Tagged: Cory Luebke
Hello from the sky- literally
Note: I wrote this on the plane before I knew the actual results of the game. The sentiments, however, are the same.
Oh hey! I haven’t written in a while. Where have I been? On a bit of a trip. I went to Texas this week. My brother lives there and I go out over Memorial Day weekend as a sort of… gift to myself for surviving the semester.
Have no fear, I didn’t miss too much baseball (not quality baseball, anyways- more on that later). I got to see my Rangers play in Arlington again this year. I think after this trip, I may be banned from the stadium. I’m not even kidding.
Last year when I went out there we were evacuated from the stadium due to a tornado. Last year we started on the upper deck at the beginning of the game. We spent a good amount of time watching planes fly into the airport and wondering when a plane would be struck by lightning. Around the third inning they evacuated the upper deck and made us move down. Luckily they weren’t selling the amount of tickets that they are selling for games this year or else we would have had some serious issues finding seats- we had enough problems with that and the upper deck was practically empty. A few innings later it starts to rain and I got a text from my friend in Mansfield warning me that there were tornado warnings in the area. The game was postponed after that and we stood inside waiting for it to resume. As we finally made the decision to head back to the hotel, I was grabbed by security and told we needed to head to the tunnels. I had a minor panic attack at the news. After some debate amongst the group of us, we finally headed into the tunnels as the asked. It was a pretty nasty storm (my brother said it was one of the worst storms he has seen since moving there three and a half years ago).
This year we planned the trip to Arlington and the forecast did not predict a storm. As luck would have it, the weather man was wrong. As we were sitting in the stands, I noticed some clouds moving into the area, but I didn’t want to get excited and think that we would actually get a storm. My brother checked his weather app and saw that there indeed was a storm headed our way, but not for a few hours- plenty of time to complete the game. It was only five minutes later when I saw the first lightning bolt. And then another. And another. Then I didn’t see any for a while so I figured they were just from straggling clouds. When we headed out of the stadium, the storm started kicking in at full-force. The good news is no tornados this time. Just a pretty awesome show for the way home. Luckily my brother drives pretty well through storms.
The game was pretty entertaining. I knew it was going to be a different experience getting out of San Diego and watching some legit baseball. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE our boys in San Diego, but we’re watching some mediocre ball at home. It’s totally different watching the man who launched four homeruns in one game, or even a pitcher straight off the plane from Japan. Fate stepped in again, Hamilton had an upper respiratory infection and didn’t play, and it wasn’t Yu Darvish’s turn in the rotation.
It was still a pretty good experience.
The Mariners were in town, and since I hadn’t paid a whole lot of attention to Seattle this season, I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew was that Texas is owning this season. I don’t remember the particulars (it’s been nearly three days and two planes since the game. What I do remember is that it is a blast watching Texas play. Not even just the team, but the experience itself. Fans tried to start the wave (which was irritating at best) and they have a picture of “Walker- Texas Ranger” (Chuck Norris for those who are uncultured) and it says “Warning: Nobody waves until I say so.” Texas knows what’s up.
I loved singing “Deep in the Heart of Texas” in the fifth inning, it brought a charm to the game that is unmatched.
Another thing I saw was the the stadium was filled with Ranger fans. That’s a concept we may or may not grasp in San Diego. Typically I go to games in San Diego and it is a sea of whatever colors the other team happens to be. I’m not going to lie though, I’m working on an idea for a shirt when Texas is in town in June, something that loudly proclaims that I love both teams- deal with it, sorry.
Texas charm to me is the truth behind loving thy neighbor. Of course, not all of them are, but for the most part I typically have a fantastic experience when I am there. On the way out of the game a woman- who was in a wheelchair- had a sign that said “All I want for my 92nd birthday is a Hamilton Homerun.” Granted, that was going to be difficult to achieve with Hamilton not actually playing. But the heartwarming part wasn’t her sign, it was the fact that as I walked, I repeatedly heard people wishing her a happy birthday. Not only that, but a heard some conversations about how the team should give her tickets to a game the following day. No word on if that actually happened.
