You know how this works. There's a picture up there and it's up to you to caption it.

And, what the hey, I'll send some cards to whoever gets the most recs.

Way back in 2012 the Padres' Head Groundskeeper Luke Yoder planted a vegetable garden beneath the batter's eye and in the home team's bullpen.  It sounded like a weird idea at the time, and if I'm being perfectly honest still does now.  But it proved to be a fun hobby for the groundskeepers who were probably losing their collective minds from mowing the grass a few times a day for no particular reason. I'll even admit I've grown to enjoy looking at Yoder's tweets about his crop.

The garden serves a few useful purposes too.  Petco Park's head chef regularly makes salsa from the peppers when they are in season and uses other vegetables to garnish the plates of more unhealthy ballpark fare.  The players even seemed to enjoy the garden's accessibility.  The bullpen pitchers often challenge each other to eat spicy peppers to entertain themselves in the early innings before the starting pitcher is pulled and they need to get down to business.

I tell you all of this because apparently over the summer the San Francisco Giants had President Obama announce that they were going to build a 3,000 square foot organic vegetable garden of their own beyond centerfield. I didn't read about it until last week.  I haven't figured out yet why the President is in the business of making announcements for the Giants, but we should get him to announce some Padres giveaway items in the near future.

I asked Luke Yoder how the Padres planned to compete with a garden of that size:

@gaslampball I guess they are trying to 1 up us despite the fact that we had the only veggie garden in @MLB for the last couple years

— Luke Yoder (@luke_yoder) December 24, 2013

After I got his response via Twitter I got around to reading some more articles on the proposed garden.

San Francisco Giants to plant first edible garden at U.S. ballpark - latimes.com

President Obama joked on Monday that "It's OK to have a hot dog once in a while" after announcing that the first edible garden at a "major American sports facility" will open next season at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The first edible garden in a major American sports facility?  You don't say...

All the articles I've read claim the Giants will have the first garden.  Do they mean the first organic garden?  I tweeted a follow up question to Yoder to ask him if his garden is organic.  Is Petco Park not considered a major American sports facility?  Otherwise I'm not sure how they can claim to have the first vegetable garden in the a sports facility when the Padres have had one for two years. Maybe no one took notice since we didn't get the president involved.

DEVELOPING...

More fun with z-scores, as the best and worst pitch of 2013 series rolls on. Now, we turn our attention to curveballs.

The hook. A bender, Uncle Charlie. What got Barry Zito a lot of money. Whatever you call it, the curveball, in the proper hands, is a devastating pitch and a great equalizer for a pitcher who can master the quirks of the offspeed pitch. While not a dominating pitch, per se, like a fastball, the curveball can be a power pitch much like a heater for those who can throw it with enough velocity and snap to not only miss bats, but make knees buckle.

So who has a good 12-6 breaker? Or even an 11-5?

I am sure most of you know the drill by now, but to quickly recap, we will use FanGraphs data on curveball pitch type linear weights (CU/C) as well as vertical movement (CU-X), and horizontal movement (CU-Z) data to create a z-score for each in order to compare the variables to one another. A summary score (SUM_z) will then be calculated to give a final, single value for measuring the value of a given pitcher's curveball. The ten percent criteria will also be used, with only pitchers who used the pitch at least ten percent of their pitches being considered for our best/worst list. We will also break down our results by starters and relievers.

Thus far, we've figured out who has the best and worst changeups, four seam fastballs and sliders-- whose Jose Cuervo reigns supreme?

...and once again, we find old friends from previous first/worst entries -- Jamey Wright and Cesar Ramos. We also find a somewhat mild surprise at the top of the starter list in Strasburg; I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to google some of Strasburg's exploits with the curve to confirm he is a deserving winner here, but suffice it to say, I was mildly surprised that neither Adam Wainwright's or Clayton Kershaw's bender made the top of the list. For those curious, Waino's curve ranked 3rd with a 4.06 SUM_z, while Kershaw's came in at number 22, with a 1.42 SUM_z.

Let's take a look at those composite z-scores for our quartet here for a moment, so we can see where strengths and weaknesses lie for each:

Overall, we find that each of the four does a good job of creating movement on their curveball in the z-plane, while Strasburg sets himself apart from the other three with his above average velocity on his breaker -- this isn't terribly shocking if you have seen his curveball, as it is truly a power pitch. However, this velocity comparison is only against other curveballs, not each pitcher's fastball, like what we saw with changeups. While change of speed is always an important and valuable talent, I did not feel that it has as much weighting on how good a curveball is as compared to a changeup, hence the standard approach to handling pitch velocity -- a direct comparison versus one that is predicated upon the difference in velocity between it and another pitch.

