Hoyer Meet Boggs...Boggs Meet Hoyer
While agent John Boggs characterized the two-hour lunch meeting with Hoyer as ''cordial,'' he said it was more a get-acquainted session than a formal negotiation.
1 day ago
Drama
10 comments
0 recs
Padres Add Three To 40-Man Roster
The Padres placed on the 40-man roster right-handed pitcher Craig Italiano, outfielder Chad Huffman and left-handed pitcher Steve Garrison.
1 day ago
Drama
18 comments
0 recs
Ballpark Baggin': PGE Park
by Dex on Nov 20, 2009 12:46 PM PST
9 comments
Over the summer I went to Portland for work and I managed to catch a Beaver's game. Portland's downtown reminds me a lot of San Diego's downtown in that it's not overly dangerous and terrifying at night like downtown LA and you still feel like you're outside when you're outside, unlike Manhattan.
After my meetings, I cut out of work and took a cab to the ballpark. It was about an hour after first pitch and the ticket windows were all closed. I walked up to the gate and, after a few batted eyelashes, scored a free ticket. I bat my eyelashes like Bud Black bats different lineups - often and with wildly varying effect.
PGE Park is very much an old style looking park. Past the right field wall, the park is built right up against a building, which I was later told by a Portland native is a health club. The whole thing sunk a bit into the street. No outfield seats except for some bleachers at the health club that you can walk out to. I assume that, after workouts, the gym patrons can go out to the bleachers, watch a game, and see what people who are really in shape look like.
The outfield scoreboard is one of them old timey time wooden boards that needs somebody back there to constantly update. Updating the scoreboard is always portrayed as something romantic. Like the 106 year old man who has sat behind the scoreboard at Suchansuch Ballpark since 1908. Really, I imagine the job to be dark and dreary. Something reserved for criminals and interns who don't take to Excel as quickly as you might like.
Here's a real blurry photo of it:
I don't recall much about the game except for what I might have tweeted at the time. I remember we were winning when I left the hotel and we were losing by the time I found a seat.
Above the seats is a wooden overhang that appeared to extend out and cover all of the seats. It rains a lot in Portland so I figure it keeps people in their seats during delays.
The other thing it does is make for amazingly loud echos whenever music is played or the fans get excited and cheer. The sound just reverberates up into the rafters and directly down into your ears.
Not unsurprisingly, the American Tinitis Association had a booth set up out on the concourse area near one of the exits. No lie.
Outside of the park there are huge faces guarding each entrance from Portland spirits. They are terrifying and ghastly.
After the game, I walked back to the hotel. It was a Thursday night and about 11 blocks away. Downtown Portland is nice at night. I don't know what they do with the homeless people. Probably, they remind them that it rains all the time and they should seek more temperate weather, like San Diego or something.
As I understand it, there are plans for a new better ballpark, which makes me kinda sad. The current ballpark is nice and old school and seemed to be well attended. It was college beer night or something, so that may have had something to do with it, but still. Lots of cities build new ballparks to recreate the look that Portland's current ballpark has.
I be glad I bagged it when I could.
9 comments | 2 recs |
"As far as approaching free agency, we're not going to be major players for free agents because of the size of our payroll," new general manager Jed Hoyer said Thursday. "But we're going to go after targets we like ... aggressively. We have money in the budget to spend on free agency."
2 days ago
jbox
43 comments
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Around the Mission: 11/19 Padres Links
by jbox on Nov 19, 2009 10:17 AM PST
12 comments
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Detroit Lions receivers coach turns to baseball Hall of Famer for help with dropped passes | Highlight Reel - MLive.com
To help his guys out, Jefferson is turning to some advice that he got San Diego Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. The lifetime .338 hitter told Jefferson when he got into a slump at the plate, his solution was to get more batting practice: "seeing the bat make contact with the ball -- every time." -
Padres in the Hall of Fame? — Votes take place in two weeks
Former Padres Roberto Alomar and Fred McGriff are now eligible for the Hall of Fame -- do they have a chance on the first ballot? -
Padres unlikely to go big in market | padres.com: News
Free agency is set to begin at 9:01 p.m. Thursday, though if history is any indication, the Padres will likely be quiet on that front again this offseason. -
Perpetual Padres Saga: Dynamic Duo
Everth Cabrera+David Eckstein=all the Padres need at middle infield. - XX Sports Radio: Dick Enberg (MP3)
- XTRA Sports: Corey Brock (Quicktime)
12 comments | 0 recs
"If they're interested, I'm interested," Enberg said yesterday.
