IGD: Padres @ Yankees (19 Jun 08)
Thu, Jun 19, 2008
by Geoff Young
Padres (31-42) @ Yankees (39-33)
Josh Banks vs Joba Chamberlain
10:05 a.m. PT
Channel 4SD
AM 1090, FM 105.7, XM 176
MLB, B-R
The fact that I’ve reached an age where I feel compelled to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast doesn’t bother me so much as the fact that I actually seem to enjoy it.
Some guy named Chamberlain is pitching for New York. Never heard of him…
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 19, 2008 at 7:58 am
Last night’s game was tough to watch.
And oatmeal isn’t so bad, especially if it’s strawberries and cream or some such.
Not sure if I’ll listen to today’s affair. John Sterling + Joba Chamberlain start = Complete nausea
June 19, 2008 at 8:12 am
Are they still using a short pitch count with Chamberlain ?
June 19, 2008 at 8:55 am
Oatmeal is good with a little Jager…..
June 19, 2008 at 9:07 am
I’m bringing something up from last night because I need some explanation. . .some people mentioned how Cruz and Sledge weren’t actually that bad last year. Can someone provide me some stats that actually prove this? They had an OPS under .700. . .I’m not sure how that can qualify as good in any conversation.
June 19, 2008 at 9:09 am
#2@parlo: He threw 89 last time. I’m pretty sure Girardi will turn him loose for at least 100. Whether that’s 5 innings or a complete game against the Padres, we’ll have to see.
June 19, 2008 at 9:15 am
4: I think that people often look at the Padres overall production from LF last year and get fooled into thinking that Sledge and Cruz couldn’t have been that bad. Really, it’s just an underestimation of how good that Jenga was while he was with the club in the second half of the year. With Sledge and Cruz dragging down the offense, the Padres finished 10th in the NL in LF OPS last year.
By the way, this year we’re 11th in LF OPS with an OPS that’s 50 points lower than last seasons (.755 to .801 in 2007)
June 19, 2008 at 9:21 am
#4@BigWorm: Look at their month-by-month splits.
Cruz had a raw OPS of 1.016 through the end of April. He was terrible in May and June, but for about 30% of his time with the Padres he was one of the league’s best hitters.
Sledge was also very good in April, bad in May, above-average in June, and close to average in August.
A player can stink like anything for a short period, and sometimes it doesn’t hurt the team as bad as we might think because its concentrated. So while Cruz and Sledge both had months when they hit like they were holding swizzle sticks, it was still limited to approximately 3 full-time “player months” between the two of them combined.
June 19, 2008 at 9:24 am
2. Yankee announcers said last night the pitch count for Joba would be up to 105, an oddly precise number. But this is major league standard; almost not a pitch count.
Go Padres!
June 19, 2008 at 9:25 am
#6@Paul R: That’s also true, and it tends to overestimate the Bradley/Hairston combinations because of their short stay. A 1.200 OPS bat who plays 40 games drives the rate stats for his position up, but the absolute most games he could help you win is 40, and that’s not happening anyway.
June 19, 2008 at 9:45 am
#4@BigWorm: I think people underestimate how bad Crudge was last year because a lot of their sucking bled over into right field while Giles was out for a month. It seemed like most of their good production came at the start of the year when they were playing left, but then when Giles went down and both had to play almost every day they really started sucking. 2007 Padre right fielders hit .261/.346/.395 despite Giles hitting .271/.361/.416 and having the majority of the plate appearances of right fielders.
June 19, 2008 at 9:46 am
Posting a quick comment from my phone while in line for hot dogs at Yankee Stadium. This place is every bit as enchanting as they say it is. I think I could sit out in right field all day, even if there wasnt a game. A good number of Padre fans are here and we’ve seen a good amount walking around the city too. I’m feeling a win today, hopefully the boys make it happen.
GO PADRES!!!
