| time: | 7:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Justin Germano (5-0, 2.36) vs Jeremy Guthrie (3-1, 2.57) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
At some point, Justin Germano‘s complete inability to miss bats has to catch up to him, right? Here’s hoping that it doesn’t happen tonight.
Go Padres!
June 20, 1969, Houston: Astros 6, Padres 1 (box score); Astros 3, Padres 1 (box score)
For the second time in four days, the Padres played two. For the second time, they found themselves overmatched.
The opener pitted Clay Kirby against Larry Dierker. The Padres struck first, with Nate Colbert homering to lead off the second inning. The Astros tied things up in the bottom half on doubles by Dennis Menke and Curt Blefary.
In the fourth, with the score still knotted at 1-1, Kirby’s control and defense faltered. Two walks, a passed ball, a triple, and an error by third baseman Ed Spiezio resulted in three runs. The Astros tacked on two more in the sixth courtesy of three singles, a hit batsman, and another passed ball. The Padres, meanwhile, offered little resistance to Dierker, managing just a walk after the fifth inning.
After losing 6-1 in the first game, the Padres sent Tommie Sisk to the mound against Houston’s Jim Ray. As they had in the opener, the Padres scored first. Jose Arcia led off the sixth inning with a triple, and one out later, Colbert drove him home.
Sisk held the 1-0 lead into the seventh. Then, with one out, Menke singled and Johnny Edwards walked. Blefary followed with a double to tie the game. After Sisk intentionally walked Gary Geiger to load the bases, Gary Ross came in to face Doug Rader. The result? An unintenional walk that gave Houston a 2-1 lead. The Astros added another run and, despite a minor rally in the eighth by the Padres, held on to complete the sweep in front of more than 19,000 fans.
Trivia: The Padres scored just two runs in the doubleheader; one hopes they savored those, as they were about to be shut out in three straight and five of their next seven games.
| time: | 7:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Jake Peavy (8-1, 1.82) vs Steve Trachsel (5-4, 3.94) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
You can find stats anywhere. Describing and analyzing those stats adds value. Presenting them in a graphical format that gives a quick overview of key indicators potentially provides further value. The concept of a “dashboard” is stolen from the world of web analytics.
Jake Peavy Dashboard (click image for larger version)
I’m developing this for possible use in next year’s book. I don’t know if it’s worth pursuing, but it might be. What do you think? It’s still in early alpha, so any feedback is appreciated. Be as brutal as you need to be.
Go Padres!
The Orioles are coming to town and they are in a state of considerable disarray, which frightens me. It’s hard to say how a team will respond after its manager is fired, but with Sam Perlozzo no longer part of the picture ostensibly because his players failed to produce for him, these guys just might have a tiny chip on their collective shoulder.
Part of the problem in Baltimore has been the bullpen. I talked about this a little at Knuckle Curve the other day. Going back further (and in the interest of making a shameless plug), I noted on page 187 of the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual that “in any given season, a team can find generic equivalents to guys like Danys Baez and Jamie Walker.” I’m not presenting the world with some great truth here; I’m simply paying attention (which raises the question of what, exactly, the Orioles front office is doing, but I digress).
Baez, Walker, and Chad Bradford are costing Baltimore $10 million this year. Next year, that number is $12.5 million. In 2009, it jumps to $13.5 million.
Sometimes the brand name provides extra value. We’ve talked about Ichiro Suzuki around here in the past, and he’s a perfect example. People know, trust, and are willing to pay more for the Ichiro brand. There are no generic equivalents to what he offers.
The same cannot be said of Baez, Walker, and Bradford. These guys are not going to fill seats or be the focus of anyone’s marketing campaign. What possible reason could there be to pay them more than what their on-field contributions merit?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that decent relievers are not a terribly scarce commodity. (Great relievers are, but we’re not talking about them.) We’ve seen this in San Diego over the past several years, and plenty of other teams have grasped and used this concept to their advantage. The key lies in paying close attention to the market and properly identifying undervalued yet potentially useful cogs (neither of which falls under the field manager’s domain, but again I digress).
