Monday, August 11, 2008
Any Questions?
If there are any of you Padres fans out there that would like to ask any question please reply to this post and I will be happy to answer them. Remember no question is dumb.
Padres finally pull out a win, and get a season high 16 runs
After racing out to an 11-run lead through three innings Sunday afternoon, the only drama the Padres probably should have encountered was whether stadium security would be able to recover rookie catcher Luke Carlin's first Major League home run from the outfield seats.
The Padres played in Coors Field, the mile-high city, and manager Bud Black knew in the back of his mind that no lead is safe in this field
"A four-run lead is a one- or two-run lead here," Black said. "In this park, you never know how it's going to play out."
And while the Padres set a season high for runs scored in a game, their 16-7 victory on Sunday over the Rockies before a crowd of 45,660 was anything but easy and certainly anything but mundane.
The Padres (46-72) got home runs from Kevin Kouzmanoff, Brian Giles, Jody Gerut and Carlin, who was recalled on Saturday. In fact, one can argue that his opposite-field, three-run home run in the sixth inning turned the momentum in a game where the momentum, seemingly, should have never left the Padres' side.
San Diego starting pitcher Chris Young, staked to an 11-0 lead, ran up a high pitch count early in the game, thanks in part to three walks over four innings and that he couldn't get a strike called above the waist.
After three scoreless innings, Young got in trouble in the fourth inning, when he yielded a leadoff double to Garrett Atkins. Ian Stewart then lined a ball to Edgar Gonzalez at second base. Gonzalez left his feet and the ball glanced off his glove and trickled into the outfield as a run scored.
Had Gonzalez made the catch, he could have easily doubled Atkins off second, who had strayed off the bag. Instead, the inning rolled on, and so did the Rockies.
The Rockies scored six more runs and chased Young from the game, one inning shy of qualifying for the victory. All told, Young allowed seven runs on nine hits and left with his pitch count at 96 after four innings.
"The strike zone was a little tight, and there were a few borderline pitches that didn't go my way," Young said. "Then I missed out over the plate to a very good-hitting team. It was a long inning. I threw a lot of pitches. I wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be."
Bud Black stated, "These are the types of games we need to get back on track."
The Padres played in Coors Field, the mile-high city, and manager Bud Black knew in the back of his mind that no lead is safe in this field
"A four-run lead is a one- or two-run lead here," Black said. "In this park, you never know how it's going to play out."
And while the Padres set a season high for runs scored in a game, their 16-7 victory on Sunday over the Rockies before a crowd of 45,660 was anything but easy and certainly anything but mundane.
The Padres (46-72) got home runs from Kevin Kouzmanoff, Brian Giles, Jody Gerut and Carlin, who was recalled on Saturday. In fact, one can argue that his opposite-field, three-run home run in the sixth inning turned the momentum in a game where the momentum, seemingly, should have never left the Padres' side.
San Diego starting pitcher Chris Young, staked to an 11-0 lead, ran up a high pitch count early in the game, thanks in part to three walks over four innings and that he couldn't get a strike called above the waist.
After three scoreless innings, Young got in trouble in the fourth inning, when he yielded a leadoff double to Garrett Atkins. Ian Stewart then lined a ball to Edgar Gonzalez at second base. Gonzalez left his feet and the ball glanced off his glove and trickled into the outfield as a run scored.
Had Gonzalez made the catch, he could have easily doubled Atkins off second, who had strayed off the bag. Instead, the inning rolled on, and so did the Rockies.
The Rockies scored six more runs and chased Young from the game, one inning shy of qualifying for the victory. All told, Young allowed seven runs on nine hits and left with his pitch count at 96 after four innings.
"The strike zone was a little tight, and there were a few borderline pitches that didn't go my way," Young said. "Then I missed out over the plate to a very good-hitting team. It was a long inning. I threw a lot of pitches. I wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be."
Bud Black stated, "These are the types of games we need to get back on track."
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Dog Days
Ah, every ballplayer's favorite time of year; the weather is miserable in most parts of the country, their bodies ache, slumps and streaks lead to a sort of manic attitude, clubhouse turmoil either simmers or boils, and all without the aide of greenies anymore. Yes, the dog days are upon us.
