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“Teams in Town-Tons of Topics”

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While I was gone on vacation, a lot happened. Here’s what I see, what I know.

PADRES-1st PLACE…Well that was nice for a couple of weeks, the quick start, but now reality has set in. Reality that they offense still is not producing. Reality they seem to have a hole at 2nd base. Reality that their starting pitchers are going just 5-innings per start. Reality that there seems to be a lot of stress on the bullpen, and we are just 20-plus games into the season.

BATTING ORDER….They started quickly with a top of the batting order anchored by Ian Kindler, followed by Will Myers, then Manny Macao, Eric Hosmer, Hunter Renfroe. Then the musical chairs started and Andy Green keeps changing that batting order daily. Set it up, leave it alone, quit experimenting. Let the proven players settle in.

BLACK HOLE…Luis Urias is headed back to AAA-El Paso, dragging with him a (.081) batting average back to the minor leagues. A little too much, too son. Kinsler has hit well in the past, and he will hit again, though it is surprising in that he had a strong spring and now is down in the (.161) range. Greg Garcia is just a guy. It may well be that career journeyman Jose Pirela, who has hit, gets the job again

GREAT DEBATE…..Francsico Mejia is still here, catching once in awhile, and hitting in the (.180) range. So the discussion rages on, shouldn’t he be catching everyday in El Paso rather than sitting more than playing with the Padres?

MANNY-HO-WILL….That’s a lot of money the three big names are earning. Machado is hitting in the (.250s)…..Myers had a good start (.291) with the bat, but not so much with the glove…Hosmer is hitting in the.(220s). Just wondering if one gets hot, will the others follow. They better.

TATIS TALENTS….He’s everything that they advertised, with the glove at shortstop, and at times with the bat (.291). Fernando Tatis has hit with some power, gets extra base hits, does run the bases with abandon. His defensive plays, diving, chasing, throwing, covering have really been impressive for someone age-20. Just call him El Nino. He might be as exciting a rookie as San Diego has seen since Tony Gwynn, and that was a long time ago.

KID ARMS…A nice first week or so for the young starters, but they are getting knocked around a bit more. Getting Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Chris Paddock past the 5th inning of their starts does not seem to be part of the game plan. Protecting young arms the real priority.

NICK THE QUICK…Nick Margevicius has been more than impressive in his first couple of starts. Bears watching to see if his outings get shakier after the last bad outing Handling him like the others, with kid gloves for that arm, but very impressive.

STRAHM STARTING….Aside from a couple of rocky outings, Matt Strahm is building arm strength, has more good outings than bad, and seems to holding up well to the workload a starting pitcher has to endure. So far so good, but truly not an ace.

BULLPEN BRIGADE….They won’t raise a red flag, and the personality of Craig Stammen and Kirby Yates won’t allow them to even think about white flags, but they’ve been called on way too much the first month of the season. Finding some quality long relief innings will be important going forward.

DOWN ON THE FARM….Remembering the old Saturday Night Live skit, “Not ready for prime time players’, the young arms are not dominating in Triple-Double A, so I doubt you will see Cal Quantrill, Logan Allen or Adrian Morejon any time soon. Between them, eight minor league starts this year, only two quality outings, and high ERAs.

GM GAME PLAN…AJ Preller has shown no interest in dealing prospects, nor international signing bonus slot money in any trades. Nor does he seem interested in a 1-year contract for 18-million for still unsigned Dallas Keuchel. That may change if this downhill slope ride continues. The Padres just snapped a 6-game losing streak. Much of that caused by lack of hitting, and teams catching up to the kid pitchers. Another losing streak might force Preller to reconsider his roster makeup.

THE STANDINGS…That was the talent laden Dodgers blowing by the Padres this past week in the standings. And doing that mostly without pitching icon Clayton Kershaw. LA is bombing people with home run hitters. Spending two weeks in first place was nice, but that is no longer the norm in San Diego. Now as we turn into May, we still don’t know what kind of team the Padres really halve, not even with Machado in the batting order,and the kid pitchers here.

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Program Note–

I am on assignment this week.

Returning with my NFL Draft preview package next Monday 4/22

Thanks for following

Lee Hamilton

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“Masters-Toast to Tiger”

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That accomplishment, at that place, at this time, amazing.

There may not be enough words to describe what we saw on Sunday at Augusta, in the 83rd year of the Masters Golf Tourney.

Tiger Woods, coming back from the trauma of debilitating back surgeries, and the destruction his personal life, marriage,and painkillers, and the loss of virtually all his credibility, put on a show for the ages.

A comeback of the greatest magnitude in golf, and a similar comeback in life.

Woods called it overwhelming, unreal, and was at a loss for words.

You only had to watch the final group of holes. You only had to hear the chants ‘Tiger-Tiger’ from a gallery that was 20-rows deep on the 18th hole. You only had to see the line of golfers waiting on the walkway coming off the final green, to salute the champion. It was a show of respect and affection for golf’s greatest modern day star, to do what he did.

For a man with the stone cold stare and glare, and the fierceness to his game, even he was stunned at the accomplishment. At 18, after the final shot, the outpouring of his own emotion was an exhibit we have not seen for years.

Him hugging his children, his mother. Him referencing his father, who was there in 1997 the first time he won.

The fist pump, the huge smile, the rush of energy. The fire engine red-shirt he wore. It just seemed to right.

Woods won his first major since 2008, the one he got at Torrey Pines. It was his 15th Grand Slam event, pulling closer to the legendary Jack Nicklaus. It was 14-years between Masters’ Green Jackets for him.

It might be even more impressive than the 12-stroke win he had at Augusta in 1997.

It may top the greatest day Nicklaus had, coming from 4-strokes back to win win in 1986, his last tour victory every. .

Woods did this, the come-from-behind win on Sunday, just days after saying he did not know if he could ever be the same player again, because his practices were limited by back soreness, and his putter rankings were the worst ever in his career. He admitted, if you cannot practice, you might not be able to play.

But for this weekend, all was right with him. His approach, to shots, his approach mentally.

His career comes full circle. His father there for the 1st ever win at Augusta. His mother and children there a the finish on Sunday..

It was as inspirational an accomplishment as the Augusta course has ever seen. And why not there, at the shrine of Pro Golf.

Woods fall from grace as a person, will probably never be repaired.
Woods re-emergence as golf’s great star has now been documented.

A historical day with the Green Jacket as the prize, again, and the restoration of his golf integrity solidified..

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“Padres In A Pennant Race”

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We are three weeks into the season, and the for the first time since AJ Preller took over as GM and Andy Green stepped into the dugout to manage, we can say, the Padres are in a pennant race.

Of course we’re just three weeks into this, and thanks to 13-games early, a couple of series with the lowly Giants, and more against the rebuild Diamondbacks, the Padres are off to a nice start.

Once you pay your taxes on the 15th, and the schedule turns to May, they play real people, the Dodgers, the Brewers and the Mets, all upper echelon teams.

This start of the campaign is not so much about who you are beating, but rather, how the kids are holding up.

Some good, some struggling, and that’s to be expected. This is not a sprint, but a marathon, a 162-games worth of baseball.

A look at what we see so far:

