Results tagged ‘ Everth Cabrera ’
New Faces, New Middle Infield?
Padres welcomed new face to the team: second baseman Orlando Hudson and shortstop Jason Bartlett. I think both of them will be a great impact for not only the middle infield but also for the young team.
During the 2010 regular season, Padres relied on David Eckstein at second base while Everth Cabrera took over at shortstop in the beginning of the season. Jerry Hairston Jr. alternated between second base and shortstop. Both second base and shortstop were pretty decent but there were things still lacking. Eck and Jerry are veteran players who provided leadership for the young players. Eck ended up mostly playing at second base but an injury caused him to miss out almost a month. Overall, he did a pretty solid job and fun to watch. Jerry has a similar story with Eck. Jerry too, is a type of player who is versatile which was a plus for the team. He was also great to watch at second base and shortstop. However, he was out for the season when he was injured sometime in September.
Everth started off pretty good in the beginning but in the end, he had the season which turned out to be not-so-great. He definitely struggled so he had to spend some time in triple-A. Veteran shortstop Miguel Tejada filled in the hole nicely when he arrived in San Diego in July. General manager Jed Hoyer would like to see Everth start in AAA. To be honest, I think Jed is right. Since Everth is still young, he’s not going to hurt himself by starting the season in triple-A. I hope to see the Everth from last year– when he had a dramatic and fun 2009 season— in 2011.
With the new addition of Orlando Hudson and Jason Bartlett, I think middle infield should not be a problem for the Padres. When I think of Orlando, the first thing that comes to my mind is his defense. He is a four-time Gold Glove winner and I can sense that he is going to continue to play solid defense for his new team. Not only he is great with the glove, he should provide offense as well. Despite the spectacular 2010 season, Padres needed more offense. I don’t like “my stats, my role” kind of thing when one player provides runs. I want everyone to contribute. Orlando will certainly help, not take over a job of driving in runs. Besides being a four-time Gold Glove winner, he was an All-Star in 2007 and 2009. Transitioning from American League to National League is not an issue for him because he spent time with the D-backs and Dodgers. I’m really looking forward to see Orlando in a Padres uniform next year. He has full of positive energy, which the Padres need. He wants to “come in and have fun” and I certainly think he will do that in 2011 and 2012.
Jason Bartlett is familiar with the Padres because he was drafted by the this team in the 13th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft. He played for the 2008 Rays who reached to the World Series and was an All-Star in 2009. I’m excited to see Jason play as a everyday player at shortstop. With struggles of Everth Cabrera and the departure of Miguel Tejada, I think Jason will be an important part of the middle infield. He never played with a National League team before so he has a task to transition from American League to National League. I think he will do a fine job for the young Padres. One of the biggest needs of the offseason was a starting shortstop and Jason Bartlett should be the right answer for the Padres.
With the return of David Eckstein and Jerry Hairston Jr. still in question, it is unclear that both of them will be in Padres uniforms next year since they are free agents. Eck still didn’t get an offer from the Padres and there is a little chance that Jerry will return. I will be extremely disappointed if both of them leave but at the same time, I will be looking forward to see Orlando and Jason play. I guess when you lose one (two), you gain one or two.
Welcome to the Padres, Orlando and Jason! San Diego will be definitely looking forward to see you guys play in Padres uniforms next year. I can’t wait to see both of you in action at Petco Park!
July Evaluation
Once again, I’m sorry for lack of updates and entries. If you are thinking “Where did Hyun Young go?”, I’m back in school. Yes, you read the word “school” right. I’m in school as a sophomore now. Summer break was extremely short and I miss my long, relaxing summer break which was about two and a half months long. More summer means more baseball.
As for the Padres, their performance for the month of July was pretty sloppy, to be honest. Veteran David Eckstein was placed on the DL about a week ago and the Padres are currently playing without his leadership. Players like Jerry Hairston and Mat Latos are playing their “A” games but unfortunately, there are players who are not getting their jobs done. Everth Cabrera has been in a slump lately when it comes to bats. The two problems for him right now are that he is way too aggressive at the plate and he wants to hit almost every pitch he sees. Also, when he has two strikes, he has a tendency to get out quickly, especially in a scoring situation. I understand being at the plate with two strikes is nerve wrecking but he needs to relax and overcome that situation. This category falls into some of the young players like Will Venable. I want to see improvement from the first place team in the NL West for the remainder of the season.
On the good side however, the Padres finished July over .500 and with the record of 14-10. July is over which means it is time for another evaluation. Here are the top 5 greatest moments for the month of July.
