I’m terrible at remembering anniversaries. Seems I missed one over the weekend. Better late than never, eh?
We celebrate/neglect two anniversaries here at Ducksnorts. One, in September, commemorates the original site launch in ’97. The other took place on June 12, when Ducksnorts marked its ninth year of blogging.
Pardon me if you’ve heard this before, but the blog (actually, it was called a “weblog” back then) came into existence on June 12, 2001, with thoughts on Padres first-round pick Jake Gautreau and a rant about ESPN’s center field camera angle.
On Gautreau:
Good balance, good patience, nice approach to the ball. He hit a sharp grounder up the middle that looked like a base hit, but Fullerton second baseman David Bacani came out of nowhere to make a spectacular diving stop and turn it into an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom half of the inning Gautreau made a fine play of his own, sprawling for a bunt that was popped up into foul territory off third base.
On the camera angle:
I’m all for innovation but only when it actually improves on what’s currently in place. It’s not as annoying as listening to Ray Knight (what is?) but one of the things I like to watch in the pitcher-batter matchup is how the ball breaks as it moves toward home plate. That’s easy enough to do with the camera low over the center field fence looking from right behind the pitcher into the catchers mitt, but good luck with this new angle. The only advantage I can see to what ESPN is doing now is that it’s easier to tell whether a pitch is inside, over the plate, or outside. That’s nice in limited quantities (watch the Cubs on WGN for a good example of how to use this technique properly) but it gets old pretty quickly. It’s disorienting to try and track the ball from that angle. Or maybe it’s just me.
Heh. How quaint. Remember, Pitchf/x didn’t exist yet, so camera angles mattered. And we had to walk barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, but we didn’t complain because that only made us stronger and appreciate what we had.
If you’re wondering, the Padres are 4-5 on June 12 since the blog launched:
- 2001: Athletics 5, Padres 2
- 2002: Padres 2, Orioles 0
- 2003: Padres 9, Indians 4
- 2004: Yankees 3, Padres 2
- 2005: White Sox 8, Padres 5
- 2006: off
- 2007: Devil Rays 11, Padres 4
- 2008: Padres 9, Dodgers 0
- 2009: Angels 11, Padres 6
- 2010: Padres 7, Mariners 1
Nine years. That is a long time to spend in one basement. No wonder I’m so out of touch.
And hungry. Could someone fling me a steak down here?
Congratulations!!! I’ve only been visiting since late 2007, but I always enjoy your “weblog.”
How is it that a 2001 bad Padres team draws 20,000+ on a Tuesday night and the 2010 good Padres team draws 6,000 or so less?
Congrats, Geoff! Ducksnorts was one of the first blogs I discovered way back in — I don’t know — 2005 or so …. Hooked ever since.
Congrats!
And also, the dead-center camera angle is still far superior, pitchFX or no. You can watch the break of a pitch animated by a computer and you can watch it as it leaves the pitcher’s hand and travels to the plate, and the latter experience is far more satisfying in appreciating what’s going on. It’s like looking at a picture of something or seeing the thing yourself.
Congrats Geoff! That is a significant achievement.
Good run, GY … keep it up! You’re the original … you’re the best!