first pitch: 7:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: David Wells (0-0, 2.70 ERA) vs Derek Lowe (0-1, 5.73 ERA)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com
So, we were talking about Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica the other day. It’s Friday and I can’t help myself. Here are some quick scouting reports for a few characters from each show (plus some from Stargate for extra geeky goodness):
- Lee Adama: Broad shoulders, strong arm. Curve can flatten out on him in the later innings. Occasionally loses killer instinct and makes poor off-field decisions.
- Gaius Baltar: Intelligent, throws a Niekro-esque knuckleball. Tends to alienate teammates.
- Data: Tremendous raw strength and mental capacity. Still learning the nuances of the game — sometimes unknowingly offends opponents by breaking “unwritten rules.”
- Ronon Dex: Aggressive hitter who can pound a mistake. Swing gets long at times. Runs surprisingly well for a big a man. Best suited to first base, but can play corner outfield spots in a pinch.
- James T. Kirk: Strong leadership abilities, good instincts. Can be distracted at times, but performs well under pressure. Quick wit and strong will make him an invaluable member of any team.
- Neelix: Indifferent defender, susceptible to sliders down and in. Popular with teammates due to cheerful personality, but there are better options for the last spot on a bench.
- Miles O’Brien: Doesn’t possess any one outstanding skill, but does a lot of things reasonably well. Works hard, very resourceful. Think Eric Owens, with a little less speed.
- Tom Paris: Tremendous hand-eye coordination, intelligence. Occasionally lost focus earlier in his career but appears to have outgrown this problem.
- Montgomery Scott: Sometimes volatile and even combative left-hander can bring the heat. Conditioning issues limit him to LOOGY status.
- John Sheppard: Lean, athletic build. Runs well, can hit the ball to all fields. Quick thinker. Will do well at any spot in the lineup.
- Hikaru Sulu: An expert fencer, Sulu features a compact, efficient stroke. He runs well and is a brilliant defender. Overall game very similar to that of Ichiro!
- Teal’c: Similar to Ronon Dex in terms of physical abilities. A former football player, Teal’c has adapted his intense competitive instincts to the subtleties of baseball.
- Tuvok: Deceptive strength, excellent mental focus. Able to handle adversity with grace. A true gamer.
- Galen Tyrol: Hard worker, intensely loyal. Not the most physically talented player, but nobody — Brian Giles included — goes into second base harder breaking up the double play.
- Worf: Gifted physical specimen with little aptitude or patience for a sport that doesn’t involve constant, violent physical contact. Good to have on the bench — just in case a brawl erupts.
Make it so. Go Padres!
136 Comments
Nice! What about Enterprise? Am I the only one that likes that show? I think Reed and Tucker make a good DP combo, like Trammell and Whitaker.
Okay, so I’ve never seen either of those shows.
Funny list Geoff, but what about Benjamin Sisko on DS9? The only avowed baseball aficionado star trek character…
Anthony: Good call. I’m not as well-versed in that show, but I think you’re right about those two.
Barry: Again, I didn’t watch as much DS9. I do remember the baseball episode, though. Both Sisko and his kid would have done well. And Odo is the ultimate utility guy.
Geoff, what’s the word on whether Tuvok or Worf is wearing #42 today?
Geoff, how’s the nightly blog turnout been since Matty V. gave you the plug earlier this week?
Josh Bard on 15 day DL for groin injury.
Evening everybody…
#5: Actually, I’ll have to go with the elder Sisko. He’s human and he knows the history.
#6: Real good, thanks.
BTW, I’ve got the wrong start time up there. First pitch is 7:40 p.m. Bizarre…
Buenos noches MarkO
Geoff, I think the late LA start is to compensate for the crappy LA traffic.
11: and people still won’t show up on time
12: 10 min. from first pitch and the ballpark is still empty.
Did Vin Scully just say the game is between the “2006 National League West Champion_S_”??!?!?!
Vin Scully calling both teams NL West Champions last year? What kind of BS is that? I’m gonna be sick listening to him for the next 3 days…
15: Ha! I knew I wasn’t hearing things! Yeah, the man just lost a few respect points there. Good thing he has fifty billion already, though.
14: If he did, it was probably an alzheimer’s moment.
Whoever they got playing pacman sucks ass. (Comment intended for mlb.tv people only)
I most certainly did. Said it’s a matchup of the two NL West Champions from last year. Funny how i don’t see a 2006 NL West championship flag flying at Dodger Stadium…
I really think it is cool they are doing the Jackie Robinson thing tonight. I have more respect for him than MLKing.
18: Yes! That is really pissing my roommate off, although I am more ok with it because I suck at pacman.
19: Maybe they have a movie prop…
The Jackie Robinson stuff is very cool…..besides him all Dodgers suck
18: too funny… i actually had to minimize it while the pacman was on.
Stupid programmers. Oh wait, I are one
Game on!
Can of corn….
21 & 24: Why do they feel the need to change those stupid things all the time?! Can’t they just make it something simple and boring? At least this year we don’t have to listen to the first ten seconds of Tom Petty’s new song at the end of every break. I really grew to hate that song.
26: I only had mlbtv.com for the last month of the season and I still hate that song.
So Vin actually said NL west co-champions? Did he at least mutter the head-to-head record under his breath afterwards?
I miss Matty V and Mud Grant already and it’s only the bottom of the first
28: no he did not. He also just said that Derek Lowe is talking to the pitching coach in the bullpen after the top of the first. This is going to be fun…can i keep track of all the mistakes he makes tonight?
30: Maybe he meant Rob Lowe
Whoa, nice grab by Sledge.
28&30: I think he did mention that the padres won 13 out of 18 last year. I think he even used the word “man handled”. But I did hear him say that every time in the NL West finished under 500 in 2005.
NICE CATCH CRUDGE!!!!!!!!!
nice flare… bettah catch!
Sledge-Hammer time!
yep…good catch by crudge….nice play by OG to end the innning..looked like OG was fighting the lights..
36: I got a bad feeling that is gonna be a problem tonight in this park.
Oooooh, ESPN broadcast on Sunday.
That is a pretty poor pac-man strategist
ok good 33… i figured he’d at least have to mention it. cuz 13-5 is a handlin’!
Error for Nomar
wow..quite a play by Furcal….nice catch Nomar…
mlb power rankings from espn.com:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/powerranking?season=2007&week=2
Alrighty, I’m finally online watching. Have some fam in town, been keeping them occupied.
Geoff, great intro. All ’snorters: go rent BS Galactica season 1 on DVD. You will not be disappointed, whether scifi is your thing or not.
So, looks like I haven’t missed much…maybe a nice Crudge Catch?
@#$%^&^^%%$$$@!!!!!!!!!!
Yuck. That sounded bad coming off the bat.
Dammit. Maybe I should stop watching.
Too early for musical chairs…
Guess maybe he isn’t as washed up as we were led to believe…
I hope the eight people watching at Dodger Stadium appreciated that.
It drives me crazy to see these ball parks with so many empty seats. The freaking lengths I have to go through to get Red Sox or Yankees tickets. >:o
yes too early for musical chairs
I was led to believe from the pre-game stuff that Cruz owns Lowe. How come Sledge starts in LF?
You’ve got to be kidding me
Has anyone in here been to the ‘Park At The Park?’ I haven’t and was just wondering if it was worth the trip downtown.
Matty and Mark just called that a ‘Ducksnort!’
what… leave to heat up some enchiladas and it’s 2-0???
Damn these enchiladas!
Wells may have a rubber arm, but he can’t field his position worth a damn
nice ‘hit’ Derek
Gee, I can’t believe Furcal was able to get him
Boomer runs as slow as Bochy when he played.
The sarcasm is dripping off the screen…
Maybe the Padres should play a 5 inning intra-squad game before each games, so by the time the game starts we can actually start to hit before the 7th inning
61 – anyone gone back and calc’d our offensive stats by inning so far this year? Would probably be interesting.
Uhhh… Wells is kinda starting to creep me out with all this Ruth stuff.
62: My spreadsheit isn’t that elaborate yet. LOL
64 – yet
I do keep a running spreadsheet. But it’s pretty basic. Date, opponent, runs, starting pitcher, winning team, and whether or not Hoffman pitched.
uh, guys? Might want to put a cap on the runs, we can only come back so far late in the game…
Yeesh
Yeah… time to stop the bleeding. This cannot end well.
s
Boomer is looking more like a dud firecracker so far. Let’s put Mr. Hamster in the microwave. Can you say ‘Pop-goes-the-weasle?’
