I'm done defending Norv Turner.
I already know all the easy excuses for this morning because I know what I would say. I've been loyal and forgiving far past the point where most San Diego sports fans have grown exasperated.
Payton Manning is a Hall of Fame quarterback. That is excuse number one, just like last week it was "Drew Brees is a Hall of Fame quarterback." Both statements are absolutely true and it also true that the average NFL quarterback would not have led either of the comebacks. However, Manning and Brees are also surrounded by teams that are not the equal of the teams they have led in the past.
There's more. This official here, or this lineman getting hurt there. But the end result is unfortunately familiar.
If there is one defining characteristic of recent Charger teams it is that they don't handle success nearly as well as adversity.
This isn't limited to a single player or even group of players either. Personnel has turned over several times within this period.
This flows from leadership.
Marty left for two reasons...only one of which was a personality conflict. The other was that he couldn't win in the postseason, as Bolt fans experienced against the Jets and Pats. Norv can win in the playoffs.
But can you imagine a Schottenheimer team letting an opponent up off the mat two weeks in a row, regardless of circumstances? Nope. Me neither.
These guys simply don't know how to strike that final blow. They can't seal the deal, they can't close the sale. And it is on offense, defense, special teams...veterans and rookies alike. That is a leadership issue, and the only leader that has been there through the whole time (besides A.J., for whom accountability is not an issue. Humanity, yes.)is Norv Turner.
Time to make a change.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Throwing The Ball Away
Really?
This team is the result of building an organization to take advantage of Petco Park? Could have fooled me.
Pitching and defense. That is what you need to succeed at Petco Park. It is no big secret. Everyone knows it. And the two are inextricably linked. A good defense creates good pitching. Good pitching, and especially consistently paced pitching, helps create good defense.
Last night, there was some fine pitching at Petco. Unfortuately, it came from the wrong dugout. Okay, Micah Owings looked pretty good and Andrew Cashner had the easy, impressive gas he was advertised as having. Neither could match up with Chad Billingsley, who was both impressive and received impressive help from the lackluster results from Padre hitting.
An awful lot of oh-fer-six going on right now. Jesus Guzman and Cameron Maybin are the only Padres I can think of with multiple hits this season...
And the errors? The third inning last night was horrible. The Dodgers were gifted with two runs in an inning where I'm not sure a single fair ball went farther than 150 feet... even counting the roll. Balls thrown up the third base line, a pickoff attempt thrown into center field... wow. Bring the kids from Opening Day wearing the 1969 uniforms back. They could hardly play worse.
One more game before I am back to West Virginia for a couple months. Hopefully it will feature two major league teams instead of one.
This team is the result of building an organization to take advantage of Petco Park? Could have fooled me.
Pitching and defense. That is what you need to succeed at Petco Park. It is no big secret. Everyone knows it. And the two are inextricably linked. A good defense creates good pitching. Good pitching, and especially consistently paced pitching, helps create good defense.
Last night, there was some fine pitching at Petco. Unfortuately, it came from the wrong dugout. Okay, Micah Owings looked pretty good and Andrew Cashner had the easy, impressive gas he was advertised as having. Neither could match up with Chad Billingsley, who was both impressive and received impressive help from the lackluster results from Padre hitting.
An awful lot of oh-fer-six going on right now. Jesus Guzman and Cameron Maybin are the only Padres I can think of with multiple hits this season...
And the errors? The third inning last night was horrible. The Dodgers were gifted with two runs in an inning where I'm not sure a single fair ball went farther than 150 feet... even counting the roll. Balls thrown up the third base line, a pickoff attempt thrown into center field... wow. Bring the kids from Opening Day wearing the 1969 uniforms back. They could hardly play worse.
One more game before I am back to West Virginia for a couple months. Hopefully it will feature two major league teams instead of one.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Opening Day is Still Special
Despite the great distance, I seem to keep showing up at Petco Park on Opening Day. I love that.
I moved to West Virginia in 2008. One of the things I didn't like about that (don't get me wrong here...I have truly come to love my new home state...) was that I would have to leave behind a source of much enjoyment to me... my home team. Yes, they would still be there. Yes, the internet would make this seperation much less drastic than the one I went through from 1989 to 1992 when I was in Iowa.
