Friday Links (12 Jan 07)
Fri, Jan 12, 2007
by Geoff Young
First off, thanks to those of you who have gotten in touch with me about the world tour. Sounds like I’ll be seeing some of you in Durham, Harrisburg (between Durham and Cooperstown), and Fort Wayne. This thing is six months away and I’m already getting pumped.
Anyway, it’s Friday. Time for links:
Tony Gwynn
- Gwynn’s quick ascent preludes storied career (minorleaguebaseball.com). Benjamin Hill writes a nice piece detailing Gwynn’s ascent to the big leagues. I love this nugget from former teammate (and former Padres pitching coach) Greg Booker:
Tony could flat out run, too. He had two or three inside-the-park home runs in Walla Walla, but I remember one of them was called back after the umpire said he missed first base. That was in Eugene, Oregon. Tony was so mad that he threw his tobacco at the umpire and got ejected. That was the only time I ever saw him try to get thrown out of a game.
- Looking Back: Gwynn’s Pro Debut Sped Up His Timetable (Baseball America). This is a reprint of John Maffei’s 1981 article on Gwynn. It’s a scanned copy, but worth the effort to read.
- Gwynn Charts Course for Cooperstown (via LynchMob in the comments). This is the official announcement at the Hall of Fame web site.
- Speaking of official announcements, while doing research for the book, I learned that Gwynn actually received official recognition from the House of Representatives in September 1999 for his 3000th hit. Pretty cool.
- Baseball’s Best. I don’t know why
the powers-that-be have chosen to make this so hard to find (burying it in the Mets web site?)I had such a hard time finding this, but you can see a video of Gwynn’s 3000th hit here. It takes you through the entire at-bat, with Jerry Coleman and Bob Chandler calling the action. - Top Ten Good Things About Being Elected To The National Baseball Hall Of Fame (via Lynch Mob in the comments). Gwynn and Cal Ripken appeared on Letterman this week. I love #6: “At any moment, there’s a good chance Bob Costas is boring someone with stories about me.”
Other Stuff
- Off-season lowdown: Congrats to Gwynn (FOX Sports, via RotoRob). Rob Blackstien previews the Padres. I’m a little surprised to see Greg Maddux mentioned as part of the front three, rather than Clay Hensley, who finished 10th in the league in ERA last year. Then again, I suspect few people who don’t follow the club closely have even heard of Hensley. Their loss.
- Team 2006: Best 25-man roster for the price (USA Today, via Coronado Mike in the comments). Speaking of Hensley, this roster could be totally slammin’ with either him or Chris Young in Javier Vazquez’ place in the rotation. Nice to see some love for Josh Bard and Cla Meredith, but how is Julian Tavarez a “bargain” at $3.35 million? Get replacements for him and Vazquez, and swap Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols, and you’ve got an equally devastating team for much less moolah. I like the concept, but they kinda screwed up here.
- Eight Prospects to Watch in 2007 (Hardball Times, via Ben B. in the comments). Bryan Smith details several prospects who might be under most folks’ radar and who could bust out soon. We’ve known about Kyle Blanks for a while now, but it’s nice to see him listed in the “Diamonds in the Rough” section here. I’m looking forward to seeing him at Elsinore this year.
- Chargers Anthem by P.O.D. (Official Chargers Blog & Podcast). Yeah, I’m kind of a bandwagon fan these days, but this song is getting me pretty fired up for the playoffs. That is the extent of Chargers coverage here, although you’re welcome to sound off in the comments, of course. For serious coverage, might I recommend Boltz 4 Eva and Chargers Confidential.
Kind of a long list today, but then, it’s been kind of a special week. Happy Friday, everyone. Go Chargers!
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January 12, 2007 at 8:49 am
Geoff…USA Today tried to slot guys where they actually played. So, to use your example, Chris Young could not be switched with Javier Vazquez because they pitched in different slots in the rotation. They did discuss Howard vs. Pujols and said that there was no way they would want a team w/o Prince Albert.
January 12, 2007 at 8:54 am
re: (burying it in the Mets web site?) … it’s not in the Mets web site … it’s in *all* the web sites … just go to mlb.com … hover over ‘Audio & Video’ … and click on ‘Baseball’s Best’ … and you end up at …
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...../index.jsp
… which has an alias at each of the team sites also.
January 12, 2007 at 8:57 am
Here, for example, is the link “bury’d in the Padres web site” …
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com.....sp?c_id=sd
January 12, 2007 at 9:02 am
Nicely done, LM. You don’t even want to know how long it took me to find that thing.
January 12, 2007 at 10:03 am
Also a neat TG plug…during MLB.tv broadcast they run “baseball” commercials…one that is running in the loop is a 2 min story on Tony’s 3000 hit…
January 12, 2007 at 12:17 pm
The jackass sitting across from Bayless on 1st&10 argued that the Patriots will win based on their road record this year: 7-1. That’s an odd argument to make when the team they’re playing is 8-0 at home. There are other legitimate arguments to suggest the Patriots might win, but that ain’t one of them.
January 12, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Chris Broussard
January 12, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Richard…one of the funny things about that is USA Today made the same argument in their Sports Weekly this week.
January 12, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Those are the same nimrods saying that LT has a lot to prove still.
Huh???
The man just got done having arguably the best season for a RB in NFL history.
What else would he have to prove, that he can do it blindfolded or something? Or with his legs tied together???
January 12, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I don’t know what my schedule will be like come July, but I will try my best to make it to the Portland vs. Oklahoma game. I went to the game the year before last and sat on the front row on the 1st base side and had a blast. Mac even tossed me a ball since I was wearing my Padres uni.
