Sight For Sore Eyes After Sweep

I spend a lot of time looking at Baseball-Reference.com for all my nerdy number baseball needs, especially Padres game logs, so as to be accurate when I harangue players like Will Venable and Orlando Hudson. It also serves a valuable purpose when I laud players like Cameron Maybin.

When I look at Baseball Reference I often think of the old carpenter's maxim of, "Measure Twice, Cut Once, my friend."*--- a reminder to look up the numbers before properly laying into a player.

Having said that, it pleased me to see the following graphic this morning:

In case you're missing it let me zoom in...

A nice fresh row of retired numbers featuring Trevor Hoffman. Good stuff.

*I added the 'my friend' to that old proverb and in so doing I believe its been improved upon. Don't you?

This Padres Day In History . . . it can be so confusing

Today is August 27th, 2011. The Padres play the Arizona Diamondbacks this evening at 5:10 pm with Aaron Harang trying to peel off the face of that no good Joe Saunders. Good stuff there.

But what happened on August 27th, 2010?

Well, you woke up and brushed your teeth. You ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You watched the Padres lose. Then you went to bed with a horrible taste in your mouth. You did not brush. Let's review...

The Phillies arrived in San Diego to begin a three game series before a crowd of 34,233. The Padres were looking to rebound from a 11-5 loss to the D-Backs only one day before. The Padres had little need to worry. They had taken 3 of 4 from Arizona and sat in first place in the NL West with a 6 game lead over the 2nd place San Francisco Giants.


Mat Latos (7IP 5H 1R 1ER 2BB 6K) matched Roy Oswalt (8IP 5H 1R 1ER 0BB 6K) for 7 innings until Mike Adams came into the 8th and surrendered a walk to Chase Utley, a single to Ryan Howard, and a walk to Jason Werth. Joe Thatcher entered for Adams and promptly gave up an RBI single to Raul Ibanez.

The Phillies had pulled ahead 2-1 entering the bottom of the 8th.

In the bottom of the inning Will Venable, and Yorvitt Torrealba struck out before Luis Durango came to bat.

You had seen enough. You bet the entire bar shots of Cuervo that the light hitting pixie known as Luis Durango would ground out weakly like always. But the bar had also seen enough. There were no takers on this bet and after three pitches Luis Durango grounded weakly to Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Bar patrons proceeded to purchase their own shots and the game rolled on to the 9th inning.

Luke Gregerson shut the door in the top of the 9th. Because that's what Luke Gregerson does...or at least that's what he did in 2010.

In the bottom of the 9th, trailing 2-1, the Padres managed to load the bases against Philly closer Brad Lidge with a single by Matt Stairs, an IBB to Adrian Gonzalez, and a HBP to Ryan Ludwick. Jerry Hairston Jr., pinch running for Matt Stairs, stood at third base as Chase Headley stepped to the plate with two out.

What would Chase Headley do in this.... ahhh too late.... Brad Lidge balked home Jerry Hairston with the game tying run. Headley grounded out on the next pitch and the game went to extra innings tied at 2 runs a piece.

Extra Innings

***
Heath Bell pitched a scoreless two innings (10th, 11th)

***
Will Venable and Yorvitt Torrealba pulled a back-to-back-strikeout repeat in the 10th.

***
In the top of the 12th Jimmy Rollins doubled off of Ernesto Frieri to lead off the inning and he quickly scored on a single by Placido Polanco. The Phillies led 3-2.

***
Ryan Ludwick struck out looking to begin the 12th inning and Will Venable added his 3rd K of the night to bring the game to a close.

***
 Ernesto Frieri took the loss dropping his record to 0-1.

***
The Padres record dropped to 76-51 after their second consecutive loss but they maintained their 6 game lead over the Giants.

*****

But "This Day In History" can be a confusing designation. Today is August 27th but it is Saturday whereas August 27th fell on a Friday in 2010.

So how did the Padres do on this Saturday in history, 2010? 

