I’m pressed for time this morning, so links are offered with minimal commentary (and there was much rejoicing):
- Alan Drooz at the U-T misses Mike Cameron (h/t PM).
- Clay Hensley’s first rehab start went well (h/t Field39).
- MB at Friar Forecast asks how we know when a player is done. Good question.
- Amy Nelson at ESPN jumps on the bandwagon and writes about Trevor Hoffman (h/t Coronado Mike).
- Tom Krasovic at the U-T informs us that Chase Headley was sent to Triple-A to cut down on his strikeouts.
- Corey Brock has a fun story about Bud Black’s (almost) big-league debut.
- Bill Center at the U-T doesn’t like Petco Park’s dimensions. Eh, that’s a fresh angle.
- David Appelman at Baseball Analysts investigates clutch pitching. Jake Peavy scores well using his method.
- Greg Spira at Slate talks about the month in which big-league players are born (h/t Schlom). Hint: August is much better than July.
- John Walsh at Hardball Times examines the importance of a fastball’s speed (h/t Didi).
- This past off-season, Pizza Cutter at Statistically Speaking looked at the sample-size issue as it relates to player evaluation (h/t Richard Wade). Not light reading, but probably a good thing for Padres fans to check out right about now.
- Susan Slusser at the San Francisco Chronicle pens a fun piece on ex-Padre Andrew Brown (h/t Ben B). Among other things, we learn that Brown and Oakland A’s closer Huston Street are big-time chess geeks:
Their chess-playing has attracted so much notice that one teammate – they’re not sure who, but they have a guess – has begun hiding pieces, which then are discovered in odd places. The kings remain missing, so they’re playing with Eric Chavez Bobbleheads. “Chavvy does have six Gold Gloves,” Brown explained. “That’s good enough to be king.”
The Padres really need some chess geeks. I would even accept Magic: The Gathering geeks (hey, that stuff used to air on ESPN2).
- Joe Posnanski talks at length (sorry, is that redundant?) about retired numbers (h/t Didi). Quoth Joe: “Steve Garvey is a Dodger.” Even a guy who doesn’t follow the Padres knows that. Heck, everyone knows that. Except, of course, the Padres.
Whoomp, there it is…
Well, CY looked great last nite.
#1@Phantom: ha yeah I’m glad the Padres have him and Jake locked up for several years otherwise they maybe counting down the days until they can start looking for team that won’t make them pay for making one mistake in 7 innings…
Thought you guys might like a line that Buster Olney used to discuss a trade that the Reds made last year sending Austin Kearns to the Nationals…
“…we are not going to look back in the same vein as Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio or Chris Young and Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton.”
If people are starting to compare those two trades, then that is a darn good thing!
Oh yea, I am thankful I did not watch that game last night. I could not imagine how PO’d I would be if I stayed up until 1am (Eastern) to watch that 1-run debacle.
binging in the fences at petco might help. That idea would be easy to test. Count the number of balls that go the warning track. But I think its more the thickness of the marine air and the swirling wind. We need UCSD and SDSU scientists to analyze the problem. Be a fun post graduate project from somebody.
PM…I think someone over the last day or two made the best point regarding the field…stop worrying about the field and start poking the front office about building a team that can’t seem to take advantage of the ballpark. We have a station to station team with questionable defense at MOST positions.
Colorado and Texas have wonderful parks full of high scoring, fun games…but there is also little chance of them sustaining winning teams b/c of the strain it puts on pitching. I like Petco’s dimentions and love the fact that it is difficult to hit here. We need to get some guys with 1st to 3rd speed (at a min) that can play good defense and have moderate power. 2006 Mike Cameron was probably a perfect model…Good D, OBP north of .340, moderate power, and solid speed. (He did K too much, but not everyone is perfect and I am simply pointing to a reference.)