A Mighty Wind, Manager of the Year, and Billy Wagner

by Geoff Young on Nov 04, 2003 (Comments Off) Comments

Watched "A Mighty Wind" the other night. Entertaining flick. Parker Posey is hot, the Spinal Tap guys are great, Eugene Levy is disturbing, and the songs are hilarious (and well done). I love the fact that everyone plays their instruments (Catherine O’Hara plays a wicked autoharp). On the DVD, they have full versions of the various groups’ "television appearances," complete with closeups of the actors playing their instruments. You can actually learn how to play "Children of the Sun" in a couple of tries.

More thoughts on Manger of the Year:

  • National League (Internet Baseball Awards). Out of 4033 ballots, there were four first place votes for Jim Tracy. That’s the same number as for Larry Bowa and Jeff Torborg. Huh?
  • American League (Internet Baseball Awards). Seems a lot of these folks liked Lou Piniella, too.
  • Universal Baseball Blog No huge surprises here.

The big news items today were Billy Wagner being traded to Philly for young arms, and the White Sox hiring Ozzie Guillen as their new manager. I don’t have a whole lot to say about either, although I don’t think the Astros got enough for a pitcher of Wagner’s caliber.

That’s about all for now. As we wait for the free agent feeding frenzy to begin, I leave you with the Museum of Obscure Patents. Enjoy…

Bullet Points

by Geoff Young on Nov 03, 2003 (Comments Off) Comments

Christian Ruzich over at Cub Reporter lost his home in the San Diego fires this past week. A former co-worker of mine lost his as well. I really don’t want to dwell on this a whole lot, but keep these folks in your hearts and if you can afford it, please seriously consider donating to the Red Cross.

Happy Halloween!

by Geoff Young on Oct 31, 2003 (0) Comments

Happy Halloween! New look is pretty scary, ain’t it? Ah, the joy of CSS. Don’t worry, it’ll all be back to normal soon enough.

My latest article is up over at Primer: Baseball Primer’s 2003 Managers of the Year. Feel free to chime in on the relative merits of Alan Trammell or whatever.

Seriously, if you have any thoughts at all on the award and who you thought should have won (or who you thought deserved more or less consideration than Primer authors gave them), stop on by and join the discussion. Go on, it’ll be fun.

In other news, Alex Belth has done another terrific interview, this one with Pat Jordan, author of A False Spring, among other books. Jordan’s thoughts on Roger Clemens (one of my least favorite ballplayers of all time) are particularly intriguing.

Closer to home, the Padres are making some noise in the free agent market. Not a pitcher or a catcher, but a reserve outfielder. Or maybe two. Familiar names:

  • Popular OF Kingsale close to minors deal (U-T). Who would’ve believed he’d be available? Also, former Dodger Joe Ferguson has signed on as a roving catching instructor. Wonder if he can still strap on the gear.
  • Padres have their eye on re-acquiring Owens (U-T). And another former Padre whose popularity far exceeded his talent. (No nastygrams, please; I actually like Eric Owens a lot, but if he’s the key to your team’s success, your team is in serious trouble.) Sad phrase of the article: “…should they deem Gary Matthews Jr. too expensive…”
  • Hoffman first on Padres’ agenda (NC Times). Kevin Towers talks about the unusually large number of agents calling him, thinking he has oodles of money to spend; his desire to retain Trevor Hoffman; and his overall strategy of patience in the free agent market. Other items of note: Pitching coach Darren Balsley and bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds have re-upped for one year, and first-round pick Tim Stauffer is doing well in instructional league.

And elsewhere, there’s this bit of lunacy.

Finally, a few items of note that have nothing to do with baseball:

Have a safe and happy Halloween. Later…

Six-Year Minor-League Free Agents

by Geoff Young on Oct 28, 2003 (Comments Off) Comments

Tired of thinking about the fires. Doesn’t keep me from doing it, but every now and then I need a break. My continued thoughts and prayers to everyone impacted.

