Overlooked Players in Padres History
Thu, Jun 28, 2007
by Geoff Young
Shifting gears a little, one idea I have for the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual is a chapter devoted to three or so former Padres that didn’t make our lists of top players in franchise history (2007 Annual) but whose accomplishments deserve attention. I’m knee deep in the 1969 season, so one of my subjects will be outfielder Ollie Brown.
This leaves two more ex-Padres to consider. With no real guidelines other than they cannot have appeared in last year’s book, who should we profile?
Here are a few names to help get us started:
Other resources that might prove useful:
Go nuts…
by Peter Friberg
You will not see all the notable performances from the night before, but you will see the notable performances from those who are actually prospects.
Lemon Grove Co-Ed Slow-Pitch Softball
Becky Friberg: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 2 RBI - Clutch performance for someone who didn’t want to play. Thanks Honey!
AAA
Pete LaForest: 5 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 4 RBI; HR, 2 SO - played 3B
AA
Will Venable: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB, 2 SB
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 2 AB, 2 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 3 BB
Brian Giles: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; HR, SO
David Freese: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 3B
Low-A
No significant performances…
Short Season-A
Jeremy McBryde: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR
Rookie
Yefri Carvajal: 3 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; 2B, SF
Geoff Vandel: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
Orlando Lara: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
Dylan Axelrod: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR
Commentary:
LaForest playing third base… Interesting. Is he Rob Deer or what? His 18 homers place him in the top five in the Pacific Coast League. His average… not so much. Laforest is hitting .204/.324/.535…
Brian Giles also had an outfield assist. I heard one of the Mighty XX talk show hosts mention that he was surprised that there has been so little talk about Giles’ impending return. He’s right; there hasn’t been much of a buzz surrounding Giles’ return. And while Giles’ 2007 numbers are not good (.276/.347/.347) I do think he’ll be an improvement over Sledge/Cruz.
Thanks, Peter. No game Thursday. Be excellent to one another…
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
June 28, 2007 at 8:11 am
I vote for Tim Flannery
June 28, 2007 at 8:46 am
The Wizard of Oz didn’t make it in the first time around? Well, he’s my vote. And maybe Ed Spiezio deserves a few lines for, if nothing else, deflowering The Murph.
June 28, 2007 at 8:55 am
Mr. PF trying to sneak through original (essentially) disclaimer. Don’t think “we” won’t notice.
June 28, 2007 at 9:02 am
Hmmmm…. Does Greg Vaughn count as overlooked? Had something like 40+ homers during 1998, I think. Okay, perhaps he isn’t overlooked, but he rarely comes up in discussions about great Padres performances.
June 28, 2007 at 9:02 am
Correction, Greg Vaughn had a club record 50 homers that year…
June 28, 2007 at 9:04 am
Good catch Stephen. I am usually looking only for a few names and it slipped right past me.
June 28, 2007 at 9:05 am
I always liked Fred McGriff when I was a little kid. He didn’t spend all that much time here but I loved him.
June 28, 2007 at 9:13 am
Brad Ausmus, I have always liked him hes a nice guy and probably one of the best defensive catchers of his time.
June 28, 2007 at 9:16 am
#4: Vaughn actually made it into the book (just beat out Rickey in LF).
#7: Duh. Thanks for the catch!
Keep ‘em coming…
June 28, 2007 at 9:38 am
Was Roberto Alomar the top 2B choice in the book? (Sorry, haven’t bought it yet)
June 28, 2007 at 9:43 am
John Kruk?
June 28, 2007 at 9:44 am
#10: No, but he did make the top 3.
#11: LOL. Hard to overlook him, eh?
June 28, 2007 at 9:45 am
#12 - Well you could package the Krukster and McCovey. LOL
June 28, 2007 at 9:48 am
Great topic - here are a few names:
Enzo Hernandez - his name is all over the records from the 60s
Brad Ausmus - if only because he and I went to the same school
Phil Plantier - local guy, and he hit 34 HR one year back when that was a big number
June 28, 2007 at 9:50 am
#14: Good call on Plantier. BTW, he is now an assistant coach at PLNU.
June 28, 2007 at 9:52 am
Ok on a serious note, how about Rollie Fingers? Him and Winfield are the ones I remember the from when I was living in San Diego years upon years ago.
June 28, 2007 at 9:52 am
Gary Templeton was always one of my favorites as a kid too.
June 28, 2007 at 10:02 am
16 & 17: I think that they were probably both inlcuded in the book.
Geoff, it might help to post a list of players you DID mention, that way there’s no confusion. Because I’m pretty sure you had to cover someone like Wally Joyner in the book, right?
