Results tagged ‘ Khalil Greene ’
Q’s and A’s
var OutbrainPermaLink=’http://ajroxmywhitesox.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/01/lack_of_baseball_lack_of_relev.html’;
var OB_Template = “mlbblogs”;
var OB_demoMode = false;
var OBITm = “1241712535489″;
var OB_langJS =’http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js’;
if ( typeof(OB_Script)!=’undefined’ )
OutbrainStart();
else {
var OB_Script = true;
var str = ”;
document.write(str);
}
|
|
Khalil Greene Dilemma
Khalil Greene is a very interesting man. Before I get to that, I will hit the rewind button.
He began his Major League Baseball career by playing with the Padres during his rookie year back in September of 2003 and has been a huge fan favorite through 2007. I was one of those girls who would scream his name when he came up to bat, including infront of my television. Not so much in 2008– what ended up being his last year with the Padres –because he had a huge meltdown which caused him to literally punch a storage chest. That incident took place inside the Padres clubhouse on last day of July in 2008, after striking out 100 times during that season. I wonder if the Padres still have that storage. Anyway, he was later placed on DL with a broken hand. He did not come back to play ever since that injury.
December 4th, 2008 was when he got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. I was incredibly upset on that day. I thought he was going to stick around here for a while because he grew up from the Padres organization. So when he got traded, I took an enormous time to reflect and thanked him for what he brought to this club. He definitely shared ups and downs with the fans, but mostly ups because he was a fantastic defensive shortstop for us, set a record among Padres shortstops, and rarely smiled during some games. One of few problems with Jeff Spicoli, I mean, Khalil Greene, was that he didn’t show some kind of expression on the field whatsoever. Whenever he maked an eye-popping play, he would get up, brush dirt off from his jersey, and move on as if nothing happened. Aside from that and striking out too much, I really liked this guy.
He had a smoking hot spring training with the Cardinals so I expected a big improvement from him. Khalil did got off with a decent start but he struggled, again. He eventually got sent to the DL not because of a physical injury. He was suffering with a social anxiety disorder. Because of anxiety disorder, he spent most of his year on the DL. He put way too much pressure on his game and he not only hurt himself but the Cardinals. I felt so awful for him and can’t imagine what anxiety disorders are like, but I don’t think it would be very pleasant. He took time to recover and bounced back. At one point, he hit three homeruns in three straight games against the Royals during interleague games.
With new, strong acquisitions made by the Cardinals, Khalil’s playing time got cut and served as a utility role until the final game of 2009. He failed to impress the Cardinals and got what he deserved; relased from St. Louis and being a free agent.
So January 10th, 2010, Khalil signed with the Texas Rangers for one-year deal as a utility man. I’m not to surprised at all about hearing this news. He has been struggling for couple of years now and he can’t handle the starting role as a shortstop, yet. Since he will be a backup, I expect him to not be a starter on opening day for the first time during his career.
Ok. I called Khalil Greene an interesting person few moments ago. Why? This guy sure likes to mess up. One day, I would hating this guy so much but another day, I would feel bad for him, and even like him later. According to reason #36 of “101 Things Every Padres Fan Should Do Before They Die” I should make a working Khalil Greene robot so I can talk to it and spill out everything about what I have to say.
I wish him the best as a new member of the Rangers.
Baseball musings
1) ALCS Game 4: Yankees 10 Angels 1
How did the Angels lose by nine runs? Let’s see. CC Sabathia was dominat on the mound as usual, Angels’ offense just could not get almost anything going, and to top it all off, they did not put any big effort during the game. I felt so bad for the Angels and even myself for a pathetic outing. I can’t and won’t talk garbage about the Yankees ’cause that’s just not right. However, I will say that they better watch out for John Lackey (tomorrow’s starter) and the rest of the Angels if the Yankees don’t want to lose. Angels are trailing by two games but they have big hearts to play their very best. Just like what my dear David Eckstein wrote on his book. It’s all about having heart and every second of life is worth giving the best effort.
Anyway, if the Angels get eliminated, I will not yell at them (well, on television) or cover my face in shame. I mean, why would I? They are a great looking group and they can play solid baseball. It’s just that they didn’t show any of that during game 4. Yes. Time is ticking for the Angels and the thin ice they are stepping right now are getting worse. But hey, who know’s what’s going to happen later? We won’t figure it out until the end of the series. The Angels still have a chance to bounce back and maybe, hopefully take the series. Both Yankees and Angels are the two best AL teams for 2009 so they definitely deserve to be playing in the ALCS. The game is about best vs. best and I love it. My fingers are crossed for an Angels’ win tomorrow for game number 5.
2) #59 on the latest leaders for 2009 regular season
That would be me. I was super excited to see myself on the top 60. Thank you guys so much for stopping by and taking time to read my blog that still needs a lot of work. I haven’t done a dedication since a long time ago so I would love to dedicate my number to a young player in the Padres. His name is Luis Perdomo and wears number 59 on the field.
