In my latest at Hardball Times, I’ve taken a break from my series on the 1987 draft to focus on a topic nearer and dearer to our hearts. My 100th article at THT focuses on teams of the past three decades that lost at least 10 straight games during the season and still wound up [...]
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Two Is More Than One
I finally made it to a game Tuesday night. About time… I get cranky when I can’t get out to the ballpark, and it had been way too long. Ah, who am I kidding? I’m always cranky.
The ‘W’ Word
A win? Huh, there’s a novel concept. It was just like old times on Monday night, with the Padres doing the little things… strong pitching, strong defense, timely hitting. What more do you need? As strategies go, it beats hoping the Giants and Rockies keep losing. To the bullet points: Tim Stauffer did a great [...]
Mailbag: Are the Padres Stealing Wins?
Bad timing for the headline, but this is a fun one… Hi Geoff, Here’s a question for your mailbag: I hate it when the Padres steal a base. Why? Because Mark Grant and Dick Enberg (whom I love) inevitably bring up that stupid correlation between stolen bases and wins this year for the Pads. Is [...]
Who Moved My… What’s That Thing Called?
If you can separate yourself from the experience for a moment, there’s no denying this is fascinating stuff. Everyone loves an underdog, but everyone also loves a train wreck. When the two collide… it usually ends up as reality television, but that’s another story (doubtless told by an idiot). I’ve heard that people are panicking [...]
Me, Elsewhere: What if the Padres Had Drafted Travis Fryman?
The second installment of my “Reimagining the 1987 draft” series is up at Hardball Times. In our alternate reality, the Padres don’t take Texas right-hander Kevin Garner with the 10th pick overall, choosing instead Florida high schooler Travis Fryman. In this scenario, Fryman would have been the Padres’ third baseman during the Ken Caminiti years [...]
Toast
It’s all about expectations. If you’d told me before the season that the Padres would have 76 wins on September 1, I’d have been thrilled. If you’d told me the same on August 25, when they won their 76th game, not so much. Bad time for a six-game losing streak. Then again, is there ever [...]
Tuesday Links (31 Aug 10)
So, yeah… Keeping Score: The Number Beyond M.V.P. Numbers (New York Times). Sean Forman likes Adrian Gonzalez in the National League. Stephen Strasburg Has ‘Significant Tear’ in Elbow Ligament, Will Need Surgery (FanHouse). Human body 1, Rob Dibble 0. Here’s hoping Strasburg can make a full recovery (history would seem to be on his side) [...]
Nine Thoughts for Nine Losses
by Geoff Young on Sep 05, 2010 (9) Comments
I Losing nine straight down the stretch stinks. There is no other way to put it. Despite their current two-game lead in the National League West, the Padres find themselves teetering at the edge of an uncomfortable precipice. As I said earlier in the week, when the streak was a more manageable six games, “…if [...]