Before we get to the links, I have two questions for you:
- Do you find these link dumps useful and/or interesting?
- Are there any baseball blogs/web sites I should be reading that don’t show up here?
While you’re thinking, let’s take a little trip…
- Second-half previews: National League (SweetSpot). Rob Neyer takes a quick look around the league and invites some of his friends. I contributed the Padres blurb. Mom would be so proud.
- The AL at the half: Who’s up, who’s down (Hardball Times). Hey look, I’m on another panel type thing. This time I’m covering the AL West. Find out what exactly went wrong with our hated rivals in Seattle.
- Escondido pulling ahead of San Marcos in ballpark pursuit (NC Times). Escondido is looking to bring the Padres Triple-A affiliate closer to home. Who else does this? I know the Mariners have a similar arrangement with Tacoma. I believe many of the Indians’ affiliates are a short drive from Cleveland.
- Could Triple-A baseball team be coming to El Paso? (El Paso Times). Joe Muench has another idea for the soon-to-be-former Portland Beavers… So, how about Escondido?
- The palm ball (Hardball Times). When did Trevor Hoffman start throwing that pitch? Apparently he threw it with the Padres, but this is the first I’ve heard of it.
- How Luke Gregerson does it (Hardball Times). Myron Logan has joined Hardball Times, and his first article details the Padres right-hander.
- Dollars, D’backs, Gunslinger (Inside the Padres). Tom Krasovic talks about… a lot of stuff.
- Immigration law looms over 2011 game (ESPN). I know people — U.S. citizens (natives, in fact) — who have been asked by Arizona officials to show their papers. It’s pretty creepy. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- Does Anyone Care About All Star Week? (Friar Forecast). Not me.
- Hey Latos, Guess What? You’re Injured! (619 Sports). Craig calls shenanigans. How does one call shenanigans? What about tomfoolery? We need to know.
- The Real All-Stars Come Out in Anaheim (Off Base Percentage). Watch out for Don Love, who boasts an “OPS+ of 9 in four seasons for Team 7 of the Oscar Park Co-Ed Thursday League.”
- Broadcaster Jon Miller says Rockies need to be watched for cheating (USA Today). Is it really cheating if everyone consented? That’s just how some folks roll, ya know; don’t judge them. [h/t LynchMob]
- Midseason Ticket Report — National League West Division (SeatGeek). Survey says: Padres games are a pretty good value. Also, people are spending way too much to watch the Diamondbacks.
- Sell-High Candidates (FanGraphs). Pat Andriola identifies the Padres as potential suitors for Cristian Guzman and Corey Hart. Too bad neither pitches. Ted Lilly, who does pitch, is discussed in the article but not as someone in whom the Padres might have interest. I can almost see where they might make a play for Hart, who has future value. Guzman, however, doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade from Everth Cabrera and Jerry Hairston Jr.
- Can the Padres’ starters keep this up? (Hardball Times). David Golebiewski agrees with those of us who have suspected the Padres rotation is due for some regression after the All-Star break.
- Shopping Ted Lilly — What Is His Value? (View from the Bleachers). Friar Forecast’s Myron Logan makes a guest appearance and offers some thoughts on what it might take to get Lilly.
- Padres licking their wounds going into the All Star Break (Friarhood). Steve wants a bat. I don’t think that should be the Padres’ priority, but I could get behind Josh Willingham or David DeJesus if the price is right.
- Padres throw pundits, league a curve by leading NL West at All-Star break (NC Times). Darned those pundits and their tomfoolery. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- 5 things Padres must do to win NL West (U-T). Quoth Adrian Gonzalez: “It’s not just about making the playoffs. We want to go farther.” Whoa, there; we’ve got ourselves a live one.
- Stuff of the Futures (Baseball Analysts). Jeremy Greenhouse wasn’t overly impressed with Simon Castro, who apparently didn’t throw as hard as many of the other participants.
- Prospectus Q&A: Sequoyah Trueblood Stonecipher (Baseball Prospectus). David Laurila chats with the Mission Bay High School alum. Stonecipher and Sam Runion are the two guys I remember seeing at the AFLAC game a few years ago… Runion because I talked to his mom, Stonecipher because you don’t forget a name like that.
- We’ll Find Out…After the Break (619 Sports). From Chainsaw’s article:
So have your All Star game, Commissioner Selig, along with your ridiculous rule about the winning league gaining the World Series home field (what made him come up with that boondoggle in the first place? Did his mom force him to mash up unrelated concepts as a child? “Hey Buddy, if you wear these nerdy glasses, I’ll give you a crappy haircut!”)
Heh.
- PCL All-Star closer set to join Padres bullpen (U-T). Ernesto Frieri, whom I recently mentioned as a possible reinforcement for the second half, has been recalled.
- Baseball Gauge. Oh, man; I am in love with this site. What can you do here? Oh, just everything. Check out how the current Padres team was assembled, or the Adrian Gonzalez trade as measured by Win Shares, or the 1998 Padres, or the Padres All-Time Team, or how Padres teams have been constructed over the years, or… I think we’re gonna need a room… [h/t Hardball Times]
That was a good drum break. Now back to the season. Let’s win some games, eh?
I usually check out half or more of the links you post. (Most of the ones I don’t check are items that I’ve already read.) So yeah, I find them interesting.
Thumbs up on the useful and/or interesting front.
Geoff, I like the links. There’s always something good and something I haven’t seen in my own browsing. Plus, there’s your pithy comments. You’re in grand form on these. Sounds like you’re in a good mood. Have a great weekend!
The links are incredibly useful — they’re my main clearinghouse for information about the Pads. Thanks for the amazing articles as well.
I like ‘em. Keep it going.
Coolness. Thanks, guys.
Probably no need for UT stories unless it is really something incredible. Maybe not, but I’m guessing most of us have already seen the story. I’m presently out of state, and I still check the UT daily (for sports anyway).
I love your links because you find stuff I missed. I add those new sites, and you STILL find stuff I missed. My “research” is taking longer and longer – the boss is getting suspicious. I hope you’ll warn us when a site has NSFW material, that could blow my cover.
Anyway, since you’re now an expert on our hated rivals in Seattle, I noticed how Jed characterized Jack-Z’s response to his inquiry about Cliff Lee with the JC Fields quote, “Go away, kid. You bother me”. I also noticed a report that the Yankees were miffed that Z-man abruptly froze talks with them before making the trade with the Rangers. After his much-heralded off-season rebuild fell flat, could Z-man be feeling some pressure in Seattle?
Geoff, thanks for the link. The palm ball IS Hoffman’s change-up. I don’t know if you read the Schlegel MLB.com article from 2005 that I linked in my article, but it talked about Hoffman’s development of his change-up. Apparently he started with the circle change-up in 1993 but settled on the palm ball grip in 1995 and has used it ever since.
Thanks, Mike, for the clarification. I was vaguely aware that Hoffman’s change-up wasn’t the circle variety, but I’d never heard the pitch referred to as a palm ball. You learn something new every day!