5. Sweeping the D-Backs and the Pirates
The D-Backs came to San Diego for a three-game series. On the 16th, it was the very first game of the second half season. Padres ultimately won with the dramatic score of 12-1. I was able to go to the following game and saw a great win by the Padres with my friends. That game included four homeruns and one of them was an inside the park homerun by Tony Gwynn. The final score that day was 8-5. The third and final game of the series included drama. Arizona’s Mark Reynolds got in a brawl with San Diego’s Everth Cabrera. You can check out the video here. Petco Park was heated and temper was all over the place. Unfortunately, Everth Cabrera got ejected and Mark Reynolds did not. On the good side, the Padres ultimately swept the D-Backs.
Padres hit the road to play against the Pirates. Before the Pirates series, Padres had to face the Braves in Atlanta and that series was not good at all. Lack of offense and pitching costed the Padres to lose the series against the Braves. In order to recover, Padres played their “A” games. Padres bounced back smoothly and rewarded themselves with a sweet sweep in Pittsburg.
4. Acquiring Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick
Acquiring Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick were smart moves made by the general manager Jed Hoyer. Miguel Tejada is a six-time All-Star, 2005 All-Star Game MVP, and 2002 AL MVP. Although he is not the same player as couple of years ago, his ability to play solid baseball is very acceptable. I hope he can contribute for this first place team, who has a potential to reach the playoffs this year.
Ryan Ludwick was acquired right on the trade deadline. His performance on the field is very enjoyable and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite Padre. He made his debut as a Padre today and earned his very first Padre hit at his very first at-bat. With the acquisition of Ryan Ludwick, Padres outfield is going to be a bit tricky. Currently, we have Ryan Ludwick, Tony Gwynn, Chris Denorfia, Will Venable and Scott Hairston. It’s going to be interesting how the Padres are going to figure out this puzzle.
3. Going to the incredible game on the 17th.
This doesn’t apply to the fans but I think this story needs to be mentioned numerous amount of times. I had a blast on the 17th, getting a tour of the press box, watching a great Padres win and meeting the Ecksteins. This game was the best one I went to in my life. So far. To make a long story short, check out this entry for details.
2. Taking the series from the Dodgers
Padres hosted the Dodgers for “The Battle of the NL West”. First game was extremely close because Jon Garland’s performance for the Padres was lights out. However, he made a mistake which costed him two runs and that ended up being the final score. On the offensive side, Padres blew so many chances to score, especially in a bases loaded situation. Padres got what they deserved on that day; a loss. Not being able to use those chances can cost them a devastating loss. The next day, the boys turned things around by beating the Dodgers with the score of 6-1. The final game consisted of a sweet walk-off victory. Oscar Salazar drove in the game winning run for the Padres and the team grabbed the series from the Dodgers.
1. Finishing the month of July in first place
Baseball is already underway of the second half of the season, which means the teams who have the potential to reach the playoffs must get serious. Padres are one of the teams and I am not bragging. This team does not get a lot of attention on television but that does not mean we are backing down. We are doing our best to get stronger and better than other teams. For the month of July, Padres’ record was 14-10, with an overall record of 60-42. Not including today’s game. This team is not just “Baby Padres” or “Young Team”. We are much more than that. I would like to see more eye-popping names for the Padres. Padres consist of not one player, but everyone contributing to make this club into a first place team. Be afraid of the Padres.
Introducing… the 2010 San Diego Padres (Part 1)
Spring training has come to an end which means 2010 regular season is quickly approaching. I had a great opportunity to take a good look at the players we have during spring training. Veteran players are no problem and young players impressed me very much. I had so much fun listening and watching the Padres play. This entry will be about my hopes for each Padres and a much better season.
1. Young players: non-pitchers
What more I can say? These guys are tough. So the other teams better not underestimate these guys.
Everth Cabrera
He has a great arm, can handle the ball extremely well and nail almost every defensive plays I can think of. He reminds me of 2004-2007 Khalil Greene. As we all know, Khalil is still struggling in the majors and I hope this will not happen to Everth. When Everth came to the majors, I immediately thought he was going to be a huge impact for the Padres. He is the guy who only played single-A baseball. No double-A. No triple-A. To come to the majors by playing single-A ball is absolutely incredible. He is still young but grew so much when he became the starting shortstop and did not miss a single start ever since the day he came back from DL in 2009. I always have high hopes from him because he is extremely talented. 2010 season should be not be a problem for Everth.
Kyle Blanks
If I am the opposing pitcher, I better watch out when Kyle Blanks comes up to bat. Like Everth, I was happy to hear when Kyle made his major league debut last year. The defensive plays he make are eye-popping wheter he is playing at first base or outfield. Power is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of him. That power lead him to hit inside the part homerun last year against the Cubs. He is so much fun to watch. He did miss couple of weeks because he was injured and it was last month of the season. I want him to stay healthy throughout the season and hope to see the same Kyle Blanks on the field and on the plate; Power and energy.