My first opening day away from San Diego was an averted disappointment, averted by the best Valentines Day gift ever, a plane ticket and seats to keep my consecutive Opening Day attendance streak from ending at unlucky thirteen. (Thank you, Debi. I still love that you so unselfishly went that route. *kiss*)
The next year, I missed Opening Day for the first time in fourteen years. It felt empty.
The last two years, including yesterday, I have been there by lucky coincidence. I travel to San Diego during my kids spring break to both spend time with them and to save money on day care... and the Padres home opener has fallen within that week. Not planned, but certainly welcome.
The Padres lost yesterday to the Dodgers, and though I hate losing to the Dodgers I loved that I was there to witness it... and I loved even more that I shared the afternoon with my kids, my mom and my grandmother. Family and baseball are inextricably linked for me, the way some link their families with backyard barbecues or board games at the kitchen table.
Tonight, we will attend again, attend the game Tony Gwynn used to call the day the real fans show up. I respect him and understand what he meant, that the second game has less people there for the event and more for baseball. But I still love Opening Day. So much so that even when my address is now 2000 miles distant, I have been to seventeen of the twenty since I graduated college.
I moved to West Virginia in 2008. One of the things I didn't like about that (don't get me wrong here...I have truly come to love my new home state...) was that I would have to leave behind a source of much enjoyment to me... my home team. Yes, they would still be there. Yes, the internet would make this seperation much less drastic than the one I went through from 1989 to 1992 when I was in Iowa.
My first opening day away from San Diego was an averted disappointment, averted by the best Valentines Day gift ever, a plane ticket and seats to keep my consecutive Opening Day attendance streak from ending at unlucky thirteen. (Thank you, Debi. I still love that you so unselfishly went that route. *kiss*)
The next year, I missed Opening Day for the first time in fourteen years. It felt empty.
The last two years, including yesterday, I have been there by lucky coincidence. I travel to San Diego during my kids spring break to both spend time with them and to save money on day care... and the Padres home opener has fallen within that week. Not planned, but certainly welcome.
The Padres lost yesterday to the Dodgers, and though I hate losing to the Dodgers I loved that I was there to witness it... and I loved even more that I shared the afternoon with my kids, my mom and my grandmother. Family and baseball are inextricably linked for me, the way some link their families with backyard barbecues or board games at the kitchen table.
Tonight, we will attend again, attend the game Tony Gwynn used to call the day the real fans show up. I respect him and understand what he meant, that the second game has less people there for the event and more for baseball. But I still love Opening Day. So much so that even when my address is now 2000 miles distant, I have been to seventeen of the twenty since I graduated college.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
75 Down Means 15 To Go (And 23 To Avoid)
At the beginning of this year, I looked at the NL West and said to myself that 90 wins would probably be enough to take this thing. I based that on the way I expected the teams in the division to beat each other up.
With the Padres having achieved win number 75 last night, they are in awful good shape to hit that number. The 5-0 victory over Arizona last night puts San Diego at 75 - 49, the best record in the National League. Most fans tend to look at that one of two ways... they look at the number of wins (Atlanta is second with 73) or they look at winning percentage (again the Braves are in second with .579 to the Friars .605.)
Neither of those is a bad way to look at things, especially with the luxury of doing it while glancing over your shoulder from the lead. But if I might offer an alternative option...
Lets look at the division. That 75-49 puts us in front by 5.5 games over San Francisco's 71-56 record. The first question a casual fan has looking at that is, "Why 5.5? Shouldn't it be 4? 75-71 equals 4." Win percentage doesn't help explain that, except tangentially because they are both measuring the same stat.
The real answer, and an extra reason to be confident about the Padre's postseason chances at this point, is in the column people forget about. The one with an L at the top.
The Padres have 49 losses. Now the thing about L's is they are missed opportunities. You can't get them back. We could, if we accept the 90 win theory above, perhaps look at them as coffin nails. With 162 games, in order to win 90 you can only lose 72. That's how many nails the undertaker is using on your pine box. That is 18 games above .500, certainly a good record in baseball. (Not so much in other sports, BTW. Think a 9-7 record in the NFL, for example. Very easy to be on the outside of the playoffs looking in with a 9-7... and that is in a sport that qualifies a higher percentage of teams for the postseason.)