With that said, what else plays a role in having a good curveball? Two other factors that potentially play a role could include release point -- does it come out of the pitcher's hand the same way and in the same location as his fastball -- and also arm speed -- is the pitcher slowing down his mechanics and arm in order to get on top of the pitch to ensure a good snap on his curve. The latter we don't have data for, but release points we can look at, with the help of Brooks Baseball. From there, we can grab the horizontal (CU, H) and vertical (CU, V) release point values for our quartet, along with the same data for their fastballs ('FA, H' and 'FA, V', respectively), and compare them to see how close they are to one another. In order to compare a two dimensional value in one dimension, I have multiplied the horizontal and vertical values of each for each pitcher, giving us FA_h*v and CU_h*v values. From there we subtract those two values and take the absolute difference (Abs Diff) to give us a general idea of how close each pitcher's curveball's release point is in comparison to their fastball.

So what does that look like?

Not surprisingly, Strasburg's curveball is coming out of his hand is just about the same place as his fastball in average in 2013 and is much better than compared to Eric Stults. However, our worst curveball 'winner', Cesar Ramos, does an even better job than Stras in making his curveball come out of the same arm slot (for the most part).

So what does that tell us?

One thing comes to mind immediately. Perhaps it's arm speed that is playing a larger role in the overall success of the curveball for guys like Strasburg and Jamey Wright more so than raw velocity or arm slot. Sadly, we don't have data on arm speed, so we are left to make thoughtful guesses as to its true value when discussing a good curveball. Much like what we saw with changeups, we again see some fickleness in our results and reality; even the 'bad' offerings, when looking at wOBA against, are effective pitches. As such, it might be that for some pitchers, their pitches derive their value not so much from how good they are as standalone pitches, but how different they might be from their other offerings; sometimes, a pitch can be good more for what it isn't than for what it is.

***

All data courtesy of FanGraphs and Brooks Baseball.

Stuart Wallace is an associate managing editor and writer at Beyond The Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @TClippardsSpecs.

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Welp, the Padresmade it Facebook Official, they signed Joaquin Benoit after he passed his physical.  It's been 10 days since the deal was agreed upon between the two parties and announced to the public.  That must have been a very thorough physical, with lots of head turning and coughing.  The real news is that they decided to make room for Benoit by designating Adys Portillo for assignment.

Padres finalize two-year contract with Joaquin Benoit | padres.com: News

Ten days after agreeing to a two-year contract with free-agent relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit, the Padres officially consummated the deal on Saturday. In addition, the club designated right-handed pitcher Adys Portillo for assignment.

Padres beat writer Corey Brock says of Portillo:

Portillo was limited in '13 due to triceps tenderness + strained lat. Dearth of position guys in system = arms a bit easier to part with.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) December 28, 2013

He also says Padres GM Josh Byrnes is still on the look out for more arms for the bullpen.

#Padres GM Byrnes said the team will still try to add a bullpen arm or two, maybe a LOOGY. Floated idea of Luebke possibly as he works back.

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) December 28, 2013

The left-hander has received multiple offers and could sign soon.

The Los Angeles Angels are the "front-runners" to sign free agent pitcher Mark Mulder, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo reports that the two sides could agree to an incentive-laden deal "soon." However, the book is not closed on Mulder's free agency; his agent claims that the left-hander is evaluating multiple offers and hasn't yet made a decision on where to sign, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Fletcher does note that the Angels are "up there" among the teams that Mulder is considering.

The Angels have several starting pitchers, but another arm couldn't hurt. Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson provide a good foundation at the top of the rotation, and Garrett Richards is a solid mid-rotation option. After that, newly acquired youngsters Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs both have promise but are still unproven over a full season of starting. The team also has 33-year-old Joe Blanton, but would probably prefer not to rely on him for a lot of starts after he posted a 6.04 ERA in 2013.

The 36-year-old Mulder has not pitched in the majors since 2008 due to repeated shoulder injuries. He spent nine seasons with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, and initially retired with a 103-60 record and a 4.18 ERA (106 ERA+) in 205 games.

Royals sign two players

The Kansas City Royals have signed infielder Jason Donald and outfielder Melky Mesa to minor league contracts.

Donald, 29, was most recently in the Cincinnati Reds organization, but he last played in the majors for the Cleveland Indians in 2012. The versatile defender has seen time at shortstop, second base, third base, left field and center field in the majors, but he is considered to be primarily an infielder. He has batted .257/.309/.362 with seven home runs in 603 big-league plate appearances.

The Royals are set at second base with the newly signed Omar Infante, but Donald could provide depth behind shortstop Alcides Escobar (559 OPS in 2013) and third baseman Mike Moustakas (651 OPS), both of whom were disappointing at the plate last year despite solid seasons in the field.