2009 was the 25-year-old’s first season in the major league and he did an average job as an reliever. He had ups and downs during his outing but those results he got are only going to make him better for next year. Luis even got his first big league win this season. He is likely to come back as a Padre in 2010 and I know he will do a solid job when he goes up on the mound when it’s his turn.
3) New general manager?
Padres are getting close to hiring a new general manager. Last weekend, Dodgers’ assistant GM Kim Ng had an interview with Padres’ CEO Jeff Moorad. However, Red Sox assistant GM Jed Hoyer remains as Padres’ favorite to replace former general manager Kevin Towers. Jeff Moorad said that he would like to hire a general manager by the start of the World Series. Padres need a general manager who has the strong potential to do his or her job. I, personally want Kim Ng to be the new GM for the Padres. She did a great job with the Yankees and the Dodgers as an assistant. If she gets picked to replace Kevin Towers, things for the Padres should go smoothly.
4) Happy birthday Khalil!
Today is Khalil Thabit Greene’s 30th birthday. Man, it felt like yesterday when he was so good. He may not be the same Khalil when he was with the Padres, but I really hope he can bounce back from a toughest year of his career so far whether he is coming back as a Cardinal or not. I’m not crazy about him being gone as much as the day he got traded. So happy birthday Khalil and I can’t wait to see him next year healthy and without any anxiety disorder ’cause they hurt. I really doubt he’s coming back to San Diego but I wish him for the best.
A loss to the Padres, but a chat with David Eckstein? Priceless
Shocking, but true at 2:32 P.M. on 8/21/09
On a normal Friday afternoon, something amazing happened to me. I recieved an e-mail from Ashley, David Eckstein’s wife. She used her personal e-mail and I’m keeping the address private. Anyway, she offered me free tickets to a Padres game against the Cardinals on Saturday. HOLY MOLY. As soon as I read what she sent me, I was in shock for good twenty minutes. I’ve been dying to go to that game for months! Well, they made my wish come true. Here’s part of what she sent to me:
I found your blog a couple of months ago and when I read you wanted to go to a Pads/Cards game, we figured we could make that happen. It means a lot to have positive and supportive fans like yourself and that should be rewarded.
Epic win, right?
The next day (08/22/09)…
was game day! Yay! I couldn’t go to sleep at all on the day Ashley sent me the e-mail. I got ready to go to Petco on a Saturday afternoon. My brother went with me because he wanted to go. Shocking, isn’t it? He ended up going there to kill time. Oh well. I hurried my butt off while dragging my brother along and went to the VIP/Media/Player Will Call to get the tickets.
My seats were section 111 and it was not bad at all. When I opened my envelope, I couldn’t believe I was watching a game at a ballpark for free. So my brother and I went down to the visitors side to see what was up because I couldn’t see one Padre warming up. And guess who I saw?
Ever since he left San Diego, I’ve been missing this guy like crazy. Sure we have a very talented young shortop Everth Cabrera, who replaced Khalil Greene. But I miss Greenie’s plays and at-bats. When he came up to bat during BP, I literally yelled, “Khalil!!”. He saw me, and gave a little wave. That was completely made up of win.
After thinking about him for more, I went to the Padres side. Manager Buddy Black and Kevin Kouzmanoff were sitting outside the dugout and chatting with each other. Mat Latos was also there.
Kouz was signing autographs at the Padres dugout area. I was way in the back so I thought I had no chance. But thanks to one of the Elite group, I got Kouz’s autograph. He asked me, “Did you get an autograph?” So I said, “No.” Kouz made an eye contact at me! That nice man said, “Ok. Throw them to me.” I threw the ball and sharpie and signed my baseball. After I got my belongings, I said “Thank you.” Kouz gave me a nice smile.
Getting Mat Latos’ autographs was really impossible so I just took pictures of him.
My brother and I were talking about how the game will go and suddenly, Kevin Correia popped out of the dugout. By the way, when I went to a Padres game last month with three awesome bloggers, Kevin pitched on that night as well. It was great to see him again.
I was reminded by Ashley that David will be signing around 6:35. I waited and waited, and he finally came out from the dugout. At first, I thought I had no chance to tell him thank you or anything. I kinda pushed people to get close to him. Sorry fellas but there were way too many of you! A baseball player knows me so deal with it.
This was my plan: 1. Use my brother’s baseball to get an autograph. 2. As soon as he gives it back to me, say what I want to say to him. Well guess what? It totally worked! I got his autograph again and as soon as he gave the ball back to me, I had the best ten seconds of my life.
Me: Eck, thank you so much for the tickets.
Eck: Oh that was you? (Smiles)
Me: Yeah. It really, really means a lot to me.
Eck: No problem. My wife and I thank you for your positive support for the team.
Me: It’s all I can do as a fan.
