Tagged: jerry coleman

My Opening Day Adventure

Padres pitcher Edison Volquez, who started Thursday's game against the Dodgers. (Photo credit Kaity Bergquist)

Opening Day is magical. When you’re in the ballpark. But when you spend over an hour looking for parking and dealing with horrible traffic before the game, it was hard to settle down and enjoy. But thankfully, we did.

Word to the wise: if there’s a 4:05 Opening Day start, you should probably leave for the ballpark around 8 a.m.

So that was miserable. We missed all of the pre-game festivities. We were sort of able to see the flyover, and we did see Jerry Coleman throw out the first pitch. But that was it.

We were also in the nosebleeds of the nosebleeds, and there were some very unpleasant Dodgers fans up there. Right behind us was a group that was extrememly loud and obnoxious for the entire game. It was miserable having to endure them the whole time. I do not appreciate the fans who come in here and think that this is their stadium, and that they can say whatever they want and insult people as much as they want. There was one guy who was literally insulting Padres fans for the entire last half hour of the game.

Thankfully, Colleen and I are going to be sitting in a classier section for tonight’s game.

The game itself was not good. I was really impressed with Edinson Volquez for the first three innings. He was spot on. But then he suddenly lost it in the fourth inning and walked in two runs. I was not happy.

Though this is a new season, I felt like I was watching last year’s team. Weak offense, somewhat strong pitching with a lot of weak moments, and pathetic defense. We had three errors. None of those helped the cause at all.

We only had five hits in the game. Cameron Maybin had two, one of which was a two-run homer. Jesus Guzman had one, and then the pitcher and a pinch-hitter each had one. That was it. None of our “big” players had any hits at all. Not that we really have any big players, but guys like Chase Headley, Nick Hundley, Orlando Hudson and Chris Denorfia did not contribute.

Hundley did have two exceptional defensive plays, though. In that fourth inning where Volquez was busy having a meltdown, Nick was able to get an out at the plate with the bases loaded. That was HUGE. He also caught a critcal runner stealing.

Pitcher Anthony Bass did well in relief, but Brad Brach did not. He allowed two runs in the eighth. Ernesto Frieri was also okay, but he’s soooo slow.

So overall, a very disappointing game with the 5-3 loss. Not what we were hoping for, that’s for sure. Hopefully we will be able to turn things around tonight.

GO PADRES!

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Review of a BUSY Weekend

Ah, it’s so great to be back to blogging after a busy weekend! I’ve got a lot to tell you guys, so hang in there! Lots of interesting stuff happened this weekend…

PADRES GAMES

  • Saturday against the Indians: 8-6 Indians

It was a pretty good game from the Padres’ side, actually. Cha Seung Baek started, not allowing a baserunner until he gave up a bunt single in the third. He pitched four innings, giving up two runs on two hits. I think he’s getting a little better. Justin Hampson has been falling apart a bit lately. He gave up four runs on three hits. Arturo Lopez gave up two runs. But the other three pitchers did well.

The hitting highlight of this game was probably outfielder Drew Macias. He had three hits and a great defensive game as well. Cliff Floyd drove in two runs, and Luis Rodriguez had an RBI. I think we did pretty well in this game. Obviously the pitching is still struggling, but I seriously think that the hitters are ready to go. They’ve been in camp for a while, and they are ready. But there are still a lot of roster decisions to be made, so it’s good that some of these guys are getting as many ABs as possible. This half of the Padres lost 8-6. 

  • Saturday against the Giants: 8-4 Padres

We won half of this split-squad thingy! If you had asked me, I would have said that the team in Peoria would have won, but no. It was the Scottsdale team that came out on top.

Cesar Ramos started the game and threw three scoreless innings. I am very pleased that he had a good outing. He probably won’t make the team out of Spring Training, but he has struggled this spring, so it’s good to see him put up some zeros there. Walter Silva pitched two scoreless innings, which is great! Silva is on loan to the Padres from a team in Mexico, and we’re taking a look at him for as potential starter in the rotation. Thing is, he hurt his ankle and Saturday was his first outing this spring. I am very glad that he pitched well, though! Jae Kuk Ryu and Will Inman each gave up two runs. But otherwise, the pitching did pretty well!

Chase Headley and Nick Hundley each hit a two-run double in this game. Kyle Blanks hit his second homer of the spring, driving in two runs. Very cool. My boy Kevin Kouzmanoff also had two hits. Yay! We seem to hit Matt Cain pretty well. At least lately. When we faced him in a game in September, we killed him, getting like five runs in the bottom of the first. And here again, he gave up five runs to us. Interesting. And so, this half (the better half?) of the Padres won 8-4. Great game!

  • Sunday against the Rangers: 10-7 Rangers

Well. Not so great game for my Padres, or should I say, their pitching!!! Let’s see…Wade LeBlanc gave up three runs in two innings, Nick Schmidt gave up six runs without getting an out, and Josh Banks gave up a run. I don’t remember who Josh Banks is. He might have come up to the majors last year, but I’m not sure…oh wait, I remember him now. He must have been in the minor league camp so far. Anyways, Joe Thatcher threw a scoreless inning, even getting three strikeouts around two hits. He still needs to go way down to the minors.

Chad Huffman hit a homer and got three hits. Pete Ciofrone also hit a homer. Chris Snelling (more about him later) had a double and drove in three runs. Brett Dowdy had two hits.

And so, we lost. But it was a great game on the hitting side. If you don’t have good pitching, you don’t win. Jerry Coleman is brilliant.

MY BROTHER’S GAME

So, my brother played his fourth game of the season on Saturday afternoon. It was a great game! Pirates against the Marlins, and the Pirates came out on top, 7-2. First of all, the Marlins pitching was not very good. My brother got on base for the very first time in his baseball career by getting walked on four really wide pitches. So, when he’s in the majors some 12-15 years from now, he can say that he got on base for the first time by getting walked on four pitches. How neat! The reporters will be all over that. Just kidding 🙂

 Anyways, in the last inning (which happened to be the fifth), the Marlin’s pitching was going nuts. Strikeout, walk, walk, hit by pitch, hit by pitch, walk, walk. Yeah, pretty crazy. In fact, their pitching gave up nine walk in five innings! But now, the most exciting part (to our family): my brother got hit-by-pitch! But not just any ordinary HBP. He got it with the bases loaded! Now he can tell the reporters when he makes his major league debut that he got his first ever RBI by getting hit-by-pitch from a pitcher who was not very good! And he didn’t get hit badly. I think he got it in the shoulder/upper arm area. It was certainly a little sore the next day, but he was fine. Pretty cool! My mom and I were just sitting there laughing. It was pretty amazing!

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

Now, the WBC. Mexico is very close to elimination, but with my Gonzalez boys on that team, they have a chance to get back into this thing. I think it was a really great weekend at Petco Park. Some great games were played. And Team USA is still in it for now.

JAKE PEAVY

But now I must have a little rant. About Jake Peavy. Yes, Padres ace and face of the organization is pitching with Team USA right now. He’s had two outings, and he’s given up eight runs in five innings. He’s also given up five walks. I am really worried about him. I feel like he’s pushing himself way too hard way too early. He only had two outings with the Padres before he left. He’s been put into this “playoff” atmosphere, and I know how much pride he has about playing with that USA on his chest. But I really think he is pushing himself too hard. And I’m worried that this will carry over to the season. Last time the WBC came around, Jake gave up three runs in eight innings. That was the year that he got hurt. Can you believe the blow it would be to this Padres team if Jake isn’t in top form this year?? Well, we saw it last year, when Jake was out with that elbow problem. That along with the 22-inning game killed our season. We can’t lose our ace. Not again. So, I hate to say it, but I really hope Jake can get back into camp soon. He really needs to slow it down. Come back to us, Jake!!!!!!!!!!

UM, EDGAR…??

edgar laughing.jpgI just had to share this picture. I mean, is that creepy or what? In the photo caption on MLB.com, it said that Edgar was sharing a laugh with his brother Adrian. Looks more like Edgar is yelling at his younger brother. Poor Adrian, always getting lectured by his older, shorter brother. Just kidding, the Gonzalez brothers have a great relationship. And though I have no doubt that Edgar really was laughing in this picture, I just had to poke fun at him. It is a pretty funny picture!

NEW SIGNEES

The Padres signed two players to minor league deals over the weekend: outfielder Chris Snelling and pitcher Duaner Sanchez. Now, the outfielder move is really questionable in my mind. We don’t need another outfielder! Maybe they want him for his bat. But I mean, our outfield is all locked up. We’ve got Jody Gerut in center, Brian Giles in right, and Chase Headley in left. Plus, we’ve got Scott Hairston and Will Venable, who are stellar outfielders. I don’t think we have a place for Snelling, but he sounds like a good player. As for the new pitcher, hey, we need arms that don’t give up ten runs a game. So let’s see if he can pitch!

CHECK IT OUT…

The Best Blog Out There! Get over to this blog and welcome a new die-hard Padres fan to the community. You can never have too many die-hards around here, especially Padres fans! I am very excited to read about another Padres fan’s opinions of our team!

Well, the Padres are off today. Tomorrow we will play The Angels Angels in Peoria. GO PADRES!!

(photo credit: MLB.com)   

All Tied Up

  • 2-2 tie

Shoot, I just lost my whole entry. Oh well. Here I go again…

Well, the Padres played pretty well today. Starting pitcher Kevin Correia went the first two innings and gave up one home run. Heath Bell had a good inning, much better thatn Thursday’s. Hopefully he has found his groove. Meredith, Worrell, Britton, and Patterson each had a good inning. But in the 8th, Oneli Perez ran into Ross Gload, or rather Gload ran into one of Perez’s pitches. That tied up the game after the Padres had had a 2-1 lead for a while.

On the offensive side, the Padres did pretty well. Adrian Gonzalez drove in a run with a double. The next batter, Cliff Floyd, went first pitch (again) and drove Adrian in. Will Venable, Chad Huffman, and Jody Gerut also had a hit each. We also walked seven times.

Today Andy Masur and Ted Leitner were not on the broadcast (probably because of basketball duties), but new TV play-by-play guy Mark Neely joined Jerry Coleman to call the game. It was very interesting to hear Neely doing the play-by-play on the radio when he will usually be doing it on TV. Obvioulsy, TV and radio are very different animals, but I though Neely handed the radio very well. For his first time working with Jerry and calling Padres baseball, that is. I was impressed. He kept us up to date on the score, inning, batter, etc. It was very interesting, and it will be cool to see him working with the other Mark (Grant) this year on Channel 4.

But one thing that I am wondering about is why they are using a commercial that features calls by former Padres play-by-play guy Matt Vasgersian. Isn’t that kind of rude to Neely? Well, Mattie has been here for a long time, so maybe those were the only clips they had. But they should have used clips from the radio! Oh well. I’m sure Neely doesn’t really mind.

Tomorrow, we are playing the Cubs back in Peoria. I could hear a lot more Padres fans in the stands today, but I know there will be a ton tomorrow. Jake Peavy will pitch the first two innings, and then head out to Florida to start training for the WBC. We will miss you, Jake, but make us proud as you represent the USA. Wade LeBlanc will pitch the next two innings. GO PADRES!!