So, the Pads have 49 nails in their coffin. It takes 72 to shut the lid. The Giants? 56 nails down. The Braves? 53. Indeed, the best thing about the Padres right now is that they lead the league, not in most wins, but in fewest losses. That means more opportunities to do things right and fewer examples of things gone wrong.
San Francisco has played 127 games, the Padres 124. If you apply the three games the Padres have "in hand" and split those by the two possibilities (W vs. L) -- it's 1.5. Add those to the number of wins the Padres are ahead. Now you have that 5.5.
So, like everything else about this game, winning a postseason berth isn't about maximizing your success so much as minimizing your disappointments. When we start talking magic numbers soon, the column of primary importance is the loss column. And in the loss column, the Padres look even better than the do in the other, gaudier column next to it. The only teams with a better record on the right side are the Yanks and Rays, both with 48.
By the way, just so I don't sound like I'm overly pleased by my prognosticating on the ninety win thing? I only expected the Padres to get about 85. Yes, I'm a fan, an optimist and I usually have more confidence in my boys than the national media do. But I have to say, I didn't expect to win the division this year. I picked the Giants. I also thought the Dodgers and Rockies would be closer.
If the Padres finish the year the way they've performed so far, they will win 23 more games. Or rather, they would lose only 16. That would give them a cushion of seven nails, and mean they were two short of triple digits in victories. Those 98 wins would match the 1998 NL Champs. If they play just .500 ball, they win 19 more, and lose 20. Nails in the coffin? 69.
Yeah, I'm getting pretty confident about October baseball now.
With the Padres having achieved win number 75 last night, they are in awful good shape to hit that number. The 5-0 victory over Arizona last night puts San Diego at 75 - 49, the best record in the National League. Most fans tend to look at that one of two ways... they look at the number of wins (Atlanta is second with 73) or they look at winning percentage (again the Braves are in second with .579 to the Friars .605.)
Neither of those is a bad way to look at things, especially with the luxury of doing it while glancing over your shoulder from the lead. But if I might offer an alternative option...
Lets look at the division. That 75-49 puts us in front by 5.5 games over San Francisco's 71-56 record. The first question a casual fan has looking at that is, "Why 5.5? Shouldn't it be 4? 75-71 equals 4." Win percentage doesn't help explain that, except tangentially because they are both measuring the same stat.
The real answer, and an extra reason to be confident about the Padre's postseason chances at this point, is in the column people forget about. The one with an L at the top.
The Padres have 49 losses. Now the thing about L's is they are missed opportunities. You can't get them back. We could, if we accept the 90 win theory above, perhaps look at them as coffin nails. With 162 games, in order to win 90 you can only lose 72. That's how many nails the undertaker is using on your pine box. That is 18 games above .500, certainly a good record in baseball. (Not so much in other sports, BTW. Think a 9-7 record in the NFL, for example. Very easy to be on the outside of the playoffs looking in with a 9-7... and that is in a sport that qualifies a higher percentage of teams for the postseason.)
So, the Pads have 49 nails in their coffin. It takes 72 to shut the lid. The Giants? 56 nails down. The Braves? 53. Indeed, the best thing about the Padres right now is that they lead the league, not in most wins, but in fewest losses. That means more opportunities to do things right and fewer examples of things gone wrong.
San Francisco has played 127 games, the Padres 124. If you apply the three games the Padres have "in hand" and split those by the two possibilities (W vs. L) -- it's 1.5. Add those to the number of wins the Padres are ahead. Now you have that 5.5.
So, like everything else about this game, winning a postseason berth isn't about maximizing your success so much as minimizing your disappointments. When we start talking magic numbers soon, the column of primary importance is the loss column. And in the loss column, the Padres look even better than the do in the other, gaudier column next to it. The only teams with a better record on the right side are the Yanks and Rays, both with 48.
