Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 1, 2013

The Blue Jays need to get their act together, the Padres should let people in for free and Bruce Bochy should win manager of the year. All of those topics and more onn today's edition of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
CC Sabathia, Chris Dickerson, Jonathan LuCroy and Johnny Cueto all owned baseball on May 30, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 1, 2013  

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 10, 2013

The Padres and Angels were the last teams to have home openers.
Naturally they wait to have the cities with the best weather open last.

I talk about that on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast along with the fact that I think the Luxury Tax has worked wonderfully so far.


Also I determined that Cliff Lee, Will Venable, Nick Tepesch and Miguel Cabrera owned baseball on April 9, 2013.

 Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Players who owned baseball for a Day

Clayton Kershaw – 2
Cliff Lee - 2

Clay Buchholz – 1

Madison Bumgarner – 1 
Miguel Cabrera - 1
Robinson Cano - 1
Shin-Soo Choo - 1
Alex Cobb - 1 
Zack Cozart - 1 
Yu Darvish - 1 
Chris Davis - 1 
Jacoby Ellsbury – 1 
Prince Fielder - 1 
Adrian Gonzalez - 1
Carlos Gonzalez – 1 
Gio Gonzalez – 1 
Bryce Harper – 1
Matt Harvey - 1
Felix Hernandez – 1
 Adam Jones - 1 
Jed Lowrie – 1 
Justin Maxwell - 1 
Will Middlebrooks - 1
Bud Norris – 1
Gerardo Parra – 1 
Andy Pettitte - 1 
Brandon Phillips - 
Albert Pujols - 1
CC Sabathia - 1
Ervin Santana - 1
Drew Smyly - 1 
Nick Tepesch - 1
Justin Upton - 1
Will Venable - 1
Adam Wainwright - 1
Barry Zito - 1


Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - April 10, 2013

Heath Bell has more blown saves than saves

Man those are some UGLY numbers for Heath Bell.
He had 3 blown saves in 6 chances BEFORE tonight's blown save in Petco.

So that means he is BELOW .500 in his save percentage.
Seriously, that is pretty awful. It's no longer April. And closers when they flame out tend to stay that way.

It's appropriate that he imploded tonight in San Diego in front of his old team.
Think they look smart letting him walk?

Allowing Bell to walk saved the Padres $27 million, avoided his clogging up the payroll for 3 years and got the Padres the 33rd and 68th picks in the draft this year.

Folks... THAT'S how you survive as a small market.
As for the Marlins. That shopping spree looked great in the winter and I indeed picked the Marlins to go all the way.

It would be tough to do closing out a game is less than a 50/50 proposition.

 

What is it with the Padres and their tickets?

I love the city of San Diego.
I wouldn't mind seeing the Padres eventually win it all.
And I LOVE Petco Park.

Got all of that out of the way.

Seriously, there is something screwed up about how they deal with tickets there.

A few years ago I WANTED to spend money at Petco Park and instead I got to use the park for free. And then they wondered why they didn't have enough money to sign Adrian Gonzalez.

Well today I was checking my Facebook account and I saw this ad plastered on the side bar.

Um... that game was played yesterday.
It is April 6.
I guess I could get my Opening Day tickets, hop in the DeLorean, rev it up to 88 miles per hour and hope the Flux Capacitor can generate 1.21 gigawatts and we go back in time to yesterday's game.

Yes yes I know. This is probably some outlet called Atlas Tickets and they haven't taken the ad down yet.

It just is strange that it keeps coming up for the Padres... a team that plays in a great ballpark in the heart of a fabulous downtown and can't sell tickets, even when the team is good.

I wonder if I am going to get an ad to buy tickets for the 1984 World Series.

Don't buy the Dodgers, Mark Cuban. BUY THE PADRES!

Frank McCourt is out as Dodgers owner and people are longing for days when Fox was running the team into the ground.

There are lots of rumors of who should take over the Dodgers. A group led by Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser is making their intentions known. I like that. It's kind of like Mario Lemieux taking over the Penguins and making them champs again. Or Nolan Ryan bringing the Rangers to the brink.

