1969: Padres Score Six in Fifth, Rout Reds

by Geoff Young on Sep 18, 2007 (0) Comments

September 18, 1969, San Diego: Padres 7, Reds 1 (box score)

Here’s the danger of small sample sizes, as illustrated by Jose Arcia. We’ve established that the guy couldn’t hit a lick, and yet, over a four-game period in mid-September, he went 9-for-18 with four doubles. In this one, Arcia collected four hits en route to a Padres win over Cincinnati.

Starters Clay Kirby and Jim Maloney kept the game scoreless until the fourth. Then the Reds parlayed four singles into a run, driven in by none other than Maloney. With the bases still loaded, Kirby retired Bobby Tolan and Alex Johnson to limit the damage.

San Diego scored its first run in the bottom half. Arcia led off with a double to left. After a Roberto Pena grounder moved him to third, another double by Ollie Brown brought Arcia home.

The next inning, the Padres had some fun. Jerry Morales walked to start the fifth but was promptly caught stealing. Cito Gaston struck out, and a once-promising rally appeared to be dead.

The home team had other ideas. Chris Cannizzaro singled and Kirby walked. Arcia’s second double plated Cannizzaro, and then Pena, Brown, Nate Colbert, and Ed Spiezio all singled to make the score 5-1. A bases-loaded walk to Morales and a passed ball made it 7-1 before Gaston struck out again to end the frame.

From there, the game was in Kirby’s capable hands. The rookie right-hander went the distance, allowing just the one run on nine hits. He walked three and fanned seven to improve his record to 6-19 on the season.

IGD: Padres vs Pirates (17 Sep 07)

by Geoff Young on Sep 17, 2007 (128) Comments

Game #149
time: 7:05 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Jack Cassel (0-0, 4.66) vs John Van Benschoten (0-5, 10.86)
pre: Padres.com, B-R.com

You know what my favorite part of Walker, Texas Ranger is? Pretty much nothing…

Who Outhomers the Opposition?

by Geoff Young on Sep 17, 2007 (28) Comments

Here’s a fun stat that is getting zero play: Nearly 60% of all home runs in Padres games this year have been hit by the Padres. That’s the highest percentage in MLB. The full list:

Percentage of Home Runs hit by One Team in Its Games
Team HR HRA Pct
Statistics are courtesy of ESPN and are through games of September 16, 2007.
Padres 153 104 .595
Yankees 192 137 .584
Brewers 208 149 .583
A’s 161 128 .557
Indians 162 134 .547
Marlins 192 162 .542
Rangers 166 142 .539
Red Sox 149 136 .523
Mets 161 151 .516
Reds 194 182 .516
White Sox 172 165 .510
Braves 162 156 .509
Tigers 165 160 .508
Rockies 152 148 .507
Blue Jays 152 149 .505
Mariners 139 137 .504
Diamondbacks 161 161 .500
Phillies 191 191 .500
Giants 121 121 .500
Devil Rays 175 184 .487
Dodgers 115 125 .479
Pirates 142 158 .473
Cardinals 135 153 .469
Orioles 130 149 .466
Cubs 130 157 .453
Angels 114 140 .449
Astros 155 194 .444
Nationals 113 169 .401
Twins 107 170 .386
Royals 95 152 .385

Oh, and nice sweep of the Giants over the weekend. It still isn’t time to settle for the wild card, m’kay?

Padres Prospect Report

by Peter Friberg

You will not see me complain about the Padres. Assuming the big league team makes the playoffs, they will have three organizational teams in the playoffs… Organization of the year?