On that note, I apologize for beginning my little blog here so late in the game. I, too, have been mired in my own dog days. And to be honest, as much as I love following the "kids" on this Dodger team, they still seemed a year or so away from reaching their true potential as a ballclub, so this season (injuries and all) has felt, for lack of a better word, somewhat boring. It feels wrong to say that, I know. I love watching Russ, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, Bills, Brox, and once again, Clayton Kershaw who has made me feel like a complete loser (CK, 20 years old and in the bigs. Nick, 22, college graduate, sitting on his butt writing about CK. Hmm, if only I were left handed.) These guys are not boring to me, not in the slightest. In fact, they are the only saving grace of this season if you ask me.
What is boring? Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, No-more, and Joe Torre to an increasing level. It had gotten to such a frustrating level about a week ago that I had almost written this season off. Slappy McPopup (aka Juan Pierre) might be one of the most useless ballplayers I have ever seen. Jones is a joke. And Mr. Mia Hamm would be fine if he didn't have the whole requisite DL stint every 2 weeks. So, our young kids (20-26) are being asked to carry this team offensively, and while they show flashes of brilliance, they also find themselves striking out in the clutch. Call it a learning curve, a learning curve that productive vets are supposed to help alleviate. Problem--out vets have not been productive.
So, like I said, I had just about given up on the season, holding out slight hope that we might take the division based on, in my opinion, a VERY underrated pitching staff and the off chance that Raffy could come back and reignite the O. That is, until Pau pt. II.
Manny Ramirez turns this team into a legit contender to actually win our first playoff series since 1988 (and we all know how that ended). The future HOFer so far has gone 8-13 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 runs, and a slugging percentage over 1.100. Damn. The only downside to this whole trade has been Torre's insistance on benching Ethier, who deserves to start everyday.
So, anyway Dodgers fans, I'm back a peak fanaticism. Bear with me on the posts: this is my first time blogging, so I may need a bit of a learning curve myself. But I'll be here often and I'm open to suggestion.
Go BLUE!
On that note, I apologize for beginning my little blog here so late in the game. I, too, have been mired in my own dog days. And to be honest, as much as I love following the "kids" on this Dodger team, they still seemed a year or so away from reaching their true potential as a ballclub, so this season (injuries and all) has felt, for lack of a better word, somewhat boring. It feels wrong to say that, I know. I love watching Russ, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, Bills, Brox, and once again, Clayton Kershaw who has made me feel like a complete loser (CK, 20 years old and in the bigs. Nick, 22, college graduate, sitting on his butt writing about CK. Hmm, if only I were left handed.) These guys are not boring to me, not in the slightest. In fact, they are the only saving grace of this season if you ask me.
What is boring? Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, No-more, and Joe Torre to an increasing level. It had gotten to such a frustrating level about a week ago that I had almost written this season off. Slappy McPopup (aka Juan Pierre) might be one of the most useless ballplayers I have ever seen. Jones is a joke. And Mr. Mia Hamm would be fine if he didn't have the whole requisite DL stint every 2 weeks. So, our young kids (20-26) are being asked to carry this team offensively, and while they show flashes of brilliance, they also find themselves striking out in the clutch. Call it a learning curve, a learning curve that productive vets are supposed to help alleviate. Problem--out vets have not been productive.
So, like I said, I had just about given up on the season, holding out slight hope that we might take the division based on, in my opinion, a VERY underrated pitching staff and the off chance that Raffy could come back and reignite the O. That is, until Pau pt. II.
Manny Ramirez turns this team into a legit contender to actually win our first playoff series since 1988 (and we all know how that ended). The future HOFer so far has gone 8-13 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 runs, and a slugging percentage over 1.100. Damn. The only downside to this whole trade has been Torre's insistance on benching Ethier, who deserves to start everyday.
So, anyway Dodgers fans, I'm back a peak fanaticism. Bear with me on the posts: this is my first time blogging, so I may need a bit of a learning curve myself. But I'll be here often and I'm open to suggestion.
