Gwynn’s Time Is Almost Here

by Geoff Young on Jan 08, 2007 (25) Comments

Gettin’ psyched about Hall of Fame voting? I honestly can say that this is the first time I’ve ever gotten excited about it. Then again, this is the first time Tony Gwynn has been eligible.

Tim Sullivan talks about HOF voting history in Sunday’s San Diego Union-Tribune, focusing on the fact that there never has been a unanimous selection. Apparently some writers actually take pride in this. I suppose not voting for, say, Willie Mays is one way to get yourself noticed.

Another way is to turn in a blank ballot, which is what Paul Ladewski of Chicago’s Daily Southtown did this year. His reason for doing so is fascinating:

I refuse to vote for any veteran who played in that period, even if he was not a suspected (steroid) user. In my opinion, any such player had an obligation to blow the whistle in the best interests of the game, even if he did it anonymously. I understand this is an unusually hard-line approach, but I believe it’s my responsibility to uphold the Hall of Fame standards in whatever way necessary.

My initial reaction was one of shock, wondering what the heck this guy is trying to prove by not voting for Gwynn and Cal Ripken. The more I thought about it, however, the more I came to respect Ladewski’s stance. His is the perfect response to anyone who has complained that a select few are being punished for an entire generation’s legacy, and I respect the guy for voting his conscience and trying to uphold standards.

His will not be a popular stance, but the rules for election to the Hall of Fame do include a line that reads, “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.” If you think an entire generation lacked integrity, then don’t vote for anyone. That’s exactly what Ladewski has done, and while this might be a bit extreme for some tastes, it makes a lot more sense than using one’s voting privilege “as a forum for political protests, petty grievances and personal payback.”

Gwynn, as you would expect, is gracious in his assessment of Ladewski’s decision:

I want him to vote his conscience. I want him to vote how he feels. I don’t want anybody trying to sing my praises. If he feels like I’m worthy enough, then hey. … If he doesn’t, for whatever reason, then don’t.

Of course, in saying this, Gwynn has given us all a perfect reminder of why he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Well, that and the 3141 hits.

More Gwynn HOF Coverage:

What’s Up with Wells?

by Geoff Young on Jan 05, 2007 (44) Comments

With Randy Johnson headed back to Arizona, the Padres are finding their rotation options a bit limited. Apparently Kevin Towers and David Wells are still talking, but nothing much is happening. This sounds a lot like after the 2004 season, when the two of them did a weird dance involving tacos and Wells ended up in Boston. Honestly, is it that difficult? Either the guy wants to play here or he doesn’t.

(Don’t mind me. I’m grouchy because of the Jake Peavy thing — not so much Peavy as what the world has come to that double parking at an airport can be considered a security threat; can’t wait to see what’s next.)

Anyway.

We don’t know what’s happening with Wells. That’s not really specific to this situation, though; that’s more of a general comment. Nobody ever knows what’s happening with Wells. Dude does what he does.

With that in mind, best to look at other options. The Padres are. Names mentioned include Chan Ho Park (okay), Jeff Weaver (no thanks), and the ubiquitous “other trade opportunities.”

What about the kids? From the article: “Towers said he wants to start the season with a veteran in the No. 5 slot rather than Mike Thompson or Tim Stauffer.”

So right now it looks like Wells, Park, Weaver, or who-knows-what. Might I suggest a couple more names on the free-agent market: Tomo Ohka and John Thomson.

Ohka is coming off a down season with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he turns 31 in March and has a tidy 3.88 ERA over 127 starts since 2002. Unfortunately, the Mets are said to be interested in Ohka, and they have pretty deep pockets. They also are looking at Weaver and Tony Armas (please sign one of them instead, Mr. Minaya, and leave Ohka for us).

Thomson hasn’t been healthy or particularly good since 2004. Jeff Sackman at Hardball Times likes him. Thomson is 33 years old and has missed large chunks of the past two seasons. Still, if the price is right, he could be worth the risk.

Mark Redman also is available. He’s from Escondido, which makes him an immediate threat. I think I’d rather see Stauffer or Thompson get a crack.

