Search results for ‘greg maddux

Bud Black and Pitchouts

We’ve noted that Bud Black has done a good job of protecting his pitchers in three years as manager of the Padres. At the end of that little ditty, I alluded to another aspect of Black’s managerial style that caught my eye. I speak of his affinity for the pitchout. Black led National League managers [...]

Padres Add Garland to Rotation

The Padres have signed veteran right-hander Jon Garland to round out the 2010 rotation. The deal is $4.7 million this year, plus a mutual option for $6.75 million in 2011. Excluding 2005, when he masqueraded as a front-line pitcher, Garland has been a league-average innings eater throughout his career. He’s filled that role for a [...]

Death of a Gunslinger

As you doubtless know by now, the Padres have fired GM Kevin Towers. It’s taken me so long to write about this because it is difficult for me to articulate my feelings. His departure hits me harder than those of Bruce Bochy, Trevor Hoffman, Sandy Alderson, or Jake Peavy. Towers was the primary architect of [...]

Winning Half Is Like Losing Half, and Vice Versa

When last we spoke, the Padres had won 10 straight games. They finally lost on Tuesday, but not without a serious fight. Kevin Correia breezes through 4 2/3 innings, then runs into trouble. Ryan Roberts bloops a single in front of Chase Headley that a more accomplished left fielder might have caught. The inning continues, [...]

Vicodin Dreams

I will do anything to avoid a game in Albuquerque — be it getting hopelessly lost in that fine city, having my car smashed by a big rig en route from Missouri, or as now, recovering from knee surgery. A sensible person would simply admit he didn’t want to watch the Isotopes play, but where [...]

To Sweep and To Be Swept

Sunlight glimmers off the bay like sweat, like flashbulbs, a disco ball, coins from a slot machine, dice rolling, neon signs. Patterns of light moving impossibly fast, not moving at all. Stare long enough, it all becomes one. Time and meaning are lost, like the days themselves, swept out to sea. The Padres had Monday [...]

Writing the Book (8 Dec 08)

I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving. I’m finally settling back into my routine and almost caught up on emails. If I still owe you a response, this is probably the week it happens. I got a ton of work done in Hawai’i, which is good because I’ve been stressing about the whole book thing. [...]

Writing the Book (27 Oct 08)

I had two revelations this past week: Working full time and doing physical therapy (I’m re-learning how to walk, which apparently is a skill one is supposed to have mastered by age 40) is exhausting. It’s not realistic to assume that I’ll be able to make significant progress on the book during the week. That’s [...]

OBG08 Revisited: Pitchers

We’re looking back at our pre-season community projections. On Wednesday we covered the hitters; today we turn to the pitchers. Left-Handers Justin Hampson, 2008   IP ERA Projected 48 4.21 Actual 30.2 2.93 Our most optimistic projection had Hampson at a 3.50 ERA. Joe Thatcher, 2008   IP ERA Projected 58 2.86 Actual 25.2 8.42 [...]

Hayhurst Takes Off, Eh?

Right-hander Dirk Hayhurst has been claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays. Dirk was gracious enough to chat with us not long ago. Although his Padre career lasted just 16 2/3 innings, it got his foot in the proverbial door. Here’s wishing Dirk all the best in Toronto (one of my favorite cities) as [...]