And ex-Padre Ramon Hernandez? Don’t get me started on his contract. We discussed that ad nauseum back in ’05. He’s hitting .244/.340/.378 and currently on the disabled list with a “groin contusion.” He’s also guaranteed $6.5 million this year, $7.5 million next, and $8 million in 2009.
Yikes.
So, to recap, the Orioles are paying three generic middle relievers and an old, banged-up catcher $16.5 million this year. The Florida Marlins, I remind you, won 78 games in 2006 with a $15 million payroll.
I’m not saying that money isn’t nice, but there’s something to be said for this talent evaluation thing.
by Peter Friberg
You will not see all the notable performances from the night before, but you will see the notable performances from those who are actually prospects.
AAA
No game scheduled
AA
Will Venable: 2 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 1 RBI; 2 BB
Nick Hundley: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; HR, BB
High-A
No game scheduled
Low-A
No game scheduled
Commentary:
With the emergence of Brendan Harris in Tampa Bay, what about Reid Brignac for Wade LeBlanc + [low-level prospect]?
[Ed note: If others front the money, I'll gladly make a BevMo run or three to procure the necessary amounts of alcohol required to make this happen.]
* * *
As we near the halfway point, it’s interesting to look back at the organization’s top prospects. For comparison’s sake, I’m reminding you of the top 10 lists for Baseball America, MadFriars, and my own…
So, how are they doing?
Baseball America‘s Top 10 Padres Prospects
MadFriars’ Top 10
Peter Friberg’s Top 10 (ranked prior to Kouzmanoff’s acquisition)
Because I’m writing this, I’ll report on each prospect in the order I ranked them (I’m also omitting Kouzmanoff as he’s an established big leaguer):
1. Cesar Carrillo RHP
| Lvl | W-L | ERA | IP | H | BB | SO | HR | BAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | 0-2 | 8.62 | 15.2 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 2 | .338 |
Cesar was injured in 2006 and never regained his form. He suffered several setbacks and finally succumbed to Tommy John surgery after yet another poor performance on April 30. Pitchers who have Tommy John surgery usually make a full recovery. Cesar still projects as a #2 or #3 starter. He’ll resume that path next season.
2. Cedric Hunter OF
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lo-A | 261 | .284 | .342 | .356 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 37 |
Cedric is posting solid — not spectacular — BB/SO rates. His extra-base hit rate and BABIP are each down significantly, however. He is still just a 19-year-old prospect in a pitchers’ league with solid on-base skills. But his star is not shining as brightly as it was last year.
3. Chase Headley 3B
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 227 | .357 | .433 | .648 | 21 | 3 | 13 | 31 | 53 |
Headley is quickly shooting up the prospect ranks. He has easily jumped to #1 on this list (we’ll see where he ranks after we take the newly drafted Padres into account). Last season in 484 at-bats, Headley hit 33 doubles and 12 home runs. This season he has already surpassed his 2006 home run total and assuming another 484-at-bat season, Chase is on pace for 45 doubles and 25 home runs. [Ed note: Headley was called up after this was written.]
4. Matt Antonelli 2B
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-A | 271 | .310 | .399 | .483 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 37 | 47 |
Last year, in his first taste of professional baseball, Antonelli went homerless in a hitters’ league. Scouts and minor-league prognosticators alike understandably questioned his power. Antonelli is making up for lost time with nine homers so far. A right-handed hitter, Matt is faring well against right-handers (.297/.383/.446) but he’s destroying lefties (.367/.466/.653).
5. Will Venable OF
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 247 | .287 | .353 | .360 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 41 |
Venable’s home-run stroke didn’t show up for his first 150+ at-bats last year in the Midwest League (1 HR in April and May combined — he hit 11 overall). Likewise this year he only has one homer coming into June. It’s a big step up from Low-A to Double-A and his struggles are understandable. Venable’s defense in center field is often questioned. If Will can’t play center and doesn’t figure out how to hit with power, the Padres deep group of corner outfielders will quickly bypass him.
