the Boston fans talking themselves into loving JD Drew, albeit on a much smaller scale. The only mitigating factor is all the vitriol comes from Philly, not always the most rational fan base.
Obviously all the LF trade candidates have negatives so it’s a matter of picking your poison, assuming we even go down that route. At this point I’d prefer Jenkins over Burrell and Dunn over either.
Boston is still without a closer, I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been a Linebrink for Crisp/WMP deal. Seems like it would be a good fit for both teams.
#115: Awesome story. Disgusting, but awesome.
#120: Yes, and without revealing anything, I will say there was a particular scene where my wife and I laughed about as hard as either of us has ever laughed at a TV show.
The Office is awesome, definitely my favorite show on tv. Last night was especially good, which was inevitable since it was twice as long as usual.
As long as it doesn’t turn in any bad seasons, “The Office” is one of the best shows ever.
I’ve never watched The Office.
Sorry for the moratorium guys…got to watch it tonight with my wife. That scene where Michael uses the magic marker…maybe one of the funniest scenes ever…Seriously, my wife almost fell out of the couch!!!
#138: Yep, that was the one.
The office is pretty darned funny, quite different than the British one, which is also funny but more subtle and menacing.
On Padres thoughts, M. Giles, yeah, I am still big on Burrell, and I really would not be into a Linebrink for Wily Mo Pena or Crisp deal (although I could live with Crisp). Pena is Reggie Sanders/Brian Jordan/Rob Deer all over again, except Jordan and Sanders could play defense. Watching Pena in the outfield is like watching Phyllis Shlafly at a leather bar – uncomfortable.
And he can’t draw a walk to save his life. Sledge is a better player.
Check out Sledge’s splits in AAA last year. The man just mashes LHP. He had an 1.100 + OPS against them in AAA and hit well against lefties in the Show too. He needs a platoon partner, it just needs to be another LH hitter.