Games That Matter

Let's face it - sports are a lot more fun to play when there's something to play for.  When asked, every player will tell you they want to win the World Series this year.  Not everyone gets to do that.  As the season progresses, teams fall out of contention, and by September they are 'playing out the string'.

Thanks to the Wild Card construct, the number of teams with something to play for has gone up dramatically.  But that doesn't just include those teams vying for a playoff spot.  It also includes those teams in their way, who no longer have hopes of getting deep into October.

Two months ago, when looking at the September schedule, one knew the Padres would have games that mattered to play, but only because they played teams trying to get to the post-season and could stand in their way.  Los Angeles.  San Francisco.  St Louis.  That's still true.  But they also have games that matter to play for their own sake.  They have an outside shot at getting to .500 before the season ends.  They have a better shot to catch Arizona for third in the West.

I'm glad they're playing well.  It makes me smile that they have a chance to torpedo the Dodgers' chances for a playoff spot, and they scored a direct hit last night with the 6-3 win.  Maybe they'll administer the coup de grace in late September at Petco.  They can also gain a small measure of revenge for years of playoff futility by smacking around the Cardinals next week.  They've already left the Pirates playoff ship dead in the water and listing heavily to port by taking 5 of the 6 games from Pittsburgh.  That's a lot of nautical references, isn't it?

The games I'm REALLY looking forward to are the 3 here against Arizona this weekend, and the three in AZ in 2 weeks.  Why?  Because no one in their right mind thought the Padres would finish higher than fourth in this division this year.  No one in their right mind thought they'd be within shouting distance of .500 in early September.  Yes I realize they need to finish 18-7 to reach .500, and that is a tall order; the mere fact we can talk about it without looking really stupid is a victory.

San Diego last won the season series from Arizona in 2010.  They've only won more than 10 games from the Diamondbacks once in their history (12, 2004).  If the Padres win both those series they'll match that total.  If they win both series they'll catch Arizona in the loss column (assuming they each have identical records in their other games).

I hope (and expect) they'll continue to be a thorn in the side of the Dodgers, Giants, and Cardinals down the stretch.  Two weeks from now I really hope they'll be looking down at AZ from third place.  Wouldn't that be great.

The Ownership Roller Coaster

As the 2012 season winds along, the unsettled ownership issue percolates in the background. Yesterday, as Padres fans everywhere turned their energy to winning the Vedder Cup, the story broke that Thomas Tull has withdrawn his bid to buy the franchise.

The 'it doesn't economically make sense' comment caught my attention.  Just how much is John Moores asking for to buy this team?  Forbes valued the franchise at $458 million back in March, and although I would not be surprised to learn he's trying to sell the team for more than that how much more does he want?  Is the team asking $750 Mil?  $1 Billion?  Some other amount even more obnoxious?

The Dodgers could fetch $2 billion because they have cachet.  They are the team of Robinson, Koufax, Drysdale, and Scully.  They have a storied, successful history.  The Padres?  We have Gwynn, Hoffman, Jones, and Joe Randa.  They've been to 2 World Series in their history and won one game.  Sorry -  no one is going to pay an exorbitant price for a team that's been a doormat for most of its existence.

The other variable in this equation, the wild card, and the one that prompted this post, is the Jeff Moorad question.  Near as I can tell his ownership group still controls 49% of the team.  What do they plan to do with their shares?  I see two options:

1. They sell their stock in the Padres along with Moores and get completely out, recouping whatever money they can.
2. They don't sell any of their stock in the Padres and remain as a minority owner.

What makes this fascinating to me is my belief that Moorad got played.  Having someone get denied form buying a major sports franchise is not without precedent in North America but it certainly is rare in baseball.  Baseball is much more likely to force an owner to sell (see McCourt, Frank; Schott, Marge; and Veeck, Bill) than to prevent a group from buying.  Even though all the reports state it was because of questions about his finances I can't help but think Jeff Moorad doesn't own the Padres today because people didn't like him (fairly or unfairly).  Either way it was a stinging rebuke for a powerful man.

He has absolutely no requirement to work with Moores to finalize the sale.  It also makes you wonder if his side of the aisle is the one driving the price way up.
Moores only controls 51% of the team.  Fifty-one percent of $500M is $255M.  Heck, Phil Mickelson could buy the team himself for that price.  Yet the Tull group left the bidding because the asking price doesn't economically make sense to them.  That tells me Moorad's shares are for sale, and that the total asking price for the entire team is way up from what Moores agreed to sell it at in 2009, thanks to the $2B price the Dodgers sold for this spring.

This morning the Dave & Jeff show relayed a report from Ken Rosenthal that MLB expects to be ready to announce a winner by next Friday, which would finally bring this whole soap opera to a close.  I prefer to spend my time looking at the product on the field, but I am looking forward to seeing who wins the bidding and how much they pay for this franchise.

Then, I'm looking forward to how they go about making the San Diego Padres the franchise we all want it to be:  Competitive.  Savvy.  Successful.

Team Leaders

Ryan Ludwick does not exist.  He never existed.

If you go to the Padres official website, about half-way down you'll find a section labeled '2011 team leaders'.  It lists Nick Hundley, Cameron Maybin, and Will Venable as the team HR leaders with 9 each.  It also shows Jesus Guzman, Chase Headley, and Venable as the team RBI leaders with 44 each.