Rangers did win the game, 4-2. They also went on to get killed the next day.
About the Padres… yea… there isn’t a ton to be said. They’re blowing it big time.
Most of our original pitching rotation is out (or dead as I like to joke)- something like 60 percent of our original starters are out, I believe. Our closer, Huston Street, is getting a “second opinion” on his lat muscle as it was reported. The thing is, no one has reported what the first opinion said. We have multiple fielders on the DL, some for the second time this season. Kotsay is on the DL, Bartlett is on the DL, Maybin (I think) is on the DL and numerous others that I can’t particularly remember because I am on a plane. Questions need to be raised. Why is our team leading the Major Leagues for players on the DL? Is it our training staff? Did the players not stay in shape during the off-season? Is it just a fluke thing? It’s definitely time to find out.
When the Cubs were on a 12-game losing streak, I was saying that no one wants to be the team that ends that streak for them. Of course, I made the joke with the Padres headed to Chicago. That was stupid of me. I should have known, of course it would be the Padres.
The return of Carlos Quentin is definitely promising for our boys. When my second flight took off, it was the 8th inning at Wrigley Field and Quentin had launched two two-run homeruns. Still, we were only leading by one run. I suppose a lead is a lead though; we shouldn’t complain.
I’m not trying to sound like a Debbie-Downer on our team or our boys. I love San Diego ball. We learn to be constantly disappointed.
Either way, my plane is landing and I’ve got some San Diego baseball to see this weekend. We’ll catch up more, I promise.
Seau, Weaver, Padres combine for a roller coaster day
Today has been one of those days.
For me it was wrapping up production for the final paper of the semester this morning. And then, Kaity and I took off right after we finished (ish) and headed to San Diego for a little bit of celebratory baseball.
In the world of sports we have seen death, wins and no hitters. It’s been a roller coaster.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the tragedy that happened in San Diego today with the death of Junior Seau. I don’t know his life, I don’t know what he’s been face with, so I can’t comment that. The only thing I can say is that it’s tragic and heartbreaking. It is a huge loss to football, the Chargers and our community.
Today’s Padres game kicked off with a moment of silence for Seau. It’s funny, usually there is that one fan who cannot respect a moment of silence and yells or does something stupid during it. I didn’t hear a thing. Not a cell phone ring, not a cough nor a sneeze. I don’t even recall hearing a baby cry.
From there, the game took off– at times. It was mostly uneventful until the third. Padres saw nine batters step up to the plate that inning and three of them scored. Venable gets on with a single. Then, last night’s hero Mark Kotsay doubles to right, Venable scores and Corey Hart throws home, advancing Kotsay to third. Headley walks, O’dawg walks and suddenly the bases are loaded for Cameron Maybin. With his single, Chase Headley scores and suddenly we’re up 3-0.
A few more innings of nothingness. Parrino copies Alonso’s move yesterday and goes over the wall in foul territory (doesn’t make the catch sadly). And in the bottom of the 8th, some more action from the Padres in the form of two more runs. Maybin walks, Parrino singles. Guzman doubles scoring both Maybin and Walker.
This was the first series that the Padres took, and they are perfect in May. It feels great to have a team that is up for once. Padres fans don’t get to see that often.
It should be noted that Luebke is on the 15-day DL and didn’t pitch tonight. Padres brought up former Brewer and now Padres minor leaguer Jeff Suppan to take his place. A part of me was dragged kicking and screaming to watch Suppan pitch. I wanted Cory and you weren’t going to give me anything different. Well, that didn’t happen. However, Suppan stepped in and really owned the game. He obviously didn’t allow any runs, just four hits and two walks. I still prefer Cory, but if Suppan can pitch this well, perhaps we can remove Weiland from our rotation. Weiland is good, but he’s just not strong enough yet. Batters are owning him now, but he will get there. I really can’t wait for Luebke to get back. We have a really strong rotation of three with Volquez, Luebke and Bass, we really can’t afford to have him hurt longer than 15 days. However, I would rather have him heal and be 100 percent than throwing injured and obliterate his arm.