Mesa, 26, has been in the New York Yankees organization since 2006. He has only received 16 plate appearances in the majors, but he has taken full advantage of them by going 6-for-15 with two doubles, a walk and only two strikeouts. In the minors, he has posted a 751 OPS in 703 games and displayed some pop (97 home runs, 192 isolated power). Defensively, Mesa has played mostly center field, though he has also appeared in right and gotten an occasional turn in left.

Kansas City's current outfield consists of All-Star Alex Gordon in left, Gold Glove finalist Lorenzo Cain in center, new addition Norichika Aoki in right and fourth outfielder Jason Maxwell on the bench. Mesa could replace the depth that was lost when defensive standout David Lough was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for third baseman Danny Valencia.

Padres designate Portillo for assignment

The San Diego Padres designated pitcher Adys Portillo for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for reliever Joaquin Benoit, whose signing was finalized on Saturday.

Portillo is a 22-year-old right-hander who has been in the Padres organization since 2009. He has appeared in 80 games (75 starts) and posted 4.86 ERA to go along with a 14-38 record and a rate of 5.3 walks per nine innings. He reached Double-A for the first time in 2012, but posted a 7.20 ERA at that level in eight starts. He was limited to three starts in 2013 due to injuries.

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Greg Maddux might be the first player since Cal Ripken in 2006 with a legitimate chance of being unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame. How does one get to that point? Just look at his performance during what was arguably the most offense-oriented era in the history of the game.

A little more than a full season into his big-league career, Greg Maddux was 8-18 with a 5.59 ERA/76 ERA+ and had walked more than four batters per nine innings. He was only 21 years old, but the Chicago Cubs' second-round pick in the 1984 draft seemed destined for a career as a back-of-the-rotation guy at best because of his propensity for giving up hits and his inability to strike out enough batters to make up for it.

Then came 1988.

The lumps that Maddux took as a rookie gave him some all-important experience. Those strikeouts never really surfaced, but beginning in his second full season, Maddux got a lot better at limiting walks. He allowed fewer than three free passes per nine innings, which contributed to an 18-8 record, 3.18 ERA and an accompanying All-Star selection in '88.

Four years later, Maddux earned his first Cy Young award and signed a big free-agent contract. And he was just getting started.

Why he's a Hall-of-Famer

The simple-but-effective answer: he's Greg Maddux. Those two words, to most baseball fans, mean pinpoint control, elite durability and long stretches of dominance in an era defined by offense.

Maddux led the league in walks per nine on nine different occasions, including in 1997, when he struck out 177 batters and walked only 20. He topped the league in innings pitched every year from 1991 through 1995, logging a career-high 268 frames in 1992. Most impressively, he won four consecutive Cy Young awards while posting a 75-29 record with a 1.98 total ERA from 1992 through 1995.

Career Highlights

Photo: Getty Images

23 years (1986-2008)
Teams: Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, Padres

4-time Cy Young winner
8-time All-Star
18-time Gold Glove winner
4-time ERA leader 
3.16 career ERA, 132 ERA+
355 wins
5,008⅓ innings
104.8 career WAR
81.6 JAWS (10th among SP)

"The Professor" completed a 10-year stretch from 1992 through 2002 in which he went 198-88 with a 2.47 ERA while walking 1.5 batters per nine innings. This decade came during what was arguably the most offense-oriented decade in the history of baseball, and Maddux did it without the overpowering fastball that was possessed by many of his contemporaries.

When it was all said and done, Maddux won 355 games, logged more than 5,000 innings, posted a 3.16 ERA and walked fewer than two batters per nine. In addition to his pitching prowess, Maddux fielded his position better than any other pitcher during his era, and quite possibly, the history of baseball, as his 18 Gold Gloves would suggest. Advanced metrics also favor Maddux; his 104.8 career rWAR ranks sixth all-time among pitchers and 25th overall.

Why writers won't vote for him

Maddux has the best shot of any player at being unanimously voted into Cooperstown since Cal Ripken, who received 98.5 percent of the vote in his inaugural year on the ballot in 2006. However, voters are only allowed to put 10 candidates on their ballot, and gamesmanship on the part of some voters may lead them to leave off Maddux to allow themselves an "extra" vote, secure in the knowledge that the legend will get in anyways. That said, anyone who doesn't vote for Maddux either has an agenda or is insane.

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The San Diego Padres are still looking to add to their bullpen. Could Rich Hill be a fit?

