1969: Bench, Maloney Lead Reds Past Padres

by Geoff Young on Apr 25, 2007 (0) Comments

April 25, 1969, San Diego: Reds 4, Padres 1 (box score)

The Reds, making their first visit to San Diego, sent right-hander Jim Maloney to the mound against Tommie Sisk. A Fresno native, Maloney had won 20 or more games in a season twice by age 25. In 1968, a down year by his standards, he still notched 16 victories.

The Reds scored first on a two-out single by Pete Rose in the top of the third inning. They added three more in the fourth. Bobby Tolan led off with a walk. After an Alex Johnson ground out, Tony Perez singled to left. With runners at the corners, a second-year catcher named Johnny Bench hammered his 19th career home run to extend the Reds’ lead to 4-0.

Maloney took care of the rest for Cincy. The Padres mounted minor threats in the fourth, fifth, and eighth, but couldn’t push anything across until Nate Colbert led off the ninth with a homer to left. Maloney then retired the next three batters, including strikeouts to Ed Spiezio and Chris Cannizzaro to end the contest.

The Padres, in front of 8,709 fans, saw their record fall to 6-11. Off the field, they traded Opening Day starter Dick Selma to the Cubs for right-handers Joe Niekro and Gary Ross, as well as shortstop Frankie Libran. In fact, Ross and Niekro both got into this game, working 3 2/3 perfect innings between them.

Trivia: Colbert’s ninth-inning homer was the second of his career and the second in as many days.

Elsewhere in the world: Baseball announcer Joe Buck was born in St. Petersburg, Fla.; actress Renee Zellweger was born in Katy, Tex.; actress Gina Torres (played Zoe in Firefly) was born in Manhattan, N.Y.

IGD: Padres @ Diamondbacks (24 Apr 07)

by Geoff Young on Apr 24, 2007 (219) Comments

first pitch: 6:40 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: David Wells (0-1, 5.06 ERA) vs Randy Johnson (0-0, –)
previews: Padres.com | SI.com

David Wells? Randy Johnson? I think Messrs. Flansburgh and Linnell said it best:

You’re older than you’ve ever been.
And now you’re even older.
And now you’re even older.
And now you’re even older.
You’re older than you’ve ever been.
And now you’re even older.
And now you’re older still.

Johnson makes his first start since returning to the Diamondbacks. Unfortunately he’s had tremendous success against just about everyone on the current Padres roster. Combined, they’re batting just .124/.154/.301 against Johnson in 117 plate appearances. Brian Giles and Mike Cameron account for 60 of those, and it ain’t pretty — they have five hits and 30 strikeouts between them.

The good news? I dunno, I was hoping you might have some. ;-)

Snakes on a Baseball Diamond

by Geoff Young on Apr 24, 2007 (17) Comments

After a much-needed off day on Monday, the Padres head to Phoenix for a midweek series. We’ll see three potentially excellent pitching matchups: David Wells vs Randy Johnson on Tuesday, Jake Peavy vs Brandon Webb on Wednesday, and Chris Young vs Livan Hernandez on Thursday.

Speaking of pitchers, the Padres are back down to a 12-man staff. Right-hander Aaron Rakers has been returned to Triple-A Portland, with infielder Oscar Robles replacing him on the big-league roster.

Robles doesn’t have much of a track record, but he impressed me during spring training with his bat control. Still, he essentially duplicates the skill set of Geoff Blum. Also, Robles is a left-handed batter, so I’m not sure how this addresses the Padres’ one glaring weakness on the bench. Then again, I don’t really understand why 12 pitchers are necessary.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, enter this series with a 10-10 record that is fully supported by their -2 run differential (79 vs 81). The small differential is a little surprising given that they’re being outhit in the early going:

Arizona Diamondbacks Team Batting through April 23, 2007
  AB BA OBP SLG
Diamondbacks 679 .243 .319 .359
Opponents 695 .262 .341 .401
Stats courtesy of ESPN.

That shouldn’t work out to a 2-run difference over 20 games, but anything can happen in a small sample. Individually, Orlando Hudson and Eric Byrnes are about the only bright spots on offense so far. This concerns me because Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, and Chad Tracy all are terrific hitters who could catch fire at any moment. Quentin also apparently has a huge ego.

On the pitching side, Arizona has gotten strong work from its rotation. Webb got off to a shaky start but dominated the Padres last week in San Diego. Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez have shiny ERAs that are undermined by poor peripheral numbers. Unless something changes soon, both are due for a “correction” of sorts. Even youngsters Edgar Gonzalez, Micah Owings, and Yusmeiro Petit have pitched well. And we haven’t even mentioned Johnson, who makes his 2007 debut tonight.

This is a good ballclub. I still think they represent a more serious threat to the Padres than do the more hyped Dodgers. It bothers me that Arizona is holding ground without getting any contribution from Jackson, Johnson, Quentin, Tracy, Chris B. Young, or Stephen Drew. The Diamondbacks strike me as a team that could catch fire at some point and never look back. Then again, they just got abused by the worst team in the division, so who knows.

There’s a tremendous amount of talent here. The question now is how well they’ll respond to a full season working together toward a common goal in the big leagues. For you and me, the answer is, hopefully not quite well enough…

For some stupid reason, I forgot to include Peter’s report this morning. Sorry ’bout that! Here it is…

Padres Prospect Report

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

Luke Carlin: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB
Cesar Carrillo: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR – rain delay

AA

Will Venable: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI
Chase Headley: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, SO
Sean Thompson: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

High-A

David Freese: 4 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR, SO
Kyle Blanks: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; CS
Brent Carter: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR

Low-A

Ernesto Frieri: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

Headley is now hitting .160/.222/.240 at home and .432/.523/.811 on the road…

One night after Lake Elsinore pounded High Desert 15-3, the Storm take it on the chin: 10-1.

Tonight’s game starts at 6:40 p.m. PT. We’ll have the IGD up and running by 5:30. Go Padres!

1969: Colbert Knocks First Homer, Padres Defeat Houston

by Geoff Young on Apr 24, 2007 (0) Comments

April 24, 1969, Houston: Padres 4, Astros 1 (box score)

A day after being completely dominated by Larry Dierker, the Padres set the tone early in this one. The game started innocently enough, with the two teams exchanging zeroes in the first inning. Ollie Brown then led off the top of the second with a homer off right-hander Jim Ray to give the Pads a 1-0 lead.

The Astros tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on another solo homer. Dennis Menke led off the frame with a blast off Al Santorini. Both clubs mounted occasional threats over the next few innings but did no damage. The game remained knotted at 1-1 until the top of the eighth.

Then, with sophomore right-hander Jack Billingham on the mound in relief for Houston, the Padres struck for some two-out thunder. After Tony Gonzalez doubled to left, the dangerous Brown was intentionally walked to bring up a 23-year-old first baseman named Nate Colbert.

The powerful right-handed batter from St. Louis was making his second straight start in place of Bill Davis, the Padres’ Opening Day first baseman. Davis hadn’t provided much offense, batting just .222/.300/.250 in 40 plate appearances.

Colbert had walked, singled, and struck out in his first three trips to the plate. Now, with the game on the line, he slammed his first big-league homer to give the Padres a 4-1 lead.

Jack Baldschun, who had worked a scoreless seventh, finished with two more perfect innings to seal the victory. The Padres split the two-game series in Houston. They now were 4-1 against the Astros, and 2-9 against the rest of the league.

Trivia: This was not the last time Colbert would victimize Billingham. For his career, Colbert batted .314/.352/.667 against him, with five homers in 54 plate appearances. Only Don Sutton (7) served up more home runs to Colbert.

Elsewhere in the world: Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield performed and recorded Fathers and Sons with the legendary Muddy Waters.

Checking In on the New Guys

by Geoff Young on Apr 23, 2007 (36) Comments

The Padres lost on Sunday, and I have surprisingly little to say about it. They didn’t really do anything wrong other than run into Jason Hirsh, who is pitching very well right now. I liked what I saw from Greg Maddux. Again.

Actually, I like what I’m seeing from a lot of the new guys: Marcus Giles has a bizarre approach to batting leadoff, but it seems to be working so why fight it? Jose Cruz Jr. is playing well on offense and defense; he looks like a solid fourth outfielder to me. Heath Bell? Kevin Cameron? Yes, please.

About the only newcomer that hasn’t contributed yet is Kevin Kouzmanoff. There’s a huge disconnect between the way he’s swinging the bat right now and his minor-league track record. He simply cannot continue to hit like this all season long. Yeah, .133/.220/.222 is pretty brutal, but it’s way too early to panic or even think about giving up on him. Seriously, remember this guy:

Phil Nevin, 1999
  PA BA OBP SLG
thru 6/11 108 .198 .262 .427
6/12 onward 333 .293 .381 .561
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

Nevin was 28 at the time, Kouzmanoff is 25 now. Obviously, every case is different; the point is, we don’t yet have enough information to make a solid judgment regarding his ability.

The best we can say is that Kouzmanoff is struggling at the plate in a big way and needs to make an adjustment. Hopefully Merv Rettenmund can help him figure out how to recognize breaking pitches.

Meanwhile, the kid is playing better-than-advertised defense, and Russell Branyan is doing a nice job in limited opportunities. The situation will work itself out one way or another over time.

Padres Prospect Report

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.

Friday, April 20, 2007

AAA

Luke Carlin: 3 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 3 RBI; 2 2B, 2 BB

AA

Chase Headley: 3 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; 3B, BB
Cesar Ramos: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR

High-A

Kyle Blanks: 5 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; 4 SO
Wade LeBlanc: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

Low-A

Tom King: 7 AB, 2 R, 3 H, RBI; 3 2B
Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBI; 2B, 3 BB
Nathaniel Culp: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

The Beavers scored 17 in a route of Oakland’s Triple-A team, Sacramento. The Beavers have exactly ZERO real hitting prospects, but Carlin will probably be at least an MLB backup.

Ramos is intriguing. This is his second straight solid strikeout performance.

I don’t really believe in King as a prospect (I left him off my top 25 and BA left him off their top 30). But that’s one heck of a game. I could write the same thing for Culp.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

AAA

Mike Thompson: 2.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR

AA

Will Venable: 5 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; SO
Chase Headley: 3 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; BB
Joshua Geer: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 0 RBI; BB
Nic Crosta: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 4 RBI; 2 HR
Chad Huffman: 5 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 2 RBI; HR
Yordany Ramirez: 5 AB, 1 R, 4 H, 1 RBI; 2B
Manny Ayala: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR

Low-A

Cedric Hunter: 3 AB, 2 R, 0 H, 0 RBI; BB, SB
Kyler Burke: 3 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 1 RBI; 3B
Aaron Breit: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR – nice bounce-back start
Ernesto Frieri: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

Thompson didn’t react well to being demoted.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

AAA

Jared Wells: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR

AA

Chase Headley: 3 AB, 3 R, 2 H, 1 RBI; HR, 2 BB
Tim Brown: 5 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; 2 HR

High-A

Matt Antonelli: 6 AB, 2 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; HR, BB, 2 SO
David Freese: 6 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 1 RBI; 2 SO
Nic Crosta: 6 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 3 RBI; HR
Matt Bush: 5 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 4 RBI; 2B, HR, SO
Matthew Buschmann: 7.0 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR

Low-A

Jeremy Hunt: 5 AB, 1 R, 4 H, 1 RBI; HR
Andrew Underwood: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR

Commentary:

It’s nice to see Lake Elsinore go off for 15 runs, but I have to believe the wind was blowing out there in the High Desert… [Ed note: High Desert ranks among the most extreme hitters' environments in baseball.]

I don’t really consider Hunt to be a prospect, but you can’t help but love a 4-for-5, two-homer performance.

I was looking at organizational depth charts today (Sunday) and this organization has serious holes at shortstop and could use more upper-tier pitching.

There you have it. No game today; feel free to take the discussion wherever it needs to go…

1969: Dierker, Astros Shut Down Padres

by Geoff Young on Apr 23, 2007 (0) Comments

April 23, 1969, San Diego: Astros 4, Padres 0 (box score)

The Padres, perhaps feeling guilty about the eight runs they’d scored against Atlanta the previous night, put up very little fight against Larry Dierker and the Houston Astros. Dierker, who had lost to the Padres two weeks earlier, limited the home club to just two singles and two walks en route to a 4-0 victory.

Clay Kirby started for San Diego and, as often was the case, struggled with his control. He walked five batters in 5 2/3 innings, and both runners that scored against him had reached base via the base on balls.

No play-by-play data for this game exist, and it’s probably just as well. The final run came with two out in the top of the eighth. With Norm Miller (who reached base all five times he came to the plate) at third and Joe Morgan at first, southpaw Johnny Podres balked, forcing Miller home.

The Padres fell to 5-10 on the young season. Houston climbed to 4-12, still worst in the National League but now just 1 1/2 games behind San Diego.

Trivia: This game marked the unofficial beginning of the Nate Colbert era. Although Colbert had been with the Padres since Opening Day, he had started just three of the club’s first 14 games, batting .250/.294/.375 in 17 plate appearances. Colbert became a fixture in the lineup on April 23 and hit .255/.323/.486 the rest of the way.

Elsewhere in the world: Los Angeles Lakers star Jerry West scored 53 points against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals; the Beatles’ “Get Back” reached #1 on the UK charts.

1969: Ollie Brown Leads Padres Past Atlanta

by Geoff Young on Apr 22, 2007 (0) Comments

April 22, 1969, San Diego: Padres 8, Braves 4 (box score)

The Braves jumped out to an early lead against left-hander Dick Kelley. In the top of the second, after retiring the first two batters, Kelley served up singles to two of the weakest batters in the lineup, shortstop Sonny Jackson and pitcher Pat Jarvis. After a Felipe Alou walk loaded the bases, Felix Millan knocked a triple to left field, giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.

Ollie Brown doubled home Roberto Pena in the fourth to cut the Braves’ lead to 3-1. That score held into the bottom of the sixth. The Padres were the worst offensive team in the league, while the Braves came into Tuesday’s contest owning the second best record in all of baseball. A two-run defecit might have seemed insurmountable to some, but not to Brown and the Padres.

With one out in the sixth, Pena and Tony Gonzalez singled. Right-hander Claude Raymond replaced Jarvis on the mound. Brown, the first batter Raymond faced, proceeded to crank a three-run homer that gave San Diego its first lead of the game.

Raymond then walked Bill Davis and Cito Gaston, bringing Ed Spiezio to the plate. Spiezio singled, scoring Nate Colbert (who had come in to run for Davis) and extending the Padres’ lead to 5-3. Left-hander George Stone then replaced Raymond and walked Chris Cannizzaro to load the bases for pitcher Dick Selma.

Selma cooperated by grounding to short. Jackson fielded the ball cleanly and flipped to second baseman Millan for the second out, but Millan’s throw to first escaped Orlando Cepeda, allowing two runs to score. Tommy Dean then struck out to end the inning, but the damage had been done and the Padres now led, 7-3.

The Braves put a couple of runners on base in the seventh, but Tito Francona (father of current Red Sox manager Terry Francona) bounced back to the pitcher to end the threat. The Padres tacked on a run of their own in the bottom half when Colbert tripled home Brown.

Atlanta scored a final run in the top of the eighth. With one out, Hank Aaron doubled to center, plating Alou. But Selma retired Cepeda and Clete Boyer to end the inning before setting the Braves down in order in the ninth to seal the deal. In front of 6,275 fans, the Padres had won their fifth game as a franchise.

