Tagged: peoria
USA!! USA!!
- 6-5 Team USA
What a game. What a game. Just like, wow. It was like a playoff game, full of so much emotion and nail-biting. It was really a back-and-forth game. I didn’t watch it, and I didn’t even listen to it. But this morning I read the articles, watched the highlights. What a great victory for the United States!
Ted Lilly started the game for USA and gave up three runs in 3.1 innings. Padres’ closer Heath Bell gave up a run, as did Jonathan Broxton. The other four relievers did not give up a run or a hit. Kevin Youkilis hit a solo homer.
But the most exciting part, of course, was the bottom of the 9th. Yesterday, Jane Heller asked us on her blog if we liked blowouts or pitcher’s duels better. I wasn’t really sure, because I love both, but I think I got my answer with this game. I love these tight games where both teams keep chasing each other. One team gets a couple runs, the next team scores three, the first team ties it, the second team get another, the first team gets three to go ahead, and on and on and on. I love those games where it comes down to the bottom of the ninth, to do-or-die. And I love it when my Padres are able to come out on top, with a walk-off come-from-behind win. Oh man, that’s my favorite.
Last night’s game was very much like that. The score was 5-3 Puerto Rico going into the bottom of the ninth. Not impossible for this team of All-Stars to come back from. Here’s how it went down: Shane Victorino and Brian Roberts singled, followed by a walk to Jimmy Rollins. Kevin Youkilis walked in a run to bring USA that much closer. Then David Wright came to the plate.
With a count of 2-1, he hit a ball down the right field line, driving in two to win the game. His teammates jumped on him near second base (I really hope Jake wasn’t in that pile!!!). Watching the video of that walk-off hit just gave me chills. I LOVE walk-offs! It was so neat to hear Matt Vasgersian call the hit. How many times have I heard him call those walk-offs for the Padres, with his trademark, “Santa Maria!”? It was great to hear Matty V. again, obviously enjoying his new job.
What a great victory! There weren’t that many people in the stands, but the energy in that 9th inning felt so much like a playoff game. And so, the USA rolls on. But Jake needs to come back!!!! Also, Korea defeated Japan 4-1 last night at Petco Park. Very cool. I’m sure Hyun Young is excited 🙂
- 12-7 Angels
Alright, I’m changing topics to the Padres-Angels game yesterday. Nastiness! Our pitching is absolutely miserable!! Josh Geer, six runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings. Scott Patterson, three runs on three hits in 0.2 innings. Justin Hampson, three runs on four hits in one inning. Greg Burke, Ivan Nova, Chris Britton, and Mark Worrell were able to throw scoreless innings. Ah man, it’s bad. Our pitching is really bad.
But we are hitting. Jody Gerut hit his first homer of the spring, a two-run shot. Kouz and Chase Headley each drove in a run. Kyle Blanks had two hits. Chris Burke had a two-run single. Chris Snelling drove in a run. We hit very well. I was pleased. At one point we came from behind to take a 7-6 lead. Of course, it was quickly given up by the pitching staff, but at least we were able to get up on top. I’m telling you, our hitting cannot keep up with our pitching. They give up runs all through the game, and our hitters just can’t kept up. From Saturday, March 7th to yesterday’s game, our pitching staff has given up 85 runs. That’s ten games. ACK!!!!
The Padres wore their green caps in honor of St. Patrick’s Day yesterday. It didn’t exactly match the navy blue uniforms, but it was cool. Broadcaster Andy Masur was commenting on the fact that it looked like Christmas in the stands, with all the Angels fans and green for the holiday.
After the game the Padres made a few roster moves. Wade LeBlanc was sent to Triple-A. Mike Ekstrom, Cesar Carrillo, and Travis Denker were also moved to Triple-A. Chris Britton, Matt Buschmann, Pete Ciofrone, Mitch Canham, and Cedric Hunter were sent to minor league camp. LeBlanc was considered a candidate for the rotation, but he needs a lot more time. He struggled as a starter when he came up near the end of last year, and he did not do well this spring either. The Britton move was kind of suprising. Sure, he wasn’t doing great, but the Padres were looking at him as an 8th inning set-up guy. But it was not to be. Chris has been told that he will not make the team out of Spring Training. That’s kind of sad, but these moves need to be made.
And now, the worst news of the week (even worse that the Padres’ pitching problems): TREVOR IS HURT!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Panic!!!!!! Well, it’s not that bad, but he’s an old dude. He needs to be very careful with himself. He has a Grade 1 (the least serious) strain of his right oblique muscle, sustained the day after his outing on Friday. The thing with Trevor is that he doesn’t pitch that much, and even when he does, it’s just one quick inning. As a result, he has to keep in shape while he’s not pitching. This is going to be tough for him, but hopefully he will be able to rebound with no further damage. AHHHH!!!! We need you healthy for your last year as a Padre in 2010, Trevor!!! Get well soon!!!!
Today we are playing the Rangers again in Peoria. Cesar Ramos will pitch three innings, followed by Walter Silva for two. Let’s see how many runs our pitching will give up today!
GO PADRES!!!
(photo credit: arenaflowers.com)
What a Weekend
It was a really great weekend. Sure, the Padres didn’t do so great, but there was a lot of cool stuff that happened. Hang in there for this long entry, because there’s some pretty cool stuff ahead…
To start, I realized that I needed to make a poster for Trevor. When Jake Peavy won his CY Young award in 2007, I made this really cool poster commemorating that. I also made a poster when Chase Headley was finally called up to the majors last year. So, it made sense that I should make one for Trevor. I worked on this during the game on Saturday:
This is now hanging on my wall. Pretty cool, huh?
