I picked this card out as Nick Hundley's "birthday card" before the game, and it seems even more appropriate afterward. He's shown celebrating, much as he had cause to today -- not only because he turned 30 but also because he delivered a pinch-hit, three-run double in the seventh inning to take the lead for good.

What Hundley is celebrating on the front of his 2010 Topps card is explained on the back:

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's the aftermath of that walk-off homer they mentioned. He is wearing white and looking extremely charged, after all. It happened in the sixteenth inning of a May 16, 2009, game against the Reds. While it was only the seventh home run of Nick's career, it was his second off of Micah Owings, a guy who would later become his teammate. Those two homers were tied for the most Hundley had hit off one pitcher until he got his third against Barry Zito last Monday.

Happy birthday, Nick! Thanks for making it a happy day for your fans as well.

Well, I wasn't expecting that. Shortly after the AA San Antonio Missions won their playoff series to advance to the Texas League finals, word started trickling out that San Antonio's 1B/ DH Tommy Medica got the call to the majors. It started with current (well, now former) teammates congratulating him on Twitter and eventually culminated in him acknowledging it himself:

The childhood dream is finally coming true #padres

— Tommy Medica (@tmedica18) September 9, 2013

So, some of you are asking, who is this Tommy Medica guy? He's a 2010 draftee; a fourteenth rounder, to be specific. Medica is only the third player from that batch of Padres picks to reach the majors, The first two were Australian by way of Arizona State Josh Spence and West Virginian through-and-through Jedd Gyorko.

Medica has slashed .296/ .370/ .593 with 20 HR in less than 300 AB this season, spent mostly with San Antonio. He shined his previous two seasons at Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore after having a rough go at adjusting to pro ball with a stinker of a season with Eugene in 2010.

I wouldn't expect to see him out in the field too much since as far as he knows, "defense" is just that thing he tries to hit the ball over. That's not entirely fair, as he can play 1B to a certain extent but he's been being used as a DH more and more recently and even describes himself as such.

Either way, I'm excited for the guy. Might as well give him a shot and see if he catches anyone's eye.

Just a couple days ago we learned that former Padres president Tom Garfinkel turned down a CEO job with IndyCar.  Today we find out why.  The Miami-Herald is reporting that he's accepted a position with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, which coincidentally was the job that current Padres President Mike Dee vacated.

Sources: Miami Dolphins pick Garfinkel as new CEO - Miami Dolphins - MiamiHerald.com

Tom Garfinkel, who has served as a high-level executive for two Major League Baseball teams but has never worked in the NFL, will be the Miami Dolphins’ new president and chief executive officer, industry sources said Sunday.

An announcement is expected Monday.

This whole situation feels like the sports equivalent of Shania Twain's love life.  Remember when we found out that her husband, music producer "Mutt" Lange, decided to divorce Twain to marry her best friend?  Then a few months later it was revealed that Twain and her friend's ex-husband had found comfort and consolation in each others arms? And do you further remember when they then quickly married?  Remember how weird and sexy that felt? That's how I feel right now.  Man! I feel like a woman.

Jon just called me and was like, "Did Garfinkel just quit? I saw it on Twitter, so maybe it's a joke."

If only Jon, if only it were a cruel, cruel joke.

Statement from the San Diego Padres | padres.com: News

Peter Seidler, lead investor of the San Diego Padres, and Ron Fowler, Executive Chairman, announced today that they have accepted the resignation of Tom Garfinkel as President and CEO of the team.

Both Fowler and Seidler expressed their appreciation for Tom's many contributions to the Padres over the last four years. Fowler will assume Garfinkel's responsibilities on an interim basis until a new President and CEO is hired.

Take us with you Mentor!

UPDATE:

Tom Garfinkel resigns as Padres' president, CEO | padres.com: News

"I want to thank the Padres and the fans for the opportunity to be a small part of this incredible franchise and America's Finest City," Garfinkel said by e-mail Tuesday. "I have a lot of faith in the people in this organization and that great things are on the horizon."

It is Joey Hamilton's 43rd birthday today (it is also my middle son's birthday. It is nice of the Jays to have the day off so we can go out for supper and not miss the game. Happy Birthday Tommy).

Joey came to the Jays in one of the worst trades of the Gord Ash era. The Jays traded Woody Williams, Carlos Almanzar and Peter Tucci to get Joey from San Diego. Apparently Dave Stewart gave him a strong recommendation after coming to the Jays to be assistant GM having been the Padres pitching coach the season before. Stewart had played with Joey and saw something in his eyes or some stupid thing like that, and figured he would be a star. It does explain why Stewart wasn't promoted to GM.

In their defense, in his 4 full seasons with the Padres, Joey had averaged over 200 innings a season putting up a 55-44 record and a 3.83 ERA with them.

On the other hand, the season before the trade, Joey led the NL in walks, and he never did strikeout many. Ash should have been able to see that a pitcher that had a 1.39 strikeout to walk ratio didn't profile as someone that would do well in the AL East.

His first year as a Jay he went 7-8 with a 6.52 ERA in 18 starts. The next season, 2000, he was on the DL most of the year making only 6 starts for the team. In 2001 Joey was 5-8 with a 5.89 ERA when the team released him on August 3rd. It is tough to release a guy you are paying $7.25 million to, but JP had no trouble admitting Gord Ash's mistakes.

All in all the Jays paid $17 million for 14 wins. Not exactly what you would want from someone you figured would replace Roger Clemens.

"I think he's just coming into his own," Stewart said. "What I like about Joey is that he is a real, real strong competitor. And, I still think there's room for growth."
"We have in Joey Hamilton a pitcher who can go in the front end of our rotation," Toronto general manager Gord Ash said.

Woody Williams went on to win 104 more games in his career. Almanzar had a couple of decent seasons in an up and down career and Tucci never made the big leagues. And Gord Ash was fired.

Joey was picked up by the Reds and pitched there for the rest of the 2001 season, 2002 and made 3 appearances for them in 2003 before being let go. As a Red he went 5-12 with a 5.90 ERA in 46 games, 21 starts.

For his career he was 74-73 with a 4.44 ERA in 242 games, 209 starts, all in all a pretty good career, just that the good times happened before the Jays got him.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Joey. Hope it is a good one.

I have a couple of Dan Miceli cards and several Joey Hamilton cards but I chose these two because they go together so well. Just look at 'em, wouldja? Twinsies!

Hamilton and Miceli were teammates on the 1998 National League Champion Padres and celebrated their twenty-eighth birthdays together with a day off from working as their teammates beat the Giants 8-3 without their help. Trevor Hoffman picked up save number 47 of the year in that game, despite the five-run margin. He was brought in with two runners on and two outs in the eighth inning and shut the door from there.