Ryan Ludwick's 11 HR and 64 RBI as a Padre are conveniently forgotten.  For some reason this really offends me.  It's as if the team does not want to acknowledge his contributions to the 2011 effort.

I got into a psuedo-argument about this on Twitter last night.  The reasons given for why he's not listed included 'he was traded' and 'its more about who's on the current roster'.  Fine.  Then don't label that section on the website '2011 Team Leaders'.  Call it something else - Active Padres Leaders, or Current Roster Leaders, or The Best We've Got Left As The Season Ended.

Ludwick's stats didn't cease to count just because he was traded to Pittsburgh 15 minutes before the trade deadline.  He was still the most productive Padre in these two areas during the 2011 season.  It's ridiculous to pretend he wasn't.  Besides, what good does it do to present the data in this way?  Ludwick is still listed on the sortable stats page as a Padre (as he should be), and if one sorts by HR or RBI guess who's name sits at the top of the list.  Go to the 2011 San Diego Padres team page on Baseball Reference, and guess who's still listed there?  Ludwick!  Of course B-Ref has him as the everyday LF, but that's because he played more games in LF than any other Padre in 2011, which is how B-Ref organizes their data.

So who are we trying to fool here - the fans?  That's insulting to all fans everywhere.

There are other ways to sell the current roster.  Highlight Maybin's success in 2011.  Talk about how Hundley recovered from his first half injuries to become a force at the plate after the All-Star Break.  Mention Anthony Bass' development, and how (according to what I've read) he's continuing to progress in the Arizona Fall League.  Hype Cory Spangenberg.

Just don't tell me the team leaders in HR and RBI were guys who fell 2 HR and 20 RBI short of a player that left via a team decision 7/31.

In case you think I'm being unreasonable (and you might), consider this.  In 1990 Willie McGee was traded, at the end of August, from St Louis to Oakland.  At the time he led the NL in batting average (.335).  Even though he spent the last month of the season in the other league, he had accrued enough at bats to qualify for the NL batting title.  At seasons end, no other NL hitter had caught him, so McGee won the NL batting title ... despite no longer playing in the league. 

If Major League Baseball, that stodgy organization, could recognize McGee for his performance in the NL before he was traded, why can't the Padres do the same thing with their '2011 team leaders'?  Who are they trying to kid.

Pretending Ludwick's numbers don't qualify as a team leader because he was dealt at the trade deadline is dishonest.  The Padres are wrong to present the 2011 team leader stats without including him.

Game Cancelled, Padres to play two

From the Padres media relations staff, tonights Padres/Cubs game has been postponed to tomorrow. Weather reports from Chicago are forecasting thunderstorms, rain (probably the freezing kind) and temps in the mid-30s.

Tomorrow will be much better, overcast and a high of 43. Because we must not deprive ownership of gate receipts, there will be a day/night double header. First game at 11:20 pacific time, second game at 4:05.

If there is any problem with the scheduling philosophy as it currently stands, it is the one trip per year to cities outside our division. Any hiccup in the schedule puts teams in a bind. Either they do everything possible to get the games in as scheduled, or they make sure the games are played within the dates scheduled, or risk a losing an off-day later in the season so they can fly back in for one game.

all in the name of the unbalanced schedule. Interleague does not help, but the unbalanced schedule is the culprit.

No word if Moseley will still start tomorrow. I suspect he will.

Last I'm flying back I into town late tonight, so the Tuesday Podcast will be cancelled.

Hoffman Saves win for Rob Drake - home plate umpire

Yovani Gallardo pitched a great game - 1 ER, 121 pitches, 11K.  Interestingly, 7 of those strikeouts were looking.  Having watched most of the game, I thought home plate umpire Rob Drake called a generous left corner (as I looked at it through the CF camera).  Pitches off the plate, from belt high to a baseball width below the knees, on that corner were called strikes. 

As a result, fourteen Padres were punched out, along with eight Brewers.  Of the 54 outs recorded, 22 were by strikeout.  And they say umpires can't have an effect on the game.

We also learned what it takes to wake up the normally sedate Padre crowd:  Adrian Gonzalez getting ejected.  Jerry Hairston Jr's reaction after being called out to end the sixth didn't to it, but Adrian arguing about his second called strike three did.  All the strike 3 pitches were off the plate, at least, based on the excellent view I had from my couch.


Why is it umpires today feel the need to return fire when a player questions a ball/strike call?  Did Drake really need to point at Gonzo while Headley was shepherding Adrian to the dugout?  Gonzo's an All-Star and one of the best players in the NL, so you decide to take issue with HIS arguing, as opposed to Hairston Jr who has a little less notoriety?

At any rate, the fans really got on Drake after that.  At least until Hoffman came in.  It's tough for me to watch Trevor pitch against the Padres, given how many games he saved for the Padres during his career.  Hoffman has struggled on the mound this season, blowing at least 4 saves I can remember.  But he was able to retire the Padres in order tonight for the win.

There's been a lot of bad umpiring behind the plate in this series, and tomorrow we get Joe West.  Yee Ha.