My brother’s second game of the season was Saturday afternoon. The boys played pretty well. They lost 5-4, but I thought they did a good job. I really should have brought my scorebook. I wanted to keep track of the game somehow, and the only logical thing to do was keep score of it. But all I had was a pencil and a little notepad. I had to invent my own way of keeping score of the game! It was really interesting because I’m so used to the convienence of a scorebook. Next time I’m definitely bringing my scorebook. That should help me keep better track of what’s going on. For example, I missed some of the scoring of the other team somehow, so at the end of the game I had that my brother’s team had won 4-3. But they had lost 5-4 instead. Hmm.. One of the highlights of the game was when a kid from the other team hit an inside-the-park home run. Even though it was the other team, it was pretty cool to see. The boys’ next game is Tuesday night. Hopefully it won’t get rained out!
Yesterday afternoon, my family went to a local park to practice baseball with my brothers. Unfortunately, there were adult softball games being played on both fields. We found a patch of grass and played some catch, but when we were done, my dad and I went to watch one of the games. It was really interesting. It was very casual, co-ed, just a bunch of people having fun playing softball. It was funny because a guy hit an inside-the-park home run! I mean, how many times do you see two inside-the-park home runs in the space of two days? But some of those players were really good. It looked like so much fun!
I’ve been thinking about the 2009 pocket schedules a little. I have a lot of them, like two from each of the last four years. So, I was wondering when I would find a display of them in a store or somewhere. Yesterday, my dad handed me one. I literally screamed! A guy from our church had found one somewhere and gave it to my dad to give to me. It’s a really cool schedule this year, with the 40th anniversary logo on the front.
And now, the best part of this entry! I think I mentioned that my friend and his family were going to the game in Peoria on Saturday. This family is one of my closest friends, so they definitely know all about my fandom and love of the Padres. They got to watch a terrible game, but they did have a lot of fun. They had some really great seats that were merely a few rows behind the Padres’ first base dugout. Once it was 10-5 Oakland, they left the game. I expected them to bring me something back, since I’m like a really big Padres fan and stuff, but I had no idea what they planned to bring me, and boy was it a shock. One of the things they brought back was this really cool Spring Training cap. I love it!
How cool is that?
My friend showed me a bunch of the pictures they had taken. They got a lot of really great pictures, and maybe I’ll post some once I get them. Anyway, he was telling me about the autographs they got while showing me the really up-close pictures of the players. I was really happy for them, and I remember thinking that I hoped they had brought the autographs so I could see them. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
Later in the day, my friend and his brother came up to me and my sister and presented us with these plastic Padres hats…autographed by seven players! I was so shocked. No way had I expected that they got the autographs for us! That helmet is probably worth a lot. It was signed by Brian Giles, Kevin Kouzmanoff (yay!), Cha Seung Baek, and David Eckstein. The other three…well, we have no idea who they are. I think they were minor league players. I might have been able to recognize them if I was there, but I don’t think my friend studied the rosters at all. I might be able to figure it out when I get the pictures, but for now we have three unknown autographers. If any of you can read Scribble, please let me know.
I had a really hard time getting a good picture of the hat, because it reflects everything. The light, the flash, the surrounding area. So, these are the best I could do, but you’ll get the point. (A note: my friend was able to get the hats at a thrift store for a dollar. I’m telling you, there are some incredible deals at thrift stores!)
This one is really dark, but you can kind of see the autographs.
A sort of better picture 🙂
Brian Giles
Top to bottom: Cha Seung Baek (53) and David Eckstein
Two of the unknown autographs
KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ!!!
So, that pretty much made my day. Sorry I wasn’t able to get that great pictures of it, but maybe I’ll try again later. Now we need to figure out how to display it…Thank you so much to my friends who gave this really cool stuff to me!
What a weekend, huh? It was a really great one, full of fun and blessings. GO PADRES!!
(pictures: all mine)
Baseball Time!
First off, I feel really bad about not blogging for the past few days, so I am really sorry about that. But I have a good excuse: I was really sick. When I was in the mountains last weekend, a bug was starting to go around. First it was a sore throat, then I got the stuffy nose and the coughing going, and finally I got the fever on Wednesday night, and it hung around until Sunday morning. It was a long, hard, weekend. I have never been sick this long before. I usually have the 24-hour-virus thing, but the fever stuck around forever! Anyways, I’m feeling much better now. The cough is still pretty bad, but I am definitely on the road to recovery. Hopefully I won’t have to keep away from blogging like that ever again!
Baseball! In the last week, there have been a lot of tidbits and reports coming out of the Padres camp. Lots of little things, really, but they are all pretty interesting. Kouz had shoulder surgery in the offseason, and he’s almost back to 100%. There’s this dude from Mexico, RHP Walter Silva, who looks like a really good pitcher, who the Padres have in camp this year, and he could get a spot in the rotation. Catcher Henry Blanco finally made it into camp on Friday, but I think we can excuse him because he was with his sick mom. Lots of interesting stuff going on!
I can’t believe the first Spring Training games are this week! I mean, they just reported like a week ago! This offseason really went by so much faster than the last offseason did. It’s so cool to think that I’ll be listening to Padres baseball this weekend! How amazing is that? After this long, dark, hard offseason, we are into the light and hope of spring. It’s going to be so much fun!
Wednesday is the Padres annual charity game against the Mariners (we share the Peroia Sports Complex with Seattle, so there’s a bit of a rivalry there). That game is not broadcast on the radio, even though Jake is starting it 🙂 Our second game is against the Mariners again, and presumably, Chris Young will be starting it. Friday is the Indians, probably Cha Seung Baek starting, and then Saturday is the Royals. I’m not sure who will be starting that one. This is pretty exciting…GO PADRES!!
(photo credit: wegoplaces.com)
Unfinished Business 