Eck: Your name is Hyun Young, right? (Pronounced PERFECTLY in a FIRST try.)
Me: (Gave him two thumbs up.) Yay! You got it right!
Eck: Haha. Well, have fun tonight!
Me: You too Eck, thank you!
Eck: (Smiles one last time at me.)
Oh my goodness. THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLE! I didn’t lose my cool and talked to him as if he was my friend, I swear. My heart kept pounding but I didn’t show any of the nervousness I had to him. Whole bunch of people around me looked totally jealous! I can’t believe he pronounced my name perfectly ! It’s hard to pronounce that all my teachers couldn’t say it right for the first time. David Eckstein is THE man. I know I said thank you way too much, but his wife read my blog. I couldn’t take a picture with him since it was so crowded.
I also got Chase Headley’s autograph. My arm was about to fall off since I was holding my baseball and sharpie for about a minute. He finally signed it! I said, “Thanks Chase.” but didn’t say anything back nor smile. Oh well.
It was almost time for a game so me and brother bought ourselves a 5 for 5 deal. I was so starving that I ate a hot dog in like two minutes. Before the first pitch, we quickly sat in our seats. At 7:05, Kevin Correia threw the first pitch.
I was excited to see this man.
It was amazing to finally see Albert Pujols at a ballpark, not infront of my television. First inning did not go so well. Matt Holliday hit a huge three-run homerun off of Kevin Correia. ARGH!! I heard more cheers then boos. That’s not good at all.I like the Cardinals, but I rooted for the Padres the whole time. I think there were more Cards fans then Padres fans in the house. About fifteen people around me were wearing Albert Pujols shirts, Yadier Molina jerseys, etc. So Cardinals were leading by three runs already.
But the bottom of the first, I finally saw David Eckstein’s at-bat.
Last month, I couldn’t see him because he was on the DL. I’m so glad he is back in action and ready to play solid baseball.
I think it was either second or third inning that I saw Friar Race… again! 70′s, 80′s, 90′s and Swinging Friars participated. 70′s Friar ended up winning.
But I have NEVER seen anything like this.
There was Zombie Friar, or whatever. It was… strange.
When it was Eck’s turn to bat again later in the game, I saw this and yelled in joy.
YAY!!! This is a great, great news to hear. Padres and I definitely need him for almost everything.
Back to the game.
At some point during the game, I started to panic since the Padres had one hit, which was from the one and only David Eckstein. Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter even got a hit towards right field.
That was so embarassing! Kevin did not look sharp on the mound. What happened to the guy who goes six to seven strong innings by giving up three or less runs? Well that guy just vanished. Joe Thatcher, Luis Perdomo and Ryan Webb did some relieving and did ok jobs.
After a quick meeting on the mound, Padres bullpen got a little better.
In the ninth inning, we were down by seven runs. Oh and Yadier Molina took over first base. Interesting. Remeber this. Padres were down by six runs against the Phillies back in April and won at Philadelphia. I was expecting something similar like that will happen. Eck led of the inning but flied out to center. Adrian got out as well. It was up to Chase Headley to start the rally. He does is with a single. Will Venable also got a hit. Kouz came up to pinch hit since he didn’t start thirdbase. Unfortunately, he flied out to center and the game was over in a 7-0 loss to the Cardinals.
Even though the Padres lost, I’m happy that Eck and I talked to each other. Oh man, I wish I have a video of this! He is such a nice guy, no doubt. Chris Carpenter was again, solid while Kevin Correia struggled. So by the end of the game, I got:
-
Two autographs (well, it was really three)
-
The most delicious 5 for 5 deal
-
Great pictures
-
August Padres Magazine
- The best ten seconds of my life so far.
Quick shoutout to the Ecksteins
David and Ashley,
Thank you guys so much for the incredible offer. Me and my brother (Well, not so much for him since he’s not a Padres fan.) had a great time at the ballpark. The Padres lost but it still was a lot of fun. Ashley, you totally shocked me with an unexpected e-mail and the ticket offer! You are so generous and I really appreciate for what you did for me. David, I had so much fun talking to you! I never talked to a player like that so it was absolutely amazing. I’m so glad you are staying in San Diego for another year!
Again, thank you so much. You guys are incredible. And I can’t wait for the package that I’m going to get from the one and only Ecksteins!
Thanks again,
Hyun Young
Rematch against the Cardinals
Last week, the Padres played against my another team, the St. Louis Cardinals. I have been waiting for that series since the beginning of the season. Anyway, that three-game series was bittersweet. I like the Cardinals, but I did NOT want my Padres to get swept.
St. Louis Cardinals. Oh my. They are looking like a one heck of a team right now, and getting closer to playoffs if they continue to play like this. Great offense, great pitching. Great club. Key players such as Albert Pujols (obviously), Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa are really helping themselves and the team.