By the way, just so I don't sound like I'm overly pleased by my prognosticating on the ninety win thing? I only expected the Padres to get about 85. Yes, I'm a fan, an optimist and I usually have more confidence in my boys than the national media do. But I have to say, I didn't expect to win the division this year. I picked the Giants. I also thought the Dodgers and Rockies would be closer.
If the Padres finish the year the way they've performed so far, they will win 23 more games. Or rather, they would lose only 16. That would give them a cushion of seven nails, and mean they were two short of triple digits in victories. Those 98 wins would match the 1998 NL Champs. If they play just .500 ball, they win 19 more, and lose 20. Nails in the coffin? 69.
Yeah, I'm getting pretty confident about October baseball now.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Controversy By The Bay
Lots going on in San Francisco last night. Yes, the Padres won a crucial ballgame 3-2. Yes, Jonathan Sanchez got a loss after guaranteeing a sweep of San Diego last week while the Gigantes were in Atlanta.
But from my point of view the most interesting thing was the interference call on Scott Hairston.
With two out in the fourth inning and men on first and third, Chris Denorfia hit a ball back up the middle. Hairston, on first, stopped short to allow Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez to pass. But the ball caromed off pitcher Jonathan Sanchez' backside. When Freddy Sanchez then had to switch direction, Hairston was forced to avoid him and did so by dodging in front of the second baseman and proceeding to second base. Sanchez picked up the ball and threw to first, but with no chance to get Denorfia.
Here is where the controversy part comes in. Umpire James Joyce called Hairston out for interference, costing San Diego a run and causing Buddy Black to have an extremely rare melt down and the Padres to place the game under protest.
Okay, fan disclosure. As shown by the title of this blog, I root for one of these teams. Obviously, my emotion gets in the way of that... however...please note that despite a long and emotional outburst, including at one point actually directing hi players to leave the field (a HUGE no-no and showing up of the umpires) Black was NOT ejected. I will explain why I note this later.
My primary point. Ridiculous call. Let me soften that slightly... I would consider this an acceptable call from a rookie umpire at a lower level. I would consider this just fine in high school or little league. But I expect more from a major league veteran.
Point one... and most importantly... there was not going to be any opportunity to throw out Denorfia ( a speedy runner) even if the ball had been fielded cleanly. This is one of those things not in a rulebook that is supposed to be considered. It's like a pass in football and pass interference. If the pass is out of bounds, it's not interference. Yes, it's a judgement call. But these men are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to use their judgment.
But it's not in the rulebook. Well, neither is blocking the plate. There are lots of things not in the rulebook that are "understood."
Point two is the deflection. The runner actually stopped dead and allowed the progress of the fielder and only after the deflection was their a time when the runner was in the line of the second baseman's path to the ball. Because the rule is directed at deliberate attempts to impede or even confuse the fielder, this is crucial. The runner has a right to the baseline. He has a directive to attempt to not block the fielder. Once the ball was deflected by a member of the Giants, the pitcher, there should have been no call for interference unless Hairston then deliberately interposed himself. In point of fact, Hairston was then in line because he had been in the process of avoiding the fielder in his attempt to field the ball.
It is not the responsibility of the runner to keep track of all possible bounces, hops, etc. If Freddy Sanchez had fallen on his face in the basepath, it would not have been Scott Hairston's job to avoid the direction in which Sanchez might attempt to regain his footing. The responsibility of the baserunner is to attempt to avoid the fielder... NOT to aid him.
Therefore, the call was incorrect. It's less important than it might have been, because San Diego won the game. However, it is interesting because it is one of those moments where the instantaneous reaction of a person could have affected not only this one game, but two entire cities and their entire seasons.
My earlier point about Black? The umpires agree... with me. I say that because I believe that they otherwise would have ejected Buddy Black when he continued to argue and most especially when the players began to leave the field... unless one off the umpires started to tell Black he was right and then Buddy started calling his players off the field. Either way, the umpires clearly felt Buddy had a right to be upset or they would have ejected him.
However, umpiring is a weird fraternity. To hear one umpire criticize another is so rare that comets visit more regularly. There is no way you will ever hear anything said about this by the umpires. Remember the perfect game blown call earlier this year? Have you noticed that the only umpire who said he blew the call was the guy who made it? Umpires have each others back. And they should, because pretty much everyone else in the stadium views them with varying degrees of hostility.
