Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Finding a Hole in the Wall
With due respect for what outfielder Will Venable did to a Yu Darvish fastball Wednesday afternoon - crushing it off of the tall wall in deep center field - outfielder/first baseman Kyle Blanks figured out how to one-up Venable. The 25-year old Blanks stands at 6' 6" and weighs 270 pounds, all of that frame solid, and Blanks launched an offering from Giants pitcher Andrew Kown into that same 40-foot high wall. And Blanks figured out how to get more than a double out of it.
The ball off of Blanks' bat found a small opening into a camera well located about half-way up the wall, which is ruled as a home run at the stadium in Peoria.
Kyle Blanks will be battling Venable and a healing Chris Denorfia for some playing time this spring with hopes of making the big club when they break camp in April. With Blanks, it has never been about whether he has power, that much is obvious. It's about flashing that power consistently. Drafted as a first baseman, Blanks was converted to the outfield after arriving in San Diego in 2009, blocked by Padres star Adrian Gonzales. Since then, Blanks has been up and down, but often showing the promising power coveted from a corner outfielder.
Two batters after Blanks hit his solo home run, third baseman/outfielder James Darnell also hit one off of Kown, which tied the score at 2 in the 4th inning, but the Giants went on the win the game, 5-2.
Edinson Volquez made his Padres debut, pitching 2 innings and giving up a run on 2 hits. Both Padres manager Bud Black and pitching coach Darren Balsley have expressed approval at the performance of Volquez so far in camp. Pitchers Anthony Bass and Michael Owings also pitched 2 innings each. Bass gave up an unearned run and 2 hits while Owings only gave up a hit. Both pitchers struck out 2 Giants hitters each.
Ernesto Frieri, who was plagued at times with control issues last year, gave up 2 runs on a hit and 2 walks. Frieri threw 27 pitches in the inning for only 10 strikes. Brad Boxberger closed out the game with an impressive effort, pitching the last inning with great command, striking out two.
Friday, the Padres will travel across town to Tempe and play the Los Angeles Angels at noon, PST. Clayton Richard is expected to see his first preseason game of 2012. Richard underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last July. Clayton and the Padres coaching staff have been pleased with his progress and no problems have been reported.
Notes:
The Padres reportedly finalized the contracts of all arbitration pre-eligible players on the 40-man roster Thursday. We'll post the final numbers when available, but total payroll for the 2012 season is expected to be close to $58 million. The payroll for opening day in 2011 was $43 million; for 2010 it was $39 million.
The buzz about Andrew Cashner throwing a bunch of consecutive 102 mph fastballs in his last outing persist, so here's the word from the Padres. Their "official" gun clocked his best at 101 mph. That shouldn't be something expected to be a frequent occurrence in spring training games. They know Cashner's velocity is outstanding, and even Tommy John surgery hasn't slowed him at all. Of course, my pal Walter Mencken believes he's uncovered the real reason behind this.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Previous article
Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island
“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Finding a Hole in the Wall
With due respect for what outfielder Will Venable did to a Yu Darvish fastball Wednesday afternoon - crushing it off of the tall wall in deep center field - outfielder/first baseman Kyle Blanks figured out how to one-up Venable. The 25-year old Blanks stands at 6' 6" and weighs 270 pounds, all of that frame solid, and Blanks launched an offering from Giants pitcher Andrew Kown into that same 40-foot high wall. And Blanks figured out how to get more than a double out of it.
The ball off of Blanks' bat found a small opening into a camera well located about half-way up the wall, which is ruled as a home run at the stadium in Peoria.
Kyle Blanks will be battling Venable and a healing Chris Denorfia for some playing time this spring with hopes of making the big club when they break camp in April. With Blanks, it has never been about whether he has power, that much is obvious. It's about flashing that power consistently. Drafted as a first baseman, Blanks was converted to the outfield after arriving in San Diego in 2009, blocked by Padres star Adrian Gonzales. Since then, Blanks has been up and down, but often showing the promising power coveted from a corner outfielder.
Two batters after Blanks hit his solo home run, third baseman/outfielder James Darnell also hit one off of Kown, which tied the score at 2 in the 4th inning, but the Giants went on the win the game, 5-2.
Edinson Volquez made his Padres debut, pitching 2 innings and giving up a run on 2 hits. Both Padres manager Bud Black and pitching coach Darren Balsley have expressed approval at the performance of Volquez so far in camp. Pitchers Anthony Bass and Michael Owings also pitched 2 innings each. Bass gave up an unearned run and 2 hits while Owings only gave up a hit. Both pitchers struck out 2 Giants hitters each.
Ernesto Frieri, who was plagued at times with control issues last year, gave up 2 runs on a hit and 2 walks. Frieri threw 27 pitches in the inning for only 10 strikes. Brad Boxberger closed out the game with an impressive effort, pitching the last inning with great command, striking out two.
Friday, the Padres will travel across town to Tempe and play the Los Angeles Angels at noon, PST. Clayton Richard is expected to see his first preseason game of 2012. Richard underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last July. Clayton and the Padres coaching staff have been pleased with his progress and no problems have been reported.
Notes:
The Padres reportedly finalized the contracts of all arbitration pre-eligible players on the 40-man roster Thursday. We'll post the final numbers when available, but total payroll for the 2012 season is expected to be close to $58 million. The payroll for opening day in 2011 was $43 million; for 2010 it was $39 million.
The buzz about Andrew Cashner throwing a bunch of consecutive 102 mph fastballs in his last outing persist, so here's the word from the Padres. Their "official" gun clocked his best at 101 mph. That shouldn't be something expected to be a frequent occurrence in spring training games. They know Cashner's velocity is outstanding, and even Tommy John surgery hasn't slowed him at all. Of course, my pal Walter Mencken believes he's uncovered the real reason behind this.
Sponsored