The heartbreaking game for me was game three of the three-game series. Padres were winning 5 to 4 until the bottom of the ninth inning. Padres’ closer Heath Bell blew a save by allowing the Cardinals to tie the game. And then, Colby Rasmus stepped up to the plate, blasted a huge two-run homerun, and made the fans leave Busch Stadium with big ol’ smiles.
I just didn’t get why Heath couldn’t save the game. We totally should have won. But, it was what it was and the boys took a tough loss.
After an ugly sweep for the Padres, my boys in blue and sand returned home to open up a three-game series against, yet another NL Central team, the Chicago Cubs. There were great offense by the Padres and took the series from them. Cubs are now looking themselves quite a lot of games back from first place. Take that!
Padres vs. Cardinals (8/20/09)
Tim Stauffer had the command while Joel Pinerio was up for the Cards. Stauffer has been really struggling lately. Oh yeah. He has been throwing way too many pitches. Right now, he doesn’t look great at all. Joel Pinerio on the other side is just lights out. He yet dominated the Padres again and the Cardinals ended up snatching the first game out of four from us.
Rookie infielder Brendan Ryan went deep while bases were loaded in the second inning. As soon as he let go of his bat, I was thinking, “That one’s gone. Shoot.” And just like that, the Cardinals were leading by four runs with only one hit. How is it possible to make bases loaded without allowing a base hit? Apparently, Tim Stauffer was able to do it.
David Eckstein grounded out when bases were loaded with two outs when we had a chance to take the lead or at least tie the game. Unbelieveable how he did that, struck out in the first inning and left runners on bases.
I call him “Dr.Eckstein” since he knows so much about baseball. He does what needs to be done, plays every single game with passion, and just about every other good stuff. Oh, and setting a great example to the young guys as well.But that game was just forgetable. It was so shocking how he couldn’t provide enough runs. He still is a doctor though.
It was another bad game for the Padres and they just cannot seem to figure out how to take control of the Cardinals lineup.Starting pitchers for the Padres lately are really struggling, throwing more then usual and giving up ton of runs to the other teams. Not good at all boys. Offense had been pretty quiet also.
A bright side I could think of right now is Kyle Blanks. The big 6 foor 6 kid know how to swing the bat and blasts a homerun. That run by the Padres was the one and only run which was a longball. He even hit a big walk-off homerun against the Cubs few days back. Kyle is doing an amazing job for the Padres and I am looking forward to see him play more and hit more.
Khalil Greene, I freakin’ missed you and welcome back to San Diego.
Even though I saw his actions last week, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to see more from him and I did. He came up to pinch-hit in the ninth and my heart was pounding as soon as I saw him. When I heard his name, Padres fans gave him a nice standing ovation and it was something I expected. Khalil was with the Padres for six years starting from 2003. He was definitley a fan favorite (especially girls like me) and still remains as one of my favorite shorstop, or now third baseman. Whatever. Throughout the game I kept thinking, “Where’s Khalil?!” In the ninth, all my attention was towards him, no one and nothing else. He, unfortunately struck out swinging.
People can call him whatever they want. Weird, quiet, not emotional, etc. Deep down, he really is a great guy. When I look at what he has to stay, I feel proud. He is passionate about his career as a baseball player. When Khalil was sent to DL twice due to social-anxiety disorder, I just kept praying for him that he’s going to be all right.
Although he had some hard times in San Diego, I loved watching this guy play. I really appreciate him for his time as a Padre.
Padres’ successful search for a new shortstop
2009 season will hit the midpoint very soon, and changes will happen to every clubhouse including roster moves. Before this season, the Padres were missing a shortstop since Khalil Greene, now playing for the St. Louis Cardinals as shortstop and third baseman, moved onto his next step of his Major League career. Khalil had ups and downs in his six-year career as a Padre shortstop, and it was time to move on for him on December 4th, 2008. After that move was made, the Padres were eager to acquire a new shortstop in someway shape of form. Sure they already had Luis Rodriguez, and infielder who did a great job filling in for Khalil when he hit the DL on end of July during the horrible 2008 season for himself and the team. But something was still missing. That something was called youth.
Right now, the Padres are letting the young 22-year-old rookie Everth Cabrera play more than an experienced Major League player Luis Rodriguez. It’s a move that Everth, Luis and the Padres know. Cabrera is a player that the Padres acquired by a Rule 5 Draft. Everth Cabrera was born on November 17, 1986, in Nicaragua. He was very thrilled when he was invited to Spring Training in the big league level, being on the 40-man roster, in the lineup, and finally, learning new things from talented and outstanding veteran like second baseman David Eckstein. Earlier this season, he was sent to the disabled list and it was an unfortunate way to start off the season. Cabrera eventually got through the hard time in his career so far. After he got his ticket to be in the lineup, a smile in his face brightened the Padres organization again. He was ready to do his important job again.
