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…
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.
#36@Kevin: Ichiro! has been an All-Star every year of his career as well.
#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.
#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.
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.
#52@Schlom: True. I guess it depends on if the question was in past tense or not.
Banks breaking stuff is just nasty today.
#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.”
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.
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.
#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!
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!
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.
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?
Do we really need long posts about the NBA here?
I’m going to my physical therapy now.
#61@BigWorm: My theory on the playoffs is that Jackson and the rest of the Lakers so despise Kobe that they threw the series.
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.
Mariners fired their manager as well. What a dysfunctional organization…
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/index
#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.
#69@Tom Waits: it’s “not” because he’s a selfish jerk.
Yay, another typo!
#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.
#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?
Poop on a stick.
#72@Tom Waits: If it worked for Edmonds, it’ll work for anyone.
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!
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.
tough luck there for the cake eater. gives up his first walk as a starter and the guy scores without a hit
73: Is that a trade proposal for Barett? Because I’m considering it…
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 …
Great catch by Gerut! Wow!
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!
anyone else think the kouz-igouchi koozie commercial is lacking charisma?
#77@saintjoel: A Mighty Ducks reference! Awesome!
#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.
#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.
#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.
#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.
#86@Schlom: Maybe you should apply…Bring your wallet!
#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.
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, before the Padres had a chance to select.
Lots of us would rather that the Padres took a little more high-ceiling talent. But as Tom W. has pointed out, there’s lots of definitions of high ceiling. The Padres have drafted guys who have a chance to end up as star players (Headley and Peavy come to mind–even Sean Burroughs, who most people thought would be a preennial batting champion was high ceiling).
86: You might not have drafted Matt Bush #1, but everyone admits that that was a mistake and the FO has changed substantially since that occurred. The mistake has been corrected.
#86@Schlom: We know Kyle Lohse would be on the team.
More poop on a second stick. Does Agon need to wear a spiked glove so that pickoffs cause serious injury to baserunners?
crap.
#90@Paul R: No more Burroughs talk! They already sent Seany B spores toward Headley once today.
I’m afraid to see what happened to that 86mph fastball down the heart of the plate to Arod. Okay, at least it stayed in the yard.
93:
Oh. That said another word for poop. That starts with a C. and rhymes with trap. This censor is pretty harsh
#88@Steve C: Of course, the 2004 decision was terrible in hindsight and at the time. I think everyone but John Moores knew that drafting Bush 1st was a huge mistake but unfortunately he’s the one in charge.
The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be any plan with the amateur draft other then to take mainly polished college talent. Sometimes they splurge on high ceiling high school talent but most of the time they pass on it or don’t bother signing them. Same thing with the college ranks, they take pitchers like Carillo one year and then pass on Joba the next. When it comes down to it, it seems that finances play the most important role in draft picks. But now they are talking about spending millions on amateur free agents, which is a much bigger gamble then the amateur draft.
86: Looking at a review of the 2004 draft top-10, it’s clear that I would have blown it completely as well. I would have taken Niemann, spent a lot of money signing him, and watched him continue to struggle with his health through the present day. Listen to these names from the top-ten who have totally flamed out-Bush, Thomas Diamond, Mark Rogers, Phil Humber, Niemann, Chris Nelson, and Wade Townsend. Homer Bailey is still a good prospect, but he just imploded again and got sent back to AAA. The only real success story is Justin Verlander, who I wouldn’t have picked at 15 in that draft because he was having trouble dominating lower-level college hitters.
Maybe the baseball draft is just harder than we think that it is. It’s much harder than the NFL or NBA drafts. The game is harder.
#95@Paul R: I would have had the same collection of asterisks earlier, but I finally used the Preview once.
96: I’d love to see some data that supports the idea that amateur free agents are a worse risk than amateur draftees. I’m pretty sure that you don’t have any.
98: That’s because you’re starting to get a little nervous about typos