Ummmmmmm… I won the contest. :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X
I said exactly 3.1 :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X :-X
Classy dodger fans, as always.
Not exactly what I’d call a “quality start” from Boomer. Who had 2 1/3 in the pool?
I think Vin Scully is watching a different game than I am, one in which the Dodgers are actually hitting the ball hard.
72 – you were an inning over…not sure anyone was lower than you though
That was like watching a bad car wreck.
75–3.1 was the low
75 – Don’t think anyone was lower than me. I didn’t realize that 1 out in the 3rd meant he only pitched 2 1/3. But I get it now.
hey – those are consecutive hits! What a concept!!!
Aflac answer: Was it the nut cup?
At least we are not hitless or scoreless.
Well, the run scores but that’s pretty much the worst thing KG could have done there
Vin, bases loaded, no outs isn’t the best time to be talking about Vietnam war stories.
OY CRAP KHALIL! Ugly RBI
Those listening to Vin: I think Termel’s dad should have chosen “Melter Sledge”
sometimes this offense makes me want to scream
‘And after loading the bases with one out, the Padres are fortunate to get ONE.’
Wait… what?
OK, for those of you not watching SD4: Aflac question was, what piece of personal equipment was introduced in 1941?
The urinal?
hmmm…too early for batting helmets, right?
Got a bad feeling about our little record
Refer to 80. (I’m guessing)
We are only 6-3.
Soon to be 6-4 unless we start playing musical chairs right now.
eh, it’s one game. Pick it back up tomorrow. The D-Backs are down in the 8th, btw.
Guys, I feel bad about winning a contest based on our team’s failure. You think receiving this item out of Geoff’s pocket is in bad taste? I will gladly give up the shirt to be used in another day’s contest.
We are 34-28 as far as runs scored to this point for the season.
95: Maybe there should be a kitty of donations for some other grand prize at the end of the season.
Wow, just a bad night all around. And it has to happen at the hands of the Dodgers, who are about the most loathesome franchise this side of the Bronx.
Wells’ shaky start begs the question of whether, as the 5th guy, he should even have been out there. With the day off, Peavy would have been on normal rest, right?
95, as ‘new guy’ i can’t speak to the ettiquette. But… to disqualify contests on 1/3 of the games (optimistically) or 1/2 of them at worst seams kinda pointless.
Take the shirt.
98 (answering my own question) – I guess hindsight is 20/20, as DW had a good start in his first game so no reason to expect this shellacking.
What the heck with all the first pitch swinging by the Padres tonight?
Hmm… okay we’ll see what Geoff says.
Well, sorry guys, gotta get up early for Temple tomorrow morning so I might as well get some sleep. Good luck, though, for the Padres! And good luck for the idiot playing Pacman.
No offense, but Jackie Robinson Day is a joke. If a number is retired, it’s retired. That means no one wears it.
103: It’s in honorarium, not as if they are wearing his number as their own.
It’s ridiculous. In 1997, they said it’s retired forever, which I guess means 10 years. Entire teams wearing his number, half of which don’t know who he is, is insane.
Kevin, are you serious? No, you’re just goofing right? You seriously don’t get the difference between a player’s personal jersey number and an honorary display?
I get the difference. I just don’t agree.
Torii Hunter and quite a few columnists have said the same. My opinion is not original.
btw: they grand-fathered it in. Meaning those that already had 42 could continue wearing it. Rivera with the Yankees is the only one left (i think) with that number.
He shouldn’t wear it either. I know they grand-fathered it in.
A friend of mine wrote this:
Something seems a bit overdone about Major League Baseball’s tribute to Jackie Robinson this Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the day he integrated the modern game. Remember that baseball, in 1997, retired Robinson’s number from service, forever, across the entire league. Apparently, forever lasts a decade, because on April 15, ostensibly to honor the Hall of Famer, dozens of major leaguers will put on No. 42 – including the entire 25-man roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a gesture more absurd than it is profound.
I can post the whole thing if anyone is interested.
Regardless, the man did more for breaking the race barrier than MLKing, Jesse Jackson, the woman on the bus, the kids at the newly integrated school, and the ‘Million Man March’ all rolled into one.