Everth Cabrera is not the type of young player in the big leagues who pretneds to know what’s going on and doesn’t ask for help. He is the total opposite and always wants to learn something new and feels like he belongs in the Majors. In a short amount of time, fans are already excited to see what more this talented kid can do. Wether he is up to bat in any order of the lineup that Padres’ manager Bud Black wants or on the field, he is always consistent and improves every single day. Cabrera is obviously not an experienced ball player, but with the way he plays his game, San Diego Padres and the fans are not worried about him at all.
Here’s a question that needs to get answered for the fans: Is Everth Cabrera the Padres’ next generation of shortstop? Before Khalil Greene, the famous Padre shortstop was Ozzie Smith back in the 70′s.
Smith didn’t finish his career in San Diego and moved onto the Hall of Fmae as a Cardinal, but the Padres fans still remeber the Great Ozzie. Ironically, Khalil Greene followed Ozzie’s footsteps and now playing for the St, Louis Cardinals. Greene was even considered as Smith when he was with San Diego. However, Khalil is having a frustrating and difficult time in St. Louis by being on the diabled list twice already this season by social anxiety disorder. Fans will never know if he will be the next “Wizard”.
So is Everth Cabrera the Padres’ next generation of shortstop? As of now, he is but hungry for more to become a successful player. Everth Cabrera is Everth Cabrera. Not Khalil Greene or Ozzie Smith. These talented folks have (and had) different ways of playing in the big leagues. When Cabrera makes an error, he knows that it’s something that happens toevery single Majore League Baseball players. Error leads to a lesson that needs to be learned, which will help players be successful at the position he is responsible for. A great example of a player who have gone through this process is Padres’ third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. During his rookie year in San Diego back in 2007, he committed more than twenty errors. Now he makes fantastic plays and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes as he used to do couple of years ago. Padres’ new, talented and young shortstop will follow his path and be crowned as a MVP of the team, National League and possibly World Series.
What a wild game
They played against the Mariners in Seattle after a nice day-off on Monday. Padres hit the road and finished the first game out of six road interleague games with a sweet win. Things got off to a pretty rough start but there were the good, the bad and the scary sides so it was all good. I love games like these. It just gives me excitement yet nervousness at the same side.
Chad Guadin got another shot against the M’s. When the Mariners came to town, they snatched two games out of three from us. Chad Guadin pitched in one of the games but got a no decsion. On a gorgeous night at Seattle on Tuesday, he proved that he deserves a win, with bunch of run support from his teammates.
His performance was steller. All he needed to do was pitch seven innings with eleven strikeouts. Chad got jammed in the second with bases loaded but escaped it by getting Ichiro out with a ground ball. That was HUGE. It was definitely a nail biting moment just by watching him handleing that situation. He was great. He tied his career-high eleven strikeouts so he deserves a pat on the back.
Now Chad Guadin has a similar situation as Kevin Correia, the new number one starter. Kevin has been on fire on the mound. He knows what he’s doing and figured out his weakness. I know he doesn’t have eye-popping numbers like Tim Lincecum or Zack Greinke, but stats are not everything to me. Since he is Padres’ new ace, he got things back together. Kevin got his physical and mental minds combined which made him do his best when he is pitching. Kudos go out to him.
As for Chad, his last two outings proved that he fixed whatever he can. It worked! I’m proud of him for getting under control and not worrying too much about the pitch mistakes he threw. His two runs didn’t hurt the team since the offense were able to take care of it.
There were only two strikeouts for the Padres on that game! Almost all the friars got hits and they did that by taking advantages of the Mariners pitchers’ pitch mistakes. Like Adrian Gonzalez. He hit a monster shot towards right field to make it 24th homerun of the season.
Rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera continues to amaze me every day. Even hitting in the ninth hole, he did what he needed to do and finished the game by going 2 for 3 which included two RBI’s. My boy David Eckstein had a strong day and he was 3 for 5 with two runs batted in as well.
OF Scott Hairston was fresh back from DL and had a pretty good game. Scotty got an RBI which was very needed. Since he was off from the crowded disabled list, it was time for Brian Giles to flip-flop with Scott. Brian has a really bad knee right now, just like back in 2007 when he missed more than 30 games. Get better soon man, stinks when a knee is bugging you a lot.
8th inning was wild.
Padres bullpen just could not take advantage of the huge run difference. Greg Burke did most of the damage which included allowing a two run homerun to former Padre Russell Branyan. I didn’t want to bite my nails with my mouth ’cause… well, it’s disgusting and a bad habit. Burke allowed four runs so Edward Mujica needed to finish the tough inning.
Heath Bell did what he needed to do and got his 20th save of the season. He got a pretty rough start since he didn’t know he was going to save. At one point, the Padres were leading by seven runs. Unfortunately, the bullpen couldn’t finish strong. But hey, as long as the Padres win in any way shape of form, I’m cool with that.