Go BLUE!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth
By Douglas McDaniel
Mythville MetaMedia
As C.C. Sabbathia enters the National League race as only baseball's second-in-the-lead greed head behind Alex Rodriguez, whose sensationalized divorce and alleged indiscretions connected with Madonna transcend baseball itself, entering the realm of mirrors to pop culture, I can only find one other creature that may be more dangerous on earth than the one I'd already picked out: The Baby Boomer.
Sure, the Baby Boomer has all of the social services lined up for it. All of the income in America. Almost. All of the savings. All of the homes that followed the road of excess to their palaces of inflation-driven income, in terms of their homes, for many decades. Which is why that aging generation kept Bush in office for eight years, and why, my bet is, they will get their stimulus package checks last. As in: right before the election. "Bush bought votes with devilish plan," I can see the late summer, maybe even early fall headlines now.
But now my mind is on that mid-summer classic: The pre-All Star Break trades that try to tilt each year's race one way or another. They are driven by the greed of the looming off-season. That is when teams go into speculation mode trying to justify the insane amounts of money for many of these mercenary players. They are the who that enter my considerations now.
Anyhoo, Sabbathia, with his wicked fastball, is at least the most dangerous man in the National League. Because nobody has really seen that much of his fastball. But, on the higher plane of examination of social values in America, as someone the kiddies can look up to, he's an even bigger kick. With his tipped cap and all. How cute. I mean, here's a guy entering the last year of his contract with that once-hopeful team who couldn't get his head straight to make the Cleveland Indians a contender until only just recently, when consideration of such trading in the futures of talent stock loomed.
So now, enter Matt Holiday. He Big Rocky. He Raised on Rocky Mountain High. He Nobody at First. He Now Loved as Team's Best Player. He Make Big Numbers at High Altitudes. He Make Thunder Rain from Sky. He Chief Big Rockies Rainmaker.
But now he's, sadly, as big trade bait in this insane game called baseball. Which used to be all about, O, say it ain't so, loyalty. To the fans. To tradition. To the cult of hyper-local personality. You know ... the obvious things that are true and therefore give us fans reason to live every day.
Yet the Los Angeles Dodgers want him now, reportedly, if only for this season. Maybe next season. Maybe not. They really have no worries. If they wanted to this season, they could buy the presidential election by donating a few cabillion bucks in either direction. But that's not really important. What's really important is a speculative deal for a guy who hits .344 with an asterisk because 81 of those 162 games are played a mile high.
Next season, as a free agent, Holliday, with those gaudy figures, could stand to make more than $100 million in a multi-year-deal. Let's say a four-year-deal. Who knows. Maybe a deal long enough as the term of the next president of the United States.
But while the Boomers are really just a deconstruction of what once inspired America to greatness, these new Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth serve more as an inspiration to the cast of young ballplayers, say the sprightly spoiled indoors membership club called the Arizona Diamondbacks, who now at mid-season get to see what the game, which they played as bright-eyed kids since they were born, outdoors, in the summer heat, is really all about: greed.
Yeah, I would go 50-50 to, in terms of wins and losses after losing a huge lead, if I were a 21-year-old Justin Upton looking at such possibilities as:
1) Trysts with Madonna
2) More contemporary: Ashley Simpson, or whatever passes for a pop star with great tits these days
3) More money than Barack Obama, the American Jesus with a yo-ho-ho ... an incredible campaign chest himself.
So party up, ye pirates who not be members of this emerging super rich generation of corporations in the making. Yer dreams be sailing away faster than the Pittsburgh Pirates, once titans roiling the waves before this all really started to get bad, can even get their first sea sick on before their salty sea seasons even begin!
Is it any surprise Holliday, despite the Rockies' woes, is one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now.
Such an inspiration!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Rockies: A Life of Unbearable Self-Analysis
Well, as this web effort can be congratulated for pulling itself into self-realization, the same cannot by said for this season's edition of the Colorado Rockies. Who, if anything after last year's incredible late season run, have returned to a more historic status quo of hitting well, but losing. Losing close when pitching well. Playing poorly on the road. Blaming it on the altitude. And so on.
