bruce bochy

The Shape of Things to Come

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
by Geoff Young

Top of the ninth, two on, one out. Adrian Gonzalez steps to the plate. Braves manager Bobby Cox summons ex-Padre Royce Ring, who promptly hangs a breaking ball. Gonzalez swats it high and deep down the right-field line. He, catcher Brian McCann, and plate umpire Wally Bell all watch as it sails into the Atlanta night... just foul for strike one. Ring proceeds to fan Gonzalez. After a pitching change, Kevin Kouzmanoff lofts a harmless fly ball to center, into the waiting glove of another ex-Padre, Mark Kotsay. Game over. The Padres lose again. That's the season in a nutshell so far. The Padres play poorly, and then, when they get opportunity, it fizzles... or misses by a few feet, whatever. I'm not prepared to ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Roster Notes | 161 Comments »

Series Preview: El Lefty Malo Talks Giants

Monday, April 7, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres embark on their inaugural road trip of 2008. First stop is San Francisco, where long-time Padres skipper Bruce Bochy calls the shots but long-time Padres nemesis Barry Bonds no longer calls home. We caught up with veteran Giants blogger El Lefty Malo to chat about the upcoming series between these two NL West rivals. Ducksnorts: Let's start with the elephant in the room: What does Barry Bonds' departure mean to the Giants franchise and the city of San Francisco? El Lefty Malo: In the context of everything else that's happened this winter, it means the Giants should have the worst offense in the major leagues this year. They were just about there with Bonds, and adding Aaron Rowand isn't going ...

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Posted in Interviews | 28 Comments »

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Padres Pick Up Black’s Option

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres have picked up manager Bud Black's option for 2009 and reportedly would like to extend his contract even further. Quoth GM Kevin Towers: We thought he had a great year and he's only going to get better and better. He's a pro, he's smart, he represents the organization very, very well. The players like him. The longer he's here and the more people get to know him they're going to realize he's a ...

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Posted in Baseball | 92 Comments »

Prospects, Meetups, and Fantasy League

Thursday, February 21, 2008
by Geoff Young

Uh-oh, another post full of bullet points. I am so jonesing for actual games... I'm seriously stuck in the past. The latest installment in my re-examination of the top prospects of '98 is up at Knuckle Curve. Padres relevance? Rafael Medina checks in at #72, Ramon Hernandez at #74. Turning the clock back another decade, I've written a brief retrospective of the 1988 Pacific Coast League over at Hardball Times. Padres everywhere in this one: Sandy Alomar Jr., Greg Harris, Jerald Clark, Ken Caminiti, Shane Mack, Gary Lucas, Bruce Bochy, Darrel Akerfelds, Kevin Towers. Fun stuff. Ben B. points us to a ...

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Posted in Baseball | 49 Comments »

Black vs Bochy

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
by Geoff Young

I picked up the Bill James Handbook 2008 (aff link), and as always, it's got all kinds of good stuff inside. Among other things, it contains detailed information on managers and their tendencies. Seeing as how the Padres had a new one of those in '07 (Bud Black for those just coming out of a coma), I thought it might be instructive to compare him with his predecessor (Bruce Bochy for those... oh, never mind). Season Ticket Holders Night The winter season ticket holder event took place at Petco Park on Tuesday night. Tales of the Heliosphere has details here, ...

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Posted in Baseball, Future Friars | 244 Comments »

Interview: Steve Poltz, Part 4

Thursday, December 6, 2007
by Geoff Young

In Part 3 of our chat with singer/songwriter/Padre fan Steve Poltz (poltz.com), Steve discussed the connections between music and baseball, Jewel, and the Ramones. In the latest installment, Steve talks about the Roseanne Barr incident, running up Bruce Bochy's minibar tab at a hotel, and pelting his parents' walls with marbles as part of a childhood baseball game he'd invented... *** Ducksnorts: Getting back to baseball, what are some of your favorite memories from watching the Padres play -- or really any baseball memories? Steve Poltz: I'll always remember being at the game watching Roseanne Barr sing the national anthem and laughing so hard, thinking it was awesome because she was so funny -- not even thinking it ...

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Posted in Interviews | 175 Comments »

Managerial Non-Update

Tuesday, November 7, 2006
by Geoff Young

Sorry for the lack of managerial coverage -- I've been dedicating almost all of my time to the book lately (hope you're enjoying the excerpts). Here's a recap of where we're at and what's next for the Padres in their search for Bruce Bochy's replacement: All six candidates (Dusty Baker, Bud Black, Trey Hillman, Jose Oquendo, Tim Wallach, Ron Wotus) have been interviewed. Kevin Towers has said that he expects to have a decision made by Thursday or Friday. Mike Cameron has vouched for Baker, despite never having played for the man. This fascinates me ...

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Posted in Baseball | 36 Comments »