June 19, 2008 at 10:10 am
#7@Tom Waits: You realize that your argument works the other way - just about any player can get hot for a month. That doesn’t make them a good player. Over the course of a season these guys were brutal.
June 19, 2008 at 10:17 am
#11@Bryan: One of times I went to Yankee Stadium I sat in left-center field in about 10 rows from the back. Not only was I about 600 feet from home plate (seriously, I was way out there, probably 100 feet from the playing field) but it was also a day game (like today) and the sun was just blazing down on us and reflecting off the white facade behind us. It was incredibly hot out there and everyone cheered when the sun went below the top of the stadium.
June 19, 2008 at 10:23 am
#12@BigWorm: Neither of them played for a season. Between the 2 of them they didn’t even get a full season’s worth of at-bats.
Yes, any player can get hot for a month. And the games that player helps you win go in the book, just like the games he helps you lose when he’s cold. But when you’re dealing with short time periods, the overall rate stats don’t always tell the whole story. Sledge, who was average or above-average for 142 of his 233 plate appearances, is somewhat underrated by his composite 77 OPS+, because while he was terrible in May and Sep/Oct, it was boiled down into a small, albeit awful, sample.
June 19, 2008 at 10:26 am
#12@BigWorm: How about Kobe and the Zen Master? Terrific coaching in Game 3.
June 19, 2008 at 10:27 am
Banks looked wonderful striking out A-Rod and Giambi.
June 19, 2008 at 10:31 am
It’s a good thing we didn’t draft Joba Chamberlain in 2006 — otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to trade for Michael Barrett (the Padres traded Rob Bowen and the 31st pick in 2006 Kyler Burke)! But Sandy Alderson promised it would be different from now on, let’s see how many players they fail to sign in this draft.
June 19, 2008 at 10:34 am
mud just compared headley’s double to something sean burroughs would’ve done. scary. then he called matt by his wifes name…scarier
June 19, 2008 at 10:34 am
C’mon, Scotty. His stuff is filthy enough without you helping him.
June 19, 2008 at 10:37 am
#17@Schlom: It’s also too bad we didn’t draft Albert Pujols. Or Chase Utley. Or David Wright. Or Brandon Webb. Or Grady Sizemore. Or Lance Berkman. Or any other good player in baseball.
June 19, 2008 at 10:37 am
#17@Schlom: I wish we could search the archives, because there were several of us (IIRC) who wanted Joba bad. He was a classic high-upside college guy.
June 19, 2008 at 10:39 am
I have to say I’m impressed by that failure by the Padres to score with the bases loaded and nobody out. Sure team can strike out three times in a row, or strike out once and then ground into a double play, but you have to admit it’s exciting to see the strikeout, the out on the attempt to advance on a wild pitch and then another strikeout. Who says the Padres aren’t exciting? They always find inventive ways to not score.
June 19, 2008 at 10:40 am
#20@Ben B.: Well said.
They shouldn’t have sent Adrian on that wild pitch. Joba just threw great pitches on the two Ks.
June 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
That was depressingly predictable. Three high strikeout, low average righties against a right handed pitcher with great stuff? No chance.
June 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
WTF? That’s the 2008 season in a bloody nutshell. Bases loaded, no outs, no runs.
June 19, 2008 at 10:43 am
We have to be the worst baserunning team in the majors. We have a unique mix of incredibly slow players and amazingly incompetent instincts.
At least Flannery is no longer at third. I’m all but certain he has no depth perceptions, which accounts for his inability to tell how far away outfielders were with the ball.
June 19, 2008 at 10:47 am
Well guys, I found the 2006 draft thread. Looks like I wasn’t around posting then, so I’m out of the woods on that. I’ll start looking through it to find the good and the bad.
http://ducksnorts.com/blog/200.....tcher.html
June 19, 2008 at 10:47 am
About the only chance Agon has of scoring there is if Joba has a heart attack from shock.