Josh Geer for the Padres is looking for his first career win at road in the second game of the three game series. Good luck with that Josh. I’m hoping that he can overcome like Kevin Correia and Chad Guadin.
RANDOM MUSINGS
Kind of disappointed…
This is what former Padre had to say:
“Given my experience in San Diego wasn’t a great one, that left a bitter taste in my mouth,” Greene said. “It felt like the trust factor had been shattered. On the micro-level aspect of it, that didn’t involve the clubhouse, but I really felt soured by that. Here, obviously, they want me to contribute, but at the same time I felt a genuine sympathy for my well being. … I wanted to respond to that.”
As I was reading those words from Khalil, (credits to St. Louis website) he turned me down a bit. On the day he got traded, he specifically told that he would like to thank the Padres, city of San Diego and fans for the opportunity to play for this team for five-plus seasons. That just totally confused me ’cause I didn’t expect him to talk something bad like that when he was a huge favorite among the Padres fans. Definitely MY favorite as well. He’s weird. But he’s my weird guy.
I’m sorry. I still can’t get over with this thing and it’s been months. We are almost into second half of the season! Wow, time just flew by like a jet. So basically, I just want Greenie to be happy with whichever team he is playing for. That’s all I want from him. By the way, he needs 11 more homeruns to reach get number 100 of his career. I believe that he can do that by end of this season.
Tune in for…
my special entries which I will began writing next week. Since I’m leaving San Diego on Saturday night for two weeks, I won’t get to watch the Padres games and do recaps like for almost every single entries. So I want to try something different when I’m going to be away from Padres baseball that I’m really attatched to.
Great start, great end
Happy Father’s day everyone! Yesterday’s game was a tough one by my boys. The bullpen just could not hold on to the lead which costed the game, but the Padres avoided the sweep and won the final game out of three. Friars celebrated Fathers’ day by having nine Padres’ dads throwing the first ceremonial pitches to their sons. I think Adrian and Edgar’s father needed two baseballs! Anyway, that was so sweet. No other words to describe it.
After a great start of the ballgame, it was time to get to the wire. Kevin Correia for the Padres stepped on the mound and the game began. Kevin Correia. All I can say is wow. He didn’t just dominate or shut down the opposing teams, but got his job done by not giving up ton of runs and hits or walking a lot of batters. Last four outings for him got me pumped up.
He’s getting better and better when he’s pitching and that is something I like to see from him. His progress is very positive and today was yet another great one. Since Jake Peavy and Chris Young are in the DL, Kevin is doing a fine job filling in the holes. He is actually our number one starter now since Jake is missing. So the bottom three starters bumped up two numbers each and got new four and five starting pitchers. Those two are Wade LeBlanc and Walter Silva who pitched on Friday and Saturday. They are learning and eventually will get the hang of being starting pitchers.
In the beginning of the season, Kevin Correia just could not pitch. He walked way too many guys, didn’t trust his stuff and just could not win. Kevin turned things around lately and it’s fun to watch him now. Like when he retired first 14 batters for the A’s, my goodness, that was awesome. Oakland’s Orlando Cabrera broke that slump for the team but no big deal. In 6.2 innings, Kevin allowed only one earned run, two hits and struck out seven. With a game like that, he deserved the win and he did. Bullpen today did a great job by not giving up any runs so it was nice to watch them do what is right. Heath Bell got his 19th save of the season and the Padres win it!
On the offensive side, things went pretty well. My boy David Eckstein was 3 for 4 with three singles. He boosted his average to .264 now. Yay! Catcher Henry Blanco got his 500th career hit which was a solo shot. Congrats Henry! Edgar drove in a run and Kouz knocked in two runs by going deep. That’s the way to do it. Stay hot Kevin!
After Padres got their victory, Kevin waved at his dad and he waved his son back. That was a great father-son moment for the Kouzmanoffs.
Monday is an off-day and Padres will face Mariners again. This time, it will be at Seattle for three games. Six more interleague games and it’s over!! I hate watching them face AL teams and Padres should feel the same too.
Cardinals Chat
Since the Cardinals won against the Royals today, manager Tony La Russa got his 2500th career win as a skipper. Congrats Tony! Albert Pujols hit a grand slam on that day. He now leads Majors in homeruns with 26. Sorry Adrian, but you still have plenty of time. Well Khalil Greene, a redbird who is now playing at third, left the game early because he got hit by a pitch from Royals’ starting pitcher on the right knee. Later, I figured out that he got a bruise on the knee. The pitcher didn’t mean to hit him so I don’t blame him.
Poor Greenie. That has GOT to hurt. Stinks for him and myself because he has been playing so good. Khalil homered three times in three consecutive games now. Last time he did that was when he was a Padre back in 2004 against the Rockies. Last two games for him was a rollercoaster ride. On Friday, he left the game early (again!) after fouling a ball off his left foot., but got a solo shot on that day. Saturday, he got a three-run bomb in the ninth to extend the lead for the Cardinals and won 7 to 1. Sunday, he blasted another homerun. Like I said, he had to leave the game.