Generally speaking, a rumor in this business is built on the foundation of a beat reporter with a source. The beat guy hears something, tweets it, and the rumors spreads. In this case, I have every intention of spreading a rumor from some guy I follow on Twitter - not a beat writer, but still a good writer and a member of the SB Nation community. Just kidding! It's not a rumor, just a suggestion.

With the Padres continuing to look at bullpen help, the club has a wide range of options. They can pursue another trade, they can sign a relatively big name free agent, or they can go with a low-risk/high-reward type deal. Rich Hill would fit in the latter category, and his name only hit me thanks to Steve Kinsella of DRays Bay and Sports Talk Florida.

After listening to Josh Byrnes I would not be surprised if Fmr #Indians RP Rich Hill ends up with #Padres on minor league deal w/invite.

— Steve Kinsella (@Steve_Kinsella1) December 29, 2013

Hill is not a superstar. He's not a prospect. He's not someone you'd expect to be high on a team's radar. Which means he's a perfect fit for San Diego! Aside from the Joaquin Benoit signing, the Padres are not ones to make a splash often in trades or free agent signings. They can't afford to be. So, they have to be smart and look at players with big upside considering their cost.

Clearly, the Padres are interested in lefties. Hill is a lefty. Bingo. Done deal. Well, actually the possibility goes beyond the simple fact that Hill is a southpaw. He would likely come very cheap if San Diego were to offer him a deal. As Kinsella suggested, he may even be willing to take a minor league deal if he gets an invite to Major League camp this Spring. Hill is a veteran, but he's bounced between the minors and Majors throughout his career, never really sticking anywhere too long.

Hill began his career as a starter with the Chicago Cubs. He was solid in 2007 when he posted an 11-8 record, complimented with a 3.92 ERA. However, he failed to impress in any of his other four seasons as a starter. Hill was eventually shifted to the bullpen when he joined the Boston Red Sox in 2010. As a reliever, Hill fared a bit better. He has a 4.44 career ERA as a reliever compared to a 4.80 career ERA as a starter. So, like I said - he's not a superstar or a prospect. He's a Major League pitcher who can occasionally get outs.

But San Diego doesn't need Hill to do too much. Perhaps Hill could fit in a role where he was used infrequently and only in situations where he was facing a lefty hitter. I'm not sure Hill would fit the role of a left-handed specialist perfectly, but he could certainly give the Padres a little bit more to work with in the pen.

Considering Hill made $1 million with the Cleveland Indians last year and did not pitch well, it's easy to see the Padres giving him not much more than league minimum if he were to make the Major League roster.

Again, this is nothing more than a passing suggestion for a player who is available. It is not a rumor. But hey, if it turns into a rumor, and if the Padres sign him, I will gladly take credit for putting the article out there.

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Now that Benoit is officially a Padre, the future has gotten pretty cloudy for Huston Street.

The San Diego Padres have officially added reliever Joaquin Benoit to their 40-man roster, leading to questions about  Huston Street's future with the team, as Bill Center of U-T San Diego reports.

Benoit agreed to a two-year deal with the club that includes a vesting option for 2016 if he finishes 55 games in 2016. That stipulation in the paperwork and the $15.5 million the Padres guaranteed in the deal seem to hint at a changing of the guard in the ninth inning.

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Street has served as San Diego's closer since they acquired him from the Athletics in 2011, posting a 2.35 ERA and 56 saves over that span. Next season, the 30-year-old right hander will earn $7 million with a mutual option at the same price tag for 2015. Mutual options are rarely agreed to by both sides, so unless an extension is worked out between now and next winter, Street could be headed for free agency after 2014.

In addition to signing Benoit, San Diego traded former set-up man Luke Gregerson to the Athletics for outfielder Seth Smith. Benoit will likely slide into that role for 2014, but he might be showing up in the ninth inning sooner rather than later. General manager has endorsed Street as the closer for 2014, but that could change quickly if Street hits the disabled list.

In 2013, Benoit saved 24 games for the Tigers with a 2.01 ERA in 67 innings. He's put up 37 saves in his 12-year career, but he's proven to an extremely durable reliever over the last four years, posting a 2.53 ERA in 259.1 innings since 2010. That durability might have led to the Padres' willingness to offer him what could end up as a three-year deal.

Huston Street has been anything but durable in his career, having spent time on the disabled list four different times in his time with San Diego.

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A season dedicated to Ray Kroc

I spent a good part of my afternoon watching and re-watching portions of the docudrama "1984 San Diego Padres: A Dedicated Season".

The big takeaway for me was that I should learn how to make animated gifs.  In watching this there was about 50-75 times that I wanted to clip a fan's reaction or play from this video and replay it over and over and then post it on a message board in response to a completely unrelated comment.  I tried making one and here's how it turned out, not too bad for a first try  Maybe we can all split up duties and make a few hundred gifs that we can leave in all the dark corners of the internet.