Who understands what it means to be a Dodger more than Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser. (Oddly they BOTH won post season MVPs for the Dodgers AND for other teams, but that is neither here nor there.)

There are other people who think that Mark Cuban should take over the Dodgers.
I understand their reasoning. He's a visionary owner who took a moribund NBA franchise in an indifferent market and turned them into perennial contenders and finally a World Champion.

If I were a Dodger fan, I'd rather have a visionary and passionate owner hell bent on putting a winner on the field rather than Fox or the McCourts.

But as a baseball fan, let me say that I'd rather Cuban not run the Dodgers. I don't think it takes much vision or talent to make the Dodgers winners.

Don't believe me? The McCourts treated the Dodgers like their personal ATM machine and ran one of the great glamorous and successful teams in baseball history into bankruptcy court. And they STILL went to the playoffs in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009 and had a winning season in 2011!

Four playoff appearances in six years and leaving a winning product on the field with an MVP and Cy Young front runner? All that with an incompetent crook running the team!

So putting Cuban in the role of "Savior of the Dodgers" seems like overkill.

It would be like a producer saying "We need an actress to deliver 3 lines in this episode of Dexter" and having the casting director say "How about Meryl Streep?"

Yeah she can do it. But Meryl should have a role worthy of her talents.

Think about what Cuban did.
The Mavericks used to be just another team filling up the schedule.

They may have had a decent year or two, but were they ever a FACTOR? Was there ever a buzz about the Mavericks?

They were like the Timberwolves or the Washington Wizards or Golden State Warriors are now. Another team to play while you wait for your club to go to Los Angeles, Miami, Boston or some real contender.

And he turned the culture around... under his leadership and aggressiveness they became an exciting team. A non existent fan base waiting for the Cowboys season to start became basketball fans.

He needs a bigger challenge than the Dodgers.

Which brings me to the San Diego Padres.

The Padres have had some good teams recently. They were back to back division champs in 2005 and 2006. And they were a pair of Trevor Hoffman meltdowns from making the 2007 playoffs (and probably winning the pennant that year.)

And in 2010 they were a game away from the NL West title (and probably would have made it to the NLCS.)

There are talented players on the team. And they have a BEAUTIFUL stadium in the middle of a wonderful section of town.

And they don't draw flies.

They are handicapped.
To the North is Los Angeles and Orange County... the domain of the Dodgers and Angels.
To the East is the desert.
To the South is Mexico.
To the West is the Pacific Ocean.

Not the greatest pool which to draw fans.

Yet San Diego is a larger metropolitan area than St. Louis... than Baltimore... than Denver... than Pittsburgh... than Tampa... than Cleveland... than Cincinnati...

So we're not talking about a team that is in a suburb.

And with some imagination and aggressiveness they can become THE team of San Diego. And maybe they can tap into the Riverside and San Bernadino TV markets (13th biggest market in the country.)

Maybe under Cuban's leadership, PetCo could become filled and be a St. Louis of the west... a baseball haven. An underdog city that loves their team, fills their park, watches the games on TV, buys the merchandise.

Free agents could come to San Diego (a BEAUTIFUL city.) And the team could be a super fun club.

How is that less likely than the Dallas Mavericks becoming an elite basketball team?

It would take a visionary owner to do that... like Cuban.

Who CAN'T make the Dodgers winners?
Even McCourt couldn't keep them from the playoffs or below .500.

Come to Southern California, Mr. Cuban.
Just go a little more south.

It was hat day today at PetCo Park

I was in San Diego today, making the latest Sully Baseball video with my wife. It was Padres hat day and I got to fulfill one of my life long dreams of having a San Diego hat.

I wear it in one of the videos we shot.
Like all adjustable hats, it is too small for my melon.

I have a 7 3/4 - 7 7/8 head. Even on their last notch, adjustable hats look like a yarmulke on my head. But hey! It was free... and that fit in our budget.

As always San Diego, one of our favorite cities, was great, hospitable and the ballpark was tragically empty.