In baseball news, the list of six-year minor-league free agents is out. Usually there are a few interesting names in the slush pile. Here are some of this year’s more intriguing possibilities:

If I’m Kevin Towers, I give serious consideration to the likes of Agbayani, Hiljus, Meluskey, Nunnally, Quevedo, Saenz, Sirotka, Thames, and Yarnall. No world beaters, but a few guys who could contribute if healthy and given a chance. The kind of players that small-market teams need to gamble on.

The biggest names on the list of Padres who have become six-year FAs are pitchers Jose Nunez, Rob Ramsay, and Brian Tollberg.

Also, ESPN has a list of more conventional free agents. We’ll be revisiting this list later in the off-season.

San Diego Fires ’03

by Geoff Young on Oct 27, 2003 (0) Comments

The city is on fire, literally, so this’ll be real quick. We’re tired and a little stressed, but we’re safe and our home is still standing. Big thanks to my buddy Don for letting us hang with him for the day, just in case.

I hope you and all of yours are safe. If you want to help aid victims of the San Diego fires, please do so via the American Red Cross. Thank you…

Baseball Blogs and RSS

by Geoff Young on Oct 24, 2003 (0) Comments

Okay, this is cool: Baseball Blogs. They track, at last count, 186 baseball blogs here. Webmasters, pay attention: this is what a web site should look like. Very clean layout and design. And of course, terrific content. Can’t believe it took me this long to find them.

This site also has inspired me to add an RSS feed. I don’t know exactly what that means, but there’s a little button below this entry that leads to the feed. I’m learning as I go.

Not a lot to report on in the world of baseball right now. Once the World Series is over, we can get serious about looking at free agent possibilities. Until then, I guess it’s just you, me, and reruns of Full House. Sounds like a rockin’ good time…

Trade for Catcher in the Works?

by Geoff Young on Oct 23, 2003 (0) Comments

Clearing off the ol’ desk real quick. Enjoy…

A reader alerted me to these two articles over at Prospectus where Jonah Keri interviews Padre GM Kevin Towers. As usual, Towers is pretty candid and it’s a good read.

The reader who sent this also noted, “He [Towers] says he’s working on a trade for a catcher with 3 of the 8 playoff clubs, 2 AL and one NL. Any thoughts on who it might be?”

Thoughts, me? Yeah, I’ve got a few. The only starting catchers on the eight playoff clubs who aren’t eligible to file for free agency at the end of the season are Damian Miller, A.J. Pierzynski, Jorge Posada, Jason Varitek, and Ramon Hernandez. There are also some guys riding pine that might be useful: Florida’s Ramon Castro and Minnesota’s Matt LeCroy. My guess is that two of the catchers Towers is looking at are Castro and one of the Twins’ backstops.

Towers has had his eye on Castro for some time (including as part of a rumored Rondell White deal back in August). Of course, Castro also has some legal issues to deal with right now, which complicates matters. As for Minnesota, LeCroy can hit but isn’t considered much of a defender. It’s hard to say if he’d be a full-time solution, but he could be part of the puzzle. Pierzynski makes more sense, although his main strengths are hitting for average and annoying the opposition. And with wunderkind Joe Mauer tearing up the minors, the Twins might be willing to move someone sooner rather than later.

The one other scenario I could see unfolding is something involving Posada and either Ryan Klesko or Phil Nevin. It’s a long shot, but the Yankees did show interest in Klesko earlier this past season. Beyond that, Miller and Hernandez don’t strike me as all that much better than Brad Ausmus, another catcher the Padres are said to want.

One final name that intrigues me is Bobby Estalella, who recently became a free agent. He’s pretty much an all-or-nothing hitter, but the one year he had more than 200 big-league at-bats, he did end up at .234/.357/.468. Not too bad for a catcher. And he’s only 29 years old. I’m not sure he’s the answer to anything, but he might be worth a shot.

Or not.

Other Stuff

  • Josh Woodward. Blog of an Ohio-based singer-songwriter.
  • Elliott Smith Dead at 34 (Pitchfork). This is just really sad. Smith was one of my favorite songwriters of the current generation.
  • Zimmered On a lighter note, thanks to one of our readers, the Urban Dictionary has a new definition.