Joey Hamilton didn't have an outstanding 1998 season but did what he was expected to do. He made over 30 starts for the fourth consecutive season, and his 4.27 ERA and 92 ERA+ mirrored his 4.25 and 92 from the previous year. Hamilton did, however, lead the league in walks with 106; 23 more than his previous high. Like most pitchers he wasn't much of a hitter, but when he got a hold of one it could go far. 1998 was his third consecutive year with a home run. Fittingly, the back of Hamilton's 1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice card features him in a rare pitcher at the plate shot.

This card is actually the silver signature parallel. You can see the silver border on the front but the silver signature is mostly obscured by his actual signature in black Sharpie. This card was signed in person for Gaslamp Baller Sam (sdsuaztec4), who was then kind enough to pass it along to me.

Also, the Baseball Quiz trivia question on the back of that card is no longer valid now that more than one Padre has led the NL in RBI.

As for Dan Miceli, I won't even bother telling you how his 1998 season went since this card is from 1999 and already has it all spelled out on the back.

Pretty impressive stuff, right? After 1998, his sixth season, Miceli went on to pitch eight more. In addition to the Pirates and Tigers from his pre-Padres days, he would eventually pitch for the Marlins, Rangers, Indians, Yankees, Astros, and Devil Rays, not to mention three separate stints with the Rockies. He was to them what Rudy Seanez was to the Padres.

Hamilton didn't bounce around as much, pitching five more seasons between the Blue Jays and the Reds. Sadly for him and them, he was rather ineffective after leaving San Diego.

There will be no Birthday Card post tomorrow since unfortunately there have been no Padres born on September 10. Sure, I share a birthday with Arnold Palmer, Randy Johnson, Roger Maris, Joey Votto, and others but I'd trade any one of those for a Friar. Oh well. The day after that is shared by two current 6'6" Padres born in 1986 (Hey, they were born the same day and are both really tall. We should call them the Tw-- you know what, scratch that. Never mind), so I'll break out my favorite cardboard of them then.

Tonight, the Fort Wayne TinCaps will play to extend their season and continue on to the Midwest League Championship Series. If you haven't been following our Single-A Affiliate in their postseason journey, here's your chance to catch up.

How did they get to this point?

The 'Caps had a great 2013 regular season. They finished with a 72-67 record, tying the fifth highest win total in franchise history. That record earned them a spot in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, which is the longest streak in the Midwest League.

Midwest League Quarterfinals - Game 1

Joe Ross dominated on the mound and got plenty of run support to back him. Facing the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Tampa Bay affiliate and a team the TinCaps struggled against in the regular season, Ross tossed six shutout innings and allowed just one hit and two walks. He collected three strikeouts and retired his last seven batters in order before handing the ball to the bullpen.

But Ross left the game with a 6-0 lead thanks to the TinCaps offense. A leadoff double in the 3rd inning by Rodney Daal, followed by a bunt single by Mallex Smith and back-to-back RBI groundouts by Reynaldo Bruguera and Alberth Martinez, gave Fort Wayne a 2-0 lead against Jeff Ames, who went 3-0 against them in the regular season. In the 5th, Smith hit a two-out infield single and then the regular season stolen base leader stole second base and then came home on a double by Bruguera. Ames left the gamein the top of the 6th after giving up a single to Gabriel Quintana and a sac bunt to Hunter Renfroe (who was called up from the Eugene Emeralds last month), who reached base on an error that also allowed Quintana to get to third. Matthew Spann came in to pitch for Bowling Green and immediately allowed an RBI single to Luis Domoromo to stretch the TinCaps' lead to 4-0. Renfroe and Domoromo scored the fifth and sixth runs of the game when Hot Rods shortstop Brandon Martin failed to hit the catcher with his throw to home plate.

After Ross' departure from the game, the bullpen cruised through the next couple of innings as Ruben Mejia retired six straight batters in the 7th and 8th. Then the 'Caps went to their closer, Roman Madrid, to finish the game. Madrid, who finished the regular season with a league-leading 22 saves, ran into a bit of trouble in the final frame. After issuing a leadoff walk, he got the next two outs. But the next batter reached base on an error charged to the catcher Daal. Madrid proceeded to walk the next three batters and put a run on the board for Bowling Green. At that point, Trevor Gott came in to relieve him and struck out the next batter to end the game.

Midwest League Quarterfinals - Game 2

Zach Eflin started the second game in the quarterfinals against the Hot Rods. He gave up a run in the 1st inning with an RBI single to Patrick Leonard, but cruised through the next few innings, striking out five batters and retiring nine in a row at one point.

Meanwhile his offense was busy racking up the run support. In the bottom of the 2nd, against Bowling Green starter Reinaldo Lopez, Renfroe doubled to drive in the first of many Fort Wayne runs of the night. He later came home on an RBI single by Tyler Stubblefield to give the 'Caps the lead, which they would never relinquish. Fort Wayne added to its lead with two more runs in the 3rd and one in the 4th before completely blowing the game open in the 5th. Luis Tejada hit a two-RBI double and then Daal blasted a two-run homer to pad the lead to 9-1.

Eflin gave up two runs before his departure in the 6th innings and then the bullpen yielded two more. But the Hot Rods couldn't catch up to the TinCaps. With the two-game sweep in hand, Fort Wayne successfully moved on to the East Division Finals.

East Division Finals - Game 1

Max Fried got the start in the first of the best-of-three East Division Finals against Diamondbacks affiliate, the South Bend Silver Hawks. He didn't have the success his teammates had in the quarterfinals and was pulled from the game after giving up five runs (two earned) in four innings of work. After tying the game at 1 in the 3rd, South Bend went off in the fourth inning. First came a leadoff homer from Brandon Drury. It was the second homer and earned run of the night allowed by Fried. The Silver Hawks followed with three unearned runs.

Matthew Shepherd came out of the bullpen and pitched three scoreless innings, keeping South Bend to just one hit and no walks while striking out five batters. Fort Wayne came back from their four run deficit and by the 7th inning it was an all new ballgame. In the 4th, Renfroe hit an RBI groundout and Domoromo hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to two runs. Three innings later, Stubblefield and Mallex both singled and came home on another single by Alberth Martinez to tie the game.

But the tie wouldn't hold for very long. Mejia came in at the beginning of the 8th innings and retired five straight batters. With two outs in the 9th, though, things fell apart. He issued a walk and allowed a single, and then Martinez dropped the ball in his attempt to field and then fell down, allowing both South Bend runners to come home and retake the lead 7-5. Silver Hawks closer Jimmie Sherfy then came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to earn the save. Fort Wayne would have to take the second game of the series in order to keep their postseason alive.

East Division Finals - Game 2

The TinCaps' season was on the line when they took the field Sunday night. After losing the first game in the best-of-three series, they needed to win in order to force a deciding third game.

