Left at Albuquerque
Wed, Jul 18, 2007
by Geoff Young
I’m staring at a blank screen, trying to think of things to say about Tuesday night’s loss (box score) that you don’t already know. “It sucked” doesn’t qualify, but that’s all I’ve got.
On another note, we’re still brainstorming ideas for a Hall of Fame meetup. Keep the chatter going.
Finally, I’m driving from San Diego to Albuquerque first thing Monday morning. Am I better off going through Phoenix or taking I-15 to I-40? The difference in time is negligible. Anything worth seeing on either of those routes?
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.
July 18, 2007 at 8:17 am
The 40 is typically a good call, but watch out as you approach the Nevada border. A lot of cops like to lurk in the hills on the downward slope leading into Nevada.
Also, if you wanted to really fly, there’s a stret that runs parallel to the 40 that allows you to absolutely fly for a good 20 to 30 miles. My fiance and I take it whenever we head to Laughlin. Because we live so close to Palm Springs, we go through 29 Palms before heading through the Mojave to get to Vegas and Laughlin. It’s much faster, and there’s significantly less traffic. But if it’s an argument of the 15 and 40 versus the 8 and 10, go with the 15 and 40. I live right off the 10. It always sucks. And don’t get sucked into the 215 trap. Because of all the construction in Riverside at the 60/215/91 junction, you’re much better off just staying on the 15 all the way to the 40.
July 18, 2007 at 8:30 am
Re 1: One of my co-workers just got back from Laughlin and he got a ticket in that exact area (although on the way back at the top of the hill) you were talking about. He was doing about 100mph but the officer ticketed him for 85 because he pulled over as soon as he saw the officer behind him. The cop didn’t even have to turn his lights on. When my friend called in to pay the fine, the clerk said she would reduce it to a parking ticket so he wouldn’t have to go to driving school because he was nice on the phone. Some guys get all the breaks!
I agree about the 60/215/91 mess, avoid it if at all possible.
I turned the game off after it went to 4-0 and of course the Mets continued to pour it on. I guess it is better to get something like done all at once. Hopefully the Pads can score some more tonight.
July 18, 2007 at 8:46 am
Ouch, Mitch Canham will not go to A ball just yet. I appears he was hit the…uh…nether regions, and will have to undergo testicular surgery. Bummer dude!
July 18, 2007 at 8:46 am
Sorry here is the link
http://www.signonsandiego.com/.....notes.html
July 18, 2007 at 9:02 am
3 … so should we call him Mitch “A ball” Canham? … or not?
July 18, 2007 at 9:02 am
If I was making the trip, I’d take the I-8 to the I-10, and then stay on the I-10 to Las Cruces where I’d then pick up the I-25 and head north to Albuquerque. I’d then come back on the I-40 to the I-15. The I-17 is nice, but not worth the traffic around Phoenix IMHO.
July 18, 2007 at 9:03 am
3.
UUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! That’s f-ing brutal!!!
July 18, 2007 at 9:05 am
5.
Thanks for making hot tea enter my nasal cavity! That killed me!
July 18, 2007 at 9:32 am
3.
Yeah I think you skip Go, the $200, and go directly to “A-ball” when that happens.
July 18, 2007 at 10:00 am
Whatever route you take it’s going to be boring as sin Geoff. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve been bored to death by the 8 and the 10. There’s just absolutely nothing on the 10 all the way from Tucson to Houston - I wish I didn’t know that. (Actually I can’t remember if the 10 runs through San Antonio or not, but Tucson to SA is still a whole lot of nothing.)
Anyway, have fun and drive safely. Don’t let the “scenery” put you to sleep.
July 18, 2007 at 10:21 am
10. I suggest you never try the drive from El Paso to Dallas.
July 18, 2007 at 10:31 am
#11: Yep. I’ve driven through all but about four states, and that is by far the most desolate stretch of highway I’ve ever encountered. Oddly enough, I kind of liked it.
July 18, 2007 at 10:32 am
11: Debbie. Dallas. Oh my.
July 18, 2007 at 10:36 am
12. I might’ve liked it had our car not overheated outside of Tucson so we were driving w/o air conditioning for fear of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone reception, no call box, and no help. In July.
13. Like, Omigod! I haven’t heard that one since Jr. High!
July 18, 2007 at 10:45 am
11: Yeah, but one of the best BBQ I’ve had was right off Midland which is somewhere between El Paso and Dallas. Doubly cool since it’s in the middle of all those desolation.
So, Geoff, you know which way I’d be going if it were me driving.