So, the game is still a little ways away, but if I do end up going I’ll let you know. It’d be great to have a few more (if my brother goes) Padres fans at the game.
January 12, 2007 at 5:18 pm
From ESPN.com:
SAN DIEGO — The Padres avoided arbitration with shortstop Khalil Greene on Friday, agreeing to a $2.25 million, one-year contract.
There are also a couple of escalators depending upon plate appearances.
January 12, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Does the fact that it’s only a one year deal signify a lack of confidence? Or is that business as usual?
January 12, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Duck,
It’s been awhile, and Tim Stauffer has me a bit down these days.
However, I reside roughly 30 miles from Cooperstown. Nothing fancy, but functional. I spend a fair amount of time in the village, especially during the offseason.
If you need any information about the upstate New York area, lodging, good coffee, etc., drop me an email.
January 12, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I should add that everyone’s expecting mild insanity regarding this year’s induction ceremonies.
Orioles fans are extremely loyal and absolutely adore Cal Ripken, Jr. They came in droves for Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, and even Earl Weaver. Expect waves of burnt orange this year. Besides, the baseball world adored Ripken, he’s a household name, and figures to draw fans from everywhere and anywhere.
I attended the ceremonies for Ryne Sandberg two years ago. (Mostly, I went because the legendary Peter Gammons received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award.) The Cubs fans blanketed the village.
This year, the O’s fans will try to top the Cubbies followers from two years ago. Odds are, they probably will do just that and then some.
January 12, 2007 at 10:44 pm
12: Alderon said Wed. on XX that the club is not interested in a long-term deal right now, nor does he think Greene is. Makes sense for both sides. Pads brass skeptical of his future in SD, while Greene would be signing “low” anyway.
January 12, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Hey, IC, good to hear from you. Bummer about Stauffer. He looked pretty good in his one start with the big club this year; hopefully he’ll get another shot before too long.
Good coffee? Oh yeah, I’ll be in touch…
January 13, 2007 at 5:49 am
Rotoworld mentioned that the Padres may be interested in Geoff Jenkins to play LF.
January 13, 2007 at 7:03 am
re 17: Yikes. I haven’t even looked at Jenkins’ #s yet, but I married a gal from Wisconsin, and my brother in law who still lives there and lives and dies with Brewers never ever ever has anything good to say about him. I think I’d rather take my chance w/ the Sledgehammer, but need to go look up his batting lines.
January 13, 2007 at 1:25 pm
San Antonio’s Sportswriter has Jack picked as the number 2 value in Fantasy Baseball, right behind Santana.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sp.....e9325.html
I’m guessing the Mobile Airport Security has him rated lower.
January 13, 2007 at 3:24 pm
re: 19 … “Jack” s/b “Jake”
January 13, 2007 at 8:49 pm
An SF columnist’s take on Bonds…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....NI8LV1.DTL
January 13, 2007 at 10:44 pm
Congrats to you all in Friar Land with the news that Tony is going to the Hall!
I’m in Md, near Baltimore and are gleaming with joy, our native son Cal is going in with Tony too.
Two better men could not have given this distinct honor.
As well, I gave you an Honorable mention on my blog, the Oriole Post.
Take care,
Anthony
January 14, 2007 at 11:12 am
Hey Geoff, thanks for the plug! But I haven’t been able to get MVN up for two days *Sheesh* So I have a backlog of things I’ve wanted to say…ya wouldn’t want to start a spinooff would ya? Boltsnorts maybe?
January 14, 2007 at 11:39 am
My fave Padre prospect, Cedric Hunter, is getting some love on Sickles’ site:
http://www.minorleagueball.com.....commenttop
January 14, 2007 at 6:02 pm
well its now officially padres season in my mind. after that rough loss my way of getting over the dissapointment is to switch my mind over to getting excited about the padres. by the way i saw on padres.com they signed todd greene from the giants to a minor league contract, could fill in if bard or bowen get injured or have problems, not a bad signing
January 14, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I’m not an NFL fan … but I’ll follow the Chargers a little bit during any “up” seasons they have … like this one … but I only saw parts of 2 of their games on TV … during the loss to the Ravens … and then again today. I’ve heard guys on the radio talk negatively about “Marty-ball” … and just based on those 2 games, I have a very good understanding of what they mean and why it’s such a negative term! That team seems a lot better than their coach
January 14, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Well, my 20-1 ticket on the Chargers winning the Super Bowl is a loser. Go Padres! In that regard, per MLB.com, citing a Denver report:
“Padres catcher Josh Bard has avoided arbitration with the Padres, agreeing to a $1.05 million deal, the Denver Post has reported.”
January 14, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Oh it was terrible watching that game here with my friends. Just terrible. Things looked to be going so well. I felt so assured.
And then… and then… and then….
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Terrible
January 14, 2007 at 10:28 pm
All right, time to focus on baseball to avoid the crap in the main stream media about Brady willing his team to victory and sending out clutch vibes that cause McCree to be an idiot. How long until pitchers and catchers report?
January 15, 2007 at 1:12 am
steve, i know what you mean. ugh. not looking forward to the pats nation celebrating this win. seriously, how did we lose that game? (don’t answer). just watched the game (again) - hard to sleep after such a bad loss. McCree’s fumble is so unbelievably unlucky. amazing that reche caldwell comes back to beat Jammer 1 on 1. amazing that that was the play call coming out of a timeout - it’s like Belicheck and Brady knew that Caldwell would be Jammer… ugh….. would have liked to see LT kick some patriots’ ass after the game. god, I feel so cheated ….