Friday, September 14, 2007

AA

San Antonio 3, Springfield 2 (San Antonio leads series, 2-1)

Will Venable: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B
Nick Hundley: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 3 RBI; 2 HR, SO
Wade LeBlanc: 2 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI
Wade LeBlanc: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR

High-A

Lake Elsinore 3, San Jose 2 (Lake Elsinore leads series, 2-0)

Craig Cooper: 1 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 2 RBI; 2 SF
Nathaniel Culp: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
Ernesto Frieri: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

Because of some early struggles, a lot of people have forgotten about Nick Hundley (remember, he was only in High-A for less than half a season last year). Don’t be one of those people.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

AA

San Antonio 11, Springfield 7 (San Antonio wins series, 3-1)

Will Venable: 5 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO
Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SO
Chase Headley: 6 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
Nick Hundley: 5 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; BB, 2 SO
Brett Dowdy: 6 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 6 RBI; 2B, 3B, HR
Mike Ekstrom: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR – no-hitter into 7th

High-A

San Jose 2, Lake Elsinore 0 (Lake Elsinore leads, 2-1)

Stephen Faris: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR

Commentary:

San Antonio had the worst record in the first half of the Texas League season. About that time, the Padres promoted Wade LeBlanc, Manny Ayala, Matt Antonelli, and Chad Huffman. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

High-A

San Jose 6, Lake Elsinore 1 (series tied, 2-2)

Kyle Blanks: 2 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2 BB, SO
Cory Luebke: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR

Commentary:

Monday is the sudden death, one game finale. Blow Storm, blow!

Thanks, Peter. The Pirates come to town for four games starting Monday night. Get out to the games, hang here for the IGDs, do whatever you can to support the guys. A third straight NL West championship would be sweet.

1969: Reds Beat Padres in Hit Parade

by Geoff Young on Sep 17, 2007 (0) Comments

September 17, 1969, San Diego: Reds 10, Padres 5 (box score)

Like offense? You’d have loved this one. Thirty-one hits. Six batters collected three base knocks — five of them played, as you might have imagined, for the visiting Reds.

Cincinnati scored early and often against starter Joe Niekro (and everyone else the Padres sent out there, come to think of it). They tallied single runs in the first and seventh innings, and two each in the third, fourth, fifth, and eighth.

The Reds were, in a word, relentless.

Midway through the game, the Padres trailed, 7-0, and were burning through their second pitcher. In the bottom of the fifth, they finally at least tried to get off the mat. With one out, Cito Gaston singled off Reds starter Jack Fisher. Chris Cannizzaro followed with an RBI double to center and then scored on pinch hitter Jim Williams’ double.

The Padres added another run in the sixth on consecutive singles by Ollie Brown, Nate Colbert, and Van Kelly. Two more runs in the eighth made the final score 10-5, almost respectable if you weren’t paying close enough attention.

IGD: Padres vs Giants (16 Sep 07)

by Geoff Young on Sep 16, 2007 (50) Comments

Game #148
time: 1:05 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Jake Peavy (17-6, 2.44) vs Tim Lincecum (7-4, 3.99)
pre: Padres.com, B-R.com

Swish. Swoosh. Ah, that’s a real nice breeze.

Also, congrats to Khalil Greene on becoming the 10th shortstop in big-league history to collect 40 doubles and 20 homers in the same season.

1969: Sisk, Padres Dominate Astros

by Geoff Young on Sep 16, 2007 (0) Comments

September 16, 1969, San Diego: Padres 8, Astros 1 (box score)

Tommie Sisk entered Tuesday’s contest with a 1-11 record. Houston’s starter, Tom Griffin, came in with a 10-7 record. This day, though, belonged to Sisk and the San Diego Padres.

The home team got to work early. Jose Arcia, the previous game’s star, led off the first with a single to center and then stole second. Ron Slocum followed with his first big-league hit, a single that moved Arcia to third. Ollie Brown then singled home Arcia and Nate Colbert launched a homer that made the score 4-0 before an out had been recorded. The Padres added another run on a two-out double by Frankie Libran that knocked Griffin from the game.

San Diego scored twice more in the second. Arcia again led off with a single, and Slocum collected his second career hit, a two-run home run that put the Padres up, 7-0, and effectively ended the game.

Another run in the fifth came at the expense of a right-hander making his big-league debut for Houston, the exquisitely named Scipio Spinks. The Astros countered with their only tally in the sixth. It deprived Sisk of the shutout but not his second win of the season. Sadly, a mere 2,156 fans witnessed the event at San Diego Stadium.

IGD: Padres vs Giants (15 Sep 07)

by Geoff Young on Sep 15, 2007 (87) Comments

Game #147
time: 7:05 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Brett Tomko (2-11, 5.70) vs Matt Cain (7-14, 3.78)
pre: Padres.com, B-R.com

Great win Friday night (box score). Don’t believe me? Look at Saturday’s pitching matchup.