Definitely should mention the no-hitter thrown just north of us for Jered Weaver. Moments like that should remind us how gripping this game can be. Who doesn’t like watching someone succeed? And to see him start crying as he hugged his parents just capped the moment. I don’t think it matters that Weaver is an Angel, most fans of the sport can cheer for someone who does well (except of course Twins fans– they’re just not happy about it).
Facing a large conundrum
Photo courtesy of Kaity Bergquist (kaybee.mlblogs.com)
I missed today’s game. I was at an engagement party for someone who is literally the most amazing person that I know, and I’m not the only one who says that. I think I can sacrifice one game for her. It was 6 hours long, so I made it home in time to see the last four outs. I know that is not enough to get a good grip on the game.
I saw the Twitter uproar over Alonso’s foot. I think his foot was on the bag. Barely, but I really do think it was there.
The other thing I saw was the end of the Dodgers/Nationals game. Great first start for Bryce Harper. Now get a haircut, you look ridiculous. And what was with the helmet throw as he rounded to second? Was it that wind resistant? I want the guy to succeed, but I can’t help that there is a tiny part of me that wants him to see a setback. He’s had it far too easy and I can just see his ego exploding and quickly. I’m a much bigger fan of players that are down to earth. Unlike Matt Kemp.
Yup, I have another issue with the man today. Can someone give him an ego check, please? I know I shouldn’t promote violence, but if we’re not going to give him an ego check, can someone benefit all of MLB and bean him. Just once. I know, I know. I didn’t say that. His walk-off HR tonight was punishment enough for the Nationals, but then he rubbed it in! Dancing around the bases, dancing past fans… IGNORING his fans reaching out to him. Have some class dude. One day someone is going to rub their wins into your face.
So the real reason I am writing today. I have a conundrum. I don’t know who to cheer for.
Wait, let me clarify. No matter what, I cheer for the Padres or the Rangers. And then, this season, someone decided to have the Padres play the Rangers in June. At first I was really excited. Not only will I get to see the Rangers play next month when I am in Texas, but I am going to get to go to more Rangers games less than a month later. But then people started asking me what I was going to do– who was I going to cheer for? It hadn’t occurred to me for a while that I was going to need to pick.
I’ve been answering, “I’m going to cheer for baseball for those three days.” Yea could I sound even dumber? I mean, good baseball is good baseball, sure. But these are my teams. What am I supposed to do?
And then, if Josh Hamilton hits a homerun off of Cory Luebke, I will be really screwed. My two favorite players, and at this rate, Josh will be hitting homeruns in San Diego.
I want to try to go to all three games. I’m hoping I can figure out how to do this. Either way, I am more than excited that I have more Texas games to see this season.
So, who should I cheer for?
Getting their act together– sort of
I had this whole thing written and it disappeared. Let’s see if I can remember what I said.
Remember when you were younger and your parents used to tell you, “You had better get your act together!”? At times tonight I felt like I was most of the players’ mom tonight.
Had the Giants not made a few crucial errors tonight, this game would have been different. Three errors are too many.
Something about Cory’s pitching seemed off tonight. Like Bud Black said after the game, “It just wasn’t as tight as he has been in the last few games.” And it’s true, he wasn’t. I don’t know, there was a bit of a disconnect for me. In the end, he still pitched really well. I still think he is the strongest pitcher we have on staff. Argue with me all you want about it, but I am holding steady with that opinion. I think in a few weeks he is really going to start showing us what he can do. This is only the beginning. Hopefully he has a team to back him up.
The other day someone ripped me for praising Hundley. Please explain to me why I shouldn’t praise him? Sure he went 0-21 at the beginning of the season, but he came back from it. He is now hitting .254– one of the highest averages on the team. He went 4-for-4 tonight. So yes, I am going to praise him. I think he is doing incredibly now. I think he is definitely one of the strongest players on the team.
I don’t think that the game was necessarily bad. I just think that it was messy. Later in the season, this kind of playing is going to hurt us as a team. It’s not bad right now, but it will be sooner than we think. The team needs to be ready.
