The '88 Drinos ... What A Pack Of Beasts

Hat tip to Ducksnorts for this one, but it turns out the 1988 Padres are on an elite list of 7 teams that, during an entire season, failed to score double digit runs in any game.

The '88 Padres are the most recent team to nab that accomplishment, joining the 1908 Cardinals, '41 ChiSox, '42 Phillies, '64 Colt 45's, '81 Jays and '82 Stros.

Legendary teams, all of them.

So, to sum up, the Drinos have never won a World Series, never pitched a no-hitter and never had a player hit for the cycle, but they are on this elite list.

The Drinos. Getting it dun since 1969!

Looking Ahead To Peoria, AZ (aka Spring Training)

Spring Training approaches, folks, and in anticipation of that glorious time of the year, I recently posted a comment over at Ducksnorts asking Geoff Young, the renowned Padre blogger, what he plans to focus on when the Padres take the field in Arizona next month.

Geoff decided to use the comment as the basis for his post today at Ducksnorts.

It should come as no surprise that Geoff highlights several of the most intriguing issues facing the Padres as they prepare for the season. In addition to Geoff's points, I'd just add the following notes:

1. CY watch. While I am optimistic that the Padres as a whole can exceed expectations this season (85 wins and in the Wild Card conversation as late as mid-September if things break right), I am not overly optimistic as to Chris Young's chances to pitch an injury-free, ace-like season. He's just burned me too many times. I'll be rooting for him, but I'll also be keeping a wary eye open to any more shoulder and back problems that could further impede a return of the old CY.

2. Blanks and Headley. A key part of my optimistic projection for the Padres is that Blanks and Headley mash and, along with Adrian, form an actual, real live, scary heart-of-the-order for the Padres. I'm not sure that's possible - a Padres lineup that actually scares people - but if there is any chance of it happening then Blanks and Headley must perform like the #1 prospects they used to be.

3. Query the Padres bullpen? I have high hopes for these guys - Heath, Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson, Ed Mujica, Joe Thatcher - so high, in fact, that I think they have the potential to be the best in baseball. But other than Heath, there is not a long record of consistency and injury-free baseball from this group. In Arizona, I'll be watching for indications that these guys are for real, and that they won't regress or spend a lot of time this season twiddling their thumbs on the DL.

So that's that. Thanks to Geoff for using my question for the basis of a post, and let's get this season underway.

Crisis In Padre BlogLand

Everybody calm down!

Within the last week no less than three of the top Padres blogs in the entire world have announced significant changes in their structure and management.

It all started on March 30th when Geoff Young, the dean of Drino bloggers, announced that he will only post to Ducksnorts once a week this summer. I find this news perplexing and disappointing, even perplexappointing. If Geoff doesn't write about the Padres at least three times a week ... well, I'm not going to say the world will end, but I'm not ruling that out as a possibility.

Then, that same day, Myron Logan announced that he was stepping down as administrator of Friar Forecast and passing the reins of that well hung operation over to Daniel "Danny" Gettinger. Myron provided no reason for his abdication except to write, mysteriously, that "real life has caught up to me, I guess."

For shame, Myron, for shame. If Padre blogging is not real life, then toss me in a casket right now.

As if all that wasn't enough, yesterday, on April Fool's Day, jbox of Gaslamp Ball wrote that he too is giving up blogging because his compadre, Dex, no longer blogs much anymore and jbox does not like going it alone. This is most likely an April Fool's Day prank - or so this humble blog hopes - but it raises concerns about the consistency and depth of GB coverage this summer. If they falter then what will I do seven times a day when I check the site for updates and summaries of XX 1090 radio interviews? Read old posts? Write my own comments to old posts? Lame. Trust me, no one wants that.

What I'm getting at here is that I hope everyone gets their act together - these three great Padre blogs included - and realizes this is a critical summer for the Padres and we need all hands on deck to support the team. This is a time when we need more Padres coverage, not less.

Bottom line is that everybody needs to take it up a notch. Tomás Krasovic and Corey Brock seem to be doing their part. Now where are the venerable bloggers that I have followed every day for the past few years? This is no time to let down your fans by focusing on family and gainful employment. This is the time to write insightful, analytical and sometimes humorous articles about the Padres that are read by dozens of people.

As Sean Astin said in The Goonies, "Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here!"

And that's all over the second we ride up Troy's bucket.

Lets get r dun!