3 days ago
jbox
43 comments
0 recs
Around the Mission: 11/17 Padres Links
by jbox on Nov 17, 2009 8:53 PM PST
14 comments
- XX Sports Radio: Tom Garfinkel Interview (MP3)
Garfinkel likes to quote old movies. Jed Hoyer has the final say on any Gonzalez trade. The Padres won't shop Gonzalez but they will listen to offers. Garfinkel dated a girl from Nicaragua at one point. He's become a Chargers fan. "At the end of the day... autonomy... moving forward... etc." -
insidethepadres
former Padres national crosschecker Scott Littlefield has joined the Rangers as a special assistant in baseball operations -
Inbox: Will Correia return to Padres? | padres.com: News
In the latest Inbox, beat reporter Corey Brock looks at Kevin Correia's status, whether Joe Thatcher should be traded, what the new GM might do at catcher and more. -
Multi-team trade for Gonzalez a tough task | padres.com: News
Trying to trade a burgeoning superstar -- like Adrian Gonzalez -- is never an easy proposition for a team, and attempting to do so within the framework of a multi-team deal figures to be an even thornier plan. -
Should the Padres trade Kevin Kouzmanoff? " Another Padres Blog
I think the answer is yes, and it is largely due to factors not really about Kouzmanoff. -
Who's your Padre?: A Padres primer for arbitration ...
My guess? None of these guys make it to arbitration and deals get done before the start of Spring Training. -
Padres general manager Jed Hoyer basks in opportunity in San Diego - ESPN
Recently hired Padres general manager Jed Hoyer is now the leading man in San Diego after spending the last several years in the background in Boston.
14 comments | 0 recs
Lunch with Padres Media Relations
by Dex on Nov 17, 2009 2:01 PM PST
17 comments
I forgot to mention it when it happened, but jbox and I recently had lunch with Warren Miller and his media relations team, Brett Picciolo, Josh Ishoo and Shaun O'Neall who runs the Padres Magazine.
It was a pretty informal meet-and-greet. JBox and I didn't really have an agenda other that to keep in contact with Warren who has been very gracious with us and to meet some other dudes who put together what we as fans see and hear about our favorite team. If the Padres organization was a large sea lion, then those in our lunch bunch would be the sea lion's vocal chords, barking incessantly and occasionally mooing. Letting you know that you should throw some raw fish its way so as to satisfy the needs of its gray, blubbery body.
Shaun O'Neall looks the part of a grizzled beat reporter, now spending his days shilling the five dollar magazine. Brett's a younger guy. Probably a little younger than me or jbox. Chiseled features. The cool and calculating type. Josh looked like the youngest guy at the table, but he could've easily just been baby faced. Josh wasn't wearing Padres colors. Bastard.
Lemme just say right off that everybody was real cool to us. However, Brett did come off a little bit tight lipped, to match his cold and calculating features. It was like he might be afraid of what me and jbox might say to you, dear reader. As if at any moment something might be revealed, wherein I would pull out my trusty laptop while jbox would cry out, "Check and MATE!"
The only time he really perked up was when I called out Josh during lunch. We were asking them where they all were from and who they rooted for outside of work. Josh said, almost apologetically, that he rooted for one of the "big East Coast teams".
"Don't worry. It's not the really bad one."
"Which one do you think is the really bad one?" I asked.
"Oh, the Yankees of course."
I looked him in the eye and told him, "You sir, are much much worse."
JBox and I then went into a brief diatribe about how Boston fan is so smug about their championships, but furthermore feel like they're entitled to be smug because they were "long suffering". Yankee fans are just douchey, but Red Sock fans somehow end up being douchey and whiney at the same time.
That was the part where Brett perked up a little bit and started nodding, I think a little encouraged that we were right about something. Anything.
So, we insulted Josh and we weren't really sure if Brett liked us much at all.
Shaun, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic. I think we had a bond right off because the "salad" that came with our sandwiches consisted of shredded lettuce with no dressing.
Sure, we said. Send the not so subtle message to the fat guys.
We talked a bit about how the traditional media gets their hands tied and how little they can really report on because of the lack of hard proof. For example, he was pretty confident that most every sportswriter out there knew about steroids well before Jose Canseco exposed it to the world. It also didn't seem to come as a surprise to him that Ruben Rivera had been sneaking underage girls into bars and that Jim Leyritz is a swinger.
We also compared notes on some of the beat reporters who are left and what the state of the Padres online world is.
In summary:
- 619Sports is doing a great job.
- MightyXX gets love from us because their interviews are good, they've shown us love, and their website is MUCH easier to work with than 1360's (read: I can open the site up and not be worried about NSFW content).
- Sabermetric type fans are a niche that's tough to target, and, I guess, not one that gets targeted heavily.
- Clayton Richard is doing a great job with his Facebook Fan Page.
- Lots of regular conversation happens on Gaslamp Ball and the SignOnSanDiego forums.
- Twitter's great if you're willing to put the time in to figure it out.
- Paul DePodesta should blog more about more.
That's about it. JBox and I didn't ask for press creds or anything like that, though I'm still hopeful that Warren, despite insulting his team at various points during the lunch, will help us get some better interviews during the offseason and into next season.
Also, I'm hopeful that having a better relationship with these guys helps us get more better info with which to mold and shape into humorous anecdotes and wild assumptions.
17 comments | 4 recs |
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NL West Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles
|
95 | 67 | .586 | 0 | Lost 3 |
|
Colorado
|
92 | 70 | .567 | 3 | Lost 2 |
|
San Francisco
|
88 | 74 | .543 | 7 | Won 1 |
|
San Diego
|
75 | 87 | .462 | 20 | Lost 1 |
|
Arizona
|
70 | 92 | .432 | 25 | Won 1 |
(updated 11.21.2009 at 9:52 PM PST)
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