We’re getting there. Slowly, but surely, we are getting there.
I am very sad that I lost my initial analysis. It was much better than this.
Padres win on Kotsay clutch double in the eighth
Huston Street warms up on April 26
I have about a thousand things that I want to say about last night’s game. Let’s see if I can keep this straight.
It’s only fair that I start with the pitching. Edinson Volquez is doing everything he can to prove me wrong here. He’s not my favorite; I’ve never claimed otherwise, and I probably won’t. But last night I was impressed. Yes, I am taking back everything I said about him being terrible. I never really thought he was terrible, he just left a bitter taste after Opening Day. It’s taken him a month to prove me wrong (I drive a tough bargain here). He went 7 innings, allowed just 3 hits, walked only one and struck out 7. The only thing he could have done differently is pitched a no hitter, but I know that is asking for a bit much. I can’t even be mad about the 1 run he allowed on a homerun by Jason Werth, because it was hit about 4 seats over from me.
What can I say? I’m a dork like that.
Speaking of balls leaving the field of play in my section (we had incredible seats last night), Yonder Alonso’s ground-rule double in the second could have and should have been a spark for the team. I’m not sure why exactly it wasn’t.
Oh wait, yes I do. Pitchers have Jason Bartlett’s number dialed in. So I figured something out about Jason Bartlett last night. It’s really easy to dislike him as a player when I’m not able to see his face. I heckled the heck out of him last night, but when I went home to watch the replay, I could see in his eyes that he truly is disappointed. He’s not great. In fact, he sucks and is useless, but he clearly knows it. And if he didn’t, well the crowd certainly told him last night. Usually I just hear one or two fans booing him when he steps up to bat, or when he strikes out, or when he grounds out (face it; what else does he do?) last night, it was a different story. The boo’s were audible throughout the stadium. It was quite loud. Really though, he kind of deserves it. I predicted two of his three at-bats last night. The worst at-bat was in the 5th inning. Chicken comes out (so crucial), Hundley immediately singles to right, Alonso doubles to right. At this point the crowd is getting pretty excited. There was some action on the field! We had runners on second and third with no outs! This was promising. O’Dawg strikes out (but I kept my promise and did not boo). Maybin is up and although his hitting has been a bit dismal this season, I still don’t get too wary when he’s up. Two pitches- two balls into the count and the Nationals decide to intentionally walk Maybin. I did boo then, were they really that afraid of the last place team? Then I realized– Bartlett was up next. It’s a really bad thing when a pitcher has you that dialed in that he will walk the bases loaded with one out just to pitch to you. It’s time to get a clue Bartlett. I basically announced to my entire section that it was a very smart move from Edwin Jackson and the Nationals’ coach staff, and that he was going to ground into a double play or strike out. Either way, they had Volquez up next and I would have rather seen the pitcher bat then, too. Bartlett strikes out- no big shock there. And then Volquez grounds out. Honestly, at least Volquez got the bat on the ball.
I’m not going to say that Bartlett isn’t trying, but after watching the replay of the game, he’s probably trying too hard. I don’t want to complain about Bartlett every game. If he would just play better, then maybe I wouldn’t. Eventually he came out and Parrino came in. I have to ask what I’ve been asking all season, why hasn’t Parrino been starting? I know he’s not technically a short stop, but he clearly knows what he is doing there.
The Werth homerun did put a damper on the game. Fans pretty much bail whenever the other teams score now. It’s like, once we’re down, we stay down. Or so people seem to think. Add in the rain that started in about the top of the 8th or something like that and the stadium sleared out. How disappointing that was. But, at the same time, we know who the real fans are. Kaity, my friend’s fiancee Jeremy and I all stayed in the rain to watch. My friend Ashley (Jeremy’s fiancee) didn’t because she was sick and their engagement party is tomorrow- I think I can forgive her for taking cover. I’m sure my section thought that I was nuts, because I kept saying, “you people are wimps! I stayed through a tornado for baseball!” I don’t think anyone took me seriously, but it’s true. Maybe I’ll get around to typing that whole story here one day. It wasn’t even raining that hard.