July 18, 2007 at 11:06 am
14: One should never lose the childlike joy of a crass and obvious joke. I think CS Lewis said that.
I blew a radiator between St. George and Cedar City, Utah, 1988. Pre-cell phones. The guys at the garage built me a new radiator from spare parts, because the 1984 Ford Ranger was just too rare for their to be any OEM equipment within two days. But prettier country than central Texas.
July 18, 2007 at 11:15 am
15: Of course, I’m suggesting that you should drive 5 hours out of the way from Las Cruces to get a BBQ, it’s been done before.
If KD’s in Midland is too far, there is always Stateline BBQ in El Paso, Geoff.
16: Wow. How very A-Team and MacGuyver like!
July 18, 2007 at 11:17 am
#17: Ah, MacGyver could do it all…
http://www.macgyveronline.org/pages/macism.html
July 18, 2007 at 11:18 am
BP’s KG ranks Hundley at #8 of all catchers in the minors (pre-2007 draftees) …
http://www.baseballprospectus......cleid=6467 (sub req)
July 18, 2007 at 11:29 am
OK I may have you all beat:
Way pre-cell phones. I am driving from Houston to San Diego via Atlanta and then FT Worth with about $200 bucks to my name and my Honda Civic (totally overloaded with all my earthly possessions) throws a timing belt on a recently purchased (like the last 5 days) used engine (I had just thrown a connecting rod through the front of the original engine in Jackson Mississippi). This happens about 15 miles outside of Midland/Odessa. I walk about 1/4 mile off the freeway to the nearest house (um….trailer, OK dilapidated trailer) in the middle of the desert. I mean not a tree for a bazillion miles. I finally get towed in to Odessa some hours later. While I am waiting in some cheap hotel for a garage to open the following day to fix my car a ginormous storm starts rolling in. People start running out of there houses laying plywood on top of their cars and I am thinking OMG, what have I gotten myself into. It turns out to be a huge hailstorm with hail the size of golf balls. I was scared.
The only thing that came to my mind was the old Bob Dylan song: “Oh mama, could this be the end… to be stuck inside of Mobile “Odessa” with those Memphis “SD” blues again”.
Theres is more to this story if you want to hear it.
July 18, 2007 at 11:47 am
Well if it’s turning into a BBQ world tour then I suggest you head to Smithfield North Carolina and go to “Smithfield’s”when you head to the Bulls game. If I remember correctly it’s only about 20 or 30 miles out of Durham. Get the BBQ pork Sandwich with a side of hush puppies and thank me later. I swear to god it might make you not want to come back. That is of course until you realize you are in North Carolina in the middle of the summer with 100% humidity and a heat index of 125, at that point not even the best banana pudding you’ve ever had in your life will make you want to do anything else but be back in america’s finest city. In all seriousness go to Smithfield’s, I lived in North Carolina for a big chunk of my life and I think about the food from Smithfield’s probably 2 times everyday it’s that good. There are actually a ton near Durham now so here is a map if you are interested haha.
http://www.smithfieldschicken.com/locations.php
July 18, 2007 at 12:01 pm
20: You should have stopped into see ‘ol Roy McAlvoy and hit a bucket of balls or two. Which reminds me of my only rule: “Never borrow money from a stripper lady who happens to be your ex-girlfriend”… winner, winner, chicken dinner!
July 18, 2007 at 12:22 pm
20. OK, so you definitely have me beat, but that’s all right. This isn’t a competition I want to win! I bet you learned some good survival skills though. One I learned on my trip: if you don’t have any air conditioning, you can always stuff your bra with ice cubes.
July 18, 2007 at 12:37 pm
23: Dang! I don’t even wear a “bro”
July 18, 2007 at 12:46 pm
So this is what it took to sign ICHIRO… Ouch!!! I wanted him but not this bad!
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10260757
July 18, 2007 at 12:56 pm
20: Almost 20 years ago I wrecked (and I mean wrecked) that same pickup about 8 miles outside of Baker, California. Ate two days worth of meals at the Bun Boy Restaurant, stayed two nights at the fleabag hotel next door, caught a bus to Barstow so I could rent a truck and finish the trip. When Barstow looks like Paris, you know you’ve been somewhere bad. The Barstow bus depot’s on the other side of town from the U-Haul and I had zero spare cash, so walk those streets in late August. Fill out all the paperwork to rent a truck 5x the size I needed, only to find out I left my driver’s license with the nice CHP officer who investigated the crash. Luckily the U-Haul guys took pity on me and let me rent it anyway.