Though they had been playing better of late after a brawl with the Dodgers ignited a smell of the team spirit, they have returned to mediocrity this week, losing two straight on the road, but nonetheless winning six of their last 10. Problem is: The Arizona Diamondbacks, who have owned them all year, and, owe a debt of gratitude to the Rockies for playing so poorly against them early in the season, thereby setting them up as an apparent powerhouse, if perhaps overrated, in the National League.
Yeah, you could blame the injuries. A bit. At times this year their disabled list lineup was better than the one they have been putting on the field. But injuries came well after the losing began. Now this team has to play catch-up, at 10.5 games behind with a D-Backs squad that's perfectly capable of winning 1-0 every other night or so, due to their outstanding starting pitching, even when they don't hit.
Now they are considering the need to dump Matt Holiday, who could make enough to buy a small jet fighter in free agency next season. And so the Rockies are now left in that disgraceful zone of real economics where a talent who has been nurtured and grown at Coors Field to become one of the most productive hitters in the game now must be traded to a team that can afford to pay a ridiculous salary.
So, as we enter this endeavor there's really no reason to analyze why they can't seem to manage winning 20-straight games this season, much less three-straight, since everything is pretty much status quo. Last year was an aberration. What does need to be analyzed, though, is whether Clint Hurdle really, even if he seems to be one of the nicest managers in the league, is really all he's been cracked up to be. For example, when it comes to deciding when to pull one of his starters his sense of timing is terrible. He's either too soon or too late.
Also, this team needs its middle infield back, with Clint Barmes going on the DL after hitting up a storm, and Troy Tulowitski still being a long way from coming back after a great rookie season last year.
They had finally found the right style of pitching last year: Guys with great sinkers. But this year, they haven't been sinking. With the exception of Aaron Cook (9-3, 3.21 ERA) and Jeff Francis pitching a little bit better in recent weeks, they have returned to being a cast of folks who remain to be like what happens at Thanksgiving when mom and dad set up a table for the kids. Yeah, it's a feast all right. But nobody worth a salt will ever be willing to sit at that table since pitching at Coors Field, from a eyes of any free agent starting pitcher looking to make a few dollars, is a good way to ruin your career stats.
So it's same 'ol same 'ol for the Rockies. Great place to watch a game, sure, if you like long drives and crazy scores. But as contenders. Well, let's just see what they can do when and if they get their lineup back in order.
Though they had been playing better of late after a brawl with the Dodgers ignited a smell of the team spirit, they have returned to mediocrity this week, losing two straight on the road, but nonetheless winning six of their last 10. Problem is: The Arizona Diamondbacks, who have owned them all year, and, owe a debt of gratitude to the Rockies for playing so poorly against them early in the season, thereby setting them up as an apparent powerhouse, if perhaps overrated, in the National League.
Yeah, you could blame the injuries. A bit. At times this year their disabled list lineup was better than the one they have been putting on the field. But injuries came well after the losing began. Now this team has to play catch-up, at 10.5 games behind with a D-Backs squad that's perfectly capable of winning 1-0 every other night or so, due to their outstanding starting pitching, even when they don't hit.
Now they are considering the need to dump Matt Holiday, who could make enough to buy a small jet fighter in free agency next season. And so the Rockies are now left in that disgraceful zone of real economics where a talent who has been nurtured and grown at Coors Field to become one of the most productive hitters in the game now must be traded to a team that can afford to pay a ridiculous salary.
So, as we enter this endeavor there's really no reason to analyze why they can't seem to manage winning 20-straight games this season, much less three-straight, since everything is pretty much status quo. Last year was an aberration. What does need to be analyzed, though, is whether Clint Hurdle really, even if he seems to be one of the nicest managers in the league, is really all he's been cracked up to be. For example, when it comes to deciding when to pull one of his starters his sense of timing is terrible. He's either too soon or too late.
Also, this team needs its middle infield back, with Clint Barmes going on the DL after hitting up a storm, and Troy Tulowitski still being a long way from coming back after a great rookie season last year.
They had finally found the right style of pitching last year: Guys with great sinkers. But this year, they haven't been sinking. With the exception of Aaron Cook (9-3, 3.21 ERA) and Jeff Francis pitching a little bit better in recent weeks, they have returned to being a cast of folks who remain to be like what happens at Thanksgiving when mom and dad set up a table for the kids. Yeah, it's a feast all right. But nobody worth a salt will ever be willing to sit at that table since pitching at Coors Field, from a eyes of any free agent starting pitcher looking to make a few dollars, is a good way to ruin your career stats.