In the 7th, Cashner was warming up in the bullpen. Like I said, I had really good seats last night, so good that I was creeping on the pitchers as they warmed up. I was taking a picture of the Beard and the guy behind me asks, “Do you even know who that is?” Umm yea, about that. He then was quizzing me on lineup and bullpen order. We established that the Padres don’t actually have a bullpen order (well they do, but not one that is noticable because so many relievers get into every single game). What did the man take away from this exchange? Not all girls are stupid and just there to stare at players.
Anyways, back to the game. In the 8th inning it was starting to look a bit dismal. We were only down 1-0, but fans were leaving and the game was winding down. Hudson walks, Maybin and all of his incredible speed reach first on a bunt and advance Hudson to second, and Kotsay comes in for Cashner. He had a 14-pitch at-bat the other day and ultimately was unsuccessful. I had just gotten done telling Kaity that for whatever reason I get nervous with Kotsay up. I know he’s good, but there is something that just makes me nervous. Perhaps it’s because he hasn’t played much this season (he was on the DL for- I thnk- two weeks) and he just hasn’t had many starts. As I finish my sentence he rips a drive into the gap in right center for a double. Hudson scores, Maybin is so fast he nearly beats Hudson to the plate, and suddenly Padres are winning. Who knew?
Speaking of Hudson, where has he come from? Seriously, did he really just need to hear the rumors of his release to start playing? He tripled again last night in the 6th. He’s not hitting .206, I would call that an improvement.
It was nice to see Huston Street get the save last night. It was nice to see him come into a save situation finally. I think this was only the third this season. And he now has two saves on the season.
Ultimately here, the Padres had eight hits and they left 11 on base. Those numbers are far too high for a measley two runs. This game could have easily been a blow out for us if we used what we were given.
Padres improved to 6-14 last night. Hopefully Luebke can lock-in another win tonight. He’s up against a rookie in San Fran. Perhaps a turnaround for the boys? Who knows.
Padres win two in a row at home against the Phillies
Padres win on 4/21/2012
With the way this game started, I was seriously concerned that the boys forgot how to play baseball overnight. I can’t say that parts of the game were exactly baseball, but it was definitely uncharacteristic for the team we’ve been used to seeing this season.
In fact, so uncharacteristic that the Padres have now won 2 in a row. They are now 5-12.
In the top of the first, Yonder made two errors on one play. That is never a good way to start the game, so it goes without saying that I figured it was game over. The Pads managed to get out of the inning, which easily could have turned into a multiple run inning, and didn’t allow a single run; I think that was very crucial to the pace of the game. Had they allowed a run that inning (or multiple runs) I think the game would have had a very different feel.
Hudson is certainly coming out of his… whatever that was at the beginning of the season. He hit a triple in the second, sadly to no avail because he didn’t score. And then he singled in the 6th. I’m not saying I necessarily like him now, but I will stop booing him at games as long as he continues to earn his money.
Speaking of players I don’t like on our team, I know I’ve been ragging on Bartlett a lot. I definitely don’t like, and I definitely don’t find his worth on the team, but at some point you have got to start feeling bad for the guy. He went 0-for-4 today. How discouraging must that be? I’m pretty sure he knows that he’s mostly disliked among Padres fans. He has got to at least hear me boo him when I’m there, and I know that I am not the only one involved in the heckling. Confession: I did scream that he sucked and was useless the other night. I like to tell people the truth. I’m just a good friend like that.
I think another huge contributing factor to the game were the Phillies errors early on. The first two runs should never have scored in the first inning, but there was an error from the pitcher allowing both Venable and Kotsay to arrive safely at first and second. Add in the double from Headley and Hundley’s sacrifice fly, and that error became pretty costly early on.
About Hundley, when he ended that slump that he was on, he came back strong. Today he hit a triple and a homerun. I’m pretty sure he was telling all the naysayers from early this season that they shouldn’t count him out. It’s funny, last night at the game I noticed a difference in his face after an at-bat. When he was in his slump, he was still an incredible catcher, but after every at-bat his face looked worn. Now, he looks like he is truly enjoying what he is doing. He really solidified my trust in him as our catcher. It’s nice to have players that we can trust.