It was looking like a nice pitching duel between Fort Wayne's Colin Rea and South Bend's Rob Coe, as each held their opponents scoreless through the first five frames. Renfroe ended the shutout in the top of the 6th with a solo blast, but the Silver Hawks got that run back in the bottom of the inning on a home run by Drury, who had also homered the previous night. That was the only run South Bend would score off Rea, however, as the right-hander ended his night with just three total hits allowed and one walk (intentional) while striking out six batters through a season-high seven innings.

The TinCaps took the lead in the 8th while sending nine batters to the plate. Facing South Bend reliever Henry Garcia, Martinez led off the inning with a single. The next batter, Quintana, knocked a two-run shot to left-center to give the 'Caps a 3-1 edge. Next up was Renfroe, who tripled and then came home on a single by Domoromo. Domoromo scored later on a fielder's choice to make it a 5-1 lead. Madrid gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th, but was able to close the game with the TinCaps on top. The victory allows Fort Wayne another chance to keep their season going as they head into the deciding third game Monday night.

Tonight!

Fort Wayne will take on South Bend tonight at 4:05 to play for a spot in the Midwest League Championships. It would be the TinCaps' second straight trip to the championship series and their third appearance since winning it all in 2009. Joe Ross will get his second start of the 2013 postseason after shutting out the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the quarterfinals. This will be his third overall postseason outing, having pitched five innings in the 2012 MWL Championship series.

You can follow the game online at TheFanFortWayne.com or download their radio app, 106.7 - The Fan. Also read a preview for tonight's win-or-go-home matchup from TinCaps PBP announcer Mike Couzens.

The TinCaps visit South Bend tonight with a chance to play in the championship series on the line. Read more here: http://t.co/T7iw7A7wyA

— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) September 9, 2013

GO 'CAPS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

One of the more surprising, under-the-radar performances of the 2013 season is Tyson Ross of the San Diego Padres. His 3-7 W/L record does not accurately reflect the success we have seen from Ross, and it will likely suppress his ADP in 2014 drafts. I suspect Ross will be on many sleeper lists in 2014, so let’s take a deeper look at Tyson Ross’ 2013 season to see what type of performance we can expect in 2014 and beyond.

Ross has excelled in the 3 of the 4 categories I put a lot of stuck in when evaluating pitchers for next year, FIP (3.14), GB% (53.5%), K% (23.3%), and F-Strike% (52.5%). Why these 4 stats? Because FIP is the best indicator of a pitcher’s future ERA, and the other 3 hold a strong relationship with FIP. The graphs below demonstrate my point (click to zoom).

These are charting all starters in 2013 and how their K%, F-Strike%, and GB% relate to their FIP. Notice that for each variable, the overall trend holds that the larger the value, the lower the FIP – it isn’t the tightest correlation, but it’s enough of a trend to take action on. So translating this to Tyson Ross’ numbers, let’s take a look at how he stacks up to the rest of the league. The following visualization plots each pitcher in 2013 by K% and FIP. The size of each plot point is representative of their GB%, and the color relates to their F-Strike%.

This first chart shows all starters in 2013.

This second chart zooms in on the upper left quadrant where the best SP’s in 2013 reside.

To highlight where Ross is located, I used this viz here.

Ross measures up with the top SP’s in all variables but one – F-Strike% (the variable determining color). He holds one of the worst F-Strike% on the entire chart, next to Ivan Nova, Matt Moore, and Felix Doubront (take a look at the other red dots to illustrate my point). His lack of command will always hold him back from being a Top 50 SP, but I think the Ivan Nova/Felix Doubront comps are pretty accurate. He has the "stuff" to strike out close to a batter per inning, so he’ll always be worth owning, but he will be susceptible to the blow-up starts that will kill you in a H2H week.

Another red flag in my analysis of Ross is his increased dependence on sliders in 2013. In his past three years, Ross has gone from 20.5% to 26.0% to 32.3% sliders and I wonder if some elbow injuries are in his future. It’s tough to predict injuries, so I wouldn’t put too much weight into this, but it is something to keep an eye on if you’re considering locking him up for the next couple of years in a dynasty league.

The biggest question mark surrounding Tyson Ross’ success is his luck peripherals. His .279 BABIP, 73.5% LOB%, and 6.8% HR/FB% hint at future regression, but he hasn’t thrown enough innings to establish baseline levels to compare against. A 6.8 HR/FB% is easily sustainable when pitching in PETCO, and the increased reliance on sliders and a 2 MPH jump in fastball velocity could explain the suppressed BABIP. It’s tough to suggest how to act on this data, but I’m betting on regression.

Tyson Ross has provided excellent value to owners in 2013, and he should continue to be cheap in 2014 due to his poor W/L record, but I wouldn’t put much stock in him. He figures to always be on the unlucky side of the W/L record pitching in San Diego, so I suggest staying away in 2014 and selling high this off-season.

Follow me on Twitter (@BrianCreagh)

The Padres 2014 Schedule has been released.  The team's home opener is on March 31, 2014 against the 2013 World Champion Dodgers.  This is great news, since this particular date has the best winning percentage of any date in Padres history.  Historically the Padres are 3-1 on March 31st, a 75% winning percentage.  It's as close as you can get to a guaranteed win. I love when Opening Day is at home, it's so much more exciting.

Interleague play will pit the National League West against the American League Central.  Here's how the series are set up.

San Diego Padres release 2014 schedule | padres.com: News

• The Tigers (April 11-13) will come to San Diego for their second time
  
• The Kansas City Royals (May 5-7) will make their third trip to SD
  
• Minnesota Twins (May 20-21) will make their second trip to Petco Park
  
• The Padres will also host their natural rivals, the Seattle Mariners, as part of a four-game home and away series beginning in Seattle from June 16-19 with two at Safeco Field (June 16-17) and two at Petco Park (June 18-19).
  
• Interleague play will also include trips to Cleveland (April 7-9), Chicago-AL (May 30-June 1) and Minnesota (August 5-6).

I'm going to plan a road trip next year.  Probably not to an AL Central city though, though I'd like to see Minnesota.  I'm more likely to go to Denver or Seattle.

The Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps were eliminated from playoffs in the MidWest League last night. But tonight our Padres' Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions, will begin their Championship Series in the Texas League. After taking the fifth and final game in a best-of five series, the Missions are now playing for the Championship title against Angels affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers. Here's a recap of the first five games to prime you for tonight's TLCS opener.

Texas League South Division Series - Game 1

The Missions threatened early in the 1st inning with a leadoff triple from Rico Noel, but they were unable to get the run home. That would come back to haunt them later.