Will Venable
When I think of Will, defense comes to my mind first. Yes, he can hit well but I personally think Will looks stronger when he plays at the outfield. I like him a lot. He made his major league debut in 2008 and I saw promise of his bright future as time progressed. He may look like a soft-spoken player but he does not back down from anyone in the majors. I repeat. Anyone. For example, on August 23rd, 2009, Will and Albert Pujols had some sort of fight. I was thinking to myself, ”WOW. Will? And Albert Pujols?!” As we all know, Albert Pujols is like the king of Major League Baseball right now. I was shocked when Will did not back down from Pujols. This was great for Will because he did not make an excuse of being young but rather stepped up his game. I had to give two thumbs up to Will for the extreme courage. He is fun to watch and I hope to see him grow as well in 2010 and so on.
2. Not-so-young-players-but-young-in-a-way-players: non-pitchers
I don’t think that makes sense but I continue.
Chase Headley
His natural position is third base. When he made his major league debut during the 2007 season, he was called up because Kevin Kouzmanoff, unfortunately now a former Padre, was injured. His playing time at third base got short as the season rolled on because Kouz was already locked in at third. So he had to shift his position to outfield and did a great job. Now that Kouz is not with the Padres anymore, he is moved back to his natural position and it is finally time for him to shine. I hope he does well in 2010 and so on now that he is at where he started.
Tony Gwynn Jr.
2010 will be his first year starting the season off with the Padres. When he came to San Diego from Milwaukee, I was screaming in joy. As the son of Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn Sr., I was glad to hear that Tony Jr. joined us. I forgived him when he forced the Padres to unable to clinch in 2007. Besided that terrible memory, he is an overall a great player. He can run extremely well, which is a good thing since San Diego Padres is not well known as speedy. Speed can actually win games by base stealing and forcing the runner to be at scoring position. I hope to see Tony a lot throughout the season with the mixture of talented outfielders.
3. Veteran players: non-pitchers
These guys know and have the ability to help out the young players we have. The leadership skills from the veterans will surprise many teams.
David Eckstein
I just know that he will continue to deliver what he has in 2010. His leadership skill is excellent for the young players and I can always depend on him when the Padres are slumping. The former World Series MVP is a great players to have in the young team. Extending him was a great move and he deserves to be the everyday starter at second base. When he was injured last season, the Padres were slumping and Eck could not help the team. His absence sunk the club and I hope this will not happen in 2010 season. I want him to stay healthy throughout the season and continue to do his job very well. With the word “grit” all over his face, I’m sure he can handle the bat by moving the runners over to scoring position and driving them in.
Adrian Gonzalez
According to my book, he is now one of the veterans for the Padres. He won two Gold Gloves and he represents San Diego by playing for his home team while helping out the city as well. There is still a trade talk about Adrian and I do not want to see him go. The young kids growing up in San Diego playing baseball who are looking up to Adrian will be devastating. As for the Padres, he is a key towards winning games because of his power at the plate and strong defensive plays at first base. Without him, this team will look shaky and I hope this will not happen in 2010. First step for the Padres is keeping Adrian.
Scott and Jerry Hairston
Did I mentioned that they are cute? Anyways, Both Hairstons experienced in the majors for a long time and it’s an honor having them together in a team that is rebuilding. It’s great to have Scotty back from Oakland because I missed him so much when he left in middle of 2009 season. Jerry recently won the World Series with the Yankees and it’s fun to have former World Series winners with the team that needs a bit of help. I like both of them a lot and it’s going to be very exciting to see them play together. Their offense is great because they can hit bunch of homeruns that’s going to make the fans stand on their feet and cheer on the Padres really loudly. I want to see that a lot throughout the season.
4. Catchers
I already wrote about them. You can check out the entry here.
So that will do for part 1. Tune in for part 2!
2010 Padres Fan Fest: Epic Day
First of all, 2010 Fan Fest was incredible. Even though I couldn’t do most of the things on my previous entry, I still had so much fun!
For season ticket holders, the gate opened early an hour early which was at nine. On the other hand, the gate opened at ten for non-season ticket holders. I saw Kaybee and her family members few minutes I arrived at Petco. The line was HUGE. Fortunately, we got to the front gate pretty smoothly. I hung out with Kaybee and her sister.
When we were waiting in the line, I figured out the batting and hitting clinics from Heath Bell and Tony Gwynn Jr. were for kids 13 and younger. That’s ok though.
We first went to the weight room, and clubhouse.
That’s me standing infront of David Eckstein’s locker. Speaking of David Eckstein, he was NOT at the Fan Fest so I was disappointed. I’ve been waiting and waiting to go to Petco Park to see him but it didn’t work out.
I have never been to the weight room or the clubhouse until today so it was amazing to see them. After we looked through, we came outside and hung around at the dugout.