June 19, 2008 at 10:50 am
#26@Alan: #26@Alan: The worst Flannery decision I can remember is him sending a gimpy Greg Meyers from second on a shot to CF. The catcher had lit up a cigarette before Bull made it home.
June 19, 2008 at 10:51 am
The worst part of that inning was not the bases-loaded, not out choke job. The worst part was the Sean Burroughs comp that Mark Grant dropped on Chase Headley
June 19, 2008 at 10:52 am
#21@Tom Waits:
I seem to remember a couple of different mocks or rumors saying that we were actually targeting Chaimberlin if we went with pitching and Antonelli or Parmelee if we went with hitting. I only remember that because after that I did a bunch of internet nerding out on Joba.
June 19, 2008 at 10:52 am
#15@Tom Waits: Well, the Lakers won game 3, so I’m assuming you meant one of the other games?
The Celtics were just better, period. And they wanted it more. I’m not sure what you are trying to get at. . .did Phil blow that series? He was probably outcoached in game 4 and 6. It was definitely a strange series - neither team looked like they really wanted it until game 6.
In other words, I’m not sure what you are getting at? Did you think Phil blew the series? Kobe was terrible for two or three of those games (terrible for him).
Or are you just being smarmy again? You’re good at that. Tom Waits: Good at smarmy, bad at admitting he is wrong about anything.
June 19, 2008 at 10:53 am
17: In 2006 Joba had pretty significant health concerns or he would have gone higher than the 30’s. He had shoulder issues that were a bit murky. Pretty easy to second guess, but at the time he was a risky prospect because of his health.
June 19, 2008 at 10:56 am
#20@Ben B.: That’s the reason the Padres have been terrible throughout pretty much of their history, isn’t it? I’m not going to blame them for not drafting Pujols, only the Cardinals thought he was worth something (drafted in the 13th round in 199). Webb was an 8th round pick in 2000, safe to say not too many saw that coming. Berkman was drafted in 1997 16th before the Padres had a pick so they never had a chance at him. In 200 they took Mark Phillips when Chase Utley went 15th. In 2001 they took 3B Jake Gautreau 14th when Wright went 38th. Sizemore went in the 3rd round, safe to say the Padres could have taken him they wanted. However, they would have needed to buy him out of a scholarship to Stanford so they passed on him. The simple fact is that the Padres have no idea what they are doing and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change. They won’t take real good players because the cost too much and therefore, they never develop any talent. So instead of spending some money on someone like Chamberlain, they go cheap and draft someone like Kyler Burke who can’t play at all — lucky they traded him but he’s still a total bust.
June 19, 2008 at 11:01 am
#27@Ben B.: Dang, I miss Hank.
But not only were a lot of people hot for Joba, it seems like we were pretty sharp as a group.
June 19, 2008 at 11:03 am
I’ll guess DiMaggio for the trivia question.
June 19, 2008 at 11:06 am
#30@Paul R: He should get a kangaroo court fine for that.
#32@BigWorm: You’re right, it was game 4, when the coach whose word you accept at face value when he blames Kobe for “destroying” the 2004 Lakers sat there with this thumb in his posterior and watched his team, the team he’s paid approximately 10M per year to coach, fall apart. Like I said before, it’s not that teamwork doesn’t matter, it’s that people use it far too liberally. In the same genre as “they wanted it more.”
June 19, 2008 at 11:07 am
#35@Tom Waits: Yeah, I’m actually really impressed. Peter was right on with pretty much everything, and everyone else was pretty good too. LaPorta, Chamberlain, Masterson, Lars Anderson, complaining about a lot of the college pitchability guys (although LeBlanc has proven that wrong in his specific case thus far), excitement for Latos, there were a lot of good calls.