The one other intriguing name is Jerome Williams, but his track record is unbelievably spotty. If the Padres aren’t going to trust one of their own kids, I doubt they’d want to take a shot at someone else’s failed prospect. Still, Williams is only 25 and probably worth a gamble for someone. (If not here, might I suggest the Royals?)

What to do. I have a feeling the Padres will end up bringing back Wells. I wouldn’t mind seeing him, Park, or Ohka in the rotation next year — possibly Thomson. I dunno, maybe Mrs. Towers can make burritos this time?

Wednesday Links (3 Jan 07)

by Geoff Young on Jan 03, 2007 (68) Comments

Slow news day, so we’ll run our link roundup a little early this week. Before we do that, though, a quick update on the book: I just finished Chapter 3 yesterday, and I’m about halfway through Chapter 6 (I’m working out of sequence in part because the Hall of Fame vote hasn’t taken place yet — I know, but we all have our superstitions).

Anyway, as it stands now, the book is 90 pages long. Not counting fact-checking and editing, I’d say I’m about 30% done. I need to finish writing by the second or third week in February, so I’ll be banging out a chapter a week from now until then. I haven’t posted an excerpt in a while, but I’ll have more of those up as they become available — probably starting next week.

To the links:

  • Seventh Annual Weblog Awards. Once again, the Bloggies are upon us; they are accepting nominations through January 10. For the first time this year, there is a “Best Sports Weblog” category.
  • 2007 ZiPS Projections – San Diego Padres (Baseball Think Factory). Dan has posted his projections for the Padres. Off the top of my head, the numbers for Adrian Gonzalez, Todd Walker, and Clay Hensley seem a bit pessimistic. Then again, if Terrmel Sledge hits .260/.339/.436 and Jake Peavy finishes with a 3.23 ERA, I think most of us will be happy.
  • The Bandwagon Stops in San Diego (Baseball Prospectus). Several folks (thank you!) pointed me to Nate Silver’s enthusiastic piece on the Padres. I’m not sure, but I think Nate also likes fish tacos.
  • Extremely Early Projections (via Baseball Musings). SG applies CHONE projections to each team and runs 100 Diamond Mine simulations of the 2007 season. The Padres come in at 83-79, six games back of the Giants and four back of the wild card. Two teams from the NL Central in the playoffs? Sorry, not seeing it.
  • San Diego Padres Trade Tree. I wish I could take credit for this, but no such luck. Andy at Really Awesome Things has created a graphical representation of the trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez, Terrmel Sledge, and Chris Young to San Diego. It traces the deal back to its roots, invoking names such as Bob Geren, Sixto Lezcano, and Gene Tenace.
  • Baseball in Fort Wayne. I found this through a post on Chad Gramling’s Baseball Blog and thought it was mighty cool. Not everything here is Padres related, obviously, because baseball has a fairly rich history in Fort Wayne, but I like to give some love to our minor league towns and Chad does good work.
  • 2007 San Diego Padres Prospects (Minor League Ball; thanks to Peter for the heads-up). This is John Sickels’ list and there aren’t any real surprises, although it’s a bit irritating to see guys like Vince Sinisi and Royce Ring at the bottom. This organization should be able to do better than that.
  • Countdown to 2007: Baseball Digest Daily’s Top Web Sites of 2006. Joe Hamrahi offers a list of “the most important and influential web sites to us here at BDD” and I’m honored that Ducksnorts is on it. Actually, it’s fascinating to look at these names and realize how many of them I’ve been in varying degrees of contact with over the years. Glad to see Top Prospect Alert still is going strong — I wrote for them in 1999-2000.

That’s all for now. More as it happens…

State of the ‘Snort 2007

by Geoff Young on Jan 02, 2007 (29) Comments

I hope you had an excellent New Year’s celebration. We managed to stay awake, which is a victory of sorts around here.

Anyway, I’m one of those annoying people who sit down and write a list of things to do in the coming year. I don’t call them resolutions, because that term implies a finality that doesn’t exist. They’re just things to do.

With so much of my energy now focused on blogging here, there, and everywhere — to say nothing of the book — I thought it would be good to come up with a game plan. Bearing in mind that this, like everything in life, is subject to change, here’s a little of what I’d like to accomplish at Ducksnorts in 2007.

Strengthen Community

One aspect of Ducksnorts that totally blew me away in 2006 was how much our community has developed. This is something I value greatly, and I think we can do even better this year. My goals are twofold:

  1. Give folks who are already here the chance to become even more involved.
  2. Bring more fans into the discussion.

To that end, here are a few things we can do:

Meetups

We finally had our first Ducksnorts meetup last season and it was awesome. For as much fun as the In-Game Discussions are, they’re even better when we’re all at the ballpark together, so we’ve got more meetups planned for 2007. The first will be sometime during spring training. Stay tuned for details.

Frappr!

This is a free service that — as many of you already know — provides a map showing where all the Ducksnorters are. If you’re on the map, great; if not, feel free to add yourself.

MySpace

I’m an old fart. I don’t understand MySpace at all, but it seems to be where the cool kids are, so I’m giving it a shot. If you do the MySpace thing, you can add me as a friend or whatever. It’ll be great.

Increase Features

I’m always trying to think of ways to improve Ducksnorts. I’ve got some ideas, but most will have to wait until after the book is published. A couple, though, are ready right now:

  • Organizational Tree and Player Cards. We fired up the org tree late last season, and I’ve just added the player cards (see, e.g., Cla Meredith). I’m hoping that these will be valuable resources for fans of the Padres and baseball in general. If you think of anything more we can add to the org tree or the player cards, please drop me a line.
  • Season Diary. As I’ve said before, my best ideas are stolen from other people. Over the past few seasons, TigerBlog has chronicled the 1935 and 1984 Tigers seasons. I’m going to do something similar at Ducksnorts this year. We’ve got the 1998 season covered in the book, so I’m thinking maybe we can revisit 1969 or 1984. I’m open to other ideas, though — let me know what you want to do and we’ll make it happen.

Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The book is my primary focus at least through the end of April. After that, we can get back to the business of making the blog rock as hard as possible. As always, suggestions are welcome.

Ready for another awesome year? Good, let’s do it.

Wrapping Up 2006

by Geoff Young on Dec 30, 2006 (14) Comments

Before we crash headlong into the new year, I thought it’d be fun to take a lightning quick look back at 2006. First, I offer thanks to everyone who participated in the madness this year. Despite not moving back to our own domain until mid-March, Ducksnorts received a million page views in 2006. You all are responsible for that, and I am beyond humbled.

It’s been a crazy but exciting year for me personally and professionally, hangin’ out with y’all, working on the book, and landing sweet gigs at Knuckle Curve and Hardball Times. I’m as fired up as ever about Ducksnorts, especially with where the Padres appear to be headed — I still don’t know what I’m doing around here, but it sure is fun. :-)

Enough about me. Here are the 10 most popular Ducksnorts articles of the year according to how much traffic they received:

  1. Nine Signs You Think About the San Diego Padres Too Much — Part of a Problogger.net group writing project, and one of my personal favorites.
  2. IGD: Padres @ Dodgers (18 Sep 06) — Yes, this was the most irritating game of the year, but it was history and the Padres still went on to win the division. Plus, 803 comments is insane.
  3. Playoff IGD: Padres vs Cardinals (3 Oct 06) — Who can forget Game 1 of the NLDS? Lord knows I’ve tried. We only managed 639 comments for this one. Slackers.
  4. Playoff IGD: Padres vs Cardinals (5 Oct 06) — Can’t forget Game 2 either. This was the beginning of Jeff Weaver’s improbable postseason run. Down to 582 comments.
  5. Padres Month in Review: July 2006 — Charts. I need to use more charts next year.
  6. Playoff IGD: Padres @ Cardinals (7 Oct 06) — Hey look, the Padres won a playoff game. Woo-hoo! Let’s celebrate with 478 comments.
  7. Seanez Set to Return, Could Wells Be Next? — I truly, in my heart of hearts, believed that George Kottaras was a fabrication of the Boston media. Did I mention that the Padres won a playoff game?
  8. Playoff IGD: Padres @ Cardinals (8 Oct 06) — And so the season finally came to an end. It took us 401 comments to say goodbye. In the process, we learned that reader Clayton soon would be a father.
  9. Padres Poised to Pop Pitcher — Peter Friberg’s guest spot on the eve of the 2006 draft identified eventual first-rounder Matt Antonelli as one of three players the Padres were focusing on with the 17th pick overall.
  10. Padres, Mets Swap Spare Parts — Ah yes, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” performed on ukelele.

