Posts Tagged ‘Bud Black’

Padres win the series and takes the Pirates to the River……

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

On this Sunday morning on the eve before the Padres play the Pirates for the third and final 3 games series in Pittsburgh. The Boys from Diego weathered the elements of mother nature and the Pirates last night by beating the Bucs 9 – 2. Padres’ pitcher Mat Latos threw six innings en route to his staff leading eleventh win of the year. It is good to see Latos back in the rotation and providing the Padres with another outstanding performance. The key will be, how does Latos holds up for the remaining of the season and when will the Padres coaching staff pull back Latos before he surpasses their projected workload for the season. In either case, this will be an interesting activity to monitor as the season winds down during a pennant race. Last night’s win, assures the Padres a series win and only a win today will produce a series sweep.

Bud Black earned his pay

The Padres Front Office gave Padres’ Manager Bud Black a 3 year contract and this was well deserved. In my humblest opinion, Bud Black is the right Manager for this Padres ballclub and franchise. Ever since the Padres hired Black, there has been a level of consistency in manager’s decisions throughout the game. This isn’t a knock against former Padres’ Manager Bruce Bochy, but we all knew that Bochy was supplied with better personnel than what Black inherited after his initial season (2007). Let’s be realistic, even Bochy could have done well with the 2007 ballclub which finished second place after the 163 game of the year against the Rockies. Though, from 2008 thru 2010, Black has endured a period where Bud had to steer the ship and keep the players positive. Let’s be realistic, this is no easy task in any environment including those who work for a living. It’s always easy to manage or better yet go to work when things are fine and rosy. On the other hand when times are troubling with inconsistencies, shuffling of personnel and management you will really find out what people are made of. It’s very true adversity builds and defines the true character of a leader. In this case, Padres’ Manager earned his stripes and has been rewarded for his consistent positive outlook, empowerment of his coaching staff, and keeping the clubhouse loose by integrating rookies with the major league club. It’s about time a former pitcher has a profound affect in managing a big league team and breaking that mode of only former catchers are the best qualified managers.

As I close out this post, let’s truly enjoy every game of this magical 2010 season where I have now officially termed it as “We Believe”. The Padres are about to fly back home once they close out the final game of a 3 game series with the Pirates. The Padres have already ensured of taking the series by winning the first two games and effectively have taken the Pirates to the River. Ahh !!! With this being said here’s a video by Blues Artist Delbert McClinton, a song titled “Take Me To The River”. Have fun watching the boys today, San Diegans and when tuesday comes around guess who’s in town ?? I will leave that up to the next post.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Trek Begins In The Valley Of The Sun……

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

When the sun rises from the east on Monday, Opening Day 2010 begins for the San Diego Padres. How befitting the Opening Day starter for the Padres is former D-back Jon Garland. Padres’ Manager Buddy Black has made a great decision and I predict the Padres will win the game by the score of 6-2. The beast will be unleash and the kids will run wild on the bases. If you think the Angels are an exciting team wait until you see this year’s version of the Padres. I am very excited and anxious to see the game on Monday, it’s going to be interesting to see how other teams will respond to the Padres running game. I expect throughout the course of the season for many flare-ups from opponents when the Padres are playing them. How come? I think the Padres will push the level of intensity up and thus stir the populace with their aggressive running approach. The outcome could be some brush backs or shouting incidents, mark my words. This equates to the American populace who are up in arms with the Obama Health care Program.

As I sit here on a wonderful saturday, day before Easter Sunday and I wish every reader out there a Happy Easter Weekend. A classic way to end this post for many of those who are traveling this weekend to visit our loved ones and as well for Padres’ Opening Day Starting Pitcher Jon Garland, is a music video by Blues Guitarist Rory Gallagher titled “Going To My Hometown”.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

More shuffling the cards of decks though the dealer remains the same….

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

The second half of the season has begun and unfortunately for all Padres fans, the results remain the same. Padres just called up Pitcher Mat Latos and will make his major league debut on Sunday against the Rockies. The Sandy Alderson and Grady Fuson protege will finally show those people who had lack of confidence in the Alderson regime that their drafting philosophy was in fact legit. The roster continues to be overhauled with majority of talent that was drafted by Sandy Alderson’s regime. Though, since Alderson has been let go the most prominent front office personnel is Kevin Towers. I would imagine, Towers is being closely watch and observe thoroughly these last few months of the season. As with all cases, new ownership and CEO usually want their own hand pick people, given consideration that recently hired Bob Melvin has been given the title of assessing the current minor league system. This move is quite significant, Towers and Fuson may be the next ones to be let go from their current responsibilities and titles. I, personally think the Grady Fuson has made a huge impact on the Padres minor league system. In my most humble opinion, it is Towers who should be shown the door. With that being said, what will be Mgr Bud Black status? I would re-sign Black for 3 yrs and let him work with the youngsters. Black had worked with many throughout his days with the Angels and deserves a fair shot given consideration the situation he was placed in by Kevin Towers.