That’s all for now. Catch ya soon…

Movies, Playoffs, and Other Junk

by Geoff Young on Oct 22, 2003 (0) Comments

Is thing still on? Oh, hey. Didn’t see ya there. How’s it going?

Busy over here. Been working and re-working (and possibly killing) the melody to a song I’m writing. Ended up dropping the whole thing an octave so I don’t sound like a really horrible version of Stephen Bishop.

Been watching a bunch of movies, both in the theater and on DVD. Here’s a quick rundown:

  • Cradle 2 the Grave (aff link). The Jet Li fight sequences are brilliant (though I still much prefer his old Hong Kong stuff). Gabrielle Union is hot. Tom Arnold is, well, Tom Arnold. If you liked Romeo Must Die, you’ll probably like this one.
  • The Bourne Identity (aff link). Engaging story, solid performances from Matt Damon and Franke Petente (Run, Lola, Run). Great car chase.
  • School of Rock (aff link). Fluffy fun. Jack Black does his thing, but for me it’s Joan Cusack who makes this movie. Don’t go in expecting a whole lot and you should be okay.
  • Lost in Translation (aff link). Slower pace than what I normally watch. Terrific work from Bill Murray. Good direction. One of those films you’re still thinking about days later.

But enough of all that. I did say I’d talk about baseball next time, so here goes…

Playoff/World Series Thoughts

More bullet points here.

  • I still can’t believe the Giants didn’t beat the Fish. Barry Bonds needs a ring, so folks will shut up already.
  • The A’s need to find some coaches who can teach fundamentals. Sure, they can plow through the regular season by getting on base and knocking ‘em home. But it doesn’t always work that way in October. We keep seeing really talented Oakland clubs beating themselves in the playoffs. Don’t they get sick of that?
  • The Cubs’ Alex Gonzalez owes Steve Bartman big time for taking the focus off his own horrible miscue. Hello, people, Bartman paid to see the game; the ball was in the stands. Get over it. Gonzalez gets paid to make that play. And if you look at the replay, there’s no reason he has to try and backhand the ball. Of course, Gonzalez had help from a team that absolutely self-destructed after his play, but still…
  • I hate to say this, but I hope the Yankees win the series (what are they, tied now?). I don’t want to see Jeff Loria rewarded for his part in the destruction of the Montreal franchise. I also don’t want to see the Yankees’ smug faces when they win. Ergo, I’m not watching the games. This series holds even less interest for me than when the two New York teams played each other a few years back. So, go Yankees but I don’t want to hear about it when you win. How’s that?

Other Baseball Junk

Just can’t have enough bullet points.

Finally, I’m putting together a condensed and annotated version of the entire year’s worth of Ducksnorts. Entries will be broken out by category so that, e.g., you can see my thoughts on Jake Peavy in April right next to my thoughts on him in September. I’m planning to make it a PDF so that you can print it out and take it to the head or whatever. It’ll probably check in around 120-150 pages and I’m hoping to have it ready by mid-January or so.

Anyway, there are a lot of details still to be worked out; just wanted to give you the heads-up now. Catch ya soon…

California Screamin’

by Geoff Young on Oct 08, 2003 (0) Comments

For a variety of reasons (your sanity, and mine), I try not to inject a lot of politics into this forum. But today I find myself in the embarrassing position of living in California and I just wanted to apologize on behalf of the state.

For years I’ve been telling people that things aren’t really so weird out here. But maybe that’s because I’ve lived in this state since before the age of 2 and it’s all I know. And maybe it’s time for me to ‘fess up and admit that we really are a bunch of idiots.

It’s like the out-of-control drunk girl at frat parties. You know, the one whose friends always swear she’s not like that? But she keeps getting invited to the parties because she is like that, and her friends lose credibility and self-respect.

So in the interest of re(t|g)aining my self-esteem, I’m calling my home state out for what it is: A place populated by flakes and worthy of outsiders’ ridicule of scorn. Oh, she’s still my friend and I love her dearly. But she’s a freakin’ idiot who gets what she deserves.

If you’re reading this and you’re a resident of California, I feel your pain. If you’re reading this from somewhere else, go ahead and laugh if it makes you feel better. Nothing you say or do can be any worse than what we do to ourselves.

Sorry for the diatribe, but it had to be said. Next time we’ll talk about baseball. Hasta la vista…

Playoffs, Prospects, and Blogs

by Geoff Young on Oct 06, 2003 (0) Comments

Playoffs

Hard to get too excited about the playoffs when you don’t have a rooting interest. That and the West Coast unfriendly times have kept me from watching all but a few innings thus far. Surprised and disappointed to see the Giants out of it already. Yeah, I’m a Padre fan and I know I’m supposed to hate the Giants, but I’d really love to see Barry Bonds get a ring so people will shut up about that already. Like it or not, he’s the greatest baseball player most folks reading this have ever seen.

Also, just about the only time I ever see the A’s is in the playoffs. Are their fundamentals that bad during the regular season? Seems like every time I look up, someone on that team is making a baserunning blunder or looking confused in the field. Getting on base is great, but executing is critical in the playoffs.

Baseball America Top Prospects by League

Once again, Baseball America has surveyed scouts and managers to determine the top prospects in each minor league. The results are in, and although down from previous years, the Padres are reasonably well represented. Here are some excerpts from the BA survey.

Josh Barfield, 2B, #5 CAL

Josh is geared to drive the ball to the opposite field because he dives into the plate. That’s a potential problem in the upper levels, though he has enough life in his bat and plus bat speed to compensate. He’ll need to make an adjustment to learn how to turn on pitches.

He projects as an offensive-minded second baseman, but he made defensive progress. A well-rounded athlete with good baseball instincts, Barfield would move to left field if the Padres decide he can’t play second base.

Khalil Greene, SS, #6 PCL; #11 SOU

He didn’t wow managers or scouts in his time with Mobile, particularly offensively. His hand-eye coordination, bat speed and savvy make him an above-average hitter, but he didn’t hit for much power in the SL and also doesn’t draw many walks. Though scouts have wondered if he can stay at shortstop, he impressed observers more with his defense, showing plenty of arm and enough range for the position.

A line-drive hitter with decent pop, Greene can get pull-conscious and must improve his plate discipline at the major league level. He doesn’t have exceptional speed but has a quick first step and is a heady baserunner. There was some question about whether he could handle shortstop without a plus defensive tool, but PCL observers believe in him.

“He’s absolutely a shortstop at the big league level,” Portland manager Rick Sweet said. “Anyone who’s seen him play on a consistent basis can see that. He’s not an overly flashy type, but he has a magnet in his glove. He catches everything in the middle.”

Others who made the lists:

  • Jason Bay, OF, #5 PCL (now with Pirates) — Praised for his broad base of skills, good instincts, and ability to make adjustments.
  • Freddy Guzman, OF, #20 CAL — Speed and plate discipline are his primary assets.
  • Colt Morton, C, #19 NWL — Scouts seem to be divided on his upside. There is concern that his height (6-6) may eventually prompt a move to first base.
  • Humberto Quintero, C, #20 SOU — Draws rave reviews for his defense, particularly his arm. Line drive hitter without much power.
  • Sean Thompson, LHP, #8 NWL — Although his fastball only runs in the high-80s, he works both sides of the plate, has a good breaking ball, and holds runners well.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

Here are some folks who showed up in my referrer logs last month:

And here’s another new blog on the scene:

  • Seth Speaks Seth talks about the Twins, Minnesota sports in general, and more.

Ducksnorts Off-Season Schedule

Here’s the deal. I’m taking most of this month off from writing to do some behind-the-scenes stuff to the site, work on other web projects, and generally have some semblance of a life. Okay, maybe not that last one, but the point is, I probably won’t be checking in all that much this month. Keep sending those letters, though. I’m always happy to hear your thoughts on baseball, music, whatever. And I’ll be back in November to do a more extensive recap of the 2003 Padres season. Then we’ll talk a bit at the AFL and other winter leagues before looking ahead to 2004 and Petco Park. So stick around. It’ll be more fun than smacking yourself in the forehead with a clay tablet!