June 19, 2008 at 11:07 am
#23@Kevin: My point is that the Padres will never draft a guy like Joba because he’s going to cost too much money. Instead of gambling on someone like Joba, they take a terrible high school player in Burke. They’ll never end up with someone like Sizemore because they won’t spend the money. And when they do have high picks (203-2004) they blow it by taking crappy players — whether for financial reasons or because they can’t properly evaluate talent.
They have two great draft picks on their team right now — Chase Headley, a 2nd round pick in 2005 and Jake Peavy, a 15th round pick in 1999. We took another high ceiling high school pitcher in the 15th round this season, what are the odds that the Padres sign him?
June 19, 2008 at 11:08 am
Holy cow. Headley would need an extra four inches on his bat to even reach that pitch. Joba’s strike zone is a full time zone wide today.
June 19, 2008 at 11:09 am
There’s a great game going on while everyone is whining about the draft.
June 19, 2008 at 11:09 am
34: You’re clearly right, Burke is a total bust. Let’s forget about the fact that he’s not 20 yet…No one knows what Kyler Burke is yet.
It’s a little silly to criticize the Padres in several of the cases that you mention. If it was clear that Utley was going to be leading the league in HR’s halfway through 2008, he wouldn’t have slid to 15th in the 2000 draft. But it’s worth mentioning that he was considered a low-ceiling college player who couldn’t hit enough to hold down 3B at the time he was drafted. A guy pretty similar to Gautreau (who had medical issues that kept him from being successful). Mark Phillips in 2000 was a guy a lot of us would have been excited about–the high ceiling HS pitcher who had great stuff. Sometimes the high risk-high reward guys don’t pan out.
I’m hoping this doesn’t just come off as being a Padres shill. They’ve obviously made bad (and in 2004 unforgivable) draft decisions in the past, but there is a new administration that seems to be doing better. By dredging through poor drafts of 8 years ago, what is being accomplished?
June 19, 2008 at 11:12 am
#38@Ben B.: The worry with LeBlanc was that his plus-changeup and below-average fastball wouldn’t last in the higher minors. Even though his ERA is blown up, he’s still getting strikeouts in Triple A.
#41@Kevin: Not everyone is whining about the draft. Some people are just talking about it.
June 19, 2008 at 11:12 am
39: I love that you keep calling Burke a low cost player. He wasn’t. He was a high-ceiling college guy that we signed out of a college commitment. Just like the Indians signed Sizemore (who was not a consensus top-20 pick in his draft year) out of a college commitment. Sometimes the raw tools guys pan out and sometimes they don’t.
June 19, 2008 at 11:13 am
44: edit-high ceiling high school guy
June 19, 2008 at 11:14 am
Hairston had a nice rip at that first pitch from Joba
June 19, 2008 at 11:15 am
#42@Paul R: Agree. Burke was a high-risk, high-reward player. You can’t pick them without accepting the risk that they’re not going to perform. If they were high-reward, low-risk players, that’d be great. But there’s one or two of them a year.
June 19, 2008 at 11:16 am
Game day says that Greene lined out. Was the ball hit hard?
June 19, 2008 at 11:17 am
#43@Tom Waits: There’s a thin line.
I got the trivia question right.
June 19, 2008 at 11:18 am
Let’s see how many times Adrian can get thrown out at home today.
June 19, 2008 at 11:18 am
I gotta disagree with Mark on the Adrian collision. I’d rather not have our best player getting injured trying vainly to knock a ball out of the catcher. He was out by a mile.
June 19, 2008 at 11:18 am
#36@Kevin: Ichiro! has been an All-Star every year of his career as well.
June 19, 2008 at 11:18 am
#44@Paul R: Yeah, Burke wasn’t cheap. He looked exactly like you want your RF to look. Big, athletic, strong as all get out. A not-dissimilar skill set to Francouer. He just hasn’t hit much against any sort of competition.
June 19, 2008 at 11:19 am
#48@Field39: He hit it to the right field warning track. But it was a high fly. If it was really hard, Abreu couldn’t have got under it.
