Choosing the Right Friends and the Procurement of Stuff

A love of taco shops and Padres history has brought together the artists known as AJM and RJ's Fro. The ancillary benefits of this union have allowed AJM to tag along to cool functions like Beers with Bob, Fro on Fro with Jane Mitchell, and last but certainly not least, early entrance into events like last Saturday's Fanfest.

Fanfest was a fantastic time. Let's explore what this means...


Human Interaction Opportunities

It's cool to meet people from Twitter and the other Padre bloggers who were previously clever but faceless humans. I got to meet Geoff... errr, Bip... from Ducksnorts. This was cool because I'm a big fan of Ducksnorts. And Bip Roberts.

There were many others I met for the first time, as well. People starting a brown revolution, the guys from Lob Shots, the Tucson Padres, and a host of others. It's nice to put faces to witty comments and phony avatars.

The Garage Sale: bats

Sometimes I cannot resist purchasing memorabilia and assorted knick-knacks. When I saw people emerging from the Fanfest Garage Sale with baseball bats I could not resist. Of course the line to the sale extended to Imperial Beach so I was left to lament my losses over Twitter. As it turns out, being a crybaby to a large audience can serve as a valuable tool. I was quickly contacted by a Twitter friend who acted on my behalf in procuring an autographed Eric Owens bat.

I now own two bats which have been autographed by the previous owners. One is by the aforementioned Owens and the other is from Mark Kotsay during his time as a Padre. Quick... why is that odd? Discuss amongst yourselves...

The Garage Sale: game worn jerseys

Beautown and I were leaving Fanfest for Lolita's at day's end we passed by the Garage Sale. We could not pass up the opportunity to see what the fuss was about. I thought there was a small chance of a Joe Randa jersey having survived from the autumn of 2005 so in we entered, searching for my Holy Grail.

As I flipped through the alphabetized jerseys (the Holy Grail was not there) I sought a player that would be synonymous with the San Diego Padres. Those who have been in the Garage Sale know that this is no easy task as many of the surviving jerseys tend to be game worn from Spring Training or from those served brief cups of coffee with the Padres. As fans we often have very slim recollections of these players and their time spent in San Diego. But then I found the one... something that would fit my criteria.... it was a #71 Mark Merila game worn jersey.

For those who may have forgotten, Mark Merila was the Padres bullpen catcher up until a brain tumor left him unable to perform his duties. With the recent diagnosis of Darrel Akerfelds having cancer I thought that a tribute to one of these guys would be apropos entering 2011. The Merila #71 jersey in sand won out*.

It's nice to have a jersey with some greater significance... and in a color that the Padres front office has rejected. I'm such an iconoclast with my proclivities for brown and sand.

The Garage Sale: jersey restoration project

I have an awesome brown '84 jersey. But while awesome it is highly problematic. The jersey has the #44 and the name Peavy stitched on the back. I don't like wearing jerseys of guys who get traded. So at the time of Peavy getting dealt I had a moment of, what I shall define as, brilliance**.

I could stand to live with the #44 on the back of the jersey, a nod to Peavy's productive tenure, but I had to remove his name, lest I celebrate a player plying his trade in Chicago. I decided that risking another name in this era of Free agency was a foolhardy plan so I decided to put the following letters on the jersey... PTBNL.

The infamous Player To Be Named Later tag seemed like the perfect idea for my retro '84 jersey. Never again would I have to worry about the comings-and-goings of Padre stars and as a bonus it may be an idea built to elicit a chuckle from fans in the know. But where would I get the gold lettering that wouldn't make it look like a cheap knock off jersey?

The answer to all questions is the Padres Fanfest Garage Sale! The Padres were pedaling all kinds of randomness not the least of which were the gold letters I needed to spell out, P-T-B-N-L.

I feel good. Now I just need to find a seamstress.

The Garage Sale: patches

Another cool thing I bought was the 2003 Commemorative patch celebrating the Padres leaving Jack Murphy Stadium (The Q) for Petco Park. I bought two. No, I don't know what I'll do with them.

I can't believe that was the first Fanfest I've ever attended. That statement makes me feel like a fool. It was a great time and I didn't even get to walk around and experience everything.

Next year*** I'll be sure to shirk my duties with The Fro so I can get Mat Latos' autograph, unearth the elusive Holy Grail and simply lay down in the grass of shallow center field.

*Maybe I can get a Darrel Akerfelds jersey at next year's Garage Sale. But with all due respect to  Akerfelds... I'll first be searching for the Grail... I know it is there.
**We all have different definitions. Leave me be.
*** Next year I need to get Fro'd ...

