2007 Annual

Archive for the ‘2007 Annual’ Category

Brocail, Klesko, and the ‘98 World Series

Thursday, December 21, 2006
by Geoff Young

Since the only thing I posted yesterday was pictures of teddy bears, I figured I'd go all out today and tackle everything else. Well, maybe not everything, but a lot. I'm currently researching the 1998 Padres World Series team for the book. In a bit of serendipity, a couple of transactions have taken place that indirectly link back to that '98 team. Brocail Remains with Padres The Padres have re-signed right-handed reliever Doug Brocail to a 1-year, $500,000 deal. Brocail, originally drafted by the Pads in 1986, was part of a December 1994 trade with the Houston Astros that brought, among others, third baseman Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley to San Diego. Caminiti ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Baseball | 37 Comments »

Inadvertent Interview

Saturday, December 16, 2006
by Geoff Young

I had my first Ducksnorts book interview on Friday. It probably would've gone better if either of us had realized we were doing an interview. Anyway, I was hanging out at Starbucks and Some Guy asked me a bunch of questions about the book while I was trying to work on it. Here's a rough transcription: Some Guy: You studying for a test? Ducksnorts: No. SG: Oh, it looks like you're studying for a test. You're not studying for a test? DS: No. Um, I'm... uh, writing a book. SG: Have you ever done that before? DS: Nope, this is my first. SG: I don't read much. DS: Ah, okay. SG: I'm more of an audio person. I get my news from TV or the radio. I like to listen to books on ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Baseball | 13 Comments »

Padres tickets Chargers tickets Sports tickets

Book Pre-Order

Thursday, December 7, 2006
by Geoff Young

I've got to run some errands and take care of book stuff, so no baseball content today. I just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who has been donating, buying goodies at the Ducksnorts Online Store (I'm working on some new designs that, barring another computer crash, should be available early next week), and keeping the level of discussion here at an alarmingly high level -- I can't tell you how many times I read through the comments and want to add something, only to find that one of you has already said it better than I could have. On another note, someone asked the other day about pre-ordering the Ducksnorts book for the holidays. Since I haven't yet worked out all ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Site News | 82 Comments »

Leaps of Faith

Thursday, November 30, 2006
by Geoff Young

When I was 17 years old, for reasons that eluded me even then, I decided to jump from the hood of a moving car that a friend of mine was driving. The car wasn't going fast -- maybe 20 mph -- and we were on a street with very little traffic. Still, the results were predictable. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and my feet hit the asphalt at 20 mph. Then the rest of me hit the asphalt. I bounced and rolled several feet before coming to a stop in someone's driveway. Nothing broke, but I had scrapes and bruises all over the place. Not one of my finer moments. My friend drove me home, where I cleaned myself up and a put ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Site News | 64 Comments »

Kevin Towers: Deals of 1995-96, Part 2

Monday, November 27, 2006
by Geoff Young

One section of the upcoming Ducksnorts book will focus on trades made by Kevin Towers during his tenure as Padres general manager. I'm still in the process of taking inventory of every deal he's made, and eventually I'll include his five best and five worst trades in the book, along with analysis of each. For now, however, we'll just take a quick look at the deals Towers made over his first 14 months on the job. (Part 1 is here.) November 21, 1996: Traded Dustin Hermanson to the Florida Marlins. Received Quilvio Veras. Hermanson for Veras Player Win Shares 1997 1998 1999 Total Hermanson* 10 13 12 35 Veras 15 ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Baseball | 32 Comments »

Kevin Towers: Deals of 1995-96, Part 1

Monday, November 20, 2006
by Geoff Young

One section of the upcoming Ducksnorts book will focus on trades made by Kevin Towers during his tenure as Padres general manager. I'm still in the process of taking inventory of every deal he's made, and eventually I'll include his five best and five worst trades in the book, along with analysis of each. For now, however, we'll just take a quick look at the deals Towers made over his first 14 months on the job. From the time of his promotion as Padres general manager on November 17, 1995, through the end of 1996, Kevin Towers made 10 trades. Three turned out to be of no consequence (Pedro Martinez for Jeff Barry; Roberto Petagine and Luis Arroyo for Pete Walker and Scott Adair; Mel Rosario ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Baseball | 38 Comments »

Ducksnorts Book Excerpt: 2006 Game of the Year: Barfield Homers into the Night

Monday, November 6, 2006
by Geoff Young

The following excerpt is taken from the upcoming Ducksnorts book, tentatively scheduled for February 2007 publication. This is part of a chapter that focuses on the Padres' 7-5 victory over the Rockies on September 4, 2006, at Petco Park, courtesy of a three-run homer off the bat of rookie second baseman Josh Barfield with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. It's a warm September evening in San Diego and the Padres are fighting for their second straight trip to the playoffs. At 76 degrees, with an 11-mph wind blowing across the Petco Park field from left to right, it's hard to imagine more ideal conditions for a baseball game. The Padres will play 25 more games ...

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Posted in 2007 Annual, Baseball | 41 Comments »