Reader Malcolm forwards an inspired piece penned by Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers that sings the praises of Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. Ken Tremendous at Fire Joe Morgan picks the article apart nicely (F-bomb warning) and is left wondering whether it is parody or straight reporting. This, of course, is the best kind of [...]
Author Archives 
The Perils of Projecting
Five years ago today I was extolling the virtues of one Sean Burroughs, noting the similarities between his second big-league season and that of Derek Jeter. It sounds ridiculous now, but the comparison seemed valid at the time: Sean Burroughs vs Derek Jeter, Sophomore Season Age PA BA OBP SLG OPS+ Statistics are courtesy [...]
Here, There, and Everywhere
My latest article at Hardball Times looks back at a 1989 game in which the Cleveland Indians collected six hits, all home runs. Joe Carter knocked three of them. Carter, you may recall, came to San Diego the following year and gave a convincing demonstration of how utterly useless the RBI statistic is. Ten men [...]
Unfinished Notes on a Bullpen
Warning: This post is a mess; proceed at your own risk… I was thinking about the bullpen a while back and got to wondering a few things: How have Padres relievers performed this year as compared to the starters? How does this compare with league average? How does this compare with recent Padres teams? How [...]
One Actionable Item
It’s easy, in a season where almost everything imaginable has gone wrong, to forget that the Padres won 89 games a year ago with comparable talent. The lazy and somewhat impractical suggestion is to say we should blow everything up and start over from scratch. Nice Debut Speaking of the future, we’ve already seen four [...]
Observations from the Weekend
First off, if your #2 hitter lays down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning — as Luis Rodriguez did on Friday night — then you probably need to find another #2 hitter. Second, for as indifferent as I generally am to the stolen base, it disturbs me that Willy Taveras has more than twice [...]
Padres Farm Report: Spotlight on Portland
Portland Beavers in a Box: Record: 69-70 Runs Scored: 695 Runs Allowed: 764 BA/OBP/SLG: .265/.350/.431 (Pacific Coast League: .277/.347/.443) ERA: 5.04 (PCL: 4.84) DER: .632 (PCL: .637) Source: Baseball-Reference. This may be the weakest minor-league team in the Padres organization. In a league that emphasizes scoring, the Beavers’ offense is a little below average, while [...]
Congratulations, It’s a Center Fielder
One of the few pleasant surprises in a miserable season has been the resurrection of Jody Gerut’s career. Gerut, who hadn’t played in the big leagues since 2005, signed a minor-league contract with the Padres back in January. Talk about under the radar. As Mick Jagger once sang, “I’ve got no expectations.” It’s not like [...]
Please, Don’t Beat the Worms
In the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual I noted that Adrian Gonzalez didn’t ground into many double plays in 2007. Given how slow he is and how many he’d hit into the year before, this surprised me. Well, now he’s back to his old tricks: Adrian Gonzalez, Grounders and Double Plays Year PA GIDP GB% Statistics [...]
Comments Returning… Sort Of
by Geoff Young on Aug 29, 2008 (0) Comments
Part of a host’s responsibility is to lay out and enforce ground rules that enable all guests to enjoy themselves. I’m afraid that as Ducksnorts has grown, I’ve neglected this duty and allowed us to stray too far from our mission, which is to discuss baseball in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. For that, I [...]