June 19, 2008 at 11:20 am
would AGon have scored on either of the ground rulers behind him?
I wonder what the single-game record is for number of times stopped at third by a ground rule double and later thrown out at home.
June 19, 2008 at 11:20 am
#52@Schlom: True. I guess it depends on if the question was in past tense or not.
June 19, 2008 at 11:21 am
Banks breaking stuff is just nasty today.
June 19, 2008 at 11:22 am
#49@Kevin: Congratulations. That’s the problem with Yankee trivia questions (although I didn’t hear that one), it’s not like the Padres where the answer is so likely to be Gwynn, Winfield, or Hoffman.
I agree there’s A poster whining about the draft today, but I’m grateful that Ben found that old draft link so we can see that not every comment about the draft is “second-guessing.”
June 19, 2008 at 11:22 am
55: It’s tough to say. I doubt it. Those ground rule doubles down the LF line in Yankee Stadium are sort of a joke. They bounce so high off that dirt that almost everything becomes a double. I think that Adrian probably only would have had a single if he’d hit either of those GR doubles.
June 19, 2008 at 11:23 am
Josh Banks misses high with lots of pitches. I keep worrying he’s going to stop missing really high and start missing only slightly high, which will cause him to get crushed, but it hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully missing really, really high is a repeatable skill for him.
June 19, 2008 at 11:24 am
#37@Tom Waits: Well obviously I should accept your word at face value. . .although you may not have watched too closely since you can’t keep the games straight. Then again, you must have been on the bench to have seen Phil with his thumb up his bum. It must have been the one finger that doesn’t have a ring on it.
Your take: Phil did nothing to help his team in Game 4. My take: Phil probaby tried something, although I have no idea what (you know, since I wasn’t on the bench), it clearly didn’t work and bottom line, the Celtics were better.
Honest question for you: Have you ever played sports? Competitive sports, not just beer league softball. The reason I ask is because you really downplay the importance of non-measurables: chemistry, motivation, etc. . .Have you ever played on a team with one or two “bad apples”? I have, and some of those teams couldn’t get motivated for Vince Lombardi. Players would quit during games - you could see it. We had more talent than teams we were playing but would lose because guys didn’t care. You seem to think that this phenomenon is overused - and it may be in baseball. In basketball (and other sports) I think it’s not emphasized enough. Kobe may not be a quitter, but he is a “bad apple”. Not to mention that Lamar Odom is absolutely a quitter. The Celtics had two definite hall of famers and a third who will probably get in as well. None of them have won a championship. Those guys wanted it and they wanted it bad. Just because you can’t quantify it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
But hey, what do I know? I’m disagreeing with you, and since you’re always right. . .I guess that means I’m wrong!
June 19, 2008 at 11:24 am
58: It is encouraging to see how “right” that we were about some of the picks that we wanted. It’s pretty cool to have a record of that. Thanks for having archives Geoff!
June 19, 2008 at 11:27 am
The point is that the Padres always seem to draft the wrong guys. They go for a high-ceiling HS guy and he sucks. They go for a polished college arm and they suck or get hurt (or both). Who is ultimately making these decisions? If it’s Towers, they need to get him far away from the draft as he’s terrible at it. If the same people have been in charge over the past five season, they need to fire them and get new ones. There’s only so much you can do with retreads — even the Padres the past four season who may have had the most successful run with retreads were ultimately able to win one measly playoff game.
June 19, 2008 at 11:28 am
Thru 4 …
Pitches-strikes - J Banks 67-43; J Chamberlain 71-42.
Ground balls-fly balls - J Banks 6-3; J Chamberlain 3-2.
Batters faced - J Banks 15; J Chamberlain 17.
… who is Josh Banks? What I’m asking … which would probably be a good question for DePo … is how/why is he doing so much better than Toronto (and any/every other club that did not claim him off the waiver wire) think he would be?