After Noel's leadoff triple, it was a pitcher's duel between San Antonio's Matt Wisler and Corpus Christi's Mike Foltynewicz, who threw shutouts through the first five innings. But the Missions got another scoring opportunity in the 6th and this time they seized it. Noel led off the inning again and was hit by a pitch. During the next at-bat, Foltynewicz botched a pickoff attempt, throwing the ball past his first baseman and allowing Noel to advance to second. Cory Spangenberg then executed a successful sac bunt to get Noel over to third. With two outs, Tommy Medica (Texas League Player of the Week at the time) hit an RBI single to drive home the first run of the game for either team.

The Corpus Christi Hooks got on the board in the 7th. Wisler issued a one-out walk (his third of the night), after which he exited the game. That baserunner would cost Wisler, who had given up only two hits in 6 1/3 innings of work on the night, as reliever Ryan Kelly would later give up a two-out RBI single to tie the game on a run credited to his starter.

The tie continued into extra innings. In the 11th inning, the Missions once again squandered a great scoring opportunity. Adam Buschini and Medica led off with back-to-back singles. A sac bunt by Jake Blackwood moved them both over and then an intentional walk to Yeison Asencio loaded the bases with one out. But none of those runs came home as Lee Orr proceeded to strike out, followed by an inning-ending forceout by Austin Hedges.

The Hooks led off the bottom of the inning with a single off Missions reliever James Needy, who was making his 2013 debut with the club. Needy walked the next batter and then a sac bunt moved both runners up a base. Finally, a sac fly brought the runner home from 3rd and ended the game.

Texas League South Division Series - Game 2

Eddie Bonine took the hill in the second of the best-of-five series. The first three innings went scoreless for both teams, then the Missions got to Hooks starter Nick Tropeano in the 4th. Spangenberg walked to lead off the inning. He scored from first base in the next at-bat on Buschini's double to left. Later, Asencio knocked a two-out double to right to make it a 2-0 lead for San Antonio.

Bonine one-hit the Hooks through the first five innings, but found himself in a bit of trouble in the 6th. Corpus Christi led off the inning with a single and a walk. The next batter hit one to left center that looked like it was going to drop Buschini made a fantastic sliding catch and then proceeded to throw out the runner at second base for the double play. Bonine issued another walk, but then struck out the next batter to end the inning.

The 7th inning saw Bonine get into a little more trouble. Once again the first two Hooks batters reached base, both on singles. The next two batters were retired via popout (on a sac bunt attempt) and flyout. Corpus Christi looked like it was going to score as their next hitter lined a long single to center that appeared deep enough to score the runner from second, but a terrific throw to home from center fielder Noel got the runner out at the plate to end the threat and the inning. Bonine ended his night with five hits allowed and three walks in seven shutout innings.

The Missions didn't score again after bringing home those two runs in the 4th, but they didn't need to. Tim Sexton and Jeremy McBryde combined for three strikeouts while pitching a scoreless inning each to secure the win for San Antonio and even up the series.

Texas League South Division Series - Game 3

Donn Roach was the starter for San Antonio in game 3. He got some early run support from his offense as three runs came home in the 1st. Off Hooks starter Luis Cruz, Noel led off with a single, followed by a double to Spangenberg to put two runners in scoring position. Later, Cruz intentionally walked Medica to load the bases and get to Blackwood. That proved to be a mistake, however, as Blackwood proceeded to clear the bases with a line drive over the head of Hooks center fielder Drew Muren.

Corpus Christi got two of those runs back in the 3rd. Roach loaded the bases with no outs, then the Hooks brought their first run home on a bases-loaded GIDP. That was followed with an RBI single to cut the Missions' lead to just one run.

Roach didn't give up any more runs and came out of the game after recording two outs in the 7th. He gave up a total of six hits while issuing just one walk and striking out four through 6 2/3 innings of work. The Missions increased their lead to two runs in bottom of the 7th. Noel hit a two-out RBI single off Hooks reliever Alex Sogard to make it a 4-2 game.

In the next inning, however, Corpus Christi made it a brand new ballgame. Missions reliever Leonel Campos gave up an RBI sac fly and the Hooks moved within one run. Two batters later, a single by the Hooks' designated hitter tied it up at 4. But the Missions got both of those runs back in their half of the inning. It began with single by Spangenberg and a double by Buschini to lead off the inning and put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Medica's sac fly brought the first run home and prompted Corpus Christi to turn to their bullpen. But Blackwood hit another sac fly, giving the Missions a 6-4 lead.

It looked like the game was in the bag as San Antonio turned to their closer McBryde. Unfortunately he wasn't his usual reliable self and allowed the Hooks to tie the game again on a pair of RBI singles. With the Missions going down in order in the bottom of the 9th, the game would go into extras for the second time in the series.

The tie held until the bottom of the 12th inning when the Missions got some help from the Hooks defense. DH Rocky Gale led off the inning with a double and was replaced with a pinch runner, Everett Williams. With one out, Noel was intentionally walked. Spangenberg then hit a ball to center, where it was caught by Muren. The center fielder then attempted to double off Noel at first base, which turned out to be a costly mistake for Corpus Christi. Muren's throw went over the head of first baseman Erik Castro and into the dugout, allowing Williams to run home from second base and giving the Missions their second win of the series.

Texas League South Division Series - Game 4

Saturday night's game was a real pitcher's duel. San Antionio sent southpaw Juan Oramas to the mound to face Corpus Christi's right-handed Ruben Alaniz. Oramas tossed six innings of shutout ball against the Hooks, allowing just three hits and issuing two walks while striking out five batters. Alaniz threw seven scoreless frames and gave up three hits and a walk while collecting six strikeouts.

Sexton was the first pitcher out of the bullpen for San Antonio. He allowed runners to reach second and third in the 7th, but escaped the frame unscathed by inducing a groundout to end the inning and eliminate the thread. He then proceeded to pitch a 1-2-3 8th inning.

The Missions also went down in order in the 8th as Hooks reliever (and Texans pitcher on a rehab stint), Edgar Gonzalez, struck out the side. In the top of the 9th, Corpus Christi finally broke the scoreless tie. McBryde issued a leadoff walk and then on the next at-bat botched a throw to Medica at first base, allowing the batter to reach on a bunt single and the runner to advance to third base. The Hooks brought in a pinch-hitter at that point, and he hit a single right up the middle to drive in the run.

Buschini led off the bottom of the 9th with a single to right center, and later advanced third on a couple of groundouts. Asencio represented the last chance for the Missions as he stepped to the plate with a runner on third and two outs. But he wasn't able to bring home the run, striking out to end the threat and force a win-or-go-home fifth game in the best-of-three South Division Series.