Be prepared for me going on and on the Cardinals sometime. I will even write only about the Cards one day and you will see why I follow this team as well not just because of Khalil. He may not be a bright person as others, but he has a special place in my heart.
If you have a chance to see a Cardinals game on television or at the ballpark, look out for Khalil Greene because he will just make you blind for a minute by his flashy plays. I’ve known him since 2005 and that fact is true for sure. This one play by him when he did a pirouette to throw the ball to get the man out got me thinking, “You are just not supposed to be able to make that play.” over and over again.
He was released by the Padres on December 4th 2008 and I was very upset for one whole enitre month. The very first player I knew from the Padres was him and it was so hard for me to deal with it. He was knocked down last season but is rebounding this year as a Cardnial. I know his weaknesses and strengths because I paid attention to him so much ever since I saw him with my own two eyes.
Looks like I got some ranting to do about him. Oh yeah, the Cardinals too.
What a day
First of all, the Padres FINALLY snapped the horrible 13-game losing streak (which includes from last season) against the American League team. The best thing about this game was that it was a walk-off style, thanks to Kevin Kouzmanoff. Few hours later, I went to David Cook’s concert at Del Mar which is about 40 minutes away from where I live. Enough talk just for introducing. Let me get to the game that took place in Petco during a great afternoon.
All I can say that it was a great game
Pitching wise, it was alright. Josh Geer started things off in the mound and did an ok job. He allowed three runs, and struck out six Mariners in six innings. The bullpen was just solid again. Greg Burke, Edward Mujica and closer Heath Bell definitely did their jobs very well and made the fans really happy.
Tony, David, Adrian and Kevin got all hits for San Diego. Great job boys! Tony only got one hit but he scored one of the runs which really counted for the game. My boy David Eckstein was 3 for 5 so I was very pleased to hear that. He even drove in a run! He has not been playing very well lately. But in this game, he totally changed things around for himself and the team. Adrian’s bat was just on fire. He finished the day by going 4 for 4 which included a homerun. A-Gon didn’t hit a homerun for a long time. In fact, entering this game, Adrian’s last homerun was all the way back in the 2nd of this month. After he launched 23rd dinger of the season, Adrian tied with Albert Pujols in the Cardinals for first place in the Major League.
But the hero was Kevin Kouzmanoff. It’s no surprise that he was able to drive in a winning run in the tenth inning. Kouz is just on fire lately. He’s been hitting really well and very consistent when he’s up to bat.
I really love Kouz right now. He’s been a huge help even when we lost couple of games, in a row, swept, you get the idea. Kouz is a great guy and he will stay in San Diego for a long, long time.
Chris Young hits the DL
Our number two pitcher Chris Young will go to the DL along with Jake Peavy and others. This is sad, really. There are guys who can’t play but we definitely need them. So the Padres got Wade LeBlanc from Triple-A. He was with the Padres earlier this season, but didn’t pitch as a starter. He actually was with the Padres late last season in September. Lefty LeBlanc will join the rotaion along with Kevin Correia, Chad Guadin, Josh Geer and Walter Silva. The starting rotation completely got changed. It looks like that Correia will be the number one starter. I’m cool with that. He’s been pitching really, really great so I expect him to continue to do the same thing.
Three guys who are in the DL are on thier ways to get healthy. Rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera will be in the starting rotation tomorrow, Scott Hairston and Luis Perdomo will rehab in Single-A.
Davids and me
As all of you folks know, I have an obsession with David Eckstein. When it comes to singers, David Cook is my man. As I mentioned earlier, I went to his concert with my sister.
He’s in the middle just having a great time playing music. The cool thing is that he’s a lefty. This guy is so down to Earth and hilarious. He is American Idol season 7 winner and he is very talented and overall, he’s a great guy.
I’ve made a decision
Since it’s impossible for me to blog every single day, I’ll do my best to stay up to date in my blog. Next week will be a different story ’cause I will visit my home country for two weeks. It will be a Thursday night when I will leave San Diego. But like I said, I’ll keep it up to date as best of my ability.
One more thing
Last thing I want to talk about is Khalil Greene. He came back from the DL, but didn’t play shortstop, I mean third base. Khalil came up to the plate only to pinch hit. However, he struck out 
I’m a bit worried about him but I still believe in him. People can say whatever they want about how he’s bad, needs to get traded, whatever. I don’t freaking care. Khalil is Khalil. Not Albert Pujols or anyone. He even specifically said this:
“I don’t want to be watching from the sidelines. I came here to try and contribute to the team in whatever way possible. If that’s shortstop or third base or coming of the bench, whatever I need to do, I’m ready to do it.”
That’s the spirit Khalil!