6. Nick Hundley C
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 189 | .228 | .293 | .429 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 17 | 33 |
The Padres had high hopes for Hundley when they traded George Kottaras last September. And while a .297 on-base percentage simply does not get the job done, bad luck has victimized Hundley. In the more pitching-friendly home park in San Antonio, Nick has a .295 BABIP. In the rest of the offense-friendly Texas League, Hundley’s BABIP falls to .169. Don’t be surprised if Nick’s stats shoot up in the second half of the season.
[Ed note: It's worth mentioning that Kottaras has done nothing (.210/.288/.336) at Triple-A Pawtucket so far this year.]
7. David Freese 3B
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-A | 255 | .310 | .403 | .510 | 20 | 2 | 9 | 34 | 55 |
Drafted as a fifth-year senior, Freese has to move quickly. So far, so good:
(in 2006) NWL: .379/.465/.776 in 58 AB
MWL: .299/.374/.510 in 204 AB
If we total his professional at-bats so far we get the following:
.313 with 41 2B, 5 3B, 22 HR in 505 AB with a 63/111 BB/SO ratio
Freese probably won’t push Kouzmanoff off third, but his bat will play and his third baseman’s arm should be playable in right field.
Double-A, anyone?
8. Kyle Blanks 1B
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-A | 245 | .335 | .405 | .604 | 19 | 4 | 13 | 21 | 53 |
Last year Blanks’s season ended early when a leg infection cost him several weeks at the end of the season. Reportedly Kyle’s weight may have contributed (there were reports suggesting he easily topped 300 lbs.). Because of these concerns, Baseball America ranked Kyle 29th among Padre prospects. This year, Kyle is playing at a relatively svelte 270ish (he actually does look athletic for such a large man). If Blanks can handle left field, his value increases substantially. If he’s locked into first base/DH, he’s probably trade bait.
9. Kyler Burke OF
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lo-A | 213 | .211 | .305 | .268 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 73 |
In 2004 the Padres drafted a rangy, toolsy, athletic first baseman (Daryl Jones) out of a Los Angeles high school. He went on to post the following numbers:
2004: .295/.327/.389 with a 7/38 BB/SO ratio with the AZL Padres
2005: .188/.263/.267 with a 21/81 BB/SO ratio with the Eugene Emeralds
2006: .242/.325/.378 with a 46/114 BB/SO ratio with the Fort Wayne Wizards
Last year when the Padres drafted a toolsy, athletic kid from a Tennessee high school, I was too enamored with his athletic profile to notice the warning signs:
.209/.313/.294 with a 26/56 BB/SO ratio with the AZL Padres
Kyler still has the talent to succeed, but the biggest depth in this organization is hitters who profile best as corner infielders or corner outfielders. Kyler has been passed and is in danger of being lapped.
10. Paul McAnulty OF/1B
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | 130 | .269 | .347 | .392 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 27 |
| MLB | 40 | .200 | .256 | .300 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
Paul is a nice player to have if you have a right-handed first baseman and need a lefty hitter on the bench, or if all your outfielders are right-handed… On the Padres he doesn’t have as much use. However, he doesn’t have anything left to prove in Triple-A (career minor league numbers: .305/.398/.493). And as a guy who profiles best as DH, he’s miscast in the NL. You feel bad for him, but it’s hard to put him in the outfield 5-7 days a week and you’re not going to start him over Adrian Gonzalez… He’d probably bat .280 with 15 home runs if he had a full-time gig.
Others (other prospects not on my Top 10 list):
Mike Ekstrom RHP (MadFriars’ #8)
| Lvl | W-L | ERA | IP | H | BB | SO | HR | BAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 3-3 | 4.54 | 69.1 | 88 | 22 | 41 | 3 | .311 |
Mike posted a 7.42 K/9 rate and a .251 BAA in Lake Elsinore in 2006. After moving up to Double-A Mobile, his K/9 rate fell to 5.23 while his BAA remained fairly constant at .261. This year, his K/9 rate remains low (5.32) and now he’s allowing too many hits (.311 BAA). As much as I want the Point Loma Nazarene alum to succeed (I’m an alum of PLNU as well), and the guys at MadFriars.com disagree with me, I don’t think Ekstrom is more than an organizational soldier.
