ducksnorts

Comments Returning… Sort Of

Friday, August 29, 2008
by Geoff Young

Part of a host's responsibility is to lay out and enforce ground rules that enable all guests to enjoy themselves. I'm afraid that as Ducksnorts has grown, I've neglected this duty and allowed us to stray too far from our mission, which is to discuss baseball in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. For that, I am sorry. Over the past week I've had a chance to reflect, and I've come to realize that we really do need reader comments here. At their best, they significantly enhance the value of Ducksnorts for all of us. With that in mind, I'll be reinstating comment functionality on Monday, September 1... with a twist. Stay Focused To help ensure that everyone follows the Community Guidelines and Moderation Policy (read this, understand ...

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Posted in Administrivia | No Comments »

Cleaning Up the Comments

Monday, July 21, 2008
by Geoff Young

Ever since I added the commenting feature to Ducksnorts several years ago, I've enjoyed hearing what other folks have to say. I've learned a lot from debating topics of mutual interest in a constructive and respectful manner. Lately, though, we've lost our focus thanks in large part to my laxity in enforcing the Ducksnorts Comments Policy. It's in my nature to err on the side of permissiveness, which I'm sorry to say hasn't served the community well. That changes now. Henceforth I will be reviewing all comments to ensure that they adhere to the Ducksnorts Comments Policy. Anything that doesn't is subject to removal without prior notice. If I have time and I'm feeling magnanimous, I may email you with an explanation, but I'm a writer, ...

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Posted in Administrivia | 1 Comment »

Padres tickets Chargers tickets Sports tickets

Me, the Highway, and Life

Monday, June 30, 2008
by Geoff Young

Okay, here's the deal. I'm driving up to Oregon this week to visit family and catch a couple of minor-league games. I don't know what my availability will be like while I'm off yonder, so posting will be real light this week. I will try to pop in every now and then with reports, pix, and/or videos from the road, but I can't make any promises. At the very least, we'll have the IGDs up and running every day -- assuming anyone is still interested in talking about the games at this point. ;-) When I return to San Diego, it will be to a full-time office gig. Yeah, it's about the money. My family and I miss it. Also, if I've learned anything from writing ...

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Posted in Administrivia, Off-Topic | 20 Comments »

Chatting with Sandy Alderson (Part 2)

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
by Geoff Young

This is the second of a three-part interview (Part 1 is here) with San Diego Padres CEO Sandy Alderson. Big thanks to Mr. Alderson for taking time out of his busy schedule to make himself available, and also to his assistant, Dayle Tedrow, for her indispensable assistance in making this happen. Ducksnorts: What exactly are the daily responsibilities of your current position, and is there an off-season for you? Alderson: No, there's really not an off-season. During the season we have a game virtually every day... so there are always things going on. My job during the season is to oversee day-to-day activity and be responsive to people who need some direction, and provide a public face for the team and be able to deal with ...

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Posted in Interviews | 35 Comments »

Updates to Comments Policy

Sunday, May 25, 2008
by Geoff Young

Just a quick note to let y'all know I've made a few updates to the Comments Policy. Also, since we've been getting more new participants lately (thanks, and welcome to my home), this is a good time to remind folks to review and familiarize themselves with the policy. Here are the latest updates: I do read every comment posted at Ducksnorts. However, because the site has become so popular (thank you!), it is not always possible for me to respond in a timely manner or even at all. I do my best to be part of the conversation, but writing about baseball is my full-time job, which means that when I'm responding to comments, I'm not working, which is a problem when it comes time to ...

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Posted in Administrivia | 1 Comment »

Series Preview: Mac Thomason Talks Braves

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres continue their East Coast swing with three in Atlanta starting Tuesday evening. To learn more about the 2008 Braves, I checked in with Mac Thomason, of the venerable and most excellent blog Braves Journal. Ducksnorts: The NL East looks to be tight again this year. How do you like the Braves' chances? Thomason: I'd like it better if I was confident in John Smoltz's shoulder or Rafael Soriano's elbow. The Braves are going to score some runs; they're outscoring the Phillies this year even with the Phillies' park advantage. But right now the starting pitching is a huge mess (I realize that the Braves have been better at preventing runs than scoring them so far, but looking at ...

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Posted in Interviews | 45 Comments »

Padres Farm Report (5 May 08)

Monday, May 5, 2008
by Geoff Young

Before we get to Sunday's games, here's a brief chat I had with John Conniff, of MadFriars.com, about his impressions from a recent trip to Portland: Ducksnorts: The big names at Portland, of course, are Chase Headley and Matt Antonelli. How do they look so far this year? Conniff: Obviously by the numbers that they are putting up not that great. The big difference that I could see from them this year from last at San Antonio is they are both having trouble adjusting to the fact that Triple-A pitchers can throw strikes early in the count with their secondary pitches and have better fastball command than Double-A. Consequently they are both hitting behind in the count it seems nearly every time and are ...

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Posted in Future Friars, Interviews | 2 Comments »