Five things:

  1. Certain promotions notwithstanding, the ’90s are not “retro,” although one day they will be.
  2. Chris Young is slowly returning to form, which is good because without him, the Padres are hosed.
  3. Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff are carrying this team on offense right now. Khalil, Kouz, Brian Giles, and Adrian Gonzalez all have a SLG of .500 or better since August 1. Small sample, but nice.
  4. Extra mad props to USD alum and ex-Padre farmhand Dan Giese for serving up the walkoff homer to Khalil. Way to do right by your city.
  5. Paging Matt Vasgersian: Please return to your assigned post. Regards, my sanity.

Go Padres!

1969: Light-Hitting Arcia Powers Padres Past Houston

by Geoff Young on Sep 15, 2007 (6) Comments

September 15, 1969, San Diego: Padres 5, Astros 3 (box score)

Jose Arcia’s career spanned two seasons and change. In just over 650 plate appearances, the infielder from Cuba batted .215/.260/.278. His OPS+ was 52.

Arcia came into this game hitting .190/.234/.236 on the season (259 PA). He had driven in six runs all year, three in an August 20 contest at Montreal. You get the picture, right? The guy couldn’t hit.

On the third Monday in September, though, Arcia was a one-man wrecking crew. He led off the bottom of the first with an infield single off Astros right-hander Don Wilson and came around to score the game’s first run on a Nate Colbert single to left.

In the fourth, Jerry Morales doubled home Van Kelly with one out. After Fred Kendall struck out, Frankie Libran and pitcher Corkins walked to load the bases. Wilson was yanked in favor of Jim Ray, who proceeded to serve up a bases-clearing double to Arcia. The Padres now led, 5-0.

San Diego starter Mike Corkins worked five strong innings before faltering in the sixth. After allowing two runs on four straight hits to open the inning, Corkins yielded to veteran Jack Baldschun, who wild-pitched a third run home before retiring the side with the Padres’ lead still intact.

Dave Roberts worked the final three innings, facing just one over the minimum en route to his first career save, in support of Corkins’ first career win. Jimmy Wynn accounted for three of Houston’s six hits in a losing cause.

IGD: Padres vs Giants (14 Sep 07)

by Geoff Young on Sep 14, 2007 (87) Comments

Game #146
time: 7:05 p.m. PT
tv: 4SD
sp: Chris Young (9-7, 2.72) vs Barry Zito (9-12, 4.46)
pre: Padres.com, B-R.com

From the Baseball America 2004 Prospect Handbook (aff link), here’s a quick look back at two Montreal Expos prospects:

#9: Terrmel Sledge, OF:

Sledge needs to add more power in order to start on a corner. He needs to work on his routes on fly balls and his throwing.

#19: Chris Young, RHP:

…he developed slowly and fell out of favor with the new regime after general manager Dave Littlefield took over. Pittsburgh traded Young and righthander Jon Searles for Matt Herges in December 2002, then released Herges at the end of spring training.

Yep, there were 18 prospects rated more highly than CY in the Expos system in ’04. Of those, guys currently in the big leagues include RHP Chad Cordero (#5), RHP Shawn Hill (#6), RHP Darrell Rasner (#7), Sledge, OF Ryan Church (#10), RHP Jason Bergmann (#12), and Jerry Owens (#17).

Now you know why I don’t sweat too much over what some experts might think about, say, Matt Antonelli…

Friday Links (14 Sep 07)

by Geoff Young on Sep 14, 2007 (33) Comments

Yummy links…

  • Full palette of skippers up for award (MLB.com). National Manager of the Year? My money is on Bob Melvin because most experts didn’t expect the Diamondbacks to win the NL West. They should have, but they didn’t.
  • Hoffman heeds no call for career exit strategy (San Diego Union-Tribune). Fluff piece on everyone’s favorite pitcher with 500+ saves.
  • Thatcher making impression (Padres.com). Padres manager Bud Black on rookie left-hander Joe Thatcher:

    “His fastball that cuts is effective against right-handed hitters. He’s equally effective against both. He’s doing well for a guy with 20 days in the big leagues, given the small sample size.”