Chad Huffman OF (BA’s #7 & MadFriars’ #9)
| Lvl | AB | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi-A | 240 | .308 | .403 | .529 | 16 | 2 | 11 | 31 | 40 |
Oops. I missed on this one. Between 198 at-bats in Eugene and 14 in Fort Wayne, Chad hit .335/.431/.561. In his 2006 draft scouting report, Baseball America indicated that he “should hit for average as a pro, and his power continues to develop.” He has settled in at left field and looks to be one of the organizational front-runners for that position starting in 2009-10.
Cesar Ramos LHP (BA’s #10)
| Lvl | W-L | ERA | IP | H | BB | SO | HR | BAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 4-7 | 4.45 | 83.0 | 86 | 22 | 44 | 10 | .268 |
Last year Ramos posted a 3.70 ERA in the offense-friendly Cal League despite not striking out hitters (4.57 K/9) and allowing too many hits (161 with a .292 BAA). He’s now striking out more batters (5.16 K/9) and allowing fewer hits, but his ERA is higher. The organization keeps telling us how good Cesar will be but I just don’t see it. Cesar has consistently allowed too many hits without striking out enough hitters. He’s not a bad guy to have in an organization, but I can’t see him as a mainstay in the rotation.
Jared Wells RHP (BA’s #9)
| Lvl | W-L | ERA | IP | H | BB | SO | HR | BAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 2-6 | 7.02 | 57.2 | 76 | 34 | 51 | 9 | .326 |
Jared Wells can pump a fastball up to 95 mph. However, when he’s starting you’ll see a lot more 89-92′s. After watching him struggle in Triple-A, the Padres have converted the right-hander to a reliever. It will be interesting to watch his progress.
Thanks, Peter. Padres and Orioles tonight at Petco. We’ll have the IGD up and running by 6 p.m. PT or thereabouts. Go Pads!
June 19, 1969, Houston: Astros 4, Padres 2 (box score)
The Astros, returning home after a six-game jaunt to St. Louis and Atlanta, got to Al Santorini early in this one. In the second inning, Santorini served up singles to the first three batters he faced, resulting in a 1-0 lead for the home team. A grounder to short and fly to center later, and the score was 3-0.
The Padres scored their first run in the fourth. Al Ferrara and Ed Spiezio led off with singles. After Cito Gaston and Chris Cannizzaro were called out on strikes, Tommy Dean singled home Ferrara. Santorini then struck out to end the frame.
San Diego had another golden opportunity in the sixth. Ferrara started the inning with a double to left and advanced to third on a Don Wilson wild pitch. Spiezio then struck out and Gaston walked, bringing up Cannizzaro. The Padres catcher singled to left, plating Ferrara and cutting the Astros’ lead to 3-2. Gaston and Cannizzarro both moved up 90 feet on the play courtesy of an error by left fielder Sandy Valdespino.
Larry Stahl, batting for Dean, was issued an intentional walk to load the bases for the pitcher’s spot. John Sipin pinch hit for Santorini and struck out. Van Kelly then grounded to first to get Wilson out of the jam without further damage.
The Astros added a run in the seventh off reliever Billy McCool and held on to win, 4-2. Wilson went the distance, striking out 11 Padres in the process. San Diego, meanwhile, found itself in full free fall. The Padres had lost 12 of 14 and had just embarked on what would become their longest losing streak of the season.
Trivia: Houston third baseman Doug Rader spent 1976 and part of 1977 as the Padres’ starter at the hot corner.
Good to see the boys wrap up the road trip with a couple of wins in Chicago. Even better to see Mike Cameron playing well again. Since May 1, he’s batting .288/.341/.532. That’s more like it.