Honorable mention: This isn’t a post from 2006, but it’s still an extremely popular page: Petco Pix: February 29, 2004. You just never know which pages folks are going to visit.

Speaking of which pages folks are visiting, I’d like to say thanks to all the bloggers out there who showed Ducksnorts some link love in 2006. Here are the guiltiest of the guilty:

Be sure to swing on by these fine establishments and say hey. Then, once you’ve done that, please have yourself a safe and happy New Year. See you on the flip side…

Friday Links (29 Dec 06)

by Geoff Young on Dec 29, 2006 (26) Comments

It’s Friday. Time for the last link roundup of 2006. Go crazy:

  • A baseball star’s death is shrouded in mystery (Los Angeles Times). Former Padres third baseman Chris Brown is dead at age 45 due to burns suffered in a fire at his home. Very strange, sad story.
  • A Brief History (Lookout Landing). In light of Seattle’s recent signing of Sean “Don’t Call Me Wilton Guerrero Because I Don’t Have His Power” Burroughs, here’s an amusing list of players who have played for both the Padres and the Mariners.
  • Baseball Digest Daily’s 2007 Top 100 Prospects: #1 – #50 (BDD). Only one Padres player is represented: Kevin Kouzmanoff checks in at #47.
  • San Diego Padres Top Ten Prospects (Baseball Prospectus). Speaking of prospects, as many of you have pointed out (thank you!), Kevin Goldstein has published his list of top 10 Padres prospects. No huge surprises, although I think Will Venable might be ranked a little too low.
  • Former Padres farmhand Jon Knott has signed with the Baltimore Orioles (hat tip Oriole Post). While we’re at it, Chris Oxspring has returned from Japan and signed with the Brewers. Oxspring was a favorite of mine when he pitched at Elsinore; here’s wishing him well in Milwaukee.
  • The Johnson arms race (AZ Snakepit). Jim McLennan weighs in on the Randy Johnson situation. Like me, Jim isn’t real excited at the idea of giving up what the Yankees allegedly want in return for Johnson. With the Giants signing Barry Zito to a terrible contract, it’s up to the Dodgers to bail the rest of us out. Might I suggest sending Matt Kemp and James Loney to the Yankees.
  • How Good Is Your #4 Starter? (Hardball Times; hat tip to Ben B. in the comments). Jeff Sackmann shows, among many other things, that the Padres had the lowest ERA in the #3, #4, and #5 rotation spots among National League clubs in 2006.

That’s all for now. Happy Friday!

Ducksnorts Player Cards

by Geoff Young on Dec 28, 2006 (Comments Off) Comments

My best ideas aren’t mine at all. I stole this bit of genius from Brew Crew Ball. I’ve created “player cards” for current Padres players on the major-league roster. Basically these are pages that contain a photo (if I have one) of the player plus links to more information on that player. Current links are:

Search on Player Name

  • @ Ducksnorts
  • @ Google News
  • @ Google Blog

Player Stats

  • @ Hardball Times (includes win shares)
  • @ Baseball Cube (includes minor leagues)
  • @ Baseball Prospectus (includes Davenport Translations)
  • @ Baseball Reference
  • @ ESPN

Other

  • bio @ Padres Nation

Let me know what else we should be including in these. We can do anything. Well, within reason. ;-)

Need a visual? Here’s one for Trevor Hoffman.

You can find links to the player cards in the sidebar, and they’re also available via the organizational tree, which is updated through the signing of Craig Stansberry. I’ll be linking to the player cards internally in blog posts going forward, so if you ever want more info on someone, you can go on a total data binge. I’ll add minor leaguers and ex-Padres as time permits. Enjoy!