Then we walked around the bases. I didn’t run but still accomplished number 3 on my to do list.
(Secondbase)
(Thirdbase)
After we walked the bases, we bumped into RJ’s Fro, which was awesome. Kaybee and I won their first contest by saying “I love BBQ” and also being the first ones to see them. We took a picture with them and won a cool prize.
Thanks guys!
Also, we saw guys at Gaslamp Ball. I don’t know why but I was so nervous to talk to them. But hey, those guys are famous. It was so cool to meet the pros! We also met @jodes0405, a BIG fan of Everth Cabrera and the Padres.
We headed to the Padres Garage Sale. Couple of minutes of wandering around the store, we bumped into John, a fellow Padres blogger here in MLBlogs. It was awesome to see him finally in person.
You might be thinking, “Did you get any autographs?”
The answer is yes. The thing that was different from last year is that the fans had to get like a ticket to get an autograph of your favorite player at a certain time. Kaybee and I decided to get Everth’s at 1:00 P.M. We decided to take pictures of the Padres before we could get our autographs.
(Sean Gallagher)
(Mat Latos)
Their name plates were switched, by the way.
(Jon Garland. I love the glasses and he looks very cute in this picture!)
Kaybee and I also hung out at a section called “Digital and Media Zone” I had a chance to talk to Mark Neely, the play-by-play voice for Padres baseball.
It was about thirty minutes before one so we decided to wait for Everth. Fans and I gave him a round of applause when he climed up the stairs to sit at his seat to sign. Finally, it was our turn to get his autograph.
I said hi to him and he said hi back to me. He looked shy! That’s adorable. Remember the Spanish on my previous entry? It didn’t work out because I got so nervous! So all I said to him was thank you when he signed my baseball. There was another player who signed. His name is Carlos Hernandez and I have never heard of him.
(The top one is from Everth. The bottom one? I’ll get to that later.)
(Carlos Hernadez)
After we got what we wanted, we decided to take more picture of the Padres.
(Will Venable)
(Luke Gregerson)
(Tony Gwynn Jr.)
During the Fan Fest, Padres held Q&A for the fans. Basically, Padres players, broadcasters and front office members answered questions from the fans. Those who participated are: Dick Enburg, Mark Grant and Mark Neely as broadcasters, Chirs Young, Jon Garland and Clayton Richard as pitchers, Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel as front office members, Scott and Jerry Hairston, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Will Venable. Before the fourth Q&A forum, which was the Hairston bros turn, Kaybee, her sister and I bumped into Steve Adler from Friarhood, which was again, awesome. We talked about our day and our awesome blogs. He complimented Kaybee’s new and improved jersey because she literally put a picture of Kouz. Her jersey is full of win, by the way.
Unfortunately, Kaybee and her family had to leave before the Hairstons came out. But I have pictures for her.
(Jerry Hairston)
(Scott Hairston)
I adore Jerry Hairston now. He was funny, made the fans laugh, and it’s an honor to have him as a Padre. He recently played with the New York Yankees who won the World Series last year. I can tell he plays his game hard everytime he does and it’s going to be even better when he plays with his younger brother, Scott.
After the Q&A was over, I met Steve again. We decided to hang out for the rest of the day. We saw Tom Garkinkel, Padres president and Chief Operating Officer, with a hotdog on his hand. We dropped by and said hello.
Later, we walked over to pitchers Kevin Correia and Joe Thatcher.
Both of them were really nice to me. They made eye contact with me, asked me like “How are you doing?”, and smiled at me. I even took a picture with Kevin Correia.
I expected Kevin to be shy but he proved me wrong. First of all, he put his hat backwards and I started laughing. Second of all, he was extremely nice and chill.
Steve and I caught up with Jane Mitchell. She was extremely nice and I just had to laugh when Steve and Jane were talking about their Facebook “issue”. We even took a picture together!
Later, Jenny Cavnar joined the party. Jenny is a reporter for the Padres so I was extremely thrilled to see her. I want her job someday but I didn’t say that to her. It was so amazing to have a talk with a reporter. Especially since I never done anything like that before. I really admire her and she is my idol. It was an incredible honor asking her questions and she was kind enough answer them. Another reason why she is my idol is that she played lacrosse when she was in college. I asked her for few lacrosse tips and they are really going to help me. As for broadcasting, I asked her how she does interview, pre-games and postgames. She said things are memorized, or directly said whaever is organized in her mind. I got incredible tips from her and I would like to thank her so very much.
(Funny story here: When I first introduced myself, she thought I was in college! That’s alright though. I told her that I’m in high school and she seemed surprised that I blog at a young age.)
Another cool story: My follower @goldfyngor totally recocgnized me! Guess my David Eckstein jersey worked. It was so awesome to have that type of meetup. I’ve never done anything like that so it totally made my day.