So far some of my favorite parts were when the fans were begging for a "Big Mac Attack" from Kevin McReynolds at roughly the nine minute mark and the Tony Gwynn segment that starts right around sixteen minutes.  Both are so good.

I'm only about halfway through watching, so I'll let you catch up with me and we can watch the rest together tonight.  Great, it's a date!

Here's my notes from Josh Byrnes' interview on the Mighty 1090.

Mighty 1090: Josh Byrnes interview with Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton and Jay Paris (MP3)

• According to Byrnes, instant replay is still being debated by managers and GMs.  There are still some people that want every play reviewed.  Others just want to make sure that the umps get the big plays right.  "I think what everyone agrees on is that it's better, the calls will now be correct that were missed."
• Bud Black wants managers to have just one challenge per game.  Byrnes thinks that's "probably the best way to go about it."  Byrnes says that to him it's less about the small plays and more about the big plays that will affect the outcome of the game.
• Byrnes says he understands it now the managers will get one challenge for the first 6 innings and then an additional challenge for the final 3 innings.  The final verdict on challenges won't be announced until Spring.  "There will be some strategy for the manager."
  
• Byrnes says the reason why they won't use instant replay on double plays and phantom tags is for player safety.
• Byrnes is a little surprised that veteran players are complaining about the league trying to minimize player collisions at home plate.  Byrnes says there's too much potential for injury when runners go in high and hard to take out the catchers.
• Cameron Maybin (wrist & knee) and Carlos Quentin (knee) are both on track with their rehab.  "Right now every rehab guy we have is right where we want them to be."  The pitchers are all in the latter stages of Tommy John surgery.  Everyone with the exception of Yasmani Grandal will fully participate in Spring Training.
• Byrnes says the Padres are in a position to negotiate a one year deal with Chase Headley otherwise he'll go to arbitration.  The exchange date for arbitration salary numbers is January 17th. "If I had to guess right now it'd be a one year deal."

I made a list of 14 resolutions for myself to be a better Padres/baseball fan in 2014 and thought I'd share it with you all so that maybe you can join me in some of them and we can motivate each other. Here are the first five...

1. Help the Padres improve game attendance

I’m going to try to attend more games this season, especially those that I know won’t be very crowded. I’ve always been fond of day games and weekday night games anyway, so I don’t think it will be too hard to keep this up.

2. Support our Baby Friars

I made a resolution last year to follow and support our minor league affiliates more, and I want to continue doing that. You may recall Dex’s monthly Happiness Project Goals in 2012. One of them was to "look to the future," which is basically what this resolution entails. So look for more prospect talk and minor league updates and game threads this season. And if you don’t see that happening, feel free to get on my ass* and make me feel guilty about not keeping up with my resolution.

3. Brush up on history

Another one of Dex's Happiness Projects was to "ground yourself in the past." It’s not only important to keep our eyes looking towards the future of the club, but also to look back at how our Padres got to where they are now. Some of you may not know this (and some of you may find it painfully obvious), but I’m a relatively new Padres fan. Before 2005-2006ish I was only a casual fan who didn’t do much more than check a box score every once in a while and watch the occasional game. There is so much I don’t know about the team’s past, but I want to learn as much as I can.

4. Read more

I don’t know if there’s a better way to learn about Padres history than by reading about it. Luckily for us in San Diego, we have a treasure trove of resources at the Central Library downtown, including probably any book you can think of written about the Padres or about baseball in general.

5. Always stay until the very last pitch

I was once at an extra-inning game with some friends and one of them reeeeaaaally wanted to leave because they didn’t want to ride the trolley too late. I was able to stall until the 15th inning until I was finally guilted into leaving. As we approached the trolley station outside Petco Park, I heard the remainder of the crowd inside the ballpark erupt in cheers as fireworks went off in celebration of Nick Hundley’s walk-off home run. Never again have I left a game before the final pitch was thrown. This isn’t a new resolution for me, but I still thought it was a good one to include.

Resolutions 6-10 coming soon...

*figure of speech

made a list of 14 resolutions for myself to be a better Padres/baseball fan in 2014 and thought I'd share it with you all so that maybe you can join me in some of them and we can motivate each other.

... and now resolutions 6-10...

6. Be nicer to other Padres fans

I think in 2013 I saw more pointless and petty arguments between Padres fans than I ever have. And I’ll admit that I involved myself in some of it. But I’m going to try to stop fighting with other Padres fans, because there are so few of us as it is and we all ultimately want the same thing, so it’s stupid for us to argue over things that don’t matter like what nicknames we should use for certain players. Let’s aim for more friendly discourse, debate, and discussion and less judgment of others for showing their fanhood in different ways.

