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False Expectation

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
by Geoff Young

For the working magician, the best tool in his toolbox is a little thing we like to call the false expectation. If played right, it can stun an audience into total submission. 1973 Draft Need a break from the current season? My article on the '73 amateur draft is now up at Hardball Times. Where's Dave Winfield when you need him... "What About Bob," the tenth episode of the regrettably short-lived Dresden Files, opens with Harry's father receiving word that he's landed a job on a cruise ship. Moments later, after telling young Harry the good news, the father suffers a heart attack and dies. False expectation. Seems like ...

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Posted in Baseball | 73 Comments »

Peavy Ties Benes, Bullpen (Barely) Holds On to Beat Mets

Thursday, August 23, 2007
by Geoff Young

Nice to hang on for the win Wednesday night (box score). Congrats to Jake Peavy for tying Andy Benes' career mark for strikeouts by a Padres pitcher. The game wasn't without its white-knuckle moments, aka the ninth inning. Several folks have noted that the Padres are having difficulty closing out games, and I'm happy (or unhappy, really) to report that it's not all in your head: Padres Relievers, First and Second Half PlayerFirst HalfSecond Half IPERABAOBPSLGIPERABAOBPSLG Statistics are through games of August 22, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference. Note: Linebrink's numbers are with ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 95 Comments »

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Brian Guile

Tuesday, July 3, 2007
by Geoff Young

Seeing Brian Giles reach base three times in the leadoff spot and score two of the Padres' three runs Monday night (recap | box score) is great. Seeing how he did it is even better. In the first inning, Marlins right-hander Sergio Mitre retired Giles on three pitches. Call it a mulligan. Next time up, leading off the fourth, Giles smoked a 1-0 fastball out over the plate into left-center field for a double. He took third on a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Marcus Giles (who almost beat it for a single) and scored on an Adrian Gonzalez grounder to second. With the ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 42 Comments »

Another City, Another Series Win

Monday, June 18, 2007
by Geoff Young

Good to see the boys wrap up the road trip with a couple of wins in Chicago. Even better to see Mike Cameron playing well again. Since May 1, he's batting .288/.341/.532. That's more like it. The fight on Saturday? I'll be honest; I hate that aspect of professional sports -- nobody walks away from a brawl looking cool. At the same time, you can't just sit there and take it. I'm grateful that nobody got hurt. And I give huge kudos to Marcus Giles for taking down Chris Young, his own pitcher, before CY had a chance to land a punch and break his hand or some such. That potentially was a season-saving tackle. Many ...

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Posted in Baseball, Minors | 100 Comments »

Friday Links (1 Jun 07)

Friday, June 1, 2007
by Geoff Young

I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am the Padres came back to win Thursday night. I'm not sure how much enthusiasm I could've faked if they'd lost to Shawn Chacon. Nice to see Khalil Greene render the umpires' confusion regarding Josh Bard's 11th inning "double" irrelevant by driving home pinch-runner Rob Bowen from third. Milestones? Mike Cameron knocked his 200th big-league homer (to win the game, no less), Trevor Hoffman nailed down save #498. And Bud Black's ejection was his first as a player, coach, or manager. He's now ...

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Posted in Minors, Notes and Links | 28 Comments »

Padres Sign Latos, Beat Bucs

Thursday, May 31, 2007
by Geoff Young

It's not often that a 9-0 victory takes a backseat to a draft signing. Then again, it's not often that the Padres sign a guy like Matt Latos. In case you missed it, the Pads and Latos agreed to terms late Wednesday evening. Jim Callis at BA has the bonus at $1.25 million, well off what Latos reportedly had been seeking. Needless to say, I am beyond fired up about this signing. Latos, who is scheduled to begin his pro career at Eugene, Oregon (road trip!), immediately becomes the best pitcher in the system. On a more pimpalicious note, I'll be liveblogging the MLB ...

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Posted in Game Recaps, Minors | 73 Comments »

Lots of Lumber, a Little Ballet

Wednesday, May 23, 2007
by Geoff Young

For the second straight start, Jake Peavy worked extremely hard in the first inning and then settled down to pitch a good game. I'm mostly encouraged by this. It's great that Peavy is showing the ability to pitch to contact; maybe next he can figure out how to do that out of the gate: Jake Peavy in the First Inning DateOppPitHRBBSO Stats courtesy of ESPN. 5/16/07Cin344201 5/22/07ChN302112 Jake Peavy after the First Inning DateOppPitIPHRBBSO Stats courtesy of ESPN. 5/16/07Cin7165014 5/22/07ChN6852004 So, Peavy can be efficient. Now he just needs to do it more. And, yes, I realize I'm whining about a guy who leads the league in ERA. I'm an ass. The bullpen had a rough night as well. Collectively they didn't break, but they sure did ...

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Posted in Amateur, Game Recaps, Minors | 28 Comments »