After all the fun, Steve and I saw the last Q&A, which featured outfielders Tony Gwynn Jr. and Will Venable. We only saw last few minutes. I had to leave and said goodbye to Steve. We need to go to a game during regular season someday!
2010 Fan Fest was absolutely incredible and this was the greatest birthday gift so far. By the way, thanks to Kaybee for giving me this awesome present.
Thanks girl!
As for the Padres and baseball, this really set the mood for me and rest of the Friar Faithful. I really think 2010 will be our year. Petco, I will see you again someday and go Padres!
Q’s and A’s
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Dynamic Duo
In case you didn’t know, I adore middle infield players. Just by watching shortstops and second basemen play always make me happy and I get very excited. Flipping double plays and diving to get the baseball drops my jaw and hanging them wide opened. This year’s duo is shortstop Everth Cabrera and second baseman David Eckstein. I enjoyed watching them so much throughout the season and I even took notes. It was a mixture of the young and the experienced and they are the best ones I have seen so far.
When Everth was injured, I was incredibley disappointed to see him start the season off in the disabled list. He was and still is young and I wanted to see so much from him at shortstop. Utility man Luis Rodriguez did his job and he didn’t disappoint me but didn’t make me happy at the same time. Eventually, Everth came off the DL and didn’t miss a single start ever since he came back. He obviously started off slow but proved to Padres fans and myself that he has a strong potential to play in the big leagues with confidence and skills. When “Khalil Greene days at shortstop” was over, I expected a younger, better player to replace him. The answer is simply a 22-year-old named Everth Cabrera. Everth may have very similar skills like Khalil but that doesn’t mean he needs to play like Khalil. I enjoy watching this guy so much and I can see a bright light sprouting out from him in his days as a Padre.
As for second baseman, David Eckstein is the well-experienced, former World Series MVP, eight-year-vetran type of player. He obviously is the leader of this club and showed strong leadership skills to the young players. When he is not playing, the Padres seemed to fall apart and lost. That’s how much we need this guy so much. He is not the type of guy who blasts 20 homeruns or gets 100 RBIs in a season but I can see his strong desire to play the very best every single game. That’s what matters the most for me from a baseball player; a big potential and desire. This guy runs to first when he gets a walk. Being a baseball fan for little bit more than four years, he is the one and only player who sprints from getting a walk. Anyway, the Padres made a very smart move by signing him in January and extending him to 2010 in August. If they didn’t make this move, the Padres are going to be lost for a very long time.
Everth Cabrera+David Eckstein=all the Padres need at middle infield. It seems like a lofty equation but this move looks very appropriate. Eck is 34 and heading towards twilight of his career (I don’t want to admit it that much) while Everth is 22 and still has many days to enjoy his time at the major leagues. David is a mentor to Everth and I love seeing this from a dynamic duo of middle infield. Next year should be more fun and exciting because they obviously proved that they can play solid basedball and work as a strong team.
Boom baby. I’m back!
I promised you, my readers, I’ll do blogging again exactly two weeks ago. Well, here I am now. I missed my blog so much! I’m on break so which means more Padres talk.
Speaking of Padres, we are doing a fantastic job right now. Obviously, we are not going to the playoffs. But this is a much better job than last season by three miles. I don’t want to recap the games ’cause it’s going to take forever and my fingers are going to fall off. But I do have things to say about my boys. Here are some of the guys that surprised me.
1. Kevin Correia
Ever since Jake Peavy (former Padre) and Chris Young were sent to DL, Kevin really stepped up his game. Earlier this season, he struggled several times due to lack of command and just could not trust his stuff. He made a lot of adjustments with his coach and getting better and better.
I went to Petco twice this season and he was the starting pitcher both times. First time I saw him, ok. Not amazingly great but not bad. Second time? He looked lost in the Sahara Desert. That doesn’t really matter but I just wanted to bring it up. Here’s the fact: I was smiling like crazy when I figured out he was going to be starting pitchers for both games I went to.
2009 regular baseball season is coming to an end very soon. He should get his final start against the Giants at San Diego. I wish him for the best and hopefully he will stay here for couple of years. He is a San Diego native and truely belongs here. Kevin is a soft-spoken person with a great arm. That can be a pretty good combination, right?
With big improvements of his command and pitches, he deserves to be a number two or heck even number one starter next year. I just love watching this guy doing his job on the mound. He is a good hitter as a pitcher too.
Man, great job for all the things you’ve done so far, Kevin. You know I’m proud of you.
2. Will Venable
Even though he did not start 2009 season in the big leagues, Will progressed so much when he got called up. I got a chance to see him play a little bit last season. I didn’t know anything about him, except the fact that he played basketball at Princeton just like Padres’ 6 foot 10 pitcher Chris Young.