June 28, 2007 at 10:09 am
#18: Fingers, Tempy, and Joyner are all in there. I won’t list everyone, but here are a few more names from the book that might not be obvious:
Gene Tenace
Quilvio Veras
Gary Sheffield
Tony Fernandez
Carmelo Martinez
Johnny Grubb
Dave Roberts (P)
Clay Kirby
Dave Dravecky
Craig Lefferts
June 28, 2007 at 10:24 am
#18: Hmm, I need to finished reading the book I really do. lol
June 28, 2007 at 10:35 am
Did Archi make the list? I’m assuming he probably did because of his inclusion with the ‘98 team.
I would also have to guess that someone like Andy Benes is in the list?
June 28, 2007 at 10:49 am
I’d go with Ruppert Jones. After watching the game last Friday with the team in the ‘82 throwback uniforms, I was very nostalgic about that ‘82 squad. That team wasn’t bad at all. You had Gywnn getting some at bats as a rook, but the primary outfield was Gene Richards, Sixto Lezcano and Jones. I was about six years old in ‘82 and having two guys in the outfield of your favorite team named Sixto Lezcano and Ruppert Jones was one of the coolest things ever. Ruppert even made the All Star team in ‘82. What a beast.
June 28, 2007 at 11:32 am
go for the bad players from the dark early days: spezio, cannizzaro, ENzo herNANdez (i can still hear him being announced over the pa system), the first franchise ‘can’t miss’ draft choice mike ivie . . .
June 28, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I didn’t buy the book (I hope that doesn’t get me banned), so I don’t know if Terry Kennedy is in there.
He makes my underated favorites list just for the TV commercial where he was in centerfield at the Q with the lawnmower pitching tickets acting like he had just mowed the field and at the end you hear over the stadium public address “There are weeds behind home plate Kennedy “.
Also, is there any way we can exorcise the fact that Gary Sheffield ever played for the Padres? In the long list of embarassing pieces of Padre history I rank him wearing a Pads uni right behind 6 consecutive 95 loss seasons.
June 28, 2007 at 1:07 pm
ausmus, bip roberts or willie mccovey.
what about Roberto Alomar wheres he?
June 28, 2007 at 1:10 pm
24: Agreed about Terry Kennedy. My parents have a picture on their mantle in San Diego of Terry Kennedy holding me when I was a baby. It was taken during one of those picture days and he was even nice enough to sign the picture later on. It’s classic because Terry’s wearing the brown pinstripes and I’m dressed in the horrendous orange.
I was afflicted since day one.
June 28, 2007 at 1:10 pm
oop. sorry about alomar didnt notice people already talked about it
June 28, 2007 at 1:38 pm
24: I’d take Sheffield any day over the parade of John Birch Society members we’ve employed, not to mention Jack Clark, Mike Pagliarulo, and Randy Myers - twice. Sheff may be an ass, but he had one of the top 5 offensive seasons ever by a Padre, and he didn’t use any chemical help to do it.
June 28, 2007 at 1:44 pm
28: agreed on the on-field performance; I just can’t separate the player from the person in Sheffield’s case.
June 28, 2007 at 1:54 pm
29: I’d still rate Sheffield’s assitude, both as a Padre and since, well blow that of Jack Clark and Lynchin’ Mike Pagliarulo. Lamar Hoyt got busted coming across the border with drugs.
One of the most excruciatingly embarrassing moments in Padre history was Opening Day 1999. Coming off our first world series appearance in nearly 15 years, we made the Colorado Rockies look like the 29 Yankees while we played like the Bad News Bears before Amanda and Kelly joined up.
June 28, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Here’s another name to throw out there, Mark Parent.
June 28, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Wow, great list. I remember when Dennis Rasmussen visited my eighth grade Spanish class. And Greg Harris was an underrated pitcher in my opinion. . .then again, it occurs to me that Greg Harris, Ed Whitson and Bruce Hurst were our aces back then. Wow.
June 28, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I’ve always been a big fan of Bip Roberts. He was a lot of fun to watch.
June 28, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Another from back in the day - Randy Ready. I think he’s managing San Antonio now.
June 28, 2007 at 5:26 pm
On a not so serious note… How about Kurt Bevacqua? The Geoff B(l)um of 84.
June 28, 2007 at 5:40 pm
#35: Wow, that’s a name I haven’t heard in VERY LONG time. lol
June 28, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Marvell Wynne. I loved it when we had Gwynn and Wynne and Roberts all in the same line up. My main memory was in our late season rush in 1988 when we winning at a .800 rate or something like that, it was a game at home vs. Chicago, tight game, Wynne on 2nd base and they actually picked him off using the hidden ball trick. We lost the game.
Quilvio Veras. OBP machine, no power. His spirit (he is still alive) slipped in OG on the day of the trade.
Glad Jerry Turner is on the list, same with Lefferts (the Lefferts Charge is a classic).