So it's same 'ol same 'ol for the Rockies. Great place to watch a game, sure, if you like long drives and crazy scores. But as contenders. Well, let's just see what they can do when and if they get their lineup back in order.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Welcome!
This post officially kicks off the start of The NL West Blog, This is the final blog launched in a network of 6 divisional blogs, as it joins the The AL East Blog, The NL Central Blog, The AL Central Blog, The AL West Blog, and The NL East Blog as part of the No Bias Network. Our goal is to be your one-stop shop for anything NL West related. Whether you use this site to follow your team or keep an eye on your rivals, we hope you enjoy.
I would like to do a short introduction of all the writers on staff here. We will have one writer representing each team in the division. These writers will do there best to keep the readers up to date on all the current affairs of their individual teams.
The Staff:
Diamondbacks - Jeff Wilson
Profile Coming Soon!
Dodgers - Nick Egan
My name is Nick Egan and I'm a graduating senior at the University of California, San Diego. I've been a baseball/Dodger fan my entire life, and I am an aspiring writer, so writing about them on a regular basis works perfectly for me. I like long walks on the...nevermind. While I live in San Diego now, I am from Santa Barbara, CA (about 90 mi north of Los Angeles for those not familiar), and I intend to be moving to Los Angeles within the next year or so. Anyway, as always, Go Blue!
Giants - Tyler Hurst
Tyler Hurst is a baseball geek. He grew up reading sports trivia, memorizing baseball cards and scouring the sports section for stats. He also knows the infield fly rule and doesn't hesitate to explain it to anyone within earshot. You can usually find him working the waiver wire in his fantasy leagues or re-telling childhood baseball stories.
Padres - Needed
If interested please contact Matt Bishoff at nobiasnetwork@gmail.com
Rockies - Douglas McDaniel
Douglas McDaniel is a Denver-based free lance writer with past credits as a contributor for USA Today Baseball Weekly and as the former managing editor for The Diamond: The Official History Magazine for Major League Baseball. In addition, he's published a great deal of baseball related poetry for newsletters put out by the Phoenix chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and Spitball, a literary journal for the sport based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He bats right, throws right, swings to the left. His writings on baseball and other wise can be found at http://mythville.blogspot.com or at http://myspace.com/mythville.
I would like to do a short introduction of all the writers on staff here. We will have one writer representing each team in the division. These writers will do there best to keep the readers up to date on all the current affairs of their individual teams.
The Staff:
Diamondbacks - Jeff Wilson
Profile Coming Soon!
Dodgers - Nick Egan
My name is Nick Egan and I'm a graduating senior at the University of California, San Diego. I've been a baseball/Dodger fan my entire life, and I am an aspiring writer, so writing about them on a regular basis works perfectly for me. I like long walks on the...nevermind. While I live in San Diego now, I am from Santa Barbara, CA (about 90 mi north of Los Angeles for those not familiar), and I intend to be moving to Los Angeles within the next year or so. Anyway, as always, Go Blue!
Giants - Tyler Hurst
Tyler Hurst is a baseball geek. He grew up reading sports trivia, memorizing baseball cards and scouring the sports section for stats. He also knows the infield fly rule and doesn't hesitate to explain it to anyone within earshot. You can usually find him working the waiver wire in his fantasy leagues or re-telling childhood baseball stories.
Padres - Needed
If interested please contact Matt Bishoff at nobiasnetwork@gmail.com
Rockies - Douglas McDaniel
Douglas McDaniel is a Denver-based free lance writer with past credits as a contributor for USA Today Baseball Weekly and as the former managing editor for The Diamond: The Official History Magazine for Major League Baseball. In addition, he's published a great deal of baseball related poetry for newsletters put out by the Phoenix chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and Spitball, a literary journal for the sport based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He bats right, throws right, swings to the left. His writings on baseball and other wise can be found at http://mythville.blogspot.com or at http://myspace.com/mythville.
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