The rest of the game is satisfying but not as interesting. San Diego won to go three and a half in front of San Francisco. That means that the Padres will leave the city by the bay with the West lead even if the lose the next two days. Jonathan Sanchez saw his words of last week come back to bite him, or at least made invalid. And we still have seven very interesting weeks of baseball ahead.
But from my point of view the most interesting thing was the interference call on Scott Hairston.
With two out in the fourth inning and men on first and third, Chris Denorfia hit a ball back up the middle. Hairston, on first, stopped short to allow Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez to pass. But the ball caromed off pitcher Jonathan Sanchez' backside. When Freddy Sanchez then had to switch direction, Hairston was forced to avoid him and did so by dodging in front of the second baseman and proceeding to second base. Sanchez picked up the ball and threw to first, but with no chance to get Denorfia.
Here is where the controversy part comes in. Umpire James Joyce called Hairston out for interference, costing San Diego a run and causing Buddy Black to have an extremely rare melt down and the Padres to place the game under protest.
Okay, fan disclosure. As shown by the title of this blog, I root for one of these teams. Obviously, my emotion gets in the way of that... however...please note that despite a long and emotional outburst, including at one point actually directing hi players to leave the field (a HUGE no-no and showing up of the umpires) Black was NOT ejected. I will explain why I note this later.
My primary point. Ridiculous call. Let me soften that slightly... I would consider this an acceptable call from a rookie umpire at a lower level. I would consider this just fine in high school or little league. But I expect more from a major league veteran.
Point one... and most importantly... there was not going to be any opportunity to throw out Denorfia ( a speedy runner) even if the ball had been fielded cleanly. This is one of those things not in a rulebook that is supposed to be considered. It's like a pass in football and pass interference. If the pass is out of bounds, it's not interference. Yes, it's a judgement call. But these men are being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to use their judgment.
But it's not in the rulebook. Well, neither is blocking the plate. There are lots of things not in the rulebook that are "understood."
Point two is the deflection. The runner actually stopped dead and allowed the progress of the fielder and only after the deflection was their a time when the runner was in the line of the second baseman's path to the ball. Because the rule is directed at deliberate attempts to impede or even confuse the fielder, this is crucial. The runner has a right to the baseline. He has a directive to attempt to not block the fielder. Once the ball was deflected by a member of the Giants, the pitcher, there should have been no call for interference unless Hairston then deliberately interposed himself. In point of fact, Hairston was then in line because he had been in the process of avoiding the fielder in his attempt to field the ball.
It is not the responsibility of the runner to keep track of all possible bounces, hops, etc. If Freddy Sanchez had fallen on his face in the basepath, it would not have been Scott Hairston's job to avoid the direction in which Sanchez might attempt to regain his footing. The responsibility of the baserunner is to attempt to avoid the fielder... NOT to aid him.
Therefore, the call was incorrect. It's less important than it might have been, because San Diego won the game. However, it is interesting because it is one of those moments where the instantaneous reaction of a person could have affected not only this one game, but two entire cities and their entire seasons.
My earlier point about Black? The umpires agree... with me. I say that because I believe that they otherwise would have ejected Buddy Black when he continued to argue and most especially when the players began to leave the field... unless one off the umpires started to tell Black he was right and then Buddy started calling his players off the field. Either way, the umpires clearly felt Buddy had a right to be upset or they would have ejected him.
However, umpiring is a weird fraternity. To hear one umpire criticize another is so rare that comets visit more regularly. There is no way you will ever hear anything said about this by the umpires. Remember the perfect game blown call earlier this year? Have you noticed that the only umpire who said he blew the call was the guy who made it? Umpires have each others back. And they should, because pretty much everyone else in the stadium views them with varying degrees of hostility.
The rest of the game is satisfying but not as interesting. San Diego won to go three and a half in front of San Francisco. That means that the Padres will leave the city by the bay with the West lead even if the lose the next two days. Jonathan Sanchez saw his words of last week come back to bite him, or at least made invalid. And we still have seven very interesting weeks of baseball ahead.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Pads Hold Off Pirate Comeback
The San Diego Padres opened a seven run lead in the second game of their series with Pittsburgh, only to be forced to hang on for an 8-5 victory at Petco Park.