Well they lost that one too. Joe Blanton and those same Phillies won out 3-1. The Padres had now lost 3 games in a row to fall to 76-52 but still maintained a 6 game lead over the Giants -- on account of them not being able to do anything right either. How did the Giants win the World Series?

Has "This Day In History" been clarified? 

Rhetorical question. Of course not. You see the Padres are preparing to play their 133 game of the 2011 season today and we want to know how performed in game 133 of 2010.

In 2010 game 133 played-out on Friday September 3rd. It was a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies, where Dennis Cook got the win and Cory Leubke took the loss.

It was the 8th loss in a row for the San Diego club who now held a slim 3 game lead over the San Francisco Giants. We all know how it played out from there.

I hope this clears up the pitfalls associated with examining the ever popular...  This Day In History.

*This drama was re-created by the stellar reporting of mlb.com's Cory Brock and the incomparable Baseball-Reference.com

Padres, Diamondbacks, and Fan-Tanking

Tonight the surging Padres open up a three game set with the first place Diamondbacks of Arizona. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Padres are all but eliminated while the D-Backs cling to a 3 game lead over the faltering San Francisco Giants.

Ethical Dilemmas

It was mentioned on twitter that it might be preferred to see the Padres get swept by Arizona on account of the detrimental effects that the San Francisco Giants would absorb under this scenario. So do we root for our Hometown 9 to lose this weekend just to savor Giant failure?


Will Leitch, the creator of Deadspin, wrote a book called God Save The Fan in which he opines on the ethics of fans rooting against their own team to improve upon draft position. You'll have to purchase the book to get the full rationale but, in short, he's against it. As a fan you have one responsibility... to cheer for your team to win! 

I am in agreement with Leitch. To wit, I rooted for the Chargers to win their final game last year even though there was nothing to be gained but pride. A loss however would have bumped the Chargers up in the drafting queue. Forget that. Wins are what matter.

But what about rooting against the Padres to win a series... or to get swept for that matter? Is this ethically acceptable? I do not believe it is.

However it pains me to say that I would not be opposed to the Padres getting swept this weekend if it meant that the San Francisco Giants would get screwed because of it. I will not actively root against the Padres tonight or on any night and it is my hope to see positive gains from the young players moving forward . . .

But it's nice to have silver-linings available as August comes to a close.

I Will Not Allow 1937 To Contradict Me

Last week I wrote about my feelings: The feelings that overwhelmed me as the Padres made good on their promise to build through the draft by signing the vast majority of their 2011 draft choices. My thoughts were all over the board but I'd like to ask for permission to quote myself on this glorious Friday morning? Are we cool? Cool:

 The Padres are not the farm system for the Boston Red Sox.

Nor are they the farm system for the rest of MLB. For that to be the truth then the Padres would have needed to develop an awful lot of players over the last 10 years for it to be a valid argument. They have not. Jake Peavy is not a good example. Jake Peavy was a catastrophic injury away from sinking the organization.

 I stand by that statement. Because I wrote it. And most importantly, I felt it. Feelings count just as much as an 0 for 1 with three walks.*


Having conveyed that sentiment such a short time ago, I could not help but chuckle as I read through David Halberstam's The Teammates last night. One of Halberstam's last books before his untimely death in 2007 tells the tale of four close friends named Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio; teammates with the Boston Red Sox.

Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams were very close friends, perhaps destined to be so, as Doerr was a patient and kind man who understood Williams, but most importantly, he could deal with Williams' uneven temperament. Bobby Doerr recounts to David Halberstam how Ted Williams almost didn't become his teammate with the Red Sox:

It was Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey who almost blew it. That year's baseball winter meetings were held in December in Chicago, where Collins [Red Sox GM] and Lane [The PCL San Diego Padres owner] were supposed to meet to finalize a deal. But suddenly Yawkey balked. He had lately been paying a lot of money for aging stars like Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove, and it was all short-range, so they decided to go another route: to build up their farm system. To Yawkey, who had had a number of drinks that day, the Williams deal suddenly seemed to smack of the old way (paying big money for a star), now officially known as the wrong way. For whatever reason -- perhaps it was the cloud of alcohol -- it was hard for the owner to understand that this was not the same kind of deal, that this was paying far less money, only $25,000 plus a couple of prospects, for what was obviously an immensely talented kid. They were using the Padres as a de facto farm club, and Williams was not a player on his way down, but a wunderkind on his way up-- a kid with a stroke like Joe Dimaggio's.