The fight on Saturday? I’ll be honest; I hate that aspect of professional sports — nobody walks away from a brawl looking cool. At the same time, you can’t just sit there and take it.
I’m grateful that nobody got hurt. And I give huge kudos to Marcus Giles for taking down Chris Young, his own pitcher, before CY had a chance to land a punch and break his hand or some such. That potentially was a season-saving tackle.
Many factors come into play in any conflict. Placing all of the blame on a single person or event usually results in an oversimplification of reality. Plenty of folks played a significant role in this one:
The Cubs are a mess. Their manager is a known hothead; teammates can’t seem to get along with one another; and despite breaking the bank on free agents this past winter, the club is scuffling in MLB’s weakest division.
If you’ve ever worked in a bar, you know that people looking for trouble generally will find it. The Cubs were looking for trouble on Saturday, and, lo and behold, they found it. I’ll give them credit for not escalating the situation further on Sunday, especially when they ended up losing by eight runs. That would have been an excellent opportunity to take a cheap shot or two, and the Cubs didn’t do it.
The Padres, meanwhile, won another series. Now they get to come home.
by Peter Friberg
You will not see reports from the Eugene Emeralds or Arizona Padres, but that changes this week…
Friday, June 15, 2007
AAA
Clay Hensley: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR – G2
Andrew Brown: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR – G2
AA
Will Venable: 5 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; 2 2B, SO
Sean Thompson: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR – weird
High-A
Matt Antonelli: 4 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; 2B, BB
Kyle Blanks: 3 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; HR, 2 BB
Low-A
Kyler Burke: 2 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; BB – G1
Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2B – G1
Kyler Burke: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2B – G2
Commentary:
Hypothetically speaking, I do not think they would have called up David Freese to Double-A unless they were planning on keeping Chase Headley in the majors or, at worst, sending him back to Triple-A. David’s name was notably absent from both the Lake Elsinore and San Antonio box scores. (I still think two of Kevin Kouzmanoff, Headley, and/or Freese need to start taking fly balls in the outfield.)
Saturday, June 16, 2007
AAA
Paul McAnulty: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; 2B, SO
Vince Sinisi: 5 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 1 RBI
AA
No notable performances
High-A
David Freese: 4 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; 2B, BB, SO – still in Hi-A
Kyle Blanks: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO
Chad Huffman: 3 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI; 2B, BB, SO
Wade LeBlanc: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR
Low-A
Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI – G2
Drew Miller: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR – he’s back!
Ernesto Frieri: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO
Commentary:
It’s good to see Paul McAnulty doing well. If we need him later, we’re better off having him doing well if we need to call him up again later.
San Antonio is a lot less interesting without Chase.
Geoff and I have a lot of discussions about Chad Huffman. Geoff has noted that whenever he watches Lake Elsinore play, Huffman doesn’t do anything. So Geoff, how was Huffman Saturday night?
[Ed note: Huffman remains quietly effective. He still didn't stand out much on Saturday despite the two hits. The guy who continues to impress is Freese. His double was a blast to right-center; seems like he's driving balls out that way every time I see him. Freese also made a very nice play at third, diving to his left and scrambling to make a strong throw. I liked what I saw from LeBlanc as well. He has some filthy off-speed/breaking stuff and made just two bad pitches all night.]
We’ll have a short Q&A with Denis Savage of MadFriars.com up shortly. One question I asked him was what happened with Drew Miller. It’s good to see him back and doing well.
Before the draft I predicted that the 2011 starting rotation would like this:
SP1: Jake Peavy
SP2: Chris Young
SP3: Cesar Carrillo
SP4: Matt Latos
SP5: Wade LeBlanc
Now I would say that the following are candidates for the 2011 rotation: Peavy, Young, Clay Hensley, Justin Germano, Carrillo, Latos, LeBlanc, Manny Ayala, Drew Miller, and Nick Schmidt (there are actually a few others who might show themselves to be candidates this summer).