The Padres should demote P Josh Greer and cut their loses with Greer. Let’s bring up Carrillo, Buschmann, and any other pitcher who should have a legit shot of starting. I like the fact Tim Stauffer is looking rather quite emotionally and physically strong. I still believe in Stauffer, and most Padres should remember Stauffer was already hurting physically when he got drafted initially. I foresee a starting rotation of Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Kevin Correria, Tim Stauffer, and Mat Latos

It’s time for the Padres to have some fun, and I will conclude this post with a music video by Con Funk Shun, song titled ‘FUN’. Do enjoy Padres fans and let’s have some fun while going to the games.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Cabrera brings synergy to the Pathetic Padres….

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

If there was a turning point in this season with the Padres, I would have to point on that Sunday in Philly against the Phillies when the Padres were winning the game on a very successful early season road trip through New York and Philadelphia. On that Sunday afternoon not only did the Padres lose the game but lost Everth Cabrera to an injury. Since then, the Padres have been boring and shown no speed what so ever until the acquisition of Tony Gywnn Jr. Last night, while at the game I’d witnessed some synergy from the Padres who had Kyle Blanks in Left field and Everth Cabrera at Shortstop. Even Mgr Bud Black had a twist to the line-up with Pitcher Walter Silva batting in the 8th slot and Cabrera in the 9th slot. That gave Black an advantage with two speedsters back to back in the order with Cabrera and Gywnn Jr. Though, it didn’t help at all and as usual the Padres lost another interleague game to the visiting Oakland A’s. You would think, based on the Padres lack of speed, they would have an advantage playing these AL West teams. So much for wishful thinking and as I had alluded before this season is history, only now we await for further roster moves. Speaking of moves, P Josh Greer wouldn’t be on the roster nor would I have re-signed P Brian Lawrence. Just a typical Kevin Tower’s acquisition, like an old-time miner trying to find gold in an historic gold mine which hasn’t been in production in over several decades. Going to the well too many times will eventually burn you and maybe it’s time to trade Towers for a couple of prospects. Hahaha !

All I have to say to all the Padres fans out there, the few weeks before the trading deadline are going to be exciting and we will all be taking a voyage, a fantastic one at that ! Here’s a video by Lakeside, called ‘Fantastic Voyage’

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Will someone please stop the bleeding…..

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Losing streak extends to FIVE games as the Padres were swept by the Dodgers. Just plain old miserable is what sums up my thoughts on the Padres right now. Once again, opportunities were there for the Padres to take and grab control of the game. But as usual, on a consistent manner unfortunately the Padres FAIL to CAPITALIZE on key situations with runners in scoring position. It’s becoming quite evident the Padres do not have anyone else besides Adrian Gonzalez to step up. I don’t want to be in GM Kevin Towers seat right now, because he’s steering the ship along with Mgr Buddy Black that represents the Titanic. Just maybe, the spot price of silver will hit 25.00 per ounce before the Padres win their 25th game of the season. Here I thought only Wall Street Market is in a sucker rally but evidently the Padres start from the opening gate was also a sucker rally. There has to be a blockbuster deal soon, otherwise it’s going to be a long very long year and the fan base will eventually erode as well. I know we are in some hard economic times but there were a few people back in 2000 that knew this was coming (credit followed by the soon currency crisis). In baseball terms, I am sure a few front office personnel in the Padres also seen this coming (lack of talent) as well.

To sum up this entire weekend in which the Padres were swept under the carpet like some lost critter on the cold flooring, here’s a music video by Leona Lewis vs Duffy titled ‘Bleeding Mercy’.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Enough is Enough, Break It Up !…..

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Let’s try something new, for this pre-game post I’ll attempt to inject some Big MO into the Padres mentality. Four straight losses is enough and today the Padres will break it up to end the road trip on a good note. Back in the days, a player or two would take all the bats and burn them to get rid of the ju-ju. Or maybe, the players would come up wearing the stirrups high and the pants as well. Another idea would be that Mgr Buddy Black could drastically change the line-up to see what comes from it. Anyhow, today is the day when Padres’ P Chad Gaudin puts the team on his back and wins his 1st game of the year. So, I figure it’s time to break out some Old School jam and get these Padres going with a song titled ‘The Breaks’ by Rapper Kurtis Blow. Come on boys, let’s win the final game of the series in LA.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Back to Blogging while Padres are in La-la land….

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

It has been hectic the past 6 days for me. One, I had to deal with the passing of my cousin’s husband who fought a year against leukemia and passed away a week ago. These kind of events really puts everything into perspective and shows how fragile life is.