June 19, 2008 at 11:28 am
Do we really need long posts about the NBA here?
I’m going to my physical therapy now.
June 19, 2008 at 11:34 am
#61@BigWorm: My theory on the playoffs is that Jackson and the rest of the Lakers so despise Kobe that they threw the series.
June 19, 2008 at 11:35 am
Nice AB by Gerut there in the 5th.
63: They don’t “always” draft the wrong guys. Khalil was a first round pick and Chase Headley looks like he’s going to work out. We drafted Jake Peavy and signed him away from a pretty firm college commitment. Our player development is improving, and I hope it will have more success in the future, but we’ve had some hits too.
June 19, 2008 at 11:36 am
Mariners fired their manager as well. What a dysfunctional organization…
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/index
June 19, 2008 at 11:36 am
#61@BigWorm: Yes, I’ve played all kinds of sports. And not only have I played on teams that didn’t like each other but won anyway, I can point to many professional examples of it.
As I said in our earlier discussion, I expect teamwork is more important when players depend on one another to do something. The fullback making a block, for example. But I also believe that when the fullback doesn’t make a block, it’s because he’s a selfish jerk, and more because he either simply missed it or he got outplayed.
Not long ago you said that Kobe had “matured” and that was why the Lakers were back in the championship hunt. Now he’s a bad apple again because he lost? That’s EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Too many people use teamwork like a tarp or a roll of duct tape. Poor performance? Blame teamwork! Good performance? Praise teamwork! Padres ‘96, great chemistry overcomes the talent of the Dodgers. Padres ‘97, almost the exact same team, chemistry….what did it do? Keep them from losing 90 games? Whatever impact teamwork may have, it’s tangential compared to talent and skill.
Your attempts to portray me as someone who believes he is always right are laughable, as is your attempt to hang a debate point on a typo. You must be proud of a “victory” earned by my left index finger wandering 1/2 inch to the left of its intended target.
June 19, 2008 at 11:40 am
#69@Tom Waits: it’s “not” because he’s a selfish jerk.
Yay, another typo!
June 19, 2008 at 11:40 am
#49@Kevin: I don’t know if we are whining but complaining, I think there’s a difference.
The major problem is that we (meaning some of us posting here) would have done a better job then the Padres have done. That’s not good. Granted, it’s easier since it’s not our money but the Padres are supposed to experts, and they certainly haven’t been when it comes to the draft.
June 19, 2008 at 11:45 am
#64@LynchMob: The Yankees aren’t throwing out a B lineup today, either.
Like someone else said, Banks is missing high a lot.
There was a story on MLBTradeRumors that the Cardinals inquired about Barrett before they knew their Molina wasn’t badly hurt. Do they think the Edmonds-NL Central mojo would work for him, too?
June 19, 2008 at 11:47 am
Poop on a stick.
June 19, 2008 at 11:47 am
#72@Tom Waits: If it worked for Edmonds, it’ll work for anyone.
June 19, 2008 at 11:48 am
A pitcher who appears nearly unhittable gives up a run …
- M. Cabrera walked
- M. Cabrera stole second
- M. Cabrera stole third
- J. Molina hit sacrifice fly to deep center, M. Cabrera scored
… classic!
June 19, 2008 at 11:48 am
71: To claim that anyone posting on this blog would have done a better job in the draft than the professionals in almost any Padres front office is laughable. Most of us are only getting info from media sources like BA and BP and Scout.com. The people in the front office have actually seen the players in question. There’s no way that we can make that kid of assertion. We’re dealing with incomplete information.
June 19, 2008 at 11:49 am
tough luck there for the cake eater. gives up his first walk as a starter and the guy scores without a hit
June 19, 2008 at 11:49 am
73: Is that a trade proposal for Barett? Because I’m considering it…
June 19, 2008 at 11:50 am
I wonder what percentage of games are decided by speed or base running or defense? 5%?
Today’s is shaping up to be such a game …
June 19, 2008 at 11:50 am
Great catch by Gerut! Wow!
June 19, 2008 at 11:52 am
Thru 5 …
Pitches-strikes - J Banks 89-54; J Chamberlain 88-52.
Ground balls-fly balls - J Banks 6-6; J Chamberlain 4-3.
Batters faced - J Banks 19; J Chamberlain 21.
… go, Josh, go!
June 19, 2008 at 11:53 am
anyone else think the kouz-igouchi koozie commercial is lacking charisma?
June 19, 2008 at 11:53 am
#77@saintjoel: A Mighty Ducks reference! Awesome!
June 19, 2008 at 11:55 am
#69@Tom Waits: Smarm, smarm, smarm. . .it’s just dripping off of you!
Kobe isn’t a bad apple BECAUSE he lost. And nowhere have I said that Kobe’s performance or personality was what caused the Lakers to lose. The Lakers lost because the Celtics were better.
And this is exactly what I am talking about with regards to you: You take something I said (Kobe is a bad apple), twist it (BigWorm said the Lakers lost because Kobe is a bad apple), and then use that to try and prove me wrong (first BigWorm said Kobe matured, now he says he is a bad apple, therefore he is using team chemistry to cover up for other issues), in the face of facts (I specifically stated the Lakers lost because the Celtics were better).
Once again, we are polluting this board. . .funny how conversations with you always seem to turn into that! So I’m done - if you want to discuss chemistry, draft picks, intangibles, Phil Jackson, Kobe, or that one time you were wrong about something back in 2002, feel free to send me you email address.
June 19, 2008 at 11:57 am
#76@Paul R: Agree. Not to say we couldn’t be valuable if we had access to the same information, but for me, I’m judging almost all these guys by published scouting reports. I get to see a tiny percentage of them in person, and I’m often sadly surprised to find that what I thought was a heavy mid-90s fastball was called “high 80s slop” by people who know better. Amateurs look better than pros when we can pick and choose our points of comparison; Ramos, for example. But I’m not sure I’d want to list all the kids I’ve wanted to draft over the last 7 years and compare it to the Padres; besides I’ve usually agreed with 90% or more of their choices.
#80@Paul R: I’d like to replay it, but my GameDay is devious.
June 19, 2008 at 11:57 am
#76@Paul R: Let’s put it this way, if I was in charge in 2004 the Padres would certainly be more successful then they are now. That’s a pretty strong indictment of the front office, isn’t it?
#67@Paul R: Is it improving? The Padres problem is that with the exception of Headley (and maybe Antonelli as he’s showing signs of turning it around) most of their prospects are in the lower leagues. An organization of Jay Bruce and a bunch of stiffs might rank lower overall then the Padres current organization but I’d rather have Bruce.
June 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm
#84@BigWorm: I’m saying the Lakers lost because of Kobe! He’s such an unlikeable player that I’ll bet a majority of the country was voting for a Boston team — that’s got to be a first.
June 19, 2008 at 12:05 pm
#86@Schlom: Maybe you should apply…Bring your wallet!
June 19, 2008 at 12:06 pm
#84@BigWorm: Yep, it’s all me. Neither you nor any other sparring partner ever bears any responsibility. And anyone who triumphantly states “you can’t keep the games straight” due to a type has no business using “smarm” as an insult.
You specifically stated not only that the Celtics were better, but that the Celtics “wanted it more.”
You’re the one who made the contradictory comments about Kobe. Don’t blame me for remembering them. Did his supply of Great Teammate pills run out before the championship series?
My email address is right there, big boy.
June 19, 2008 at 12:08 pm
What I think that you’re failing to understand is that Kyler Burke might have had a chance to become Jay Bruce. There are a lot of guys who had a chance to become Jay Bruce. Lot’s of those guys also don’t pan out. It’s just what happens.
Also, Bruce was picked 12th in the country in 2005, be