Texas League South Division Series - Game 5

The winner of Sunday's game would be crowned the South Division Champion and move on to the Texas League Championship Series. The Missions, who were in a scoring drought after the previous night's shutout, led off the game with a couple of singles from Noel and Spangenberg off Hooks starter David Rollins. With runners at the corners and no outs, Buschini hit an RBI single to give San Antonio the early 1-0 lead. With two outs later in the inning, Rollins fielded a ball hit off the mound by Asencio, but his throw would sail past his first baseman Castro and allow both runners to come home, bringing the Missions' lead to 3-0. They would add another run in the 2nd inning on a two-out RBI double from Spangeberg.

The Hooks got on the board in the 5th off Missions starter Josh Geer. After leading off the inning with back-to-back singles and a sac bunt to move the runners to second and third, a two-RBI single cut their deficit in half. Those would end up being Geer's only runs allowed. He ended his night after six solid innings, having allowed seven hits and issuing only one walk while collecting seven strikeouts to match his season high.

Matt Branham came out of the 'pen and retired the Hooks in order in the 7th. In the next inning, the Missions scored an insurance run on a two-out RBI single from Hedges. Branham walked a batter with one out in the bottom of the 8th, and then gave up a double to put two runners in scoring position for the Hooks. San Antonio turned to a new reliever, southpaw Jeff Ibarra, to try to get out of the jam, but he gave up an RBI groundout to Castro to cut the Missions' lead back to two runs. They went to the bullpen once more in the inning and Campos was able to strike out Corpus Christi's pinch-hitter to end the inning with San Antonio on top 5-3.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Hooks threatened to walk off on the Missions. With one out, the tying runs on base, and the winning run at the plate, Campos was able to induce a flyout and a foulout to end the threat, the game, and the series. The Missions had earned the title of South Division Champions and a spot in the TLCS.

Texas League Championship Series Begins Tonight

After having an off day yesterday, the Missions will take the field against the Arkansas Travelers tonight in the first game of the TLCS. San Antonio will host the first two games of the series at Wolff Stadium and the rest of the series will take place in Little Rock.

Matt Wisler will get the ball for the Missions and try to follow his stellar performance in the opener of the TLDS with another great outing tonight. Brandon Hynick makes the start for the Travs, who swept their division series in three games to make it to the Finals.

The Missions dominated the Travs during the regular season, winning 9 of 11 matchups between the two and outscoring them 43-30. Missions pitchers kept Travelers hitters to a .218/.270/.309 line during the season. One of those pitchers was Wisler, who went 3-1 against them, collecting nine strikeouts and issuing just four walks in 22 total innings. San Antonio won all six games against Arkansas at Wolff Stadium and they'll look to keep that record untarnished in these first two games of the series.

But Arkansas been playing some hot baseball lately. They went 36-26 after the All-Star Break and won 10 of their last 11 games in the regular season. They then swept Tulsa, outscoring them 17-6, in the Semifinals to claim the Texas League North Division crown.

This series will be a rematch of the 2011 TLCS between the Missions and the Travelers. San Antonio swept Arkansas to earn the 2011 Texas League Championship title. That series included a 20-inning Game 2 which remains to this day the longest game in Texas League postseason history.

The game will start at 5:05 this afternoon and you can follow along at samissions.com or by following @MissionsMiLB and @ARTravs on Twitter.

Game 1 of TLCS is tonight at 7:05 in San Antonio. Watch on @MiLB.tv or listen on @SportsAnimal920, @iHeartRadio or @TuneIn. #Angels#Padres

— Arkansas Travelers (@ARTravs) September 10, 2013

After a sweep of the Rockies and an off day in Philly yesterday, the Padres will begin their second-to-last road trip of the season as they open up a series against the Phillies this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Andrew Cashner will get the start in game 1 and is working on nine days' rest as the Padres try to limit the right-hander's innings in the final month of the season. In his most recent outing, he threw seven strong innings against the Dodgers, giving up just one run on seven hits in seven innings of work while throwing a career-high 119 pitches, but came out with a loss due to the lack of offense from the Padres. He hasn't gotten a win in over a month despite some solid pitching (0-3 with a 2.18 ERA in his last five starts), but he's hoping to put an end to that trend tonight. In six prior outings against the Phillies - all relief appearance - Casher has pitched a total of five innings while posting a 1.80 ERA.

Hopefully the Padres can put some run together to back Cashner tonight. They'll be facing another young righty, Philadelphia's Tyler Cloyd, for the first time. He'll try to continue a string of great outings from Phillies starters, who have collected 27 strikeouts and posted a 2.45 ERA over their last three games. Cloyd, in his fourth stint with the big league club this season, is making his first appearance with the Phillies since August 24th. He pitched five scoreless relief innings, giving up just two runs but walking five, during an 18-inning marathon that ended in a loss. His last start was four days prior to that when he served up five runs in six innings of work against the Rockies. But he had posted just a 1.45 ERA in three starts during his callup back in June.

These teams last faced each other in a series at Petco Park from June 24th-26th with the Phillies taking two of the three games. See if the Padres can even up the season series today. First pitch is set for 4:05.

I don't know what was more awesome tonight: Andrew Cashner striking out 7 while only allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 7.2 innings, or the way the offense had their bats out and ready to go the moment they landed in Philadelphia. Jedd Gyorko and Chase Headley both went 3 for 5, racking up a combined total of 4 runs and 3 RBI. But it was a group effort: All but one position player picked up a hit tonight, and we'll give Alexi Amarista a pass for being so gosh darn adorable.

Gyorko and Headley started things right away, with the former hitting a double and then reaching home on the latter's single in the top of the first. Our boys added their first crooked number when Gyorko and Kyle Blanks picked up singles in the fourth. Then, with two outs, Ronny Cedeño and Rene Rivera hit back to back doubles. The coup de grâce came the very next inning when the Padres hit five singles in a row. The Phillies tried in vain to come back, but they were only able to muster a paltry pair of runs.

Hopefully the bats stay hot tomorrow when Eric Stults faces off against Cliff Lee at 4:05 PM.

Jodes led the comment count, but not a one of you bothered to rec anybody. I'm not mad, just disappointed.

On twitter today -- which, it should be noted, is where I am literally 99 percent of the time nowadays -- I made a crack about Cameron Rupp's vaunted (and poorly predictive) conservatism:

Like Levinas with Heidegger, I have not forgiven Cameron Rupp for his stupid political beliefs.

— Trev from TGP (@Hegelbon) September 10, 2013

Now, I've used this joke more times than is at all reasonable, and I admitted as much right afterward.  Noted wiseacre Joecatz followed that up with this riposte:

@Hegelbon and it will take most people 999,999,999,999 tweets before they get it.