He didn’t just start hitting and increased his batting average on the first couple of days. He made adjustments (just like Correia but not in a pitching way) and very consistent with his bat now. Padres’ outfield crew is a bit crowded but Will stands out. Not the biggest, but whatever. It will be great when I see Will at left , Tony Jr. at center, and Kyle Blanks at right on the outfield next year. I don’t know what’s going to happen to Brian Giles and Chase Headley, but that’s a whole different story.
Will is another young player who has so much potential to be in the big leagues. I’m going to have to watch him very carefully during 2010 spring training and regular season.
3. Everth Cabrera
Ahhh. Everth Cabrera, my personal favorite. I know I talked so much about Everth but he is just a stunning star. In the offseason that’s just around the corner, be very prepared for my rants about him.
I adore shortstops. Derek Jeter, Hanley Ramirez, Troy Tulowitzki, you name it, I like all most of them. Everth throws baseballs like bullets with his strong arm. His defense reminds me of Khalil Greene back in the day. Yes, I consider Everth the Padres’ next generation of shortstop. There is no sign of me saying negative comments about him. Wait. I would never say anything like that to my Padres! Anyway, his defense continues to amaze him and he is working on his offense. Everth is on his way to be a great baseball player.
Like Will, Everth was not a starting position player on opening day. He was a backup shortstop. Luis Rodriguez started things off from us but problems started to rise and I was getting sick of him play. Everth is the total opposite of Luis, that’s for sure.
He did not miss a single start at shortstop on the day he came back from DL. That’s really impressive, especially for a guy who is so young and on his rookie year. It’s no surprise when he comes back next season. However, he has some work to do. I never get anything away when there are problems or mistakes. I don’t give free passes to people a lot. They have to earn their way to become the person they want. For Everth’s case, he needs to work on his throw. As I observed him, his throws can be really high or misses the location. If he fixes that, everything should be fine.
I heart Everth.
4. Oscar Salazar
Padres acquired Oscar Salazar when they sent Cla Meredith to Baltimore back in July. At first, I was so disappointed about the trade. I loved Cla as Padres’ reliever and since I had no clue who Oscar Salazar was, my heart sunk to the bottom even more. Salazar is an utility player but right now, he is getting more playing time than I expected.
He can just flat out hit. Whenever I turn on the tv or radio for Padres broadcast, his name would appear almost all the time. I used to hate him, but I’m starting to like him now. Salazar is one of the guys who are very productive for the Padres’ offense.
That’s enough for today. I’ll have to twist my brain to come up with what I have to say more about my boys.
Oh on Sunday I’ll be going to…
That’s right. Two-hour drive, here I come.
Angels are going to be playing against the A’s. Which means I get to see Scott Hairston. Whoo-hoo! I’ll defintiely have report and pictures as soon as I come back down to San Diego on that day.
Because I love walk-off wins…
I decided to write an entry. Before the game, 2009 Hall of Famer Rickey Handerson was in the house and threw out the first pitch and Tony Gwynn Jr. caught it behind homeplate.
When Tony Sr. and Rickey Handerson were together, it was a great picture to see.
It was a great way to start off the Friday game. Especially since there were two Hall of Famers right next to each other. Former Padres manager Dick Williams will be at Petco as well. He will be a Padres Hall of Famer and maybe throw out the first pitch on Saturday.
Starting pitcher Kevin Correia’s task was pretty much the same as Thursday’s starter, Clayton Richard. Clayton did an excellent job on the mound and earned his first win as a Padre.
Early in the game, Kevin Correia had trouble getting his command working. First inning was shaky since he gave up two runs which were unearned. He did get better as the game progressed but didn’t get a decision.
Honestly, I fell asleep after fourth or fifth inning. It was boring since Padres couldn’t score runs against Mets’ pitcher Oliver Perez. When I woke up, the game was in the eighth inning and my boys were only down by a run. I figured out Chase Headley drove in David Eckstein to cut the Mets’ lead by half.
Ninth inning was when it got so interesting. Francisco Rodriguez, one of the best closers in baseball, allowed a walk to Kyle Blanks to start off the inning. Will Venable got a nice, clean hit towards right and Kyle scored all the way from firstbase. There was a controversial call however. Kyle Blanks did NOT touch homeplate. That’s right. Mets’ catcher tagged him out before Kyle could even put his fingers on the plate. The umpire called him safe. It’s because the ump was in a different angle and could not see the play clearly. He didn’t changed the call and the game was tied two to two. We took it and we needed it.
Somehow the Padres were in a bases loaded situation. Rodriguez was still pitching in the same inning. Mets even had a meeting on the mound and thought of a plan which was to make play at home again. Well, it didn’t exactly work out as they thought it will be. Everth Cabrera was up and he won the ballgame!
