Spring Training

There Goes a Really Slow Man

Friday, July 18, 2008
by Geoff Young

The Padres have dealt first baseman Tony Clark to Arizona for minor-league right-hander Evan Scribner. That's two trades between the teams in the past 12 months after a decade of nothing, in case you're wondering. Most fans in San Diego will remember Clark for his dramatic homer against the Mets' Billy Wagner on June 8, which culminated a season-high five-game winning streak for the Pads. I'll remember Clark for talking about his kid's soccer game during batting practice back in spring training. That and his being lifted for some ...

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Posted in Roster Notes | 41 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 »

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You Say It’s Your Birthday?

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
by Geoff Young

Two men with Padres ties celebrate their birthday today. Catcher George Williams, who appeared in 11 games for the Pads in 2000, turns 38. In the fifth inning of a September 2 contest against the Pirates, Williams hit the last of his 10 big-league home runs, a blast to right-center off right-hander Todd Ritchie that plated the late Mike Darr and kept the Padres close in a game they eventually lost, 6-3. Preston Gomez managed the inaugural Padres squad in 1969 and stuck around through the first 11 games of 1972. He finished his Padres managerial career with a 180-316 record, and later managed the Astros and ...

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Posted in Open Thread | 75 Comments »

Friday Links (21 Mar 08)

Friday, March 21, 2008
by Geoff Young

Reminder to folks here in San Diego: I'll be on "SportsWrap" this Sunday evening at 11:35 p.m. PT. Tune to NBC 7/39 for your chance to see a real-live baseball dork on television. To the links... Bill Center at the U-T takes a look at roster possibilities. According to this, Glendon Rusch will be in the bullpen and Wil Ledezma (who is out of options) likely will be on the staff in some capacity. In related news, Jim Edmonds is optimistic hopeful he'll be ready for Opening Day. Tom Krasovic at the U-T ...

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Posted in Notes and Links | 108 Comments »

Cactus League Photos

Saturday, March 8, 2008
by Geoff Young

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. See full photo set at Flickr. How cool was Friday's game? I'm talking about all the Ducksnorters, of course. I hung out with Lance all day, and met up with LynchMob, Bruce (and dad), and Aaron at various points. I'd say that was pretty cool. I even managed to catch a foul ball off the bat of Luis Rodriguez. First time I've ever caught a foul ball at a game. For whatever spring training performances might be worth, our Chris Young looked terrific. Scott Hairston hit the ball hard every time up, resulting in a homer and a double. He also got ...

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Posted in Spring Training | 20 Comments »

Peoria on My Mind

Thursday, March 6, 2008
by Geoff Young

I'm scrambling to get ready for Peoria, so I need to direct you elsewhere today. I'm thinking about fun story lines for '08 at Hardball Times and the Top 100 prospects from '98 at Knuckle Curve. Also, reader LynchMob has taken some short videos from actual spring training games. Sweet! Lessee, what else have I got? Okay, here's a question for you: Who will be the biggest surprise among this year's Padres? Positive, negative, whatever. Give me a name and a reason. Or talk about whatever else is on your mind. Be excellent...

Posted in Open Thread | 60 Comments »

Gary Gygax and Spring Training TV Schedule

Wednesday, March 5, 2008
by Geoff Young

Gary Gygax died on Tuesday. Along with Bill James and the folks who created Intellivision, Gygax was an unwitting participant in my misspent youth. He probably also helped me survive said youth, but that's another story. Seriously, we had plenty of ways to waste time before this here Internet thing. My humblest thanks to Mr. Gygax for helping me realize that. . . . So, baseball. They're playing games but I haven't watched any, so I don't have much to say. Thankfully that's about to change. Here's the Padres spring training TV schedule (times are PT, games on Channel 4SD): Sun, Mar 9 vs White Sox, 1:05 ...

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Posted in Open Thread | 26 Comments »