Kevin Correia cruised through six innings then saw the wheels come off in the seventh. Luckily, his teammates had given him plenty of cushion and he gained a W despite giving up four of the five Pirate tallies.
Jerry Hairston Jr. hit his tenth home run, Adrian Gonzalez had four hits and Heath Bell contributed his 33rd save, tied for the league lead. San Diego also continued putting pressure on opposing defenses with the running game, with a double steal and a contact play late in the game giving an insurance run after the Bucs had closed to within two scores.
Chase Headley came up big with the glove in the eighth, snaring two line drives. The second came to end the inning after a Ryan Ludwick misplay in right had led to an unearned run. Ludwick seemed to turn his head before closing his glove as he raced towards the foul line, perhaps showing awareness of the walkway past the bullpen that saw several nasty tumbles early in Petco's history, though it has been safer since they added extra fencing.
Bell looked dominant in the ninth, especially against Ryan Doumit. Mike Adams pitched the eighth, with so much movement on his pitches that even his catcher Yorvit Torrealba had trouble handling him.
Kevin Correia cruised through six innings then saw the wheels come off in the seventh. Luckily, his teammates had given him plenty of cushion and he gained a W despite giving up four of the five Pirate tallies.
Jerry Hairston Jr. hit his tenth home run, Adrian Gonzalez had four hits and Heath Bell contributed his 33rd save, tied for the league lead. San Diego also continued putting pressure on opposing defenses with the running game, with a double steal and a contact play late in the game giving an insurance run after the Bucs had closed to within two scores.
Chase Headley came up big with the glove in the eighth, snaring two line drives. The second came to end the inning after a Ryan Ludwick misplay in right had led to an unearned run. Ludwick seemed to turn his head before closing his glove as he raced towards the foul line, perhaps showing awareness of the walkway past the bullpen that saw several nasty tumbles early in Petco's history, though it has been safer since they added extra fencing.
Bell looked dominant in the ninth, especially against Ryan Doumit. Mike Adams pitched the eighth, with so much movement on his pitches that even his catcher Yorvit Torrealba had trouble handling him.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ludwick Hits Two, Pads Top Hapless Pirates
The Padres started a series with Pittsburgh last night the way you are supposed to start a series with a bad team. Wade Blank struck out eight and Ryan Ludwick hit his first two dingers as a Padre to send the Friars to a 4-1 victory.
About the only Padre who had a tough night was Miguel Tejada, who got robbed of base hits twice by excellent plays at third and second by the visiting Bucs.
Although the Pirates are now the major league team closest to my home, I can't feel bad about this. If the Pads are going to win the west, they need to dominate bad teams and that is what the Pirates are... a bad team. Certainly we can't repeat the performance against Arizona, another bad team that took two out of three from us.
I'll root for the Pirates as soon as they leave San Diego. Right now, I want them crushed. Especially if the Cubs are going to keep beating the Giants, as they did last night in topping SF ace Tim Lincecum.
Kevin Correia take the hill tonight against Pittsburgh and we need to keep this train rolling. The Dodger and Rockies are seven games back and their hopes are fading, but the Giants are right on our tails, only 2.5 out even after yesterday. I would love to see this Padre club create some breathing room for itself.
About the only Padre who had a tough night was Miguel Tejada, who got robbed of base hits twice by excellent plays at third and second by the visiting Bucs.
Although the Pirates are now the major league team closest to my home, I can't feel bad about this. If the Pads are going to win the west, they need to dominate bad teams and that is what the Pirates are... a bad team. Certainly we can't repeat the performance against Arizona, another bad team that took two out of three from us.
I'll root for the Pirates as soon as they leave San Diego. Right now, I want them crushed. Especially if the Cubs are going to keep beating the Giants, as they did last night in topping SF ace Tim Lincecum.
Kevin Correia take the hill tonight against Pittsburgh and we need to keep this train rolling. The Dodger and Rockies are seven games back and their hopes are fading, but the Giants are right on our tails, only 2.5 out even after yesterday. I would love to see this Padre club create some breathing room for itself.
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