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Archive for the ‘Open Thread’ Category

Breakin’ for All-Stars

Monday, July 14, 2008
by Geoff Young

Regular readers know that I don't do the All-Star Game. Adrian Gonzalez pretty well sums up why: All it is is a reminder of the market we're in. When it comes to voting for the All-Star Game, it's all about publicity, all about what market you play for. It's how ESPN puts you out there. They're a big reason for who gets publicity and who doesn't. As I've said before, San Diego is not ESPN's target audience -- and for good reason. New York, Boston, and a few other markets pay the bills, so it only makes sense that players from teams representing those cities should dominate the rosters. I don't have a real problem with that, ...

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Posted in Open Thread | 119 Comments »

You Read It, You Name It

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
by Geoff Young

I enjoyed my day off so much, I believe I'll take another. The agenda is roughly the same: Drink coffee Play with dogs Watch Stargate SG-1 Play Mob Wars Read Lillian Ross' Reporting Back (where I learned, among other things, that the great Hungarian composer Bela Bartok once wrote a piece for Benny Goodman; I'll need to get my hands on a copy of that) Pass out on couch Wash, rinse, repeat Oh, and somewhere in there I have to write an article... Do I know how to party, or what? Anyway, I'll have the IGD up around 6 p.m. or so. Twins are in town for three. It'll be a hoot...

Posted in Off-Topic, Open Thread | 113 Comments »

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Santana’s Banana Bandana

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
by Geoff Young

When I was about 20, some friends and I drove out to Vegas to see the Grateful Dead. It was their first time playing Vegas in many years, and I'd never seen them live. I'm not a Deadhead by any stretch, but it sounded like an adventure, so I went. We took a '69 Volkswagen bus -- I know it sounds cliche, but that was the guy's ride. And yeah, we had to push-start it, like in Little Miss Sunshine. There were maybe six or seven of us. The plan was to find the cheapest place in Vegas and rent a room for two; then everyone else would pile in and take various spots on the floor. It was all very Marx Brothers. Except for the tie-dyed ...

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Posted in Off-Topic, Open Thread | 37 Comments »

You Say It’s Your Birthday?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
by Geoff Young

Two men with Padres ties celebrate their birthday today. Catcher George Williams, who appeared in 11 games for the Pads in 2000, turns 38. In the fifth inning of a September 2 contest against the Pirates, Williams hit the last of his 10 big-league home runs, a blast to right-center off right-hander Todd Ritchie that plated the late Mike Darr and kept the Padres close in a game they eventually lost, 6-3. Preston Gomez managed the inaugural Padres squad in 1969 and stuck around through the first 11 games of 1972. He finished his Padres managerial career with a 180-316 record, and later managed the Astros and ...

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Posted in Open Thread | 75 Comments »

I Brake for Money

Monday, April 21, 2008
by Geoff Young

Posting will be light this week, as I've got to overhaul a client web site. It's a small site, but they need a quick turnaround. More importantly, the gig pays actual money (for the actual mortgage on my actual house), which comes in handy when your primary source of income is a book that nobody buys. The farm reports and IGDs will run every day, but we'll be doing open threads most of the rest of the time. I'll try to come up with halfway decent prompts that you can discuss or ignore. Meanwhile, I've got some other cool stuff going on behind the scenes. I can't say anything about those just yet, but expect to hear more in the coming weeks. You'll know when they ...

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Posted in Off-Topic, Open Thread | 33 Comments »

I, Me, Mine

Thursday, April 10, 2008
by Geoff Young

No game on Thursday. Hey, the Padres can't lose. ;-) Meanwhile, I've been working on a few other things: John at MadFriars asked me a few questions about the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual. I'll also be pimping the Annual on Bases Loaded with Elliott Price. Elliott is the former long-time play-by-play voice of the Montreal Expos. This is scheduled to air at 11 a.m. PT. My latest article at Hardball Times examines the belief that Trevor Hoffman struggles in non-save situations. I'm leaving Knuckle Curve to join the staff at Baseball Digest Daily. I've been ...

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Posted in Administrivia, Notes and Links, Open Thread | 123 Comments »

That Strange Feeling We Sometimes Get

Tuesday, April 8, 2008
by Geoff Young

Two quick observations about Jim Edmonds and Tadahito Iguchi: Mike Cameron looked lost in center field last April. Marcus Giles hit .327/.376/.459 that same month. What we're seeing from Edmonds and Iguchi right now may not mean much in August in September. In other words, we still don't know what we've got...

Posted in Open Thread | 39 Comments »