    Best part of this? Black’s inclusion of the phrase “small sample size.” Love that.

  • Bradley expected to be out vs. Giants (San Diego Union-Tribune). Sigh. Still no Milton Bradley. Also, Brett TomkoBrett Tomko gets the start on Saturday against San Francisco, Justin Germano might not make his next scheduled start due to ineffectiveness, and the Padres had a chance to trade Clay Hensley for Houston infielder Mike Lamb in July.
  • Another look at Jake Peavy (Friar Forecast). Oooh, pretty colors. We’re still trying to figure out what it all means, but I love that this stuff is even available and that smart folks are starting to do something with it.
  • Center field isn’t fertile area on farm (San Diego Union-Tribune). From the article:

    The Padres aren’t sold on Triple-A center fielder Yordanny Ramirez, who can be a free agent in November. Ramirez, 23, reputedly is a terrific defender. Of course, so was Freddy Guzman, the speedster heavily touted by the Padres in 2003-04 who, as a major leaguer, fell well short of Padres descriptions.

    For the record, Guzman’s stock plummeted the minute his name changed from Pedro De Los Santos, he aged 2 1/2 years, and he moved off second base. Then he became yet another Tom Goodwin wannabe, which is sort of what Ramirez is, only without the plate discipline or great base-stealing ability. Not to be mean, but it’s hard to get excited about a 22-year-old outfielder with a 654 OPS in about 1400 at-bats compiled mostly at or below Class-A.

  • A Helluva Read: BA: The Non-Prospect’s Diary (Baseball Think Factory). We’ve been following Dirk Hayhurst’s diary at Baseball America all season, but he got some love at BBTF, and guess who showed up to the party? Yep, none other than Mr. Hayhurst. That’s almost as cool as the fact that all this exposure has led to his getting a paycheck from BA for his efforts.
  • Friar Forecast reviews its top 30 prospects headed into the season: 21-30 | 11-20
  • Looking back at the 2005 draft (Baseball Analysts). Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki… Not quite ’73 (Robin Yount, Dave Winfield, Eddie Murray, among many others), but pretty darned good.
  • Best and Worst MLB Splits, 1957-2006 (Hardball Times). Worst-hitting pitching staff ever: Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to your 1976 Padres.

Whoomp, there it is…

Padres Prospect Report

by Peter Friberg

You will not see the Storm go quietly into the night…

AA

No game scheduled…

High-A

Lake Elsinore 7, San Jose 6 (10 innings; Storm lead best-of-five, 1-0)

Sean Kazmar: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; BB
Kyle Blanks: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB
Mike Baxter: 4 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 3 2B, BB – game-winning run
Jose Lobaton: 5 AB. 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; SO – game-winning hit
Ernesto Frieri: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR
R.J. Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

Wow, the Storm are a resilient bunch! This is at least the third comeback they’ve had. Steve Garrison, the starting pitcher, gave 1 run in the fourth. Then couldn’t get any of the six batters he faced in the fifth out; five scored. Down 6-0 in the middle of the fifth, the Storm scored three in their half of the fifth, then three more in the seventh to tie.

[Ed note: This was as fun a baseball game as I've attended all year. Garrison, whom I'd not seen before Thursday night, looked terrible, but the bullpen picked him up big time and Baxter did the rest. His bases-clearing double to left-center with two out in the seventh was huge. Incidentally, San Francisco's Fred Lewis is on rehab assignment for San Jose, which became a source of constant amusement for the guys running the PA, who busted out just about every song they could find that included some form of "cheat" in the lyrics. The presence of Lewis, who hit .275/.356/.401 in 142 big-league at-bats this year, in the Cal League playoffs has been met with something less than enthusiasm by league opponents. Lewis, for his part, struck out three times and let the plate umpire know what he thought of his bush-league strike zone. Also, there was a very loud contingent of Giants fans along the third-base line (including a guy dressed like the Pope - say wha'?); I liked the part where they got real quiet at the end.]

There you go. More links are always being added at del.icio.us. Happy Friday!