Holy crap. Walk-off GRANDSLAM for Everth Cabrera! Whoo-hoo!! I just watched the highlight reel five times in a row and I am not tired of the clip at al. By the way, this is the first grand slam for the Padres this season and I’m glad it was Everth who hit it. He has been doing a phenonminal job ever since he joined this club. Padres definitely need to keep him next year and throughout his career. I mean, Everth IS the Padres’ next generation of shortstop.
Everth can’t speak English very well. So he needed a translator when he was interviewd after the game. That doesn’t matter. As long as he plays the way he is doing right now, I’m fine. I just love watching him play at shortstop as a starter, making fantastic plays, imrpoving with his hitting, you name it, he does it.
This is how it went: In the first inning, Everth made an errot at short which costed a run, or runs. I forgot which. He was trying to get a man out at second who tried to steal.Everth got him on the face but the ball dropped out of his glove. It wasn’t frustrating but at the same time, I didn’t like it. His dramatic grand slam proved him as a fighter and made up for his mistake. I loved how he threw his bat, and knew that the baseball was gone. And it was off of a great closer named Francisco Rodriguez.
What a game, what a game. Padres need to keep playing like a real team. I want to see more teamwork and nice wins since regular baseball season in heading towards the finish line.
So little thoughts
High School is already starting to haunt me. I’m ok, but it’s insane to start school on late July, right?
No special Padres news lately. Except Adrian Gonzalez’s major-leading 314 consecutive appearances ended on a Tuesday night. Friars lost to the Braves yesterday by the ugly score of 9 to 2. Braves just kept hitting and hitting and hitting. It was endless! Altogether they finished the game with 17 hits with 9 runs. Tim Stauffer who started game for us looked lost. And I mean LOST. Edward Mujica came over to help him but it was just as bad as Tim Stauffer’s outing.
On the bright side, Padres’ young guys are still looking great. Talk about Everth Cabrera. I freakin’ like this guy a lot. He is very athletic and makes fantastic plays at shortsop. Everth makes everything look so easy. He totally deserves to be on top 10 plays or Web Gems on ESPN. If you don’t know much about him, you have to do some research of him now. He reminds me of Khalil Greene back when he WAS great wearing a Padres uniform. But that’s a different story which I will not mention today.
Other Padres news
1. Padres starter Chris Young is now on the 60-day disabled list instead of 15 days. He was on DL since June 19th due to strained right shoulder. I don’t see great progress from him but thank goodness he will not need a surgery. I just wish that Chris will be fine and hopefully return before the season comes to an end. If he can’t, all I can do is wait.
By the way, that picture was from Fan Day back in April. He’s really nice too 
Well, not when he had a huge fight between Cubs’ Derek Lee. I have never seen the ugly side of Chris before that day. Oh well.
2. This is not really a Padres news but my blog is at padreblogs.com! I was very excited to see that. I’ll have to go grab the badge later.
3. I’m keeping track of the days when the Padres will play against another favorite team of mine. Padres will be at St. Louis next week and have a four-game homestand the following week. I don’t know if I will be attending one of the games in San Diego, of course, but it will be GREAT to watch a game between my two favorite clubs.
Plan A: Beg Convince my parents.
Plan B: My dad’s friend. He knows how much I love the Padres so I’m hoping it will work.
Plan C: Get free tickets in someway shape of form.
4. We are 44-64 and 22.5 games back from first. It’s going to be a very, very rough road to get back over .500 or better. I believe in my guys that they will bounce back somehow.
Night at Petco Park with three friends (bloggers)
Padres lost to the Rockies on Sunday by the score of 6-1 but I didn’t really care. Mat Latos for the Padres made his Major League debut but got the loss. He’s from Double-A and the type of pitcher who only goes like five innings. This kid is stunning, however. His fastball is like 90-95 mph with accuracy. Jason Marquis dominated us again and now leads Majors in wins. Congrats!
On Saturday, I had so much fun at Petco with Kaybee, Kylie and Jen. All of us met at the front gate and when it opened, Kaybee and I went near the Padres’ dugout while Kylie and Jen went to take snapshots of the Rockies and get autographs. Before the game, I got an autograph from David Eckstein.
(You can tell he was smiling at me and I gave one to him as well.)
Reasons why I love this guy:
1. He’s just adorable. And sweet. And cute. You get the idea.
2. In case you didn’t know, he is on DL. It was a pleasure for me to do this when he is injured. I just love this guy straight up.
Pardon my bad picture ’cause my camera has terrible quality. Anyway, that proved to be my good luck ball. Cool thing is that it was thrown from Kevin Correia. Oh, and he pitched on the game I went with three awesome people.
It was still before the game and me and Kaybee had time to get more autographs.
That was rookie Drew Macias signing Kaybee’s paper.