July 18, 2007 at 1:36 pm
26 - THATS why TW can be negative…
(JK, TW - I had to… sorry)
July 18, 2007 at 1:54 pm
27: What some call negative, others call realistic.
Yes, when I stayed at what was then known as the Golden Cholla Motel, which billed itself as quality lodging because the walls kept most scorpions outside, it did reinforce my belief that businesses don’t always tell the truth. You know, like some organization might say they’re spending 10 million when what they really mean is 7 million, 8 tops.
July 18, 2007 at 2:06 pm
A better question about the article is how the Padres are able to control the local media to write a fluff cheer leading piece about their spending 70% of their stated budget…..well closer to 55% since Latos and McBride weren’t even drafted this year
July 18, 2007 at 2:12 pm
29: It’s probably mind control or something (If you’re going to pursue the conspiracy theory, you’ve got to follow it to it’s logical conclusion…). Two of the three that they mention in the article are going to cost around 6 figures to sign. That’ll take us up near 8.5 mil for the draft. That’s a lot more than most teams spent. We’ve got a great looking group of prospects in AA and low-A and a more than solid draft class coming.
July 18, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Alderson on XX right now.
July 18, 2007 at 2:22 pm
31: And he’s going to take phone calls from listeners until 3 (about 45 minutes). Let’s hear some Ducksnorts folks get on there…
July 18, 2007 at 2:34 pm
What I’ve learned today;
1. The Pads loss last night has left us talking about routes to ABQ
2. Tom Waits is about 115 yrs old
3. Protective cups don’t always protect
July 18, 2007 at 2:40 pm
29: Toledo seems to be asking for more than 300,000, but nowhere near a million. Colon might be asking for almost 7 figures, and he feels a lot like Green last year, in that he’ll more likely end up at college. If they do sign, then yeah, we’re over 8 million. Leaving us 2 million, otherwise known as “several high upside arms,” short of 10 million.
The main reason we’ve spent 6.9 are:
1. We’re counting two picks from 2006. Okay, let’s do that, but then we should account for how much we spent last year, which was about 5 million. Even if we spent 8.5 this year, which is unlikely, the two-year average will be more like 6.5.
2. We had so many picks. Luebke, Sogard, Payne, Chalk, not a lot of upside there, but they still cost about 1.7 million all together.
July 18, 2007 at 2:44 pm
33: Pre-cell phone is only about 15 years ago. I believe I’m almost exactly the same age as GY. I just piled up the car incidents in my early 20s.
July 18, 2007 at 2:44 pm
34.
Do you think Colon is in the same class as Grant Green was last year? That kid is a complete stud right?
July 18, 2007 at 2:51 pm
36: I don’t have any independent view on either of them, just what Baseball America and some other experts have said. They do seem a lot alike, even went to the same school. Green hit well as a freshman at USC, I don’t know about his defense.
I’d like to think we’re willing to pay more than slot to get Colon, because otherwise there was no reason to draft him in the 10th round. We haven’t gone over slot so far, but that’s somewhat to be expected, because the guys who want more than slot aren’t afraid to wait.
July 18, 2007 at 2:53 pm
33: I also have a protective cup story, but it highlights my lack of baseball fundamentals.
July 18, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Why the hell would an 18 year old turn down 6 figures and a MLB team to go hang out in Fullerton for the next 3 years? I understand a dude like Green going to USC because that place is incredible but CSU-Fullerton? Not me!
July 18, 2007 at 3:01 pm
38.
Sounds familiar too, but I will always contest that the ball just took a funny hop and had nothing to do with me sucking!
July 18, 2007 at 3:05 pm
wasnt there an article about the international guys we signed this year? i forget how much was budgeted, but fuson seemed excited that he got to spend so much - thatll push the numbers up a bit more.
July 18, 2007 at 3:06 pm
39: To possibly play in 3 or 4 College World Series, live in Southern California instead of Peoria, Arizona and Ft. Wayne, Indiana, hang out with a large population of college girls who like college baseball players, and possibly make 6 or even 7 figures three years from now.
July 18, 2007 at 3:16 pm
41 … it’s my understanding that the “international guys” are already included in the figures that are being tossed around … the “internation guys” means domincan (and other latin american countries) teenagers, who are not expensive …
July 18, 2007 at 3:18 pm
41: I haven’t seen any stories, not to say they’re not out there. Nothing on BA about Padre signees that I can find.
All the comments about the budget specifically referred to the draft, which int’l players aren’t subject to.
July 18, 2007 at 3:20 pm
43: Minor correction, they can be expensive as heck (Joel Guzman, the Mexican LHP we signed a few years ago). A lot of the big names have already signed this year, the signing period started in early July.