Evil 1987 Must Be Neutralized

Earlier this week, I learned that Tim Raines wanted to be a Padre back in 1987... and the Padres' brass said no. I categorize this belated news as Evil. 

All Evil Accounts from 1987 must be counteracted with Pure '87 Goodness.

Enjoy your Friday.

Padres baseball and Silver Linings

Yesterday on Twitter I made a comment to San Diego musician Steve Poltz and he responded. The response has led me here... so listen to some music. It has a John Kruk reference. Which pretty much makes it a baseball song.

If I were going to think of things that are definitively "San Diego" I might say:

1. Zoo
2. Sea World
3. Wild Animal Park

Of course these are things more for the tourist in your life. Don't get me wrong, I go to all those places; duty often calls.

But if a San Diegan needed to reacquaint him/herself with the city, upon returning from a journey abroad, the "Definitively San Diego" list might go something like this:

1. Visit taco shop. Order a Carne Asada burrito and Horchata. Destroy it.
2. See a show at The Casbah or The Belly-Up.
3. Make sure Steve Poltz is playing at one of the above.

I imagine there are many ways you could go with such a list. Truthfully I've never even tried Horcahta... I just like to say it. But this is my list, and while I believe it to be accurate, it's subject to change.

Anyways... Steve Poltz is a big Padres fan. Over at Ducksnorts, Geoff did an interview with him a few years back. It's broken up into five parts. Check it out.

Ancient Bud Black Mind Tricks

Among all of MLB's managers, Bud Black is the only one who is a former hurler. There must be a valid reason for such a case.

Could it be that he knows how to use psychology to cajole pitchers in to doing what may seem to be against their perceived self-interests? Let us call these the Bud Black Mind Tricks.....if he indeed is versed in this ancient art.

Last week, the Padres Trail, posted a column about the Mat Latos/Wade Leblanc "5th starter issue" which was then debated thoroughly in a thread at Gaslamp Ball.

THE PREMISE: what should happen with the two young pitchers once Chris Young returns from the disabled list?

At the time of the posting LeBlanc had been pitching lights out and then went on to get the win after pitching 6.1 innings of scoreless ball. Did Latos meet the challenge? He went on to pitch 6 innings of 2 run ball and got hung with the loss (both runs came on homers). Not a bad outing but also not on par with LeBlanc. What to do, what to do....... (click "Read More" to continue)

My position last week was that I wanted to see CY come down with a mystery ailment to keep him on the DL so that both of the youngsters would remain in the rotation (my wish may have been granted as CY got shelled in a rehab assignment this weekend and is headed for an MRI......although I don't really want him to be hurt.....I just want the reins pulled back a bit so he's healthy in the long run and that our young fellas get to prove themselves in the short-run, which of course would be beneficial to the organization in the long-run.......this was far too long for a parenthetical explanation, no?). My position has altered slightly with certain caveats (Young's health and the performance of each of our youngsters in question).


Today my belief is that Mat Latos needs to stay up top where he can continue to be mentored by Darren Balsley. But we also know that Wade LeBlanc, who is on the hill tonight against The Purple Mountain's Majesty, will pitch shut out ball tonight thus making the question of the 5th spot in the rotation even more convoluted........or is it?

We know that Mat Latos, while possibly a future staff "#1", is having his innings closely monitored similar to last season a la the Verducci Effect. If his innings are to be restricted it could be detrimental to the Padres if they are in contention for the division or the wild-card come September. Would you want to shut down one of your regulars in the heat of a pennant race (rhetorical question/parenthetical probably not even needed)?

Bud Black must earn his money here. Latos is a big stud who must be handled carefully. A demotion to Portland could wreak havoc with his delicate ego and a demotion to the bullpen cold yield similar results......use your mind tricks, Bud Black......Latos' mind is young and malleable:

 

BUD BLACK: The managerial great, Earl Weaver, declared that the best spot for a rookie is in long relief (his 8th Law of Managing). Many great pitchers have worked out of the 'Pen and later enjoyed grand success as a starter. In fact Johan Santana won the Cy Young the year after leaving the 'Pen. But most importantly.....young Latos.....this move ensures that you will be contributing to the ball club in meaningful games down the stretch rather than picking splinters next to Balls.
MAT LATOS: (nods his head)
BUD BLACK: "You will go to the bullpen, Mat Latos."
MAT LATOS: "I will go to the bullpen, Bud Black."