Two Articles on Gwynn

by Geoff Young on Dec 28, 2006 (35) Comments

Not much going on at the moment, so what better time to talk about Tony Gwynn? In the days leading up to the Hall of Fame election, that’s exactly what ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian and MLB.com’s Barry Bloom have done.

The piece by Kurkjian (hat tip to Nick G. in yesterday’s comments) focuses on Gwynn’s approach to the craft of hitting. Great anecdote:

At the batting cage during the 1998 World Series against the Yankees, Gwynn, then 38 years old, complained to a writer that “I can’t see like I used to.”

“So,” the writer said, “what is your vision now, 20-20?”

“No,” Gwynn said, “it’s 20-15. But I still can’t see like I used to.”

Meantime, Bloom’s article discusses Gwynn’s relationship with his late father, Charles. In addition to the inspiration Charles provided, he also urged his son to leave the Padres in the wake of the 1993 Fire Sale that saw owner Tom Werner move most of his established talent for cheaper personnel:

“‘You’ve got to go,’” said Gwynn, quoting his father in a 1999 article printed in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “‘They’re not trying to win down there. You deserve to win.’ I said, ‘But Dad, I’m happy here. This is where I was meant to be. San Diego and me, we’re a perfect fit.’”

As it turned out, former Padres GM Randy Smith did a masterful job of dealing from a position of extreme weakness, snagging unknowns Andy Ashby and Trevor Hoffman during the Fire Sale. Another trade by Smith after the 1994 season brought Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley to San Diego, and just two years later, they would help lead the Padres back to the playoffs.

Two years after that, in 1998, Gwynn made his second trip to the World Series. Although he was nearing the end of his career and he may not have been able to see as well as he once had, the record will show that Gwynn did just fine in that World Series, against one of the greatest teams in history, hitting .500/.529/.688 in 16 at-bats.

Speaking of numbers, Gwynn’s career stats — 3141 hits, 319 stolen bases, 15 All-Star appearances, 5 Gold Glove awards, 1 team — tell the story of why he will be elected to the Hall of Fame on January 9, in his first year of eligibility, and inducted July 29, in Cooperstown, NY. It should be clear enough even to those of us who are not blessed with 20-15 vision.

Sledge to Bat Leadoff?

by Geoff Young on Dec 27, 2006 (47) Comments

A Bill Center article in this morning’s San Diego Union-Tribune suggests that Terrmel Sledge could lead off for the Padres in 2007. Quoth manager Bud Black:

We’ve talked about the possibility of Terrmel in that role and when you look at the statistics, there are indications he can do it.

Black doesn’t explicitly mention what those “statistics” might be, but Sledge, who batted leadoff while at Long Beach State, seems to understand:

I’ve always prided myself in getting on base. I’ve always tried to keep my on-base percentage around .400.

With the understanding that a lot can change between now and April, here is what the projected lineup looks like:

  1. Terrmel Sledge, LF
  2. Marcus Giles, 2B
  3. Brian Giles, RF
  4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
  5. Mike Cameron, CF
  6. Kevin Kouzmanoff/Russell Branyan, 3B
  7. Josh Bard, C
  8. Khalil Greene, SS

Stay tuned…

Looking Forward, Johnson Rumors

by Geoff Young on Dec 26, 2006 (57) Comments

I hope you are having an excellent holiday season. I’m still recovering from bad science fiction movies, but other than that, all is well.

Two quick items on the table today. First, my latest article is up at Hardball Times. It’s a silly list of wishes for each of the 30 teams for the coming year. Very little Padres content.

The second item involves a nasty little rumor about Randy Johnson possibly coming to San Diego. The price is believed to be reliever Scott Linebrink.

Two thoughts:

  • The Padres already traded George Kottaras for David Wells. If they insist on sticking an ancient left-hander at the back of the rotation, why not work something out with the guy they already gave up something to get?
  • If the Padres weren’t willing to give Linebrink for Marcus Giles, a good young second baseman, then why would they be willing to do so for a 43-year-old pitcher coming off a 5.00 ERA season?

Apparently Johnson wants to be closer to his Arizona home. The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants and Angels are thought to be other possible destinations for him. Honestly, I wouldn’t have a problem with him ending up in any of those places, especially if it costs one of the NL West clubs a good young player or two.