July 18, 2007 at 3:24 pm
42.
The Fullerton girls I met in my college party days were not enough to keep me from a few hundred grand and being a pro baseball player. Then again maybe I’ve been spoiled in that regard here in S.D. Not too mention an 18 kid with a nice car and the job of being a top prospect pro ball player would probably do just fine with the ladies in whatever city he goes too. Who knows Ft. Wayne might be crawling with future super models haha. On the other hand The college world series would be fantastic! He could probably get the Padres to pay for a full ride scholarship if pro baseball didn’t work out the choice would be easy for me.
July 18, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Surprised to see so many people sticking up for the organization. Giving a direct quote to the local fishwrap about having 10M to spend on this years draft and then only spending around 7 seems a little fishy, or at least something where a number of fans would want some sort of an explanation.
July 18, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I need to find the link, but Fuson was really excited about a couple of guys that we got out of the D.R.
July 18, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Congrats LM! Julio Franco has signed with the Braves. You are young again.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19834792/
July 18, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Apparently the two guys that the team is most excited about and had the most competition for were a 17 year old OF named Edinson Rincon and a 16 year old IF named Jhonaton Spraut who’s already 6′2 and 175 (Yikes!). Maybe the madfriars guys can tell us a little more about them. I’m especially interested in how much it took to sign those two in light of conversations about the draft budget.
July 18, 2007 at 4:50 pm
47: They’ve spent 7 and they’re still trying to sign a few guys. If they don’t spend every dollar they budgeted for the draft, that money can be spent elsewhere. I don’t see the issue as long as they drafted the guys they wanted.
July 18, 2007 at 5:03 pm
49 … this is *GREAT* news, THANKS!
(but now I feel like he’s gotta hit another HR to be “legit”
)
July 18, 2007 at 5:06 pm
This would appear to be Schmidt’s debut for Ft Wayne …
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....p;did=milb
July 18, 2007 at 5:20 pm
51: There are really two issues.
1. How could they possibly want some of those guys over the guys they could have had. The most obvious comparison is Luebke to Harvey. No scouting basis for that. Some people buy Buicks. They may like the Buick, but it’s simply not as good as a lot of other cars, some of which don’t cost any more.
2. The team won’t be a big player in free agency and says it wants to build from within. Okay, good plan. You need to draft for both depth and upside, then.
July 18, 2007 at 5:21 pm
39: In recent years playing baseball at CSUF is much more exciting than USC. Yes USC is a beautiful campus and a fun place to be, but its also South Central. At Fullerton you play on a baseball team that is actually good, you could play in the CWS, live in Orange County (where i would much rather live than at USC) plus he will possibly finish his college education. Taking a six figure bonus for now if fine, but if you dont pan out then you are jus another high school grad searching for a job. Thats my guess on his decision.
July 18, 2007 at 5:26 pm
54: Fair enough. Poor choice of words on my part. I see “the issue,” I just don’t “take issue” with it.
July 18, 2007 at 5:40 pm
It’s great to see players move up to San Antonio, but a downer for Storm fans as usual. Why not move Lake El up to B? Sounds weird do to the size of the cities, but LE seats 6066 v. 6200 for SA and the average attendance @ LE is 3582 v. 4348 for SA. I’m sure there are many problems with contracts; but logistically it would seem better to have the B club nearer. Of course then we’d have the same mixed feelings with promotions to A.
July 18, 2007 at 6:04 pm
55: Except that a full-ride scholarship would certainly be part of any six-figure contract. I don’t see how kids, especially pitchers, can turn down guaranteed money that’s in the high six figures.
July 18, 2007 at 6:18 pm
57 … not sure what you mean by “B” … the level of the LE team is called “High-A” (or Advanced-A, http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....ations.jsp) … it’s at this level because that’s the level of the whole California League … San Antonio is “AA” because that’s the level of the Texas League … the Padres can’t just sent their AA players to LE and High-A players to SA …
July 18, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I moved from SD to TN a little over a month ago and we took the 15 and went down to phoenix and caught the 40 all the wat to tn. The only bad part was it was so hot in phx and we had to go up in altitude it overheated our truck and we had to make an early stop in phx (we were still on top coming here though) SO I would avoid phoenix if I was you, I’m sure you have a cali tuned car too.
July 18, 2007 at 6:55 pm
59. I should have said AA instead of B. I know LE would have to join a AA league–a bit difficult no doubt.
July 18, 2007 at 8:06 pm
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