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 »

None More Epic

Saturday, April 19, 2008
by Geoff Young
I'm late to the party -- blame a lack of sleep and previously scheduled interview (Jim returned the favor and interviewed me at AZ Snakepit) -- but here are some observations from Thursday's epic 22-inning battle with the Rockies: Jake Peavy dominated. Yeah, the game went another 14 innings after Peavy departed, but he was brilliant. Trevor Hoffman can thank Petco Park for killing two thunderous fly balls and keeping the game alive in the ninth. I'm still not ready to give up on baseball's all-time saves leader, but Hoffman's margin for error has slipped ...
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Posted in Game Recaps | 17 Comments »

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I’ll Trade You Box Scores for a Time Machine

Sunday, March 2, 2008
by Geoff Young
Actual games, eh? Nice. The Padres lost on Friday and won on Saturday. Rookie Chase Headley, bidding for a spot in the San Diego outfield, homered and drove in four runs in the victory. Be sure to read a lot into that. Hey, I like having box scores to look at again, but seriously, it's March 2. Randy Wolf had a "rough start" Saturday, throwing 30 pitches in the process. Friday's starter, Shawn Estes, threw the same number in his outing. Why is Estes a candidate for the #5 spot in the rotation? On a related note, has anyone invented a time machine yet? I was pretty good in 1997, too... at something, I'm sure. Wolf was good this century, so he's ...
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Posted in Spring Training | 24 Comments »