When the Padres are back east (yeah, Houston and Chicago count as “back east” in my book — right there with Santee), it’s difficult for me to watch games so I can’t offer any real analysis. I can imagine Tim Stauffer and Dustin Moseley having a brief conversation after the Padres’ 1-0 loss to the Cubs on Monday:
Tim: Dude, I totally got Moseleyed out there.
Dustin: Yep.
Awkward silence… and scene.
Or I could just give you some links…
- Royal Flushed: How a Nashville apartment building contributed to a baseball franchise’s misery (Nashville City Paper). You think the Padres have made some questionable deals? [h/t BBTF]
- Create Season Finder Reports Restricted to a Custom Set of Players (Baseball-Reference). This looks promising…
- The Tortured Logic of Unwritten Rules (FanGraphs). Ask Bob Brenly about bunting to break up a no-hitter with the tying run on deck.
- Justin Duchscherer on his depression: ‘You’re never happy’ (USA Today). Quoth the pitcher: “My problem is I’m a soft guy in a profession of hard guys.” When I was a kid, anyone in uniform seemed invincible. It was a nice fantasy. [h/t BBTF]
- Giles “Just Happy It’s Over With” (NBC San Diego). Brian Giles was being sued by his ex-girlfriend. It didn’t work out well for her:
Cheri Olvera sued Giles for $10 million over alleged physical abuse. Giles denied the allegations and countersued, saying Olvera abused him.
The jury ruled both sides committed domestic violence against each other but that no harm was done.
It was also ruled that Olvera must either return his engagement ring or pay him the ring’s worth of $107,952.
Oops. [h/t Gaslamp Ball]
- The Scott Boras Factor: Reality or Hype? (Baseball Prospectus). Vince Gennaro’s informative article discusses, among many other things, the Padres’ signing of Greg Maddux before the 2007 season
Here’s another way to frame the results of the deal: Maddux provided San Diego with $20.7 million of value for $10 million in salary.
- Touring The Bases With…Kelly Hallquest (Seamheads). Norm Coleman chats with the food and beverage director for the Eugene Emeralds, short-season Class A affiliate of the Padres.
- Pacific Coast League: Infield errors continue to plague Padres (Arizona Daily Star). The Tucson Padres are struggling on defense. Even worse, Everth Cabrera had to change his uniform number from 6 to 1 because of Steve Garvey. Really?
- Justin Verlander’s Trippy Balk (Baseball-Reference). First, that is an epic balk. Second, did you realize that Bud Black was such a balk machine back in the day? Third, when exactly did “Bud” become “Buddy”?
- Adrian’s gonzo contract Exhibit A in baseball’s inequity (U-T). Adrian Gonzalez got his long-term contract extension in Boston. Tim Sullivan discusses it… or Picasso… or Van Gogh… or something. I don’t know what the heck he’s on about, but congrats to Gonzalez. Our pal David Schoenfield at the SweetSpot offers actual analysis.
- Padres uniform history: The 1970s (SweetSpot). Speaking of Schoenfield, he’s got some sweet visuals here. I’ll just steal TCM’s comment: “That McCovey uniform from ’75 is sharp, man.” Oh, yeah; bring it back any time. (See also the ’80s uniforms.)
- A Visual Look at wOBA (FanGraphs). Steve Slowinski reminds us (as others have done) that wOBA is better than OPS. I remind you that for most purposes, OPS is good enough. As one commenter notes: “OPS is a great proxy for wOBA.” Anyway, it’s starting to become a political thing, which is where I lose interest. Use what works best for your purposes, discard the rest.
- Wafer-thin margins (Inside the Padres). Better get a bucket…
I don’t understand how OPS is good enough, when its basis is clearly flawed. It’s not like wOBA is super complicated. Why not use the better number?
re: Garvey … DO NOT GET ME STARTED!!!
OT … here’s video of the longest non-HR I’ve ever seen in person …
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13854019
… which is Chase’s double up Tal’s hill which even Michael Bourn couldn’t catch!!!
K Sampson pitches the first game of a double header for Ft. Wayne today, noon Eastern. Free to listen!
I’d include a URL but I think that puts my post into “moderated” status. Look up the Tincaps site, the Gameday Audio link is easy to find.
@Zach: Flawed and useless are two different things. We’re talking quick and dirty. Given OBP and SLG, all you have to do is add them in your head to get a decent approximation. If you want to do actual technical work that requires greater precision, then OPS isn’t the right tool. Tango sums it up well in the linked thread: “OPS does a good job, no doubt about it. It doesn’t do a great job.” I’m in complete agreement with that.
@LynchMob: Heh, I thought you might have an opinion.
@TW: Thanks for the heads-up; one link should make it through okay. Click here to get audio. Sampson’s starts have been fun to listen to, and Dan Watson calls a good game.
James Darnell is ON FIRE … and is recognized by John Sickles as “Prospect of the Day” …
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/4/20/2121920/prospect-of-the-day-james-darnell-san-diego-padres#storyjump
Is the audio feed for the Tin Caps game working for you guys? I am getting nothing…
@zmac
It doesn’t come on until the game starts — you don’t get the pregame feed from that link.
I’ve been trying to come up with a way to work Mr. Creosote into a comment about the Padres unsuccessfully for 24 hours (to be clear, that’s not the ONLY thing I’ve focused on), so I’ll just say nicely played with the last link!
@Tom, didnt the game start at 9? My post was from 9:14. Box score looks like it wasnt Sampson’s best outing anyway.
@zmac
It started later than that, I don’t know the exact time, but it was dead for me right until the first pitch.
In his last inning Sampson gave up two walks and then former RF Carvajal gave up a single and a grand slam. Sounds like a nasty day to play baseball.