But it helped make for some cool shots.

New videos will be out this week.

Watch the previous videos on my ShortForm TV channel.

San Diego pays tribute to Trevor Hoffman

Here Trevor Hoffman says good bye and thank you to San Diego and the Padres organization.

And by the looks of this picture, he is doing in front of a crowd about the size of a Padres game during the pennant stretch.

Before any of you Padre fans give me grief, I was in San Diego for Labor Day, 2010. Not only was the stadium half empty, but the team wouldn't take my money!

Show up to the games.
And give Trevor Hoffman a nice hand while you are at it.

I am thrilled about Adrian Gonzalez but...

One element of it is sad and one element worries me.

Of course the greedy Red Sox fan in me couldn't care less about the Padres. But the baseball man in me wonders why the Padres, with a staggeringly low payroll and revenue sharing, couldn't sign Adrian Gonzalez to a 5 year extension.

A great hitter and San Diego native could have been the face of the franchise like Joe Mauer is to the Twins. A 5 year extension would have him as a 10 year Padre and no doubt join the retired numbers in Petco Park.

And they could have had an extra $20 to resign him this summer if they accepted my money.

So Red Sox fans, have your guard up. The "Red Sox are just as bad as the Yankees" rhetoric is coming back.

Just accept it, say "Yeah, hate my team. I don't care" and enjoy the show.

Almost exactly a year ago, I lamented that the Red Sox had no offensive identity anymore and they needed that left-right combo that sparked their best teams:

Carl Yastrzemski and Tony Conigliaro
Fred Lynn and Jim Rice.
Wade Boggs and Jim Rice.
Mike Greenwell and Ellis Burks.
Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra.
David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

Maybe Gonzalez and Youk can be that 1-2 combo.

But I am a little bit concerned about one thing:
The Red Sox didn't have to deal Ryan Kalish, Jose Iglesias, Daniel Bard or Jacoby Ellsbury to land a potential MVP candidate.

"Why does this worry you, Sully?" You might be asking. "This means the Red Sox could have fleeced them... or at worst dealt away players who wouldn't be a factor in 2011."

Call me a worrywart... but doesn't that raise a red flag?

That the Padres would settle for players who could very well turn out to be good but not big league ready?

Combine that with Gonzalez coming off of shoulder surgery, I hope the Padres don't know something that we don't know.

Either way, welcome to Boston. I am rooting big time for Gonzalez and I hope like hell the "Red Sox are the new Evil Empire" articles keep coming all the way through October.

You are going to love Fenway. The stands are actually FULL during a pennant race.

Why doesn't MLB want my money?

This past Labor Day weekend my family took a weekend trip to the lovely city of San Diego... and while I was there I ran smack dab against a Major League Baseball rule that didn't make a lick of sense to me.

Bear with me.

We were staying in a hotel right across the street from PetCo Park, a stadium I hadn't seen yet. Now the Padres were playing the Rockies Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. Our Saturday and Sundays were packed and my wife and I were putting the boys to sleep around 8:30 that night.

When they were down, wifey saw how close we were to a big league game and I was starting to act like Gollum longing for the ring.

"Go watch the end of the game."

So off I went across the street. I knew it was late in the game, but I figure I'd get in. The Padres have had trouble drawing.

I went up to the Ticket window on Tony Gwynn Drive and asked the teenager working behind the counter "One please. Where do you have available?"

"Sorry. No tickets."

I was surprised. The Padres had sold out. Maybe the pennant race had finally caught on with San Diego fans.

"Wow," I said. "You guys sold out!"

"No sir. There are plenty of tickets."

Now you can see how there could be a disconnect here.

"OK, I would like to buy one of them" I said, not 100% sure why there was confusion.

"I can't sell you any tickets sir."

"Why not?"

"Major League Rules. No tickets sold after the 7th inning."

Now I understand no selling beer after the 7th inning because, well, people are probably smashed and they don't want them MORE smashed. But I had never been to a place of business where they were actually saying "Sorry... we won't let you be a paying customer."