Anthony Bass threw a pretty incredible game today as well. He threw 100 pitches in 6 innings. He’s pretty easy to have confidence in when he throws the way he did today. I know a lot of the broadcasters were chalking it up to momentum from last night, and giving the credit to Cory for throwing a great game last night. Not to take away from Cory’s win, but this win was completely Bass’. He went out and threw the ball, he’s the one who had to play today. I definitely think that Luebke probably kick started the team last night, but today the momentum was carried on by Bass, and no one should take that from him.
Not to say the team wasn’t without fault today. Venable made a critical error in right field that allowed the Phillies to score their only run of the game when he couldn’t get a grip on the ball. That allowed Ruiz to score, and I’m pretty sure my three-year-old nephew can run faster than Ruiz. And of course the double error committed by Alonso in the first could have been very critical. From there though, the game looked pretty decent. It wasn’t always baseball, and it was pretty scrappy at times, but it worked. Going into this series, the Padres hadn’t beat the Phillies at home in about four years. Splitting the series is the closest we’ve come to taking a series all season.
I know it’s still early in the season. I don’t know how many people have reminded me of that. I’m not an idiot. I just think that early behaviors in a season dictate the remainder of the season. I do believe things can turn around for the team. If they keep playing like this, they will turn around.
Oh and I really need to add this about Carlos Ruiz. Can the Phillies please ask him to wear bigger pants? He is constantly adjusting himself and it’s disgusting. Dude looks like he ate the entire In n Out on the way to the park. It makes me want to barf. Have some class please.
Padres remember that they are playing baseball
I died
I never thought I would see the day…
Jason Bartlett hit a double and it was followed by a triple from O’dawg. Those two hits furthered the Padres’ lead tonight, and the Padres beat the Phillies 5-1.
First of all, that was the first time the Padres have beat the Phillies at Petco Park since August of 2008. Khalil Greene was on the Padres back then, as was Jake Peavey, if you needed a little comparison for time.
It was quite amusing when I got to the game. The man who was sitting behind me said, “C’mon Bartlett! Do something useful for once.” I nearly fell out of my seat laughing. Had he been reading my blog or is this useless thing very far reaching? I’m going with far reaching– people don’t read me that often unless they already really like me. Anyways, I started talking to the man and he was impressed with how much I knew. He kept talking to me throughout the game and his wife didn’t seem so happy about it. And then they left.
And the end of the game kind of broke my heart. My sweatshirt and my hat got up and walked away. Not even kidding. I have no idea where they went. And now I have no sweatshirt. Oh and it’s supposed to rain next week, so that should be fun.
Moving on…
I’ve come to expect a loss from the Padres. It’s been a life-long thing, not just this season. This season has perpetuated that stigma though. It was interesting though, they didn’t lose. Tonight was quite possibly the best Padres game I have seen in a long time. Sadly, I missed the first two innings; I don’t think my friend that I brought understands how crucial it is for me to be there for the first pitch. But, it’s okay. Of course, one of the first batters I see up is Bartlett, how does that keep happening?
There was nothing that was mind-blowing incredible, but the guys genuinely looked like they were enjoying the game. I haven’t really seen that emotion all year.
I think Jason Bartlett knows that we have an uprising against his contract because he did everything he could to prove us wrong, including a double and a diving stop (though he dropped the ball when he dove so that cancelled it out). He actually played like I expect him to play.
Earlier this morning there were more rumors about the release of O’dawg. He seems to understand that there are rumors flying because he seemed to be playing at a totally different level tonight. I even saw him smile once. I didn’t know that was possible.
I don’t think the entire team was playing at their full potential tonight, but I do think that this win kick-started something in the boys. They were hitting like I hadn’t seen this year, and they were fielding pretty well.
