Links for 31 Oct 08

Friday, October 31, 2008
by Geoff Young
Happy Halloween! To the links... Sabathia's free agency could set up a big payday for Padres ace (San Diego Union-Tribune). Reader Nick G. sends us an update on the Jake Peavy "story" from Tom Krasovic. Quoth Peavy's agent, Barry Axelrod: Making this about money is not my style, nor Jake's style. I think we proved that. But at the same time, I don't think Jake should have to sacrifice anything. I don't doubt Axelrod's sincerity, but these millionaires need to let go of that whole "it's not about the money" thing. Even if they believe it, and even if they're correct in believing it, nobody wants to hear about Peavy's "sacrifice." Don't get me wrong, ...
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Posted in Notes and Links | 8 Comments »

Padres Farm Report: Spotlight on Lake Elsinore

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
by Geoff Young
The situation may be bleak in San Diego this year, but a mere 74 miles to the north, things are looking pretty good. Let's take a quick drive up I-15 and see what's happening with the Storm... Lake Elsinore Storm in a Box: Record: 53-61 Runs Scored: 648 Runs Allowed: 629 BA/OBP/SLG: .275/.357/.400 (California League: .274/.343/.413) ERA: 4.89 (CAL: 4.57) DER: .628 (MWL: .629) Source: Baseball-Reference. First, the bad news. The pitching at Elsinore has been brutal. Only two teams, Rancho Cucamonga and High Desert, have higher team ERAs so far in 2008. High Desert has a good excuse, playing half its games in one of the most extreme environments in all of affiliated baseball. The Diamond, home of the Storm, historically has favored ...
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Posted in Minors | 14 Comments »

Padres tickets  Chargers tickets  Sports tickets

Friday Links (4 Jan 08)

Friday, January 4, 2008
by Geoff Young
Got the coffee flowing, music playing: Massive Attack, Groove Collective, and George Benson if anyone cares. The Benson is his The Other Side of Abbey Road, which is full of Beatles songs and which absolutely sizzles. His guitar lines are so fluid, it's disgusting. I mean, he's not Joe Pass or Grant Green, but still. Apparently Benson recorded his album just three weeks after the actual Abbey Road was released. How sick is that? Anyway, you come here for the baseball. Very well, then, let's get to it: The Last 4 Years: Part 1 (Regular Season) (Sdpads1 Blog). The Padres own the fourth best record in the National League since moving into Petco ...
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Posted in Notes and Links | 91 Comments »

Adios, 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007
by Geoff Young
It's the end of the year as we know it, and I feel fine. Last year at this time, I ran a list of the most popular articles at Ducksnorts in 2006. This time around, I thought I'd try something a little different and give you a list of my favorite articles from 2007, i.e., ones I enjoyed writing the most. I hope you like them, too: Winter Warm-Up: Temecula. In January, the Padres hosted a free event in Temecula to get fans of the Padres and the Lake Elsinore Storm fired up for the coming season. Several players and San Diego icon Randy Jones participated in a Q&A with Storm radio broadcaster Sean McCall. Among other things, we ...
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Posted in Baseball | 11 Comments »

California/Carolina League All-Star Game

Sunday, July 11, 1999
by Geoff Young
Last month the all stars from two Class-A leagues clashed at the Lake Elsinore Diamond to display their talents and bring victory to their league. My wife and I left work early and drove the hour or so up I-15 to the check out the game. We parked in a dirt lot (overflow parking for the big crowd) adjacent to the stadium, and as we made our way into the state-of-the-art facility, the home run hitting contest was just getting underway. After the obligatory stop at the gift shop to pick up a Lake Elsinore Storm cap, we stood in the concourse and watched Chin-Feng Chen, of the San Bernardino Stampede (Dodgers), knock a ball out of the park. Visalia Oaks (Athletics) first baseman Todd Mensik ...
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Posted in Baseball | 1 Comment »