Padres drop the first game out of three
It was a tough game in Colorado. The Padres just couldn’t seem to score runs out of Jason Marquis, the starting pitcher for the Rockies. He absolutely dominated us. Chris Young in the other hand, did an average job. The problem with him was that he allowed six walks and only two strikeouts. Chris gave up only one earned run in the second to Rockies’ catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Final score was 3 to 0, Rockies getting away with a win from us. Chris got the loss and he got it because of no run support. Jim Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle and won a first game as Colorado’s new manager. It’s unfortunate for Clint Hurdle. But it was time for him to move on. Back to the game now.
Like I said, Chris didn’t have the best stuff.
The only mistake he made was a hit to Yorvit Torrealba. There was lack of run support from the Padres.
Jason Marquis, however, was on a roll.
Padres could not solve Marquis at all! He tossed eight scoreless innings and struck out six Padres, even my boy David Eckstein. Speaking of David Eckstein, he had a good moment in the fifth inning.
He also stole a base in the third inning. When he was at the plate in the fifth, Jason Marquis “accidently” threw a baseball and knocked Eck to the ground. The ball did not hit him, thank goodness. Marquis threw it really close to Eck and he fell to the ground to dodge that ball. What a scary moment! I would have been so mad if he got hit by a pitch! He got hit 5 times already. But he got up as if nothing happened, brushed himself, and got a clean single on the very next pitch. That was beautiful. Normally, when players get into that kind of situation, they would just blow if off. But Eck did a totally opposite thing and came back from the fall. He showed professionalism and always have fun playing. That’s why I love this guy. Great job Eck!
Things got ugly in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was bases loaded for the Rockies with two outs. Next batter was Yorvit Torrealba and reached on base by fielding error by Kevin Kouzmanoff. Two runs scored and the score was 3 to 0. Poor Kouz. He made great plays before the sixth as well. So he was charged with first error of the season. Funny but sad story here: After he made an error, I said, “Ah come on Kouz! That was a routine grounder. You totally should have made that play.” Sorry Kaybee. I just had to say it. The next inning when David Eckstein came up to bat, he grounded into a double play! That was definitely a karma for me.
That was the ball game folks. Padres had oppertunities to score runs but they blew it. They grounded into more then two double plays so that was pretty sad. Hopefully they can turn things around in game two of the three game series. Josh Geer is up against Jason Hammel. Last outing for Josh against Colorado back in April was amazing. He only allowed one earned run. This should be a good game to watch and I just hope that we can win!
Picture:
That’s the foul ball from my teacher I talked about the other day. Sweet! The black spot is where Giants’ Travis Ishikawa hit the ball. I think.
15-Day DL for Greenie:
This news is especially sad for me. All of you guys know that I still love Khalil Greene, right? If you don’t then now you know. But anyway, he was put on DL on Friday due to social anxiety disorder.
A person with socail anxiety disorder is afraid that he or she will make mistakes and be embarrassed or humiliated in front of others. The fear may be made worse by a lack of social skills or experience in social situations. The anxiety can build into a panic attack. As a result of the fear, the person endures certain social situations in extreme distress or may avoid them altogether. In many cases, the person is aware that the fear is unreasonable, yet is unable to overcome it.
(I just got that straight from Web MD)
Oh no! This is very devistating I love Khalil as much as Eck, Trevor and Jake, my four favorite players. He’s been really struggling in St. Louis. Khalil wanted and gave his best to bounce back from a tough season he had last year with the Padres but it just didn’t get going. I think the beginning of the season was the slowest start for him in his career. Cardinals’ skipper Tony La Russa said that Khalil put a lot of pressure on himself. That is 100 percent true because he hurt his own left hand by punching a storage chest (last season, didn’t play remainder of the season, blah blah blah) and when the Card played the Pirates a week ago, he left PNC with one hand bleeding!
This is what Albert Pujols said:
“I haven’t talked to him about what he’s going through, but I think I can help him with what he’s dealing with in the box,” He said. “Khalil’s got a lot of ability. I know he’s more than a .240 or .250 hitter. If there’s something I can do to help and he wants it, I want to help. He’s a good guy. He’s here to help us win.”
I miss Khalil like crazy ever since he left San Diego last year. He always took his game very seriously, and I know personally how being too critical of one’s performance can affect it. I just hope that this is not serious and he gets back to baseball soon. But first, he needs to take real good care of himself before he can even touch the baseball.
Sorry if I’m going on and on about Khalil. However, I have a lot of things to talk about this guy. This guy has so much potential and I know it. He puts wayy too much pressure and he’s only hurting himself and the team. Man, I wish I KNEW what’s bothering him! Khalil, please see a pyschiatrist and relax. Those are the only ways thay will help you. Ugh, I feel so awful for him and can’t imagine what anxiety disorders are like, but I wouldn’t think it would be very pleasant. Best of luck to Greenie, not just as a Padres fan, but as a fellow human being.
mlblogshyunyoung
Recent Comments