7. Foster creativity.

Another resolution inspired by Dex’s Happiness Project. To put it simply: more Padres arts & crafts! This could include anything from writing more Fanposts to organizing your baseball memorabilia in a cool way to making a siiiick coffee table out of baseball cards to carving a baseball-themed pumpkin for Halloween. You could even become your own Baseball Card Vandal. Find a way to incorporate baseball into your creative outlet of choice and share it with us.

8. Educate myself

I want to learn as much as I can, not only about the Padres, but about other teams and about baseball in general. I plan on making a better effort to pay more attention to what's going on around the league and making myself more sabermetrically aware.

9. Interact more

One of the things that turned me into the fan I am today is meeting and interacting with other fans through social media, at the ballpark, and especially here at Gaslamp Ball. Being a part of the Padres community and connecting with other fans makes the season so much more enjoyable.

10. Be louder (without being obnoxious)

I’ve always thought most Padres fans at Petco Park needed to be more outwardly passionate. We need to stop letting opposing fans take over our ballpark both in numbers and spirit. It’s so disheartening to be at home and be able to hear Padres fans drowned out by the chants and cheers of opposing fans. We need to start drowning them out. I know it’s hard to be loud and supportive if the team isn’t doing well, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun to be at the ballpark and cheering on your team than sulking and letting the other team’s fans take over. On a related note, it’s really annoying to be at a game and see someone who is supposedly a Padres fan do nothing but complain about a poor performance by a player or the team. Let’s all resolve not to be "that guy."

Resolutions 11-14 coming soon...

I'm dealing with a mild case of writer's block.  Combine that with the fact that there's not much Padres news floating around right now and I'm left struggling to find something to write about.  I decided to make a quiz to break the seal and get myself going again.

Today I'm quizzing you on the top Padres players for each season as determined by the player's bWAR statistic. I'm not a big stat hound like some of you, but bWAR stands for Baseball Reference's Wins Above Replacement.  You guys still call yourselves stat hounds right?  Good.

Oh, speaking of WAR, I was listening to an episode of the Padres and Pints podcast and one of them fellers pronounced WAR differently than I imagined it would be pronounced.  I've always thought it was pronounced "war", like "what is it good for?", but they pronounced it like the satirical thrash metal bandGwar, like "cause we are Gwar, and we'll go far".

Anyway,  you have three five minutes to name all these players.  It's not as hard as it sounds because there are a lot of repeats and besides you need someone to challenge you.

Discuss your scores and the answers in the comments, but make sure to hide the answers so you don't spoil the quiz for others:

On to the quiz!

Happy New Year!

I'd just like to formally thank everyone who has read and participated here at Gaslamp Ball in 2013.  Honestly I don't know how you did it, but thanks for sticking with us and promising never to get your Padres news from any other source ever again... ever.

A very special thanks to the seven new writers that started this year.  They carried the blog a good portion of the season and vastly improved the quality and quantity of the writing.  I'm not sure if Gaslamp Ball (as you know it) would have survived without them. They know loads more about the Padres than me and are more entertaining to boot.  It's a good thing I've got my looks to fall back on.

SB Nation tallied up the most active Gaslamp Ballers for the year.  They gave us a list of the top ten most active peeps in three categories: FanPosts, FanShots and Comments.  I happen to know the one the thing a Gaslamp Baller likes to talk about more than Padres baseball is themselves, so I thought I'd share the results with you.

"GET TO THE AWARDS!"

Ok, fine, jeez.

Most FanPosts

kevintheoman 41
SD_Hat_Guy 8
chasfh 6
ajwang 6
mofle619 6
Thelonious_Friar 5
grizzlysd187 5
mrbarneydangles 5
Zen Blade 4
Ron Mexico 4

Look at kevintheoman just destroying the competition.

Most FanShots

jbox 64
kevintheoman 18
jodes0405 12
Ronit Shah 4
Faith Keeper 3
Wonko 2
Axion 2
Section 135 1
jrockies 1
jcpr 1

Most Comments

Oh no, I'm not going to just tell you all the answers.  I'm going to QUIZ YOU!

If you grew up a Padres fan, only a few things better than playing for the Padres organization.

Guys, guess what...

Source: #Padres sign IF Brooks Conrad to minor-league deal. No invitation to major-league spring training. Spent last season in Japan.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 4, 2014

I know, right?

Long time readers of the blog know that Brooks Conrad is my brother-in-law. The 10 year anniversary of our being brothers-in-law is actually coming up in a week or so. Aluminum anniversary. It's what they make bats out of in college.

