Weather permitting, we’ve got a meetup tonight at Tony Gwynn Stadium. As of this writing, the rain is coming down pretty good in my neck of the woods, so stay tuned. I’ll keep everyone updated in the comments.
Also, my proof copy of the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Ducksnorts and I are going to read through it over the weekend, and assuming everything checks out, this thing should be ready for public consumption on Monday.
Finally, if I sent you an invite to the Ducksnorts Fantasy Baseball League, please respond by 11:59 p.m. PT on Friday. If I haven’t heard from you by then, I’ll open up the remaining spots to others who have expressed an interest. Once the first league has been filled, I’ll open up the second one.
If you haven’t heard from me yet, you will be receiving an invite over the weekend. If the weekend passes and you still haven’t heard from me, then something went wrong and you’ll need to get in touch with me.
Enough of that. We’ve got linkage, and lots of it:
- Nate Ravitz at ESPN previews the Padres from a fantasy perspective (hat tip to Bip in the comments). Mostly review material here.
- Yahoo! has its preview up as well (hat tip to LynchMob in the comments). If the Padres carry Glendon Rusch as a third left-hander out of the bullpen, I’ll scream. Yessir, that’s what I’ll do.
- Jon Heyman at SI.com examines the game’s best GMs (hat tip to Rain Delay in the comments). I think he’s got Kevin Towers too low, but I’m biased.
- News flash: Kevin Cameron is a freak (Hardball Times, hat tip to Masticore317 in the comments).
- Jake Peavy and Heath Bell are kinda freakish as well.
- Hey, look, Corey Brock likes Loverboy. Oh, wait; I like ABBA. Never mind.
- The Padres have established a working agreement with the Nippon Ham Fighters, whatever that means. Isn’t Terrmel Sledge a Ham Fighter? It’s already paying dividends.
- Chase Headley talks about his transition to left field and the workout regimen that has added 30 pounds to his frame since he was drafted (hat tip to Phantom in the comments).
- Even Shawn Estes is optimistic in February (hat tip to Phantom in the comments). Estes was outstanding in 1997. So were Chan Ho Park and Ismael Valdez.
- Heath Bell worked very hard in 2007 and he doesn’t mind (hat tip to Phantom in the comments).
- Chris Young discusses last year’s injuries and what he’s doing to minimize the risk of future DL trips (hat tip to Phantom in the comments).
- Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus reveals his top 11 Padres prospects (hat tip to Tom Waits in the comments). Drew Miller at #4 is gutsy, as is Drew Cumberland at #6. There’s a good chance both will end up in my top 10 next year, but I don’t have enough data to make that call just yet. That’s the difference between Goldstein and me, of course; he’s way more informed than I am.
- The Swinging Friar is a new Padres blog on the block. One of his first posts is an interview with the U-T’s Tom Krasovic (hat tip to U-T Padresblog via Phantom in the comments). I’ve added this one to the blogroll as well as to PadreBlogs.com. Stop by and say hey.
- Preston Gomez at Sacrifice Bunt launches an epic rant.
- The Padres didn’t get the memo about 2008 being a season to punt. Wait, did I just throw a football metaphor in there? Bad blogger!
- The team isn’t expecting much from Cesar Carrillo this year. What else is new…
- MB at Friar Forecast re-examines the 1998 Cy Young Award.
- Kirk Kenney at the U-T chats with Tony Gwynn about the Aztecs (hat tip to Gaslamp Ball) and why SDSU’s program hasn’t been able to achieve the same level of success that crosstown rival USD has.
- Shortstop Christian Colon, drafted but not signed by the Padres in 2007, discusses his decision to attend Cal State Fullerton, alma mater of Mark Kotsay and Phil Nevin.
- Feel-good story on ex-Padre Doug Brocail.
- Feel-good story on current Padre Justin Hampson.
- Joe Posnanski talks about, um, I dunno (hat tip to Didi in the comments). Three things: First off, Posnanski is one funny dude; second, the Padres pitching coach is not Darren Baisley, but Darren Balsley (not singling out Posnanski here, but on a general note, it bugs me that folks outside of San Diego have no idea who this guy is); third, the reference to Jason Alexander dancing reminded me of this video.
Man, that was too many links. Still, if you’re a real glutton, we’ve got more linky goodness over at del.icio.us. Rock on…
50 … you, sir, are a ducksnorty jerk … i *like* it!!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079367/quotes
51: Not my favorite line from the movie, but the only appropriate one.
Had to be sure to change my name back, although I’m sure there are some who feel that The Jerk would be more descriptive.
#52: You could take a little poetic license: “That’s all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this book and the chair.” I’d be honored to have the Annual mentioned with those other fine objects.
53: And I don’t need one other thing, except my dog.
(Dog Barks Angrily)
I don’t need my dog.
This is totally OT, and I’m sure she owes much of it to modern medicine, but 60 year old Bernadette Peters looks awfully good.
49 … thanks … now i see the massive caveat on page 88 … missed that on my first glance thru the book following download … so … now i wonder how much of a help or distraction that is … for “comps” to players whose 2007 was significantly down from their peak performance, it’s going to be a distraction … i’ll see if i get used to it as i spend more time with this section of the book …
btw, i posted a comment at gaslampball pointing to lulu … i’ll shoot off a few emails … let’s spread the word!
#55: Cool. I’d love to hear your thoughts after you’ve had a chance to “live with” the concept for a while. May be that this needs tweaking. Everything is open to rethinking.
And thanks for getting the word out for me. As always, it’s much appreciated!
College Update:
After taking two of three from USD, San Diego State has debuted in BA’s top 25 ranking at #22. USD dropped to #17 from #11.
Game 4 is going on right now, SDSU 2 USD 0 Bot. 1.
57 … go get ‘em, TG!
The gaslampball dudes recently posted the link to this UT article …
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/aztecs/20080220-9999-1s20azbase.html
… which is a no-fluff Q&A with the SDSU coach.
57 … oh, and btw, there’s probably and extra spot that’s going to open up in the Top 25 … Oregon State didn’t look good over the weekend … so … unless Arizona State is a runaway #1 (which they might be), OSU’s likely currently overrated … but then again, I thought that last year at this time also … Go Beavs!
Update:
SDSU 3 USD 0 Bot. 6
Tony Gwynn’s boys have taken 3 of 4. Game 4 SDSU 7 USD 1, FINAL.