What do I think was the inspiration? Cory Luebke. No joke, when he is on the mound, a different team is behind him. It’s like the guys actually put an effort into playing baseball, and they look more loose. I’m curious if that is because of his pitching ability or his personality. I’ve heard he is truly a great guy. But I also know he is incredible on the mound. Tonight he threw a full 8 innings and was still going strong when he was pulled out to allow Huston Street to come into that game. I was totally okay with that move. He also threw 112 pitches. The other night, he had a 40 pitch first inning. If this say anything to me, it’s that Cory is the leader of this team. He’s still really green so he’s probably not the literally leader, but he commands the team when he is on the mound. I will be looking for him to become the real leader here sometime soon though. I think this kid has a very bright future based on what we’ve seen from him so far this year.
I really hope this was the start of something good. Baseball was played at a completely different level tonight. I am so glad that I was able to see it.
I definitely have to repeat: Luebke will be our ace before Volquez.
The aftermath
Bottom Line: Bud Black should be worried about his job
Joe Wieland has his first at-bat at Petco Park 4/19/12
An interesting question was raised tonight: “Does Bud Black know that his job is in jeopardy?” I responded by saying that he must unless he is dumb. But then I started to think, he isn’t doing anything with our lineup, so maybe he is dumb?
I am stunned that Bartlett is still in the lineup. I know I complain about him nearly every night, but HOW is he still playing?? Like I said last night, Nick Hundley has a better average than him and he started the season at 0-21! Bartlett struck out twice tonight by letting the third strike just fly right by him. No attempt was made to swing the bat at the third strike. And then… and then… with a runner on first, Bartlett runs towards second (I’m still not sure why) and the batter hits the ball directly to where Bartlett should have been. That would have saved us a run, but alas, Bartlett sucks.
For the record, I definitely boo’d Bartlett and Hudson tonight. I also told them how much they suck.
Speaking of Hudson, I was blown away tonight by a reaction by Hudson. At some point around the 8th inning or so a fan was heckling Hudson. He kind of deserves it. He has done nothing for the team. Well, I didn’t see the whole thing evolve, but all of a sudden all the fans around us (we were sitting right by the dugout) they jump up. So we look over there. I found out later that Hudson had the balls to jump out and confront that fan. Here’s what I take from that, Hudson knows that he sucks. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have bothered to confront the fan, because it doesn’t matter at that point. The fact that he stepped out and argued 1. Proved immaturity. 2. Was totally unprofessional. 3. Showed just how much this team is cracking.
They have to be cracking, right? You’re 3-11 and the laughing stock of Major League Baseball, there are going to be some weaknesses. However, in order to be a great team– hell in order to be a good team– they’re going to have to fill those cracks. Not just the errors on the field, because Bartlett’s drama on the field is all fixable, but the cracks within the team. We do not need players like Hudson jumping out of the dugout to confront the fans. Yea, you play for us, because without us MLB would be nothing, but you do not confront us. Play the game like the fans are not there. Remember how there was the triple play on Sunday, and then on Monday they came back with a fire in their eyes? That is how every day needs to go. Obviously I’m not in the dugout (damn!) but I’m certain there are some tensions down there. That’s not how games are going to be won. This team needs to play like a unit and act like one.
Also, maybe we should send certain batters up without a bat. Maybin, Bartlett and others all went up and it didn’t seem to matter if they had a bat that worked– they weren’t swinging. Newsflash, y’all aren’t going to score too many runs without hitting the dang ball.
Joe Wieland no longer intrigues me. Joe Wieland now impresses me. After the first inning I had this whole blog written in my head. I was going to go on and on about how I had such high hopes for him and he went and blew it with a 30 pitch first inning. But then holy wow! He turned things around in the second inning. He really found his stride and just kept right on rolling. In fact, when Bud Black took him out before the 7th, I honestly believed that he could have gone one more and been successful. I think the first inning was jitters. I really do. It was his first game at Petco, and I’m sure that was intimidating. Unfortunately that first inning made all the difference.
But seriously, I don’t want to complain about Bartlett and Hudson anymore. I want them to prove me wrong. I can only write so much about them before it becomes wruting (terrible writing).