— Catztradamus (@joecatz) September 10, 2013

So, in the interest of making my hackery a little easier to follow, I want to talk a little bit about Levinas' forgiveness of Martin Heidegger.  Levinas was a vaunted ethicist and Jewish thinker who was extremely influential in charting the contemporary intellectual interest in alterity or "the other."  A student of Heidegger's, Levinas took the ontic-ontological critique of his teacher and answered the central question of Heidegger's pivotal Being and Time -- namely, and in a too short gloss, "What precedes existence?" -- through an appeal to the ethical imperative.  As the preceding link tells us, the most easily reducible form of Levinas' thought is simply "Ethics precedes ontology" -- our ethical relation to the other precedes our very existence.

So why would Levinas reject the other in his own teacher? To answer this, it is important to note that Heidegger, a German living through the rise of Hitler in Germany, did not exactly situate himself in the best relationship to history.  Heidegger was elected rector of Freiburg University in 1933, and subsequently became a member of the Nazi party.  It gets hazy here, as he renounced his membership in 1934, but remained a member of the Nazi Party until 1945.  Certainly we might attribute this to a desire to survive potentially dangerous historical times, but one can imagine how Levinas -- whose family were murdered in Lithuania during the Holocaust, and who had to perform forced labor in France while his wife and daughter were forced into hiding -- might not be terribly sympathetic to such an appeal.

In the end, then, the two men ended up with different answers to the same question: How can we describe or quantify what comes first, if our physical plane is not it.  Rejecting metaphysical cohesiveness or systematicity (a la Kant or Hegel), as well as unifying spiritual systems (literalist religious readings), both men strove to determine an answer to a powerfully problematic question.  And despite Heidegger's remorse vis-a-vis his Naziism, the hyper-individualist and vaguely domineering Dasein (there-being), is radically different than Levinas' appeal to the ethically situated other.  Seeing his mentor veer so far off of what he must have felt was the only true answer to the questions of Being and Time -- the answers to the philosophical imperative in general -- must have been deeply demoralizing to Levinas.  And so we can sympathize, at least somewhat, when he says, in a consideration of forgiveness in the Talmud, that "One can forgive many Germans...but it is difficult to forgive Heidegger."

The Phillies dropped yet another depressing and boring game to a fairly middling opponent.  Indeed, as a number of people pointed out, the Phillies were tied with the Padres for the 11th pick in the 2014 draft coming into tonight.  The 10th pick, for which the Phillies now have pole position, is the first protected pick in the draft, and a veritable beacon of hope.  But as we have rehashed again and again in the tank/no tank argument, it's not 2014 yet, and these games are still miserable and depressing.

Tyler Cloyd pitched...poorly.  Once again, he limited walks and struck out a fair number of batters -- zero walks and four strikeouts over four innings -- but he was painfully hittable, allowing seven runs on four nine hits.  These weren't all BABIP fairy specials, either, as liners just kept lofting their way into the outfield.  I'm not sure what I make of Cloyd at all.  As my previous description implies, I distinctly remember him being decent at striking out batters this year (however inexplicably) and also decent at limiting walks, but his Fangraphs page says that he's struck out just over five per nine and walked just under four per nine.  That's...not great.  And even when he has good peripherals -- e.g. tonight -- he can't put together a good start to save his life.  It's a bummer.

But I do know how I feel about Zach Miner: not great! Despite the pleasant surprise of a three strikeout inning, Miner allowed three hits and gave up a run in the fifth, though some of his damage was attributed to Cloyd due to inherited runners.  From him on, however, the bullpen was decent, with four scoreless innings absorbed by Ethan Martin, Cesar Jimenez, and Joe Savery.  Notable is Martin, who threw ten pitches for ten strikes, with zero hits or walks and one strikeout.  Yowza.

The hitters were kind of sleepy tonight as well.  Against erstwhile Cub and present fantasy baseball (and real world baseball) frustration Andrew Cashner, the Phillies mustered four hits and one walk.  They also struck out seven times.  Welp.  On the plus side, two of the hits (and one of the walks) came from young'uns, as Cody Asche launched his fifth home run and walked to increase his OPS over 800, and young premiering catcher Cameron Rupp got his first MLB hit.  But alas, despite one more hit in the game, the Phillies really only had two runs in them tonight, and the Padres clearly had more.

But lest we become too bitter and jaded, let us turn our eyes again to Levinas.  Because the Phillies are not Heidegger -- they have strayed from good baseballing ways, yes, and they have embraced questionable tactics in terms of advanced statistics and player acquisition.  There's no denying this.  But they haven't done anything diametrically opposed to the very spirit of our endeavor here as baseball fans.  There is no Josh Lueke on this team to divide our ethics from our ambition.  There isn't even a Delmon Young anymore.  And as repellent as I find Cameron Rupp's politics, perhaps some of you share them, and I certainly don't hate any of you.  Well, one of you. No, no...I'm not saying who.

What I'm saying is that Levinas withheld forgiveness for Heidegger not out of some resentment or grudge, but because philosophically speaking it was difficult -- if not impossible -- to forgive Heidegger and maintain his own episteme.  And perhaps this is for the best, as a healthy dose of skepticism toward Heideggerian thought (and Nietzschean thought), despite its brilliance, is important (I will let you know how important after my reading group with TGP user LTG8).  Either way, while we may feel divided from the Phillies, understand there is still a clear path back to the fandom.  It starts with letting go three weeks from now and forgiving not only Cameron Rupp, but the all of the players on the team, especially the young ones that will be the future, but are only the frustrating present today.  They are not who we recognize, but there is good -- ego-destroying, dialectically driven good -- in recognizing and coming to terms with deep alterity.  There may still even be room for rebirth along the philosophical lines that we have cherished together over the winning seasons.

And for Pete's sake, at least none of 'these guys are or were Nazis.  ...I mean, probably.  Fangraph of Uncomfortable Delmon Absence below.

Source: FanGraphs

And the songs that this game made me think of (because, like Levinas, I do not forgive the 2013 Phillies):

Eric Stults will try to continue a string of strong pitching from Padres starters as he takes the mound today in Game 2 against the Phillies. The left-hander still hasn't collected a win in the second half of the season. Since the All Star Break, he has gone 0-6 while posting a 5.68 ERA through nine starts. His most recent outing was the Padres' only loss in seven starts. He gave up a career-high seven runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings against the Giants. Stults is making just his second career start versus the Phillies. Back in June he gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work against them, but didn't factor into the decision.

Cliff Lee will take the hill for Philadelphia, taking the place of Roy Halladay who is getting some extra rest to overcome flu-like symptoms. Over his last four starts, he is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA and has 27 strikeouts in that stretch, spanning 28 innings. In his most recent start, he limited the Braves to just one run on two hits while racking up ten strikeouts in eight innings of work. Lee also pitched eight innings in that same game Stults pitched back in June. He gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven, but like Stults, got the no-decision. Prior to that outing, he had gone 1-2 with a 7.79 ERA in three starts against San Diego.