The reason I say this, is that he broke into the most endeared sport of white America and forced us to take note of the fact. That was the catalyst for the rest of the rights movements.
I’m a white middle-aged, middle-class man married to a Fillipino and have experience prejudice to some degree for that.
I admire any attempt to honor a perveyor of cival rights. Sorry, I’ll get off my soapbox.
Answer to the Aflac question: Batting helmets. (I was wrong)
I agree with every word of that. I just don’t agree with how to honor that.
Tori Hunter was suggesting that a single representative of each team display (not ‘wear’, ‘display’, get the difference?) the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. He felt entire teams displaying it might dilute the message, and voting a single person from each team would enhance that. Not sure if i agree, but it’s an arguable point.
In any case, it has nothing to do with ‘un-retiring’ a number.
Kevin, I’m afraid your friend missed the point. And so have you.
113: Let’s just agree to disagree.
No, I haven’t missed the point. Do not talk down to me just because I have a different opinion.
I know as much about baseball history, this issue and Jackie Robinson as anyone here. Probably more.
I am not talking down to you. I just think you are confusing Tori’s point, which was to have select players display the number, with your friend’s point, which is that putting 42 on a sleave is to somehow ‘un-retire’ the number. Sorry, but that’s absurd. The jersey is retired. The number is displayed as an honor on this day. There really is a difference.
Players are not displaying it on their sleave. They are wearing it on their back.
What started as Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. receiving special permission from Robinson’s widow Rachel to honor the 60th anniversary of Robinson integrating the major leagues has ballooned into more than 150 players saying they’ll don Robinson’s No. 42 on Sunday. Five entire teams — the Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros — will field rosters of 42s for the day.
Bases loaded, one out. Is the Duke’s of Hazard on tonight?
118, i stand corrected on the ‘location’ of that number.
Players can wear it on their sleave every day of the season. No big deal. Teams are always doing that.
But wearing it on their back is what’s absurd, not my opinion.
Nice golf swing OG
The only reason I am still watching this massacre is that I loaned my jacket to Buddy Black and I want to make sure he doesn’t get it dirty.
124: Did you really?
#102: Take the shirt, Steve. Someone had to win it. Not your fault that Wells stunk tonight. Shoot me an email and we’ll work out details.
125: Don’t be sarcastic. No, mine is hanging on the back of my chair.
For a second, I thought you could have been Sutcliffe. There are so many new people on this blog.
Wow, guess I’m late… hats on inside out and backwards?
128: I didn’t think of that. I’ll start using my full name. Howver, I really do have that jacket. My wife insists that I have the most current and up to date official gear for the Chargers and Padres.
Sorry if I misled anyone. I AM NOT RICK SUTCLIFF. Wish I was, but…
That’s the ball game…:(
Ahhh… better luck next time. They’ll pick it back up tomorrow!
This may have already been reported, but Devin Clancy is doing interviews with a blog for each MLB team in USA Today’s Sports Weekly. The first one was this week, with the Cards.
I’m hoping to see Ducknorts there when it comes time to do the Padres article!
Ok, good practice game last night, really worked out some bad plays. Let’s kick the season series w/ the Dogs off right tonight!
Yucky. Wells was falling behind on batters, just missing his spots. The calls seemed OK, a bit tight. The ump had a very narrow zone but a very low one that definitely favored Lowe vs. Wells.
Two GIDP with the bases loaded. Bad situational hitting, bad luck.
Thompson breaks the streak. Ironic that he was the only reliever willing to talk about the streak to the press. I am starting to wonder about Mr. Thompson’s place on the staff. He has been pretty shaky in his outings, and the whole reason to have him in long relief, which was last night, and he kind of sucked. Not sure who would take his place in long relief if they bounced him, but I don’t get that “yeah, take that” feeling when he walks to the mound.
We just got spanked. Not a single extra base hit for us; I think that is indicative of the pitching. Lowe was very much on, which he always seems to be against SD.
I don’t have a problem w/ Thompson…by their nature long-relievers aren’t really the type to intimidate the opposition, since they’re generally coming on in a situation like last night. You can’t have all your relievers be total batter-killers. There are plenty of teams where the guys they summon in the 7th, 8th and 9th make you feel like Thompson does for us.