Edgar Gonzalez and Kyle Blanks signed as well. Those two pictures are NOT zoomed in. I was really, really close to them. I took a shot to get Kyle Blanks’ autograph but it didn’t work. This kind man asked me, “Want me to get it for you?” So I said, “Sure. Thank you.” Kyle didn’t have enough time. That’s all.
Oh and Tony Gwynn too. He’s like, “Me?” in that picture. Haha! It was very crowded so we didn’t have any chance. Tony is a very cool guy and us, the fans, love him.
Funny thing happened when we saw Will Venable on the fields to stretch. This little girl who was infront of me kept yelling, “Venable!!” and “Will!!” That was really cute.
Kaybee bought me a 5 for $5 deal. The deal is hot dog, soda, peanuts, popcorn and cookie for only five bucks. If you go to Petco one day, definitely buy it. It’s worth it and cheap.
Both of us also bought July issue of Padres Magazine with Adrian Gonzalez as a coverboy. We took time reading is and had interesting conversations. We said something like, “Ewwwwwww.” at the same time. It was a picture of the pathetic chairman John Moores. Both of us awwwed and ooohhed when we saw picures of Kevin Kouzmanoff and David Eckstein.
Funny story. There’s a picture of catcher Nick Hundley and manager Buddy Black. Nick “said” “How do you know he can’t hit a slider?” Buddy responded, “padres.com” This is really stupid. One. That was the cheesiest thing I’ve read. Two. Buddy looks so stupid in that picture, no offense.
It was almost time for the game and we sat in our seats. I saw a guy with bright pink Dora the Explorer backpack walking towards the visitor’s bullpen.
His name is Matt Daley and Jen remembered his name all by herself! I love his backpack. It looks good on him too!
The game finally began and I was ready for my Padres baseball. The pitching matchup was between Kevin Correia against Rockies’ Jason Hammel.
I guess Troy Tulowitzki wanted to be in the picture with Jason Hammel. Things got off to a very slow start. Both teams scored one run in the first inning. Brad Hawpe fot an RBI double and Dexter Fowler socred with two outs. As for the Padres, it was bases loaded and Kyle Blanks got a walk. Adrian Gonzalez scored and the game was tied.
I got kinda bored so I took pictures of Garrett Atkins for Emily and Kylie.
Enjoy guys
The game was boring since neither of them scored for a looong time. When Edgar Gonzalez got hit on his head by Jason Hammel’s fastball, I was so scared and speachless. That changed the mood of 28,652 fans who attended that game. Let me tell you, I was almost in tears. The sound of the ball was SO loud.
Poor Edgar. He was the only who got two hits before got hurt. Jason Hammel did not mean to do that. He looked sick when he came over to see if Edgar was alright. What a guy, unlike Carlos Zambrano who is a complete moron.
Back in May when Zambrano hit Eck’s chest, he didn’t even come up to him and said sorry. I wanted to punch Zambrano in the face so bad.
When the Padres changed some moves, Adrian Gonzalez was missing and Kyle Blanks took over first. I realized that Adrian went to the hospital with Edgar. Adrain did the right thing as a younger brother, a sibling, and best friend.
Chase Headley came up to pinch hit and it was a HUGE. The game was still tied until the seventh inning. Chase hit a homerun towards right field!
Padres scored another run by Eliezer Alfonso’s RBI single to take the lead by 3 to 1. Although he has a cool first name, I dislike him. He always messes up when it’s bases loaded. He stikes out the most during that situation. That is not cool.
Ninth inning means Heath Bell. I’ve never seen Heath Bell at Petco to pitch so it was very exciting to see him energetic and saving the game for the Padres.
I love his entrance song. It’s called Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin. This is totally the right song for Heath. My favorite part of the lyric goes like,
“Only the strongest will survive. Lead me to heaven when we die. I am a shadow on the wall. I’ll be the one to save us all.”
That’s epic.
Heath didn’t go 1-2-3 but got the save and Padres won!
When the game was over, all four of us met infront of Petco and took group shots. My parents (my dad especially), sister and brother looked tired. They told me that they were waiting for like an hour to pick me up. Whoops. Hey, I was having so much fun so they can’t say anything ’bout that.
Thanks to Kaybee, Kylie and Jen for making this game more fun. And Kylie, you are a one hilarious gal! I wish all four of us sat in the same area. It will happen someday.
Favorite pictures
This is Drew Macias and he is a cutie!
Kevin Kouzmanoff is on the left and Kevin Correia is on the bottom right corner. This picture is pretty hilarious.
Very, very cool fact.
Random Thoughts
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In the end, I have ten pictures of Kevin Correia and Everth Cabrera as well. I like both of them a lot.
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My camera stinks and I need a new one.
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Happy birthday Jen!
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