Baseball is a funny game. Some days, you beat up Johan Santana and are dominated by Jonathon Niese. Other days, you get links… John Wooden, 1910-2010 (Baseball Analysts). Rich shares his thoughts on the passing of the legendary basketball coach: “Wooden’s favorite sport? Baseball. He coached baseball in college and was offered the job to [...]
Author Archives 
Stupid Padre Tricks: Edward Mujica Is Tateriffic, but He’s No Josh Geer
Edward Mujica is good at giving up homers. In honor of his latest, a walkoff job to the Mets’ Ike Davis on Tuesday that knocked the Padres out of first place in the National League West for the first time since — wait for it — April 19, here are the 10 most homerlicious Padres [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Griffey, with a Twist of Whitman
Lost in the madness of last week’s nearly perfect game, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement. My latest at Hardball Times examines one of the best players I ever saw and includes a story I may have told once or twice but that bears repeating, about the first time I got to see him in [...]
Cardboard Gods and the 2010 Draft
Two things totally not related… Cardboard Gods I’ve been meaning to mention that Josh Wilker has published a book called Cardboard Gods. I’m about 40 pages in, and so far it’s an enjoyable read. At some point, I hope to have an actual review, but for now, Dex at Gaslamp Ball delivers the goods: Book [...]
Gwynn’s Throw
I missed much of the weekend series, but caught the final few innings of Sunday’s victory over the Phillies. One of the key plays of the game came with one out in the bottom of the tenth. With Placido Polanco on first, Chase Utley singled softly to center off Padres closer Heath Bell. Polanco, representing [...]
Friday Links (4 Jun 10)
Oy, strap in this morning. We’ve got lots o’ links… Adrian and Eck 2010 All-Stars determined by WAR (Baseball-Reference). It’s cute how Andy is surprised that Adrian Gonzalez isn’t in the top five among NL vote getters at first base for the All-Popular game. Should the Padres take Jody Gerut’s advice? (Friar Forecast). Speaking of [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Freisleben’s No-No and Other Bits of Minor-League History
My latest installment of This Week in Minor League History at Baseball Prospectus includes a look at no-hitters by four pitchers who spent time with the Padres. Mickey Lolich, Fred Norman, and Larry Andersen all came up elsewhere and spun theirs as members of other organizations. Right-hander Dave Freisleben, however, notched his while with the [...]
Mailbag: Cumberland, Tekotte, and the Rest
Before we get started, I must thank David Eckstein for making me look smarter than I am. In case you missed it, no sooner do I admit to the world that I want Eckstein up in a crucial situation than he whacks an RBI single to tie Wednesday’s game with two out in the ninth [...]
Me, Elsewhere: Chatting with Mets Today
With the Mets in town, Joe Janish of fellow ESPN SweetSpot blog Mets Today invited me to answer a few questions about the 2010 Padres, and so I did. We’re all a bit puzzled by the club’s hot start, but here’s something just as puzzling to me: Bottom of the ninth, two outs, tie ballgame, [...]
Strasburg’s Debut
by Geoff Young on Jun 09, 2010 (1) Comments
Stephen Strasburg is no longer part of my beat, but I covered him a bit when he was at SDSU. In case you missed it, the right-hander made his big-league debut on Tuesday at home against Pittsburgh. His Nationals beat the Pirates, 5-2. Strasburg’s final line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 [...]