Go, read stuff. It’ll be great…
- Great Moments In Padres Trade Deadline History: The Joe Randa Era (619 Sports). Guest author Avenger in Chief remembers everyone’s favorite non-descript third baseman.
- Radbourn’s immortal season July 10, 1884: Going to Carrie’s house (Edward Achorn). If you’re a fan of baseball history, you need to be reading Achorn’s diary of Old Hoss Radbourn’s 1884 season. It’s like stepping into another world… fantastic stuff.
- A Retro-Review of the 1940s (Retrosheet). Speaking of history, Tom Ruane has published a comprehensive article on baseball in the ’40s. It checks in at a little over 26,000 words and contains 65 footnotes, so best to read in installments… but definitely worth the effort.
- Bengie Molina and the cycle (Hardball Times). I like that Molina had a better chance of hitting for the cycle than Tony Gwynn Jr. [h/t reader Didi]
- Gonzalez likely is gonzo, it’s now a matter of when (Boston Globe). Nick Cafardo — or as I like to call him, “Who?” — is licking his chops at the thought of Adrian Gonzalez eventually leaving San Diego… if not now, then at least some day. Cafardo is the guy who took offense when Brian Giles invoked his no-trade clause a couple of years ago and blocked a potential deal to Boston. Someone needs to bust out their Sinead O’Connor collection. Might I recommend her 1990 release, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- San Diego Padres song (Youtube). If you caught me on Team 990 AM in Montreal earlier this week (or even if you didn’t), Elliott Price and the gang were playing this song when I joined them. It was really… what is the word for je no sais quoi?
- Marlins to Consider Padres’ Ted Simmons for Managerial Opening (Fanhouse). Simmons strikes me as a smart guy; I’m guessing he’d make a good manager. [h/t Baseball Reference]
- Sabermetrics Library. I haven’t had a chance to dig around this yet, but it looks promising. Thanks to fellow SweetSpot blogger Jack Moore at Disciples of Uecker for the heads-up.
- Behind the scenes with the McCourts (Dodger Thoughts). Jon takes a closer look at LA’s favorite train wreck:
There are six copies of the marital property agreement for some reason. Jamie signed all six in Boston. Frank signed three in Boston and three two weeks later in L.A. Those documents have been in a vault in a law office for the past six years. They were flown to Long Beach yesterday (via private plane, I’m sure) to be examined by forensic scientists.
When you start to get the forensic scientists involved, something has gone horribly wrong. I’m so grateful that the Padres’ divorce issues are behind them. [h/t Neyer]
- Wednesday Graph: The Difference Between Two Pablos (Bay City Ball). Chris Quick examines the difference between Pablo Sandoval v. 2010 and last year’s vintage: “I’ve always feared that Sandoval could have a bad BABIP year and look worse than he actually is.” The scary part, to me, is that the Giants are still in the thick of this race even without his help. If he starts hitting, we could have a problem.
- Indefensible (Baseball Prospectus). Colin Wyers asks, “What do we really know about defense?” Mike Fast joins in the fun at Hardball Times, while further discussion can be found at The Book. It seems like we’ve been talking about this stuff for years, but I guess everyone is starting to get hip to it now. That’s a good sign.
- Mattingly’s mound of trouble for Dodgers (Yahoo!). History repeats itself. This is one of the things I loved about Bruce Bochy. [h/t LynchMob]
- Best and Worst Clutch Hitters of the Retrosheet era (The Book). Tony Gwynn was clutch, as was another SDSU alum, Mark Grace. [h/t reader Aaron]
- Trade Bait or Padres Top 20+ Prospects (Websoulsurfer). Pretty much what it says.
- Davis reinvents himself as pitcher (SI.com). Jeff Pearlman talks about former Padres catcher Ben Davis, who is still trying to make something of his baseball career: “That was 11 years ago. Now there is no trace of cockiness. Not one trace.” Sigh… We could have used a little less cockiness 11 years ago, no? Once again, youth is wasted on the young. Maybe someday Davis and Matt Bush can sit around the campfire and talk about how awesome they were in high school. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- Seattle and Baserunning (FanGraphs). “One of the ways we analyze when (or if) the Mariners should be taking risks on the basepaths is by looking at run expectancy charts and empirical data. Using a Markov Chain to generate a run expectancy table we can then figure out the break-even points for various out states surrounding the aforementioned situation.” Some smart person should run numbers for the Padres.
- NERD for Baserunning (FanGraphs). Carson Cistuli attempts to answer the question of what makes an interesting baserunner. In so doing, he gives us some lists. I love lists. Everth Cabrera, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Will Venable run well; Adrian Gonzalez doesn’t. Not exactly man bites dog, but how about Kyle Blanks right there with Gwynn?
- Padres’ Buddy system (U-T). Tim Sullivan talks about Bud Black and his three-year contract extension. I love this quote from GM Jed Hoyer, which confirms my own suspicions on the subject: “I almost felt badly that we were playing well when we started discussing it. I didn’t want the results to cloud why we were doing it.”
- Braves built to last, Padres aren’t (FOX Sports). I almost didn’t link to this because it’s utter crap, but apparently enough Padres got worked up about the article to have it posted in the clubhouse… as if they needed the motivation. My only gripe with the piece — and this may be nitpicking on my part — is that it makes no sense at all. I won’t bore you with details, but here’s a fun passage: “Luke Gregerson, whose setup role becomes even more important with [Mike] Adams out, may struggle to maintain his stuff because of how many sliders he throws.” It’s a good thing no supporting evidence is offered, because that would only detract from the point. Then again, the Braves did take two out of three from the Padres in Atlanta. As anyone with half a brain will tell you, three games is plenty to make firm judgments about a team’s ability. As the rest of us will tell you, dude go find the other half of your brain. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- Twins summon Slama for pen help, send down Burnett (USA Today). USD alum Anthony Slama has been recalled by the Minnesota Twins. Big congrats to Slama, and go Toreros! Seth at TwinsCentric talks more about the right-hander.
- Pitchers’ wOBA Against, 2010 (Hardball Times). News flash: Mat Latos is pretty good.
- DL (Inside the Padres). Speaking of Latos, here’s what Tom Krasovic has to say about his injury: “I watched Latos throw a bullpen over the weekend. If his side is bothering him in the least, it was not evident. The Tattooed One was popping the mitt.”
- Gonzalez says he would be ‘happy’ to stay (U-T). “I don’t want to compete. I want to be on a winning team.” We’ve heard other players say this. I’m pretty well immune to it by now.
- Who will it be? Corey Hart? (RJ’s Fro). Beautown wants to see Hart in San Diego.
- Padres affiliate may be on move (U-T). Sounds like things are getting semi-serious between the Padres and Escondido.
- Moorad group still seeking a home for Triple-A affiliate (NC Times). Count Hoyer among the fans of having minor league teams near the big club, as is the case in Boston, where three affiliates play their home games within 110 miles of Fenway.
Okay, that may have been too much. Then again, too much is never enough. Happy Friday…
Some very interesting links here, thanks.
I just finished reading “59 in 84″ Achorn’s wonderfully informatibve and readable book on Old Hoss Radbourne. Really brings the era to life, not just a good baseball book.
Thanks for the link, Geoff. I appreciate it.