Dave Cash. Out machine second basemen. My only real memory was in a Houston game where JR Richard was simply obliderating the Padres, Richards grounded to Cash, and Cash made him run all the way to the bag (JR stopped running once the ball was in Cash’s glove).
Shane Mack. My main memory of him was he was playing CF in this game: http://www.baseball-almanac.co.....8706070ATL
The Padres were so bad that season, it was June and they had not won a series yet. Well, they were playing at Atlanta, won the first two and final game was on Sunday. The games were being broadcast on my cable system in NY (pre-graduation summer job). A friend made a trip all the way in from Hoboken to have brunch in the Upper East Side, where I lived. The brunch was going on a bit long, and I was getting anxious to watch the game. My friend wanted to hang out and walk around NY, but I told her I wanted to go back and watch my game. My explanation that the Padres were NEVER on TV fell on annoyed, deaf and slightly hurt ears. I felt bad, but was excited to catch the remainder of the game. I tune in and the Padres are up 11-2 in the 4th or 5th. Ahhh, I love blow outs. I then got to watch them blow the lead, go down 12-11 in the bottom of the 8th, but Shane Mack delivered the tying hit in the top of the 9th, so 12-12 only to watch Booker give up a hit, then walk the bases full and walk in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Karmic payback was swift and intense.
June 28, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Are we looking for players who spent a significant portion of their less-then-remarkable careers with the Padres?
Or, players who had a great year or 2 with the Padres and then left or never repeated that success (see Plantier’s 34 HR mentioned above)?
Or, players whose names you know not because they were Padres, but because of other things they’ve done (e.g., Cito Gaston as Blue Jays manager - though I think he had good stats with the Padres, too)?
Whatever the guidelines are, I’d try to choose someone pre-1980, someone 1980-1990, and someone 1990-2000.
June 28, 2007 at 6:42 pm
#37: Thanks, Jay. Q is in the book. Wynne and Mack are great suggestions.
#38: Any or all of the above. I agree that it would be good to represent different periods in history.
This is an awesome effort, folks. Thanks for the great ideas and keep ‘em coming. It’s especially cool to hear from so many “lurkers” — much appreciated!
Also, as a not-so-subtle reminder, the download version of the book is less than $10.
June 28, 2007 at 6:45 pm
37
I remember that game, I was watching it on TBS! Nothing more annoying than watching the Pads lose to the Braves and having to listen to “enemy” broadcasters.
June 28, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I also had very mixed feelings watching that game/series because my Favorite Player of All Time, Graig Nettles, was playing for the Braves. That was pretty weird.
June 28, 2007 at 7:00 pm
30 … careful with the nicknames, TW!
June 28, 2007 at 7:02 pm
I vote for Mike Ivie … based on a preference for somebody that was drafted by the Padres … and I think he’d be an interesting story to tell … somewhat successful … and somewhat cursed (as a catcher who lost his ability to throw back to the pitcher, a la Dale Murphy) … I was present for what might have been Ivie’s best day … a DH at Candlestick in which he had 5 doubles … dude was rakin’ …
June 28, 2007 at 7:04 pm
PF … if you can talk your cuz-in-law, Suzie, into doing the same thing, then maybe my softball team will win a game … thanks for the info, I’ll use to perhaps inspire her … I’ve already her to bring shinguards to our next game
June 28, 2007 at 7:06 pm
re: OG’s return … buzz …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....pid=114789
… he hit .400/571/.700 in the minors … that’s a 1.271 OPS! Who needs Jack Cust!!!
June 28, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Matt Antonelli with a lead-off HR tonight for the STORM …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....a_visafa_1
June 28, 2007 at 7:31 pm
23/43 … re: Ivie .. http://www.baseball-reference.com/i/iviemi01.shtml … YOW … you think KK has gotten off to a rough start … check out what Ivie did in 1974 … I didn’t even know that OPS+ could be a NEGATIVE number???
And it’s still odd to see .326/.395 calculate to an OPS+ of 102 … those were some pitchin’ duel days!
June 28, 2007 at 8:30 pm
OT, looks like we’re getting Bradley:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....-pads.html
June 28, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Sporting News reports Nick Schmidt has agreed to a deal with the Padres which includes a $1.29M signing bonus. Welcome aboard.
June 28, 2007 at 9:24 pm
BZ just realized that BZ is amazed that a certain name of a certain player who “gets on” has not come up. But BZ has still not read the book, so maybe BZ missed out on seeing him there.
Sad attempts at humor aside, if Rickey Henderson is not mentioned yet, I think a review of his on-again, off-again Padrehood would be entertaining…
June 28, 2007 at 9:25 pm
45: Jack Cust put up a 1.000+ OPS in the majors….
June 28, 2007 at 9:32 pm
48: Looks like we want the badass rep, trading for the “problem” players haha. I still think bradley is a 4th outfielder now we will have an outfield full of 4th outfielders plus cameron. We still need to make that big move for a corner outfield bat.