Sunday, June 17, 2007
AAA
Jared Wells: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR
AA
Cesar Ramos: 6.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 2 HR
High-A
Kyle Blanks: 2 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 2B, BB
Nic Crosta: 4 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2 2B
Manny Ayala: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR
Low-A
Daryl Jones: 5 AB, 1 R, 3 H, 2 RBI; 2B, HR
Aaron Breit: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR
Commentary:
Other than Ayala, it was not good day for pitching prospects.
Thanks, Peter. The Padres are off on Monday, then start a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at Petco Park on Tuesday. Peavy pitches in the opener. Should be fun…
June 18, 1969, Los Angeles: Dodgers 10, Padres 1 (box score)
A day after being outscored, 18-3, in a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium, the Padres looked to salvage a split of the four-game series against their neighbors to the north. The Dodgers, it seems, had other ideas.
Los Angeles struck early and often against southpaw Johnny Podres. In the bottom of the first, with Manny Mota on, Wes Parker launched a homer to left against the former Dodger.
In the third inning, the home team scored three more runs, knocking Podres out of the game in the process. The Dodgers had extended their lead to 5-0, and with the way right-hander Don Sutton was pitching, five runs would be more than enough.
Sutton held the Padres hitless through 4 2/3 innings before Cito Gaston tripled to right. He held them scoreless until the sixth, when San Diego parlayed two singles, a grounder to second, and a passed ball into a run.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, continued to abuse Padres pitchers. Three runs in the fifth and two more in the eighth made the final score 10-1. Sutton won his 10th game of the season, allowing just the one run on three hits while fanning seven.
Trivia: Pitchers were worked a little differently back in the day. At the ripe old age of 24, Sutton made 41 starts for the Dodgers, tossing 293 1/3 innings and striking out 217 batters. If the workload affected him, he had a funny way of showing it. Sutton made 30 or more starts every year from 1966 through 1987 except for ’68 (27 starts, plus 8 relief appearances) and ’81 (23 starts in a strike-shortened season).
| time: | 11:20 a.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Greg Maddux (5-3, 3.86) vs Rich Hill (5-4, 2.81) |
| pre: | Padres.com, SI.com |
I’m messing around with a Ducksnorts Glossary. People are jumping onboard all the time, and I thought it might be good to give ‘em an easy way to get up to speed. This is kind of just off the top of my head, so let me know what you think and if there’s anything we need to add.
Happy Father’s Day, and go Padres!
June 17, 1969, Los Angeles: Dodgers 7, Padres 3 (box score); Dodgers 11, Padres 0 (box score)
Gary Ross and Bill Singer hooked up in the first game of a doubleheader at Chavez Ravine. Both teams had early opportunities — the Padres put the first two runners on in the second, and the Dodgers returned the favor the next inning — but couldn’t score. Then in the fourth, the Padres broke through on a leadoff homer to dead center by Ollie Brown.
In the fifth, San Diego added two more runs. Cito Gaston led off with a single to left, and Van Kelly followed with a homer to right, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead.
The visitors clung to their three-run lead into the seventh. Then, the roof caved in on Ross and the Padres. After Tom Haller struck out to start the frame, the next six batters reached base to put the Dodgers on top, 4-3. With Frank Reberger, the Padres’ third pitcher of the inning, now on the hill, Wes Parker knocked a sac fly for the second out and Andy Kosco followed with a two-run homer to extend the lead to 7-3.
The Padres made a little noise in the ninth. Chris Cannizzaro and Cito Gaston singled to start the inning, but left-hander Jim Brewer came back to strike out the side and seal the deal.
The second game was a disaster. Joe Niekro gave up a run in the first, two in the second, and three more in the fourth before yielding to Steve Arlin, who didn’t do much better. In the end, the Padres lost, 11-0, to complete a very long and fruitless day of baseball.
Trivia: Arlin made his big-league debut in the second game. Arlin later gained notoriety for coming within one out of throwing the Padres’ first no-hitter.
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