Join us at 4:05 this afternoon to see is the Padres can clinch their third straight series win.

Bud Black interview with Darren Smith (MP3)

• The coaching staff had been discussing the move to the six man rotation since the middle of August when they were planning their September.  They wanted to give Andrew Cashner extra rest and wanted to look more at Robbie Erlin and Burch Smith.  There were some other minor league names discussed as well. 
  
• Black isn't saying if Matt Wisler was one of those pitchers discussed as a possible September call up.  Black hasn't personally seen him pitch but he hears great things about him.  "Wisler is a guy that we're going to look at in Spring Training."  He might have a chance of making the club next year.
• Black hopes that baseball sticks with the 5 man rotation but it wouldn't surprise him if the 6 man rotation catches on.  In the 60's and 70's the 4 man rotation was the accepted norm.
More: Tommy Medica promoted to San Diego
• Tommy Medica was promoted from AA San Antonio and will make his major league debut tonight at first base.  He may possibly move to left field in
  Our guys felt as though he was the guy to call  -Bud Black on Tommy Medica
  the future.  He's a right handed hitter with a good approach and a little bit of pop in his bat.  "He's one of our best hitting prospects in the higher levels."  The Padres needed some depth with Yonder Alonso out, Logan Forsythe a little banged up and Kyle Blanks just returning from a foot injury.

Here's today's #Padres lineup in Philly. pic.twitter.com/5pRxKs6Zuy

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 11, 2013

Once again Eric Stults failed to get that elusive win and remains winless since the All Star Break. The Padres were riding a four-game winning streak coming into tonight's matchup, and things started out great. Unfortunately, the greatness wore down toward the end of the game and that winning streak was snapped.

It was a pitcher's duel through the first four innings. Our Padres threatened in the top of the 1st with a two-out walk by Jedd Gyorko, followed by a Jesus Guzman single, but Kyle Blanks grounded out to end the inning. Cliff Lee went on to retire ten batters in order, even striking out the side in the 4th. Eric Stults kept the Phillies to just two singles through those first four innings, while notching three strikeouts. He got some help from his defense also. For instance, Ronny Cedeño made this great diving catch and throw from his knees in the bottom of the 4th.

Tommy Medica made his major league debut tonight, getting the start at first base and batting sixth in the lineup. He struck out in his first at-bat, but his second time around he had an answer for Cliff Lee. Leading off the 5th inning, Medica took a 1-0 pitch deep to left center, putting the first run of the night on the board.

The lead wouldn't last very long, however. In the home half of the inning, Freddy Galvis hit a home run of his own to tie it up at 1. San Diego got the lead back in the top of the 6th on another solo shot, this time by Jedd Gyorko. It was his 18th home run of the year, which ties him with Evan Gattis for the league lead amongst rookies. It also puts him even for second most home runs ever by a Padres rookie.

Again, the lead was short-lived, and the last one the Padres would have this afternoon. Philadephia tied it up again in the bottom of the 6th on the fourth home run of the night - this one hit by Jimmy Rollins. Stults gave up a single and a double later that inning to put runners at the corners, but he was able to escape it unscathed. That was the end of his night as Nick Vincent came in to pitch the 7th.

It was not Vincent's night, however. He gave up a leadoff double to Galvis and followed by issuing a walk to John Mayberry. After a coaching visit, Vincent finally got the first out of the inning , but it was on a sac bunt that moved both runners up a base. Then an RBI groundout to the next batter, Cesar Hernandez, put the Phillies ahead 3-2. Vincent intentionally walked Rollins to get to Kevin Frandsen, who flied out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 8th, Brad Boxberger came out of the bullpen to replace Vincent. But like Vincent, he ran into some trouble. After giving up a leadoff single to Carlos Ruiz, he walked Darin Ruf. He was able to get Cody Asche to ground into a force out, but it gave both runners a chance to move up a base. A sac bunt by Galvis made it a 4-2 Phillies lead.

The Padres went down swinging in the 9th. But not in a good way. Will Venable struck out swinging to lead off the inning. Then Kyle Blanks lined out to center field. Finally, Medica struck out swinging as well to end the game and the Padres' winning streak.

The series is now even at a game apiece, so tomorrow's series finale will be a rubber match. Tyson Ross will take on Roy Halladay on the mound at 4:05pm as San Diego goes for its third straight series win.

Some weirdo named jodes0405 led the comment totals, even though she didn't join the game thread until the 6th inning. She also got the most recs (two), but TTG came in a close second with one rec.

The end of tonight's game seemed almost painless. Three Padres batters came to the plate and three Padres batters were sent back to the dugout with lower batting averages. Jonathan Papelbon, for just one night, was the guy that deserved to have an extra $58 tacked onto his contract.

The Phillies won 4-2, and things generally happened the way they were supposed to happen. Cliff Lee was Cliff Lee, pitching 8 absolutely stupendous innings. His line ended up being pretty damn sweet: 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 9 strikeouts, and 1 walk. His ERA for the season now sits below 3 at 2.97, while his WHIP is at 1.03.

In a season full of uncertainty, confusion, madness, and plain old disappointment, this game was a joy to watch. Cliff carved up the Padres and their boring uniforms (bring back those jawns from the '80s!), helping to make this a homestand to remember, at least up to this point. As we all know, the ship could sink at any moment.

But no more pessimism, back to the smiles and sunshine. Besides Cliff and J-Paps+58, other good things happened! Freddy Galvis was a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Jimmy Rollins showed some vital signs as well, stroking career home run #199, and ending the night 2-for-3 with an intentional walk. Darin Ruf's good eye was once again in effect, nabbing a walk and a double. While there's reason to be concerned about his strikes outs, I'm going to put on my Glass Half Full Hat for a moment and remind you guys that there are some batters on this team who don't even see three pitches in an at-bat. He may have a problem that needs to be sorted out, but considering the circumstances, it's not that bad.

If there's any nitpicking to be done (and believe me, this game is especially hard to nitpick), it's Cliff Lee's pitch selection. Cliff had two mistakes tonight, both of which were just solo homers, and while the team quickly picked their pitcher up, Lee can be homer happy from time to time. Including tonight, he's given up 21 homers this season, which puts him within reach of last year's total of 26. The last time he had totals this high was in 2006 where he surrendered 29.

It may be easy to blame the bandbox (the Bank isn't actually a bandbox, okay?), but it really comes back to Cliff's pitching arsenal. When he's offering up more off-speed stuff or mixing up his pitches, the home runs are kept in check. On the other hand, when he's throwing more fastballs, he's giving hitters exactly what they want. Cliff may be a very good/great pitcher, but if one throws enough fastballs, major league hitters will eventually find them and assault them accordingly.

But back to the smiles. Tonight was a good night.