Bottom line is that Bud Black should be worried about his job. If he doesn’t start to worry, he is going to be the laughingstock of Major League Baseball. He needs to start choosing lineups as if his job depends on it– because it does.
And I have to give a shout out to Ken for Saturday’s tickets. I will be seeing Luebke pitch once again. Let’s hope for a win.. seriously.
Luebke earns a win as Padres come alive against Rockies
Photo courtesy Kaity Bergquist (kaybee.mlblogs.com)
The Padres certainly know how to bounce back quickly. Sort of.
After a discouraging start to the season, and an even more discouraging game yesterday, the Padres bounced back today to take early command of the game against the Rockies.
It started in the first inning as the Padres took a 2-0 lead. Nick Hundley who was 1-23 coming into the game, blasted a double into right field to score Headley for the second run of the inning.
From there, they never backed down scoring runs in the second, fourth, seventh and ninth innings dominating with a total of seven runs.
Cory Luebke further proved my statement that he will become an ace before Ednison Volquez. Luebke pitched 112 pitches over the course of 7 innings allowing just one run. Definitely his most successful outing yet. He is really starting to prove himself. I think he’s one of our strongest throwers, I really do. I mean, dude only walked one batter all night (forgive me for my casual writing. The newsroom has me extremely delirious tonight).
Cashner has me a little concerned on the mound now. He was responsible for the bases-loaded walk-in loss on Friday. I think until he proves otherwise, I’m going to be wary every time he gets called to the mound. Sure, dude throws hard. But control is a key issue with him. It’s hard to control pitches when you’re throwing balls 100 m.p.h.
I will say that I am sad to see Brad Brach sent down. I think he had potential and our bullpen is already shallow enough and this lost one more arm for us. I understand that he was still kind of weak, I just think there were other players that could have and should have been moved around to activate Kotsay. Our bullpen cannot take another hit.
All in all, I would say that it sounded like baseball again tonight (I couldn’t watch because once again we are in the newsroom). Bats were moving, gloves were working and the team sounded alive. I hope I don’t jinx it, but it sounded like Major League Baseball. I really hope this is around for good.
Insanity defined as the Padres fall yet again
The pathetic attendance numbers tonight
I finally got to head back downtown after taking off three days due to school. It was far too long. Sadly, after starting off with a strong first inning (I swear someone was just trying to prove my last post wrong) the Padres fell to the Diamondbacks 3-1.
As heartbreaking as the loss was (it pushed them to 2-5), it was nice to see the team start off strong, even if they finished incredibly weak.
I know everyone is totally bashing on Nick Hundley right now. They’ve totally given up on him. He is currently 0-19 this season (but still has an OBP of .208). I refuse to give up on him, and I promise I have a good reason.
He is a dang good catcher. I mean really, when he can get a grip on the ball out of his glove, he throws rockets down to second. I would definitely call him reliable behind the plate. His bat will start working again eventually. I have confidence in him. Besides, it’s not like he didn’t make decent contact tonight. He hit the ball hard twice tonight. The placement was bad.
The player who I really am giving up on? That would be Bartlett. Useless. Completely, utterly and totally useless. Bartlett and Hudson were batting back-to-back tonight, and I literally rolled my eyes every time they came up to bat. They’re both so unreliable that it is ridiculous.
However, Anthony Bass majorly impressed me on the mound tonight. For someone who wasn’t originally a starter, he showed some major potential tonight. Tonight I actually tweeted that I believed Volquez should be a relief pitcher and Bass should be a starter. I stand by that statement. I don’t think Volquez is terrible (although I have a general disdain for the man), he just has a limit to how many pitches he can throw. Probably not good if you exceed that pitch limit in two innings. Our rotation would be killer if it was Bass, Luebke, and Stauffer. Verdict is out on the Joe Wieland kid that was called up to pitch on Saturday.
I know it’s easy to say how it should be when you’re sitting on the sidelines, but something needs to change. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If I believe that (and I do), then the entire Padres staff is insane. This is clearly not working; the Padres need to shake it up a little.
Green Grass Love Affair 