• Yankees at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — You’ll be watching this one whether you want to or not. It’s what pays the bills, eh? Chien-Ming Wang goes against Clay Buccholz.
• Angels at Mariners, 7:10 p.m. PT — Jered Weaver and Felix Hernandez… Vlad and Ichiro!… Monkeys and mooses (meese?)… This one’s got it all. Here’s your game of the day.
• Padres at Dodgers, 7:40 p.m. PT — Jake Peavy and Brad Penny hook up for the second time in a week. The big story — at least among people who don’t know much about baseball — is a mysterious substance that appeared on Peavy’s hand in their previous meeting. You’re better than that, though; you recognize that two of the game’s best pitchers will be battling tonight, and that’s what really matters.

Happy, happy…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• White Sox at Tigers, 12:55 p.m. PT — At 0-4, Detroit is the only team without a win so far this season. Baseball is a strange game. Dontrelle Willis makes his Tigers debut. For a guy who should be in his physical prime, Willis sure has fallen fast. Where’s Steve Avery when you need him?
• Dodgers at Padres, 12:55 p.m. PT — This is by far the best matchup of the day: Brad Penny goes up against Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. Penny is 0-2 with a 6.67 ERA over his last five starts against San Diego.
• Diamondbacks at Rockies, 5:05 p.m. PT — Last year’s NL West playoff participants square off this evening. Two good young pitchers — Brandon Webb and Jeff Francis — hook up in this one. It’s also a good excuse to watch Justin Upton play, which is always a treat.

Play ball!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
• The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs in the bottom half and hanging on for a 12-11 victory. Xavier Nady, whom I’ve been following since he took home Cal League MVP honors in 2001 while playing for a great Lake Elsinore Storm club (Peavy and Mets left-hander Oliver Perez also played on that team, which went 91-49), knocked two homers, including the game winner.
• The Giants really stink. Good thing they’re paying Barry Zito all that money.
• The Brewers and Cubs ran a clinic on how not to close a game. Locked in a scoreless tie headed to the ninth, Milwaukee plated three runs in the top half off “closer” Kerry Wood, then watched “closer” Eric Gagne cough up three of his own in the bottom half. The Brewers scored in the top of the 10th and hung on to win, 4-3. Who got credit for the victory? The least deserving guy in the ballpark, of course: Gagne. The next time someone tries to tell you that a pitcher is good because of his won-loss record, remind them that the rules dictating how a win is “earned” don’t necessarily correlate with actually contributing to victory.
• Break up the Nationals. With Monday’s 11-6 drubbing of Philadelphia, they’re assured of finishing no worse than 2-160 this year.
• Livan Hernandez pitched well in his Twins debut. Actually, for all the grief Minnesota took in signing him, he matched Johan Santana’s line — two runs in seven innings — and got the win. Not that he’ll keep pace with Santana beyond, oh, right about now, but still…
• The White Sox seem to be a sexy dark horse candidate this season, but I just don’t see it. By my count, they’ve got about three or four good pitchers, depending on whether you believe Octavio Dotel can stay of the disabled list. One of them (Mark Buehrle) got absolutely pounded at Cleveland. Granted, the Indians will do that to a pitcher, but if the White Sox can’t win behind Buehrle, then what are they going to do when, say, Gavin Floyd toes the slab?

Good times, my friends. Good times…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

At THT, I’ve gone with the popular pick except for AL West (I chose Mariners over Angels), AL Wild Card (Indians over Yankees), and NL Cy Young (Jake Peavy over Johan Santana — there’s my Padres bias kicking in because, hey, someone’s got to have a Padres bias).

I also have the Diamondbacks beating the Tigers in the World Series. We’ll see what happens…

How about you? Any predictions you’d care to share?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Ordinarily in this space I would tell you which games are most worth watching, but on Opening Day, they’re all worth watching. The first games (Blue Jays at Yankees, Royals at Tigers) start at 10:05 a.m. PT, while the last (Astros at Padres; of course, I’ll be there!) gets going at 7:05 p.m. PT.

I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that baseball is back. Enjoy the games!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Anywho, I took a bunch of photos. Enjoy!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

See full photo set at Flickr.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Por ejemplo:

There are a lot of factors that go into comparing, analyzing and ranking players. It is a combination of projection and stats — but one thing John and I have learned through the years is nothing beats watching a player live. By going to the field four hours prior to the game, we can see work habits, how they hustle when the lights are dim, and what they take into a game. It may seem minute, but pre-game workouts can define a player’s potential and ability to reach that potential.

Enjoy…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Is it the height of conceit to display a photograph of oneself reading one’s own book in an attempt to lure people into buying said book? Quite possibly it is. Regardless, I’m pleased to announce that the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual is now available. You can buy it as a hard copy or a PDF download, depending on your taste.

The book is subtitled “More than any sane person should ever need to know about the San Diego Padres,” and I think that pretty well covers it. You’ll find 200+ pages of analysis and commentary on the 2007 Padres season, the farm system, Tony Gwynn’s induction into the Hall of Fame, GM Kevin Towers’ trading record, and more — including a foreword by Matt Vasgersian, TV play-by-play announcer for the Padres.

Still not sure? Try the free PDF download of excerpts. If you like it, then go for the whole shebang.

Enjoy, and spread the word!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

I’ve been a fan since around 1977, although I didn’t get serious until the early-’80s. I won’t swear to it, but I think this is the first game I ever attended. I know that Gene Tenace hit two homers, and I’m pretty sure the Padres lost (that happened a lot back then).

How long have you been following baseball? Any stories about your first time at the ballpark?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Just wanted to take a moment to welcome Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence to the b5media sports channel. He will be blogging for us at Inside the Ballpark, offering a first-person view of the big-league baseball experience.

I’m looking forward to following Hunter throughout the 2008 season, and I’ve even resolved to cheer for the Astros when they’re not playing my Padres. Anyway, be sure to stop by Hunter’s digs and say hello. Should be fun…

Post from: Knuckle Curve