(If Bud Black can employ some genuine Jedi Mind Tricks then the above explanation by Bud probably isn't needed. It is needed however in the context of giving proper credit to the person, Geoff Young of Ducksnorts, who provided a more precise rationale for such a move with Latos---parenthetical explanation, while very long, was required).

This entire post is probably moot though, as we all know Chris Young will be spending more time on the DL anyways.

2010 Padre Predictions, Prognostications, and Ponderings: Ducksnorts Edition

If you don't regularly read Geoff Young's blog, Ducksnorts, I'll give you two reasons right now:

1. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to the Padres (and other things too).
2. Good analogies/metaphors/literary & musical references.

This was one of my favorite lines from his piece called, "Five Questions: San Diego Padres", published over at Hardball Times.

"Like morning fog and wagonloads of 'Zonies, firing the hitting coach is an annual rite of summer in San Diego."

So true, so true. But 2010 should be different...

This season should be different in that there are better young hitters with upside but more importantly, fans realize that scapegoating a hitting instructor just isn't going to fly anymore. I agree with Geoff Young's following assessment:

".....when different coaches continue to yield similar results, perhaps it's time to look elsewhere for answers. Superior on-field talent is a good place to start."

 The Alderson regime seemed to always stand so steadfastly behind their organizational strategies and those they drafted that there was little recourse other than to fire coaches. This was a foolhardy approach by Alderson as most fans are not idiots (didn't Dave Magadan go on to be the hitting coach for the Red Sox in 2007 the year they won the WS?).......furthermore.......Sandy Alderson is a dick. I rest my case.

Check out Geoff's article for more on Chase Headley, Matt Latos, the fortunes of Randy Ready, the emergence of youth, and the commitment of our ownership.

It is only spring and on these mornings the gloom of June is conspicuously absent.......but with the onset of April comes the annual spring-break throngs to San Diego and the omnipresent threat of a 'Zonie influx. Get to work, Mr. Ready.

**I went to school at Northern Arizona......'Zonies = Sock tans and Teva sandals

Padres Week 3: Rough Weekend @ The $9 buck cup

Three weeks down and the Padres are sitting 2 above .500---2 1/2 behind LA. It could be worse. The disappointing news is in that we were swept by the Giants (only a 2 game set) and then dropped a series to the Pirates at home.....our pitcher's park....where Jake Peavy can't seem to....well, pitch! The Padres are over .500 and Jake is under .500 (2-3).

While the team is beginning to come back to earth they still exhibit elements of entertaining baseball whether it be the fundamentals (moving runners over, backing up positions), hustle (see David Eckstein), sound hitting (Adrian Gonzalez crushed one like no other ever hit at The Bark, yesterday) or the youth movement (Headley, Hundley,--insert bullpen pitcher here--, the injured Evereth Cabrera). Those are all positive things and when coupled with good prices they are reasons to stay on the bandwagon.

More interesting Padre bits and pieces:

• Geoff Young looking at the last week and the overuse of a certain pitch by a certain pitcher, in his column Eight Sliders Sliding [Ducksnorts]

• Padre Unis....after all, a Friar does wear a brown robe not Blue [The Sacrifice Bunt]

• A struggling Peavy and yesterday's debacle against the Pirates [San Diego UT]

• A podcast by Craig Elsten and Chris Ello regarding the Padres "surging" (tongue-in-cheek) to a power ranking of #10 in MLB [619 Sports]

Three game set against the Rockies gets going at 5;40 pm today.....Chris Young must right the ship.

Effects of "The HBE"

After many page views and a bit of bickering in the "Comments" section here's where we stand in the aftermath of the Heath Bell Effect:

The Good Reader was encouraged to arbitrarily take out their frustrations on Scott & BR regular Sid Rosenberg. Rosenberg being an East Coast based radio personality and Mets fan would serve as THEE symbol of bias for the following email:

Dear Sid:

We ruined your opening night and took the series from you....we know, we know...we listened to your interview with Scott & BR---"The Mets didn't take the series seriously"---"The Padres are an awful baseball team"---"We only have two players, and some guy named Headly who gets lucky every once in a while"---"And when the season's over the Padres will be where they belong...in last place".



Well let's look at last year: The (last place) Padres took 5 of 7 from the Mets and the Phillies won the East by 3 games....do the math and chew on that Mighty New York Fan. Your overpriced team will likely cave again and we'll just keep on battling....see you on August 8th!



