A friend of mine recently attended a wedding where “Dust in the Wind” played at the reception. How does that work? “Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky… Hey, baby, relax… don’t you know that you’re the earth and I’m the sky?”

Whatever. Go read stuff…

Earth

• Bullpen Usage (Daily Baseball Data). Here’s a fun tool that “summarizes the usage of all active relievers, sorted alphabetically by team.” Baffle your enemies, dazzle your friends by telling them which pitchers will come into the game before it happens.
• Padres staying put on cable TV (U-T). From Mike Freeman’s article: “Despite a Federal Communications Commission decision in January that forbids cable companies from keeping local sports programming all to themselves, the Padres games are not appearing yet on DirecTV or AT&T U-verse in the San Diego market.”
• Eckstein’s Unlikely Bomb (FanGraphs). As Jack Moore notes, “One of the most remarkable things about major league hitters is that even those that we consider not to have any power, such as Eckstein, are capable, on any given pitch, of hitting the ball out of the ballpark.” As commenter Coal Bear notes, in response to… everybody, “The Eckstein ‘clutch’, ‘grit’, and ‘winner’ jokes are very, very tired and quite lame.” Really? You think? Moore also likes Mike Adams.
• Difficult start for top picks Tate, Williams (U-T). From Bill Center’s article: “Center fielder Donavan Tate remains in Peoria, Ariz., for extended spring training while Everett Williams’ start at low Single-A Fort Wayne has been slowed because of a sinus infection.”
• Cut to Chase: Padres, Headley walk off (Padres.com). Old news, I know, but it was an awesome game and my buddy Tim got a byline at Padres.com so you have to read it.
• Four Good Wins and More (It Might Be Dangerous… You Go First). DePo asks the important questions: “You may think you have lived a full life, but have YOU ever been to Caldwell, Idaho? Or eaten at a Denny’s in Nampa on the way there?” No, but I’ve been to Bucksnort, Tennessee. Man, I love a good road trip. [h/t reader LynchMob]
• Great Pinch Hitters Since 1961 (Baseball-Reference). Steve Lombardi gives us a fun list. Hey, look, up at the top… it’s Willie McCovey and Matt Stairs.

Sky

• Are Padre Hitters Playing Over Their Heads? (Gaslamp Ball) Zach takes a closer look at the team’s early offensive surge.
• Across the (defensive) universe (Hardball Times) Jeff Sackmann asks, “What does the defensive spectrum look like at lower levels?” The answer may surprise.
• Should Baseball Get Rid of Divisions, Instead of Realignment? Maybe Not. (Fangraphs). From Alex Remington: “Now, courtesy of Yahoo’s Jeff Passan and NBC’s Craig Calcaterra, we have a new idea: ‘unalignment’. Delete all divisions. Eliminate unbalanced schedules. The top four teams in each league advance to the postseason. As it was before the advent of the division era in 1969, playoff placement would depend entirely on won-loss record, not on who shares your division.” Or, eliminate the playoffs… but that would eliminate a nice little revenue stream.
• A couple of new Padres blogs have come to my attention: The Kept Faith and Orange County Padres. Go say hey.
• The San Diego Padres Pitcher Formerly Known As Jon Garland (Avenging Jack Murphy). Mike wants to call Garland “The Mike Hargrove.” That’s just the right amount of meta.
• Padres bullpen answering the call (Bob Scanlan). Scan likes what he’s seen so far.
• Padres Minor League News and Notes (Friar Forecast). Ben gives us the scoop on the farm. What a horrible sentence I just wrote. Ben’s article deserves better than that; read it.

Dust

• Padres Winning Ways Put a Stop to Trade Talks (The Friarhood). Steve wants everyone to get their grubby little paws off a certain first baseman… that includes teams up the I-5 from here.
• You Write The Caption Contest, Volume 1 (Friars on Cardboard). Trevor Hoffman in catchers gear? Kinky.
• Six Thoughts: Aggressive Padres, Petco Park, the Torre Threat (Fanhouse). Friend of Ducksnorts Tom Krasovic talks about the National League West.
• Fun Mental Exercise (Padres Rundown). Peter makes a simple request: “Pick your Padres lineup (8 position players, 5 starting pitchers, and closer) for 2013.” Go on, it’s the most fun you’ll have being wrong all day.
• Clip And Save (Padres Trail). Mike writes: “During last night’s radio broadcast, at least the 2 innings I was able to listen to, Ted Leitner told a story about the early 1980s Padres teams and the standings. He remembered a season where the Padres were in first place in early May, an unusual event for the franchise that had only been in first if they won on Opening Day. The SD U-T printed the NL West standings inside a dashed box with the annotation ‘CLIP AND SAVE’.”
• TinCaps, the Band (The Watson Files). I am really digging this blog. According to Dan Watson, radio voice of the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Jerry Sullivan, Mike Watt (hey, didn’t he used to play for The Minutemen?), and Rymer Liriano were caught jamming the other day. I could help out on bass, or mandolin, or whatever.

Wind

• Stauffer believes bullpen a fine fit (U-T). Tim Stauffer is enjoying his new role. Quoth Stauffer: “Psyche-wise, I’m probably more suited to the bullpen. Sometimes I think a little too much and it gets me into some trouble.”
• Home Stand (Padres vs Diamondbacks Game Story) (A Building Roam). PQ catches a ballgame during the opening homestand.
• Going from Princeton to the big leagues (ESPN). Tim Kurkjian pens a piece on Will Venable. You’ve heard the story, but it’s a good one. Quoth Venable: “I was tired of baseball, I ran track my senior year. Basketball was my passion.” That’s why I quit baseball, too; I was tired of it. Whatever else you may hear — lies, I tell you. [h/t reader Didi]
• Inside the Numbers: 2010 MLB Opening Day Payrolls (Biz of Baseball). Maury Brown delivers the numbers. All that talk about the Padres having the lowest payroll is hogwash. They’re totally ahead of the Pittsbugh Pirates. [h/t reader Didi]
• Reader Geoff B. notes that former Ducksnorts favorite Paul McAnulty is still kicking, as “the oldest player on the Double-A Arkansas Travelers this year… by a few years.” P-Mac also homered the other night.
• Alderson addresses Dominican corruption (Yahoo!). Jeff Passan talks about former Padres CEO Sandy Alderson’s new gig: “When Alderson accepted an offer to become commissioner Bud Selig’s new point man on the island nation of 10 million that has grown into the largest supplier of MLB talent outside the United States, he did not realize the depth of the problems. Identity fraud is rampant. Teenagers are injected with steroids meant for horses. The FBI investigated claims of team employees skimming money from signing bonuses paid to 16-year-olds. Hundreds of kids sign contracts every year, and each is prey for a Dominican baseball behemoth built on lies.” [h/t reader LynchMob]

Happy Friday. I swear I’ll never do another Kansas-themed post again.

Tagged as: bullpen usage, david eckstein, donavan tate, dust in the wind, everett williams, fort wayne tincaps, jon garland, matt stairs, mike hargrove, mike-adams, paul mcanulty, payroll, sandy alderson, trevor hoffman, will venable, willie mccovey