So, Bruce Sutter is the lone inductee into the Hall of Fame this year. I have been to Cooperstown, once, in the summer of 1988. The Hall of Fame is a must-visit for any baseball fan; I highly recommend it and hope to get back there again one day soon (perhaps for Tony Gwynn’s eventual [...]
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Hall of Fame Thoughts
As you probably know, Hall of Fame results will be announced tomorrow. While we were waiting, Eric Mirlis (The Mirl.com) asked a bunch of writers to make their selections. I was fortunate enough to be among those asked to participate. I chose five players from among the candidates: one was an absolute no-brainer in my [...]
Obligatory Shawn Estes Rant
So, the Padres have added Shawn Estes to the mix for 2006. Among pitchers who have worked 400 or more innings over the last four seasons, two of the five worst ERAs belong to guys in the Friars’ projected rotation: Worst ERAs since 2002 (min 400 IP) Name IP ERA BB/9 K/9 Chan Ho Park [...]
Ducksnorts: Best of 2005
Okay, it’s finally here and available for download. More than you ever wanted to know about the San Diego Padres’ 2005 season and then some. It checks in at 281 pages and 3.9 MB. I don’t know if we really had that much to talk about or if I just did a lousy job of [...]
Backup Backstop Bedlam
So this is the new year. And I don’t feel any different. The clanking of crystal Explosions off in the distance (in the distance). I hope you had an excellent New Year. Welcome to 2006. Let’s get back into it, shall we? Padres have signed catcher Todd Greene and invited him to spring training (U-T). [...]
2005 in Review – Relief Pitchers, Part 3
Before I forget, let me first wish everyone a safe and happy new year. Posting will be light the next couple of weeks as I put the finishing touches on Ducksnorts: Best of 2005 (at 239 pages and counting) and work on some other projects. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We were talking about [...]
2005 in Review – Relief Pitchers, Part 2
We continue our look back at 2005 with two more pieces of the bullpen puzzle that will set up shop elsewhere next year. Part of what made last season’s relief corps so brilliant was the fact that it consisted largely of cheap parts whose value exceeded their cost by a large margin. Last year’s Rudy [...]
2005 in Review – Relief Pitchers, Part 1
I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be digging my way out from under the leftovers for a while. Meantime, we can talk about relievers. Trevor Hoffman, as usual, picked up the saves, but it was Scott Linebrink who anchored the Padres bullpen in 2005. Akinori Otsuka and [...]
2005 in Review – Starting Pitchers, Part 3
I am completely fried and ready for the long weekend. This will be my last post before Christmas, so I’ll take the opportunity to wish you and yours a Happy Christmas/Channukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus. Enjoy our look back at Tim Stauffer and Pedro Astacio, and enjoy the holidays; I’ll catch y’all on the flip side. [Previous entries in [...]
How Will We Know When They’re Done?
I was going to take today off, but the Padres had other ideas. Can you remember such a hyperactive winter, ever? If you’re keeping track, 55% of the Pads at-bats and 49% of their innings last year belong to guys no longer with the team (and this doesn’t include Pedro Astacio and Craig Breslow, who [...]
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