So we've followed Brooks' career in the minors with the Astros organization, over to the Athletics, where he made his Major League debut, and then down to Atlanta where he found a bit of a home for a while as a hero and a goat. Brooks holds the Major League record for most pinch hit  grand slams in a season. He also infamously holds the record for most errors in a post-season game.

Beyond Atlanta, Brooks spent some time over in Milwaukee and Tampa and last year was a Hanshin Tiger out in Japan.

And now... He's a veteran and he's formally an El Paso Chihuahua! An inaugural El Paso Chihuahua, I might add. The move reunites brooks with Manager Pat Murphy, who was coach of the ASU Sun Devils prior to joining the Padres organization.

Just to catch y'all up some more. Brooks has been a Padres fan forever. Huge Chargers fan. Brooks became good friends with Jacob Hester who happened to be an Atlanta Braves fan. The two would communicate regularly about their various teams and both really knew how to enjoy their times as professional athletes.

My brother-in-law is an all around nice guy.

Brooks' nickname is Raw Dog because he doesn't wear batting gloves.

At this point in his career, Brooks is more a veteran presence for the minor leaguers and potentially a call-up a la Mark Kotsay who can provide a experienced bat with some pop in pinch-hitting appearances. Brooks has played at every infield position.

If you happen to catch a game that Brooks is playing, you should cheer for him, not only because he's on your team now, but also because he's a real nice guy.

GO BROOKSIE! WE'RE PROUD OF YOU!

11. Score more often

I want to focus more during games, and I think the best way for me to do that is to start keeping score as often as I can. I used to do it sometimes in 2010 when they would include scorecards in the BluePrints at Petco Park, but I never got that into it. So this year I'm gonna try to do it at most, if not all (probably not all), of the games I go to.

12. Spread the baseball love

For me, there are few things more fun than taking someone to their first baseball game and helping them appreciate the game. I think we all need to do this more to show that baseball isn’t boring, like a lot of people think it is. And when you’re passionate about something, like we all are about baseball, it helps other people enjoy it so much more. I'm planning on taking my nephew to his first game this year. He'll be two years old and probably won't remember it when he's older, but I'm excited to take him to his first one and I think he'll have a lot of fun running around the Park at the Park.

13. Participate on Gaslamp Ball more

I love you guys, and this blog is infinitely better when you all get involved, whether it’s commenting on articles, writing your own fanposts, or following along with us in the game threads during the season. I didn't get to comment during game threads much last season, so I definitely want to get back into that, because the game threads are what really made me fall in love with Gaslamp Ball a few years ago.

14. Keep the faith

Keeping the faith doesn’t mean being optimistic all the time and it doesn’t mean you can’t be critical of the team. The idea is to realize that when things are looking bad, you just have to turn into the skid, find things to enjoy wherever you can, and wait for things to get better, which they will. Because it’s a long (albeit not long enough) season and anything can happen. Because foulweather fans are the worst. Because the Padres WILL get that World Series Championship one day, and when it happens it’ll be a lot more fulfilling when you know that you’ve stuck with the team through all the ups and downs.

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• Padres Fan Resolutions for 2014: Part 1
• Padres Fan Resolutions for 2014: Part 2
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San Diego mourns the loss of The Colonel.

We are deeply saddened to announce that Jerry Coleman passed away today. We mourn the loss of an American hero and a great man.

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 5, 2014

Some very sad news being announced by the Padres today. Jerry Coleman, the voice of the Padres for 40 of the last 41 years has passed away. Known by Padres fans for his time in the booth and as the manager of the club for the 1980 season, Coleman was also AL Rookie of the Year in 1949 and won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1950. In July of 2005, Coleman was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

While Jerry hadn't been taking as much of a workload over the last few years, his presence was always felt during Padres seasons. I know I won't be able to resist the instinct of looking to the booth after a great Padres play to see if warranted Jerry hanging-a-star on it.

Rest In Peace, Jerry. We'll miss you.

Edited with the correct year.

Coleman played nine years in pinstripes and was a part of six different championship teams.

Amid this day of NFL action and joy in San Diego following the Chargers' victory over the Bengals, the Padres announced some sad news about their Ford C. Frick Award-winning broadcaster, Jerry Coleman:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Jerry Coleman passed away today. We mourn the loss of an American hero and a great man.