Trivia: Brown had Raymond’s number throughout their respective careers. In 17 plate appearances, Brown batted .400/.471/1.000. Of the 75 home runs Raymond allowed over parts of 12 seasons, three came off the bat of Brown. That tied Brown with Willie Mays and Willie Stargell for most homers hit off Raymond. (As an aside, Brown enjoyed some real nice seasons in San Diego. It’s a shame that he played right field and I therefore couldn’t include him among the Padres best by position in the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual; we may need to take a closer look at his contributions to the franchise.)

Elsewhere in the world: Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person ever to sail around the earth solo without stopping.

IGD: Padres @ Rockies (22 Apr 07)

by Geoff Young on Apr 22, 2007 (68) Comments

first pitch: 12:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Greg Maddux (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs Jason Hirsh (1-1, 3.38 ERA)

The Padres look to complete the sweep in Denver behind Greg Maddux. Despite his 6-1 career record at Coors Field, Maddux hasn’t pitched particularly well there, sporting a 5.96 ERA over 48 1/3 innings. He’s also run into trouble with a few of the current Rockies, most notably Garrett Atkins (.600/.600/1.300 in 15 AB), Matt Holliday (.389/.389/1.000 in 18 AB), and — wait for it — Willy Taveras (.500/.529/.750 in 16 AB).

If you need evidence that anything can happen in baseball, there it is: Taveras owns Maddux.

Go Padres!

IGD: Padres @ Rockies (21 Apr 07)

by Geoff Young on Apr 21, 2007 (189) Comments

first pitch: 5:05 p.m. PT
television: Channel 4SD
matchup: Clay Hensley (0-3, 12.21 ERA) vs Jeff Francis (1-1, 5.60 ERA)

Hello, offense. Don’t look now, but for the first time in more than 6 years, the Padres have scored at least 11 runs in consecutive games.

The last time that happened was April 7 and 8, 2001, when the Pads beat the Rockies, 14-10 and 11-3, at Coors Field. Phil Nevin homered twice and drove in eight runs over those two games. Heck, even Donaldo Mendez knocked one out of the park.

Back to 2007, Clay Hensley gave up 10 runs in his last start against the Cubs. He seriously needs to pitch a good game on Saturday. Here’s hoping…

1969: Padres Return Home, Fall to Braves

by Geoff Young on Apr 21, 2007 (5) Comments

April 21, 1969, San Diego: Braves 5, Padres 2 (box score)

Back home in San Diego, the Padres welcomed the Atlanta Braves to town for a brief two-game series. The Braves were led by Hank Aaron, whose 512 career home runs placed him fifth on the all-time leaderboard behind Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Willie Mays, and of course, Babe Ruth.

Johnny Podres started for the home team, while right-hander Ron Reed got the call for Atlanta. Reed had been named to the National League All-Star team as a rookie in 1968, but he’d gotten off to a rough start in his sophomore season.

Today, however, it was Podres’ (and the Padres’) turn to be treated rudely. Already down 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Podres served up a solo homer to Clete Boyer to extend the visitors’ lead. Two innings later, with Leon Everitt now on the mound, the Braves added two more runs on an Orlando Cepeda home run and a Bob Aspromonte double.

The Padres responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Tony Gonzalez and Ed Spiezio knocked RBI singles in the inning. With runners at first and second, though, Reed fanned Chris Cannizzaro to keep San Diego from narrowing the gap further.

After the Braves added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, the Padres had one last chance against closer Cecil Upshaw. The right-hander out of Centenary proceeded to retire San Diego in order, striking out pinch hitters Nate Colbert and Chris Krug to put the finishing touches on an Atlanta victory.

The Padres fell to 4-9 on the young season, 6 games back of the Braves and just ahead of Houston. No team in the big leagues had scored fewer runs (23) than the Padres, and only one (Cleveland) had a run differential worse than San Diego’s -38.

Trivia: Before embarking on a baseball career that spanned parts of 19 seasons, Reed spent two seasons as a forward for the NBA Detroit Pistons.

Elsewhere in the world: The Mothers of Invention released the double LP Uncle Meat; the final episode of The Avengers aired in the United States (some would say that the show ended when the delectable Diana Rigg left a year earlier, but that’s a debate for another forum).