Sidney Arthur Rosenberg responded as follows:

Love the enthusiasm. Good email. Factual and well written. But your team still sucks. Take care!

Nice! A good fella, that Sid. Hope we didn't crash your e-mail box (Suppose that 4 e-mails probably couldn't do it anyway...)



After Sid responded a heated discussion began to take place by one East Coast representative, one West-Coast apologist and of course yours truly. While attempts were made to actually have a debate the parties involved were so entrenched in their own viewpoints that an old quote came to mind:



"Arguing with a teenager is like mud wrestling with a pig — you both end up dirty but only the pig is happy!"



In either one of the above cases you fail to get anywhere substantive and it began to feel that way in regards to our media bias discussion......so I gracefully (as possible) bowed out. As the conversation became more spirited it eventually ended with the West Coast representative declaring that....I speak my mind and don't want to argue with idiots like you that have no common SENSE. But I sure would like to know where you live.



Ahh, the spirit of debate......so I got to thinking.....



It seems to be so intuitive that when you hear baseball news there are the Haves and Have Nots.....there are those teams that ESPN leads with (NYY, NYM, BOS, CHC) and then everybody else. Let's also be realistic in saying that EVERY team receives coverage but that it is doled out in lesser degrees relative to the big spending franchises. It should also be mentioned that it is ESPN's prerogative to continue with the inequity as long as they feel it is the most profitable course for them to continue on (although we disagree......if Baseball Tonight gave the Padres adequate coverage then I would watch it.....and then I would learn about some of the other "have-not" MLB teams thus leading me to be intrigued by some of the nightly ESPN broadcasts, which I might then watch. Clearly ESPN disagrees with us...).



.....back to what I was thinking. I needed to turn on ESPN radio and then check Baseball Tonight when I got home on Monday night....just to confirm that I was not crazy. What did I hear/see:



ON ESPN RADIO (4:15pm Monday)

• Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and his suspension.
• The high rate of balls flying out of Yankee Stadium.

Baseball Tonight on the radio would eventually discuss the Dodgers in detail (but who really cares about them?). At home I would turn on ESPN to find out that the game that was supposed to be on was Oakland at the new Yankee Stadium but it was postponed due to rain.....bonus coverage of the Braves....first highlight on Baseball Tonight: Red Sox winning for 6th consecutive time on Patriot Day. Tuesday morning I turned on Dan Patrick. He was talking about the HR balls flying out to right at Yankee Stadium and the prospects of bringing in an expert of some sort to analyze angles and slopes, blah, blah.



Is it really very far fetched to suggest that there are certain teams that receive more coverage than others? It's not even wrong that ESPN chooses to cover baseball this way....but it's intellectually dishonest not to acknowledge the facts.



What were other's saying? Geoff Young's Padre blog, Duck Snorts, said the following in his weekly column:

I love that Bell called out ESPN for covering three teams and ignoring the other 27. Everyone knew that already, but it’s cool to hear a big-league player acknowledge it. As I’ve said before, San Diego is not ESPN’s market. That’s not a complaint, it’s a fact. We have no use for each other. I would rather invest my time in “Millionaire Matchmaker” or “Cash Cab.” If I’m going to watch crap, it should be entertaining.

Do What You Cannot Do [Ducksnorts]

I agree...... Crap does need to be entertaining (hope this blog is doing the trick).

What about Craig Elsten and Chris Ello over at 619 Sports?

They had a great podcast on the topic with each taking a very different viewpoint on the matter. It was sensible and passionate and we encourage you to have a listen (they have a bunch of other good podcasts as well at their new site):

New Closer, New Song, New Attitude [619 Sports]

Going back to the email that I encouraged people to send out.....The email was meant to be a protest of unbalanced coverage of the "Big Dogs" on ESPN.....Heath Bell complained about the Padres getting very little run on Baseball Tonight but in reality this is not an issue solely related to the Padres. At the core it is more a matter of a vast majority of teams getting inequitable coverage from ESPN.

In the process of spreading the Gospel we were banned from our local Padre blog, Gaslamp Ball, because our enthusiasm runneth-ed over until it was technically classified as "Spamming"....ooops. We grovelled our way back into good graces.[Gaslamp Ball]

We were also unexpectedly approved for posting by the Executive Vice President of the Padres. Paul De Podesta let us sneak in at his blog:[It might be dangerous...you go first]

An interesting week it's been......and the Padres have dropped three in a row. Jake got banged yesterday and a 10 inning affair this afternoon in SF.