The Red Sox went on to sign Ted Williams by the deadline imposed by San Diego Padres owner Bill Lane that evening at the winter meetings. Had the deadline not been met the Chicago Cubs were next in line to purchase the services of the young San Diegan, Williams.

All very interesting but it was the reference to the Padres as the de facto farm club for the Red Sox that brought a grin to my face. There was a time and place where this was indeed the truth.

But so we're clear, allow me to reiterate... it is not here... nor is it now.

Enjoy your Friday.


* Write that one down.

Baseball Reference, Cured Meats, and Jesus Guzman

Baseball Reference is one of the most awesome things ever. In terms of accessing baseball information I would equate its importance to man learning to cure and preserve meat.


I think it's clear that the ability to find a player's BAbip (batting average on balls in play) through games 21 and 54 in 2011 is on par with what the Native Americans of the Great Plains discovered through hanging meats at the apex of their tepees. Advanced batting metrics. Flavorful, cured, sustenance. It's all fairly simple.

Having said that, I do have a bone to pick with Baseball Reference. They list our delightful revelation at first base, Jesus Guzman, as both a 1B and a . . . pinch hitter? This is abominable.

Jesus Guzman is no pinch hitter. He is the Jesus. The Jesus saves through starting games not by making brief cameos in the latter innings of a tight game.

I believe this to be the truth for one reason and one reason only. It's how any shortsighted member of a cult would think. And I am a proponent of the Cult of Jesus Guzman. Just look at his numbers since the All-Star Break:

Click to enlarge and fully bask in the glory that is Jesus

You cry small sample size from a 27 year old rookie, to which I reply, "Are you serious???!!!" This is the Cult of Jesus Guzman. Sell reason some place else.

Let's print the T-shirts.

Poll Question: A Developing/Annoying Trend At PETCO

I'm noticing a trend at the park. It's annoying. But it's also probably not worth getting too worked up about. But it is annoying. It's like....

.... I don't know. Help me. Give me an awesome simile to plug in there. Read below first and then give me the simile.


I think it's safe to say that most people don't care to see Red Sox jerseys during a Padres v. Giants/ Dodgers/ Nationals game. But what about the Adrian Gonzalez Red Sox jerseys that we're seeing with greater frequency at our home park?

I get it if you are an Adrian Gonzalez fan. And I suppose if you wanted to buy his Boston jersey to show your continued support of him then I understand. But why wear it to PETCO Park in a game that Adrian Gonzalez is not featured. He hated Petco Park.

It's just annoying. I wish I could be more descriptive. More eloquent. More concise. Well, I guess I am being concise. It's just annoying.

Vote your thoughts:

Don't Get Defensive

Yesterday's game was tough. Mat Latos looked good and then he gave up a 3-run bomb to David Wright. Jason Bartlett couldn't get the job done with the bases loaded at 4-0 and then the Padres Bullpen* imploded.

But this game was not without three absolutely awesome defensive plays. Mets pitcher Dillon Lee made a sick behind the back stab, wheeled and turned it into a 1-6-3 double play and Kyle Blanks made a fantastic, fully extended leap to rob a HR from Lucas Duda in the 9th. But the play of the game was this clever maneuver by David Wright:

 

This was a great physical play by David Wright but the highlight was his baseball IQ. Conversely, I don't blame Cameron Maybin at all for getting caught as David Wright had already shown during this series that he could make that same dive and complete a throw to first. I love the intelligent plays.

*The 2010 bullpen was known as The Penitentiary--because they had the NL on lock down! But that has clearly changed in 2011. Mike Adams is gone to Texas and we see walks and runs like never before so perhaps a new nickname is in order. How 'bout The Parole Board-- because they set runs free!

Runs scored and bad jokes... horrible that it's come to this.