I showed him my cash, maybe thinking he thought I was homeless or something.

"I have money and I want to spend it on your product."

"Sorry sir. I can not sell you a ticket."

Now I am no economics major, but I can tell you a surefire way to NOT make money is to turn away people who are saying "I want to spend my money on the product that you are having a hard time selling."

Buster's, the local ice cream shop and cafe in my town, is always selling day old bagels and Rice Krispy treats trying to squeeze and extra buck or two out of their product.

Not the Padres. They were saying "Sorry. We do not want your dough."

"What if I promise to buy a sundae in a plastic helmet?"

"Sorry sir. We have games on Saturday and Sunday."

"I'm seeing Shamu tomorrow. And besides, my kids are asleep, my wife is reading her book and there is a game on RIGHT NOW! THERE! BEHIND YOU!"

"Sorry sir."

It was surreal. It was reverse capitalism.

I walked up to one of the ushers who guard the gate to that great park just beyond center field.

I told him the story. He confirmed. "I am sorry. There is no selling of tickets after the 7th inning."

Hearing it again made it somehow make LESS sense.

Let's think of a not exactly outlandish scenario... Petco Park is located in the Gas Lamp Quarter where there are lots of bars and foot traffic. Let's say you didn't buy a ticket to the ballgame, but Mat Latos is throwing a no hitter and it is the 7th inning.

You find yourself at Rockin' Baha Lobster watching the game and you think "Oh man! He's throwing a no no! I should walk 2 blocks to the big ole half empty baseball stadium and be in the stands and cheer!"

Or you are at the Tipsy Crow and you see the Padres were down 8-1 but are coming back and rallying in the 7th inning.

And you think "Hey. Let me walk 5 blocks, buy a ticket and catch the end of the ballgame!"

Or you are AT the game, sitting in the empty upper deck, you get a text from a friend saying "Where R U?" You write back "At the Padres game."

Turns out they are a trolley stop away and they buy a ticket and join you in the 1/4 filled third deck.

None of those scenarios are crazy or out there.

And each of them throw some extra bucks into the Padres coffers.

And MLB has set up rules to prevent that.

I pleaded my case to the usher... whose gender, race and general description I will not divulge... and the usher nodded, reached into their pocket, gave me a ticket and said "Just go in."

So I got in for free.
The ticket was a $50 ticket. It cost me exactly gotch.

I was willing to spend $20. Instead I spent $0.

Lo and behold I went in and...


... the joint was damn near empty.

I already took the Padres fans to task for not supporting their team...

But man I found this rule to be peculiar.

I've never run a business before but I am sure that turning away customers isn't the way to do it.

I am sure if they an eager customer says "I want to pay $20" the correct bartering technique is NOT "I say $0."

The beautiful ballpark with character and charm is sitting 1/2 empty on a Friday night during a holiday weekend with the team in first place.

Shouldn't the goal be putting asses IN the seats?

Oh I am sure someone will write to me and explain why it is smart to turn customers away and why it hurts the business model.

But let me tell you... it won't be long before the Padres have to figure out what the hell to do about Adrian Gonzalez's contract.

And they'll be fretting that they can't afford to sign him.

They'd have at least an extra $20 to throw at him if it weren't for a silly MLB rule!

SAN DIEGO! WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?

I am in San Diego this weekend, staying near the ballpark.

It is Labor Day weekend.
The weather in San Diego is PERFECT.

Not too hot but certainly summer weather.

The dining in the Gaslamp District is terrific. Trains run right to the ballpark.

The Padres are struggling but still in first place. They come back home... TO A HALF EMPTY BALLPARK!

What the hell is the matter with you San Diego fans???

You have a first place team! A low payroll team in first! You have a chance to have a team in the playoffs in a WIDE OPEN National League!

You play in a beautiful park. I know! I was there tonight! There were lots of places to walk around. Not a lot of people checking my ticket.

COME ON! You haven't seen a champion since the 1963 Chargers. GET ON IT!

I once questioned whether or not San Diego fans can be considered suffering fans.

By the looks of tonight, they were surfing fans!