As the game ended, Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance" came up on shuffle, and a few lines from the chorus seemed particularly fitting considering Cliff's outing:

Who's looking good today?
Who's looking good in every way?
No style rookie
You better watch don't mess with me

I'm looking at you, Medica.

"Feel Good!" - Tony! Toni! Tone!

Source: FanGraphs

Last night, Padres catcher Tommy Medica made his major league debut.  Medica was drafted in the 14th round of the 2010 amateur draft.  Going into this season, he wasn't on the MLB list of top-20 prospects for the Padres, nor was he on fellow SBNer John Sickels' list, though he did make the next cut from Sickels as a C+ prospect.

However, he's had a pretty good year this year, leading the Padres minor league system with 20 home runs.  From this article about his career, he seems like he's doing quite well in the minors overall: "In four minor league seasons, he is hitting .295 (312-for-1058) with 177 runs, 94 doubles, eight triples, 49 home runs, 205 RBI, .388 on-base percentage, .538 slugging percentage and a .926 OPS in 300 games."

In his major league debut last night, Medica did what every kid dreams of - he hit a home run in his first game in the big leagues.  It wasn't his first at-bat, but it was against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Cliff Lee.  That's something to be damn proud of and something he'll remember for the rest of his life.

He finished the game 1 for 4, so as of this writing, he has one career hit, a home run.  Which got me thinking after the game (what else do we have to think about given this Phillies' season?) - has anyone gone their entire career and finished with that line?  One career hit and only one career hit, and it's a home run?

Well, thanks to the incredible Play Index tool over at Baseball Reference, I was able to figure this out.  In baseball history, there have been 17 players who have exactly one hit for their career and that hit is a home run.  For now, we'll call this feat "to Medica."  (With this, I mean no disrespect to Tommy Medica nor do I have any reason to believe he will end his career with these numbers.  In fact, I have every reason to believe that he will not.  But, at this point in time, this is what his career is - one hit, one home run.)

As you might guess with a little bit of thought, a majority of the players to have Medica'd (I threw in the apostrophe rather than an e for effect) are pitchers, but just a bare majority.  9 pitchers have Medica'd compared to 8 position players.  It's the latter who are of most interest to me.

Here's the position-player Medica list, sorted by most plate appearances:

The winner, for the most impressive Medica career goes to Ron Allen.  Allen has a somewhat interesting story for someone with only 1 major league hit.  (I'd bet each guy on this list does.)  In fact, his story is a Phillies story at heart.

Allen is the brother of famed Phillies slugger Dick Allen.  Dick, Ron, and their other brother Hank were all signed by the same Phillies scout.  Ron was signed in 1964 and stayed with the Phillies minor league organization through 1970.  While in the minors, Ron had prodigious power.  In 9 years in the minors (7 with the Phillies), he hit 135 home runs.  One home run he hit while playing for the Spartanburg Phillies went 600 feet.  The manager at the time said "I have no way of telling how high it went, but it would have gone out of any park in the country, including Yellowstone."

After his brother Richie fought with the Phillies and left the team in 1969, Ron was sent to the Mets and then the Cardinals.  His only major league hit came after he was called up by the Cardinals in August 1972.  In his career-defining game, he replaced Joe Torre because Torre was ejected.  Allen came into the game in the 8th and got his only hit, the home run, in the ninth.  That hit came in the fourth game of his seven game MLB career.

I wasn't able to find out why he was never able to display the rest of his power in the majors, but that one hit was all Allen got in the majors.  He had 14 plate appearances and nothing else.  He walked 3 times though, so he finished with a .091/.286/.364 triple-slash line - good for a .649 OPS that would be the envy of many of the 2013 Phillies.

The pitcher Medica list is also somewhat interesting.

Unlike the hitters, most of these pitchers had long careers, with Gregg Olson playing a remarkable 622 games.  Of course, these are relief pitchers, who rarely get to the plate.  But, for these guys, in those rare moments, they had that one special hit that they will always remember.

To Tommy Medica - may you remove your name from this list soon (though not today).  In the meantime, let's marvel at these 17 guys whose major league careers feature this rare one hit, one home run feat - the Medica.

When Tommy Medica debuted yesterday, he became the fifteenth player to wear number 54 for the Padres. The digit was first issued by the club in 1982 and has since been worn by thirteen pitchers, one catcher, and now a first baseman. But, beside Medica, how many can you name?

I put together a Sporcle quiz with all of the 54s in team history. As hints, I've included the players' positions and the years that he wore 54 with the Padres, not necessarily all of the years they were with the team, as a couple of guys on the list wore other uniform numbers in other seasons in San Diego. You have seven minutes to guess as many as you can- and trust me, after two obvious ones it's going to turn into a guessing game because most of the names are fairly obscure. Also, you only need to enter the player's last name.

After you take the quiz, be sure to let everyone know how you did, both in the poll and in the comments. Oh, and don't forget that SBN has that awesome spoiler alert black bar feature for comments, so utilize that when remarking on players that you got or forgot, just in case one of your fellow Gaslamp Ballers accidentally looks at the comments before taking the quiz. Thanks!

Take the quiz:

After dropping game 2 yesterday, the Padres will try to leave Philadelphia on a high note with a win in the series finale today. Tyson Ross looks to continue being the consistent, dominating starter that San Diego has needed. Since rejoining the rotation, the right-hander has posted a 2.16 ERA while keeping opponents hitting just .189. Over that stretch, he's pitched 58 1/3 innings and racked up 63 strikeouts. This will be his first career start against the Phillies, though he has pitched against them in a relief role before. Both of those relief appearances, totaling 2 1/3 scoreless innings, came earlier this season when the Phillies came to San Diego. Ross' most recent start may have been his best of the year. He gave up only three hits in seven shutout innings against the Rockies last Saturday. Despite his phenomenal pitching, however, Ross is just 3-3 in his nine starts since returning as a starter. Moreover, he is winless in his last five. Each of those outings saw him receive just one run of support from the Padres offense.

Hopefully that offense can fare better today against Roy Halladay. The right-hander has been battling the flu and his original scheduled start yesterday was pushed to today to give him an extra day of rest. He is 1-0 with a 4.24 ERA in three starts since returning from the disabled list toward the end of August. Halladay's ERA on the season is 7.19, but that was mostly due to his rough starts in April and May, before he hit the DL. He's shown glimpses of his former self since his return and hopes to keep improving before the season's end, when he is set to become a free agent. The righty is coming off a solid, though far from perfect, start last Wednesday against the Nationals. After issuing three walks in the first inning, as well as a couple of hit batsmen, Halladay settled down and went on to keep the Nats to just one run on three hits through six innings of work. Today he'll try to improve on a career 3-2 record and 2.15 ERA against San Diego.

Catch the game this afternoon starting at 4:05 and see if the Padres can get a rare series win over the Phillies.