June 28, 2007 at 9:36 pm
48.The Royals nixed a deal five days ago: Bradley for Leo Nunez, who has been on the 60 day DL because Bradley recently hurt his oblique. Stay tuned on this deal for a guy with a $4M contract.
June 28, 2007 at 10:00 pm
45:yes, you keep violating that Cust-ban and we have to keeping checking and seeing stats like RISP w/2 outs14ABS/10RBI and1.542 OPS 8). Maybe it will be all good, since Bradley is available because of Cust per Sporting News. Is there anyone out there who would have honestly objected to a Cust for Bradley swap 2 months ago?
June 28, 2007 at 10:27 pm
48: I think KT is definitely trying to make a run “this year”. I’m fairly impressed that we got him for just a minor league pitcher (although who that ends up being will be interesting), but we’ll see how Bradley, if the deal goes through, fares as a Padre. San Diego has a pretty good club house and I’m sure that someone like Cameron would help Bradley iron out any potential issues.
If we get Bradley, I think we’re done. However, I wouldn’t mind dealing a weak prospect to get Mark Loretta as a potential back-up for the stretch run. The Padres would love to have Lo back and this would allow us to jettison Geoff “I can’t tell my ass from a hole in the ground” Blum. I just read an MLBTR article that names Loretta as potential trade bait.
June 28, 2007 at 10:28 pm
My vote goes to Dan Walters. He went from playing catcher for the Padres to patrolling the streets for the PD. He was wounded and paralzyed in the line of duty; he still lives in San Diego.
June 28, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Guys, Blum isn’t a good enough to be a starter, no one says he is, but as a group, we are far too harsh on him. He is a decently useful bench player…
June 28, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Absolutely Bip. That guy was amazing… Hands-down my favorite baseball player of all time.
- He was with the club longer than McCovey, Alomar, Vaughn, Ozzie, Sheff, the Crime Dog, Fernandez…
- He played 7 different positions at far above average ability, and near GG at 2B.
- He hit anywhere in the order with extra-base power, and was the best leadoff hitter in Padre history.
- One of the best base-stealers in the NL.
- Regularly scored 100 runs.
- A 300 hitter.
- And an absolute GAMER — played injured all the time (though he usually injured himself by playing so hard), and played wherever and whenever the club needed him.
- Has the record for longest at-bat because he would foul off so many pitches for the team to see, and to tire the pitcher out.
- Was Team MVP
- Did all this at like 5′7″ and 160.
Honestly, if you are talking about players that were Padres, and not just rentals for a few seasons, you have to talk about Bip…
June 28, 2007 at 11:25 pm
58: Bip on Bip: “Absolutely Bip.”
That’s a better Rickey impersonation than I could manage. Or its getting late. Perhaps both.
June 29, 2007 at 12:04 am
#54. You have to look at this as trading Barfield for Kouz and Bradley. Cust found his place in baseball as a DH in the AL. On the Athletics blog, they are asking if we want Piazza back. They were also wondering if Beene was going to trade Bocachica for himself, if only he was to be named as the player to be named later.
June 29, 2007 at 12:07 am
52: If we’re getting Bradley, there’s little chance Towers is making a move for another corner outfielder. Unless he does something like package Crudge and a minor league prospect to a non-contending team, but I really don’t see that happening.
June 29, 2007 at 12:31 am
55: If we get Lorretta, Marcus goes on the bench. I wouldnt mind having Marcus come off the bench, theat makes our bench pretty stong.
June 29, 2007 at 4:04 am
I don’t think Loretta is a viable backup SS. Then again, I don’t think Blum is either.
June 29, 2007 at 6:27 am
I vote for Sexto Lezcano, if for no other reason than he lived next door to Marsh and I for over a year in Tierrasanta.
Other than that, I think the Rupert Jones call out is perfect - LOVED that guy when I was like 10 yrs old.
June 29, 2007 at 8:07 am
62: It ain’t 2004 anymore.
June 29, 2007 at 8:59 am
65: It aint 2003 either, Lorretta has looked much better than Marcus the last 2 years
June 29, 2007 at 9:31 am
There is no way that Ausmus was better for the Pads than Bip.
June 29, 2007 at 9:47 am
#67: You’ll get no argument from me…
June 29, 2007 at 10:13 am
67, 68: Nor from me. Roberts was a great hitter for the Padres who could move around the diamond without hurting you. Ausmus was…..good-looking, I guess, and he hit well in 1995.
June 29, 2007 at 12:27 pm
And, honestly, who was a better lead-off man for the Pads? Quilvio was good, but not as versatile. Rickey was OK for the Pads. Really, I think Bip was the best leadoff guy we’ve ever had…