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 5, 2014

This news is unfortunate for not just Padres fans, but Yankees fans as well. Coleman was the Yankees' second baseman for the majority of his nine-year career from 1949-57. Although it was just 723 games long, it was interrupted by a two-year stint in Korean War that took up most of his 1952-53 seasons. Coleman also spent three years in the Marines during World War II, missing out on development time from 1943-45. He wasn't the typical athlete-soldier who played on military teams, according to Baseball-Reference Bullpen:

During [World War II], he was a fighter pilot, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant and piloting SBD Dauntless dive bombers on 57 missions in the Solomon Islands... During [the Korean War], he attained the rank of Captain and flew 63 missions in F4U Corsairs. Overall, during his military career, he earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and 20 Air Medals. When he returned to the Yankees, it was as a utility infielder, but he appeared in the World Series three more times, from 1955 to 1957.

Coleman was a remarkable human being, not just an smooth defensive second baseman.

In his debut season of 1949, Coleman finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .275/.367/.358 with 21 doubles and 2.5 rWAR in 128 games. The Yankees won the first of five consecutive World Series titles, and the next year, he made the AL All-Star team for the only time in his career with a similarly productive campaign. In the Fall Classic that year, he hit .286/.375/.357 in the four-game sweep over the Phillies, marking a career highlight with a walk-off single in Game 3 that put the Yankees up 3-0 in the series. Coleman took home the then-consensus World Series MVP, the Babe Ruth Award.

When Coleman returned from Korea in '54, he unfortunately wasn't nearly as good as he was in the years prior. Still, he stayed on Casey Stengel's teams through '57, earning another World Series ring in '56 and ending his playing career with a flourish in '57; he had a 101 OPS+ in 72 games, then hit .364/.440/.455 in a narrow seven-game World Series loss to the Milwaukee Braves.

A few years after his playing career ended, Coleman found a new path in baseball working as a broadcaster. He began working for CBS in 1960 and became the Yankees'  broadcaster for WPIX and WCBS from 1963-67. It was Coleman's voice behind Mickey Mantle's 500th career homer in '67.

He then returned home to the West Coast, where he worked as an Angels broadcaster for a few years before finally carving out a true niche as the recently-established Padres' radio man. From 1972 until his death, he worked for San Diego, as his "Oh, Doctor!" calls earned him fame and eventually the aforementioned Frick Award in 2005. The Padres honored him with a statue in 2012, immortalizing him the way he wanted to be remembered: as a solider.

Coleman was one of the oldest-living former Yankees, and his presence will certainly be missed.

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The Padres announced this afternoon that longtime Padres radio broadcaster Jerry Coleman has passed away at the age of 89.

We are deeply saddened to announce that Jerry Coleman passed away today. We mourn the loss of an American hero and a great man.

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 5, 2014

Coleman started his lifelong career in baseball in 1949, playing second base for the New York Yankees. He won four World Series championships with the team, shining the brightest during their 1950 championship. He was selected for the All-Star team that year and went on to win the Babe Ruth Award, honoring the most valuable player in the World Series.

He left baseball temporarily to serve in the Korean War. It was his second tour of duty as a Marine Corp aviator; he postponed the start of his professional baseball career to serve in World War II. He flew over 120 combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. He left the military with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Coleman started announcing Padres games in 1972, and only took one year off in his entire career. He had a good excuse for that, though: The Padres hired him to manage the team in 1980 (That team finished 73-89 in last place). Then it was straight back to the broadcast booth. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster in 2005. In 2012, he became just the second man to be immortalized in statue at Petco Park. Per his request, the statue depicted him in his flight uniform, and as we'll always remember him: The Colonel.

The Jerry Coleman statue will remain open until 11:30 p.m. tonight for fans who would like to pay their respects. pic.twitter.com/lUkEiOsrM2

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) January 5, 2014

The Padres have said that due to Jerry Coleman's death today they'll leave the area around his statue open to the public until 11:30 p.m. tonight.

I went downtown for about a half hour after I heard the news.  There was a two man news crew and one other Padres fan there when I arrived. Flowers, flags and patches had already been placed at the feet of Jerry's statue from those that came before me.

A small group of fans gathered as time passed.  Some were visibly and understandably emotional, while others stood stoically with their thoughts.  It was a solemn moment but once fans had paid their respect to Coleman, they stepped away and started to talk with each other and share stories. That's when the tears disappeared and the smiles could be seen and laughter heard.

I was talking to Corey who is better known to fans as the Dancing Friar.  We agreed that while it's difficult to mourn the passing of such a great man, he had certainly lived an extraordinary life and that's something to honor and celebrate.  While neither of us knew him personally we both cherished our meetings with him.  He was just as genuine, humble and funny as you've always heard.

It was cathartic to be around other Padres fans that adore Jerry as much as I do.  If you're feeling the pangs of sadness and live in town I recommend you drop by his statue and spend some time there, it might just lift your spirits like it did mine.