As for the Padres, they have been on a downward spiral ever since Mgr Buddy Black decided to give P Health Bell a rest in a game which the Padres lost to the Phillies. Big MO has disappeared since then and the Padres are resembling like the team which had lost 99 games last year. The injuries continues to pile on the Padres along with some horrible showings by Jake Peavy and Chris Young. The offense is still there though the pitching has been downright horrible. You would think the amount of money these pitchers make they could go atleast 7 innings. Geesh, back in the old days if you didn’t go 9 innings you were considered a whimp. So, I expect today’s pitchers to go atleast 7 innings not 5 !

Watching the game against the Dodgers, I can’t believe RF Brian Giles took his sweet time throwing the ball back into the infield as Dodgers’ CF Matt Kemp took 3rd on a swallow ball hit to right field. This is the prototypical example where Giles weak arm has been exposed. It’s time to move Giles to LF and let’s have a powerful arm in RF. Last Saturday’s game in Petco, where Jody Gerut played in RF against the Pirates. Jody had chased down the ball into the right field corner, actually threw a strike to 2nd to keep the runner from advancing home. Before our Padres continue to spiral downward, Mgr Black should start to make some moves with the starters and particularly the starting pitchers as well.

Come on Towers, pull a trigger and make a blockbuster deal ! It’s about time to make a bold statement.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Student goes against the Professor in Downtown tonight….

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Ahhh yes ! The Padres are finally back in town after 7 weeks in Arizona. I would like to take some time to note a well written article in today’s Union-Tribune by columnist Tim Sullivan. It’s about time that Sandy Alderson received good publicity and his impact on baseball operations. I will go out on the limb and say “There might be day in the future when the Padres will regret the day Alderson was shown out the door” I know many many fans in San Diego will disagree. But hey ! That’s what makes this world go around. It’s the varied opinions, impressions and thoughts of others that makes life very interesting. Though in terms of Baseball operations, Sandy Alderson poured the concrete and laid down the foundation. Unfortunately, Alderson will not be around to enjoy the fruits of his hard labors. Once again, well written article there, Tim Sullivan !

Tonight, in downtown there will be some baseball as the Padres hosts the Los Angeles Angels. It’s a classic of the Student (Bud Black) going against the Professor (Mike Scioscia). The game will be a very entertaining one, I am looking forward to seeing Vlad, Torii, and Figgins to name a few. These next two nights (Friday and Saturday) against the Halo’s should get the Padres ready for the season. Here’s something to digest… How many bunts will you see in this two game series ? I will say Halo’s – 3, Padres – 2.

You got to be kidding me !
On a weekly basis, starting every Friday during the 2009 Season I will feature this category for the strangest comment of the week made during that week in the baseball community. This week’s award goes to the San Francisco Giants. SI.com’s Jon Heyman noted yesterday that “The Giants like Xavier Nady and wouldn’t mind bringing the University of California product home at some point.” Ummm, didn’t Bochy managed Nady while in San Diego and benched Nady in favor of the aging non-productive Ryan Klesko ? I guess after a few productive years elsewhere, Nady has finally won over Bochy.

Well it’s time to head down to Petco, baseball is back in Downtown. Let’s get loud Padres Fans and on that note here’s a song by JLO ‘Let’s Get Loud’….

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Another Day in Camp as the countdown begins….

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Padres’ Mgr Bud Black announced his starting rotation. Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Walter Silva, Kevin Correia, and Shawn Hill. I really like the way the rotation has been set and it’s a good one to start off with against the Dodgers. I am curious who will be the other reliever that Kevin Towers hinted that may be acquire on Wednesday.

During tonight’s game, Duaner Sanchez and Luke Gregerson looked very sharp. Both had good control and threw strikes, in fact Gregerson pitches had tremendous movement. As I had alluded before, I have faith in Towers ability to build the pitching staff.

A good way to conclude this short post, would be a song by the Beatles titled “A Day In Life”. Keep Up the Faith Padres Fans ! Opening Day is coming soon….

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

One week away from Opening Day…..

Monday, March 30th, 2009

The Padres Front Office and coaching staff have a few more days to mold the 2009 Opening Day Roster. I have extreme confidence in Padres’ GM Kevin Towers to provide Mgr Bud Black with the right personnel to open the season in San Diego on Monday 6 April. About this time, I am sure throughout the local neighborhoods in San Diego there are kids dreaming about playing for the Padres. At the same time, there are plenty of players doing the same thing in Peoria as I speak. A handful will have their ultimate dreams come true as they will become members of the Opening Day Roster. The same feeling that kids throughout America have when they participate in their Opening Days in Little Leagues. Oh what a feeling that is !….

While we are on the subject about those backyard dreams of playing in the big leagues. I bet a handful of you in your younger days attempted to imitate those favorite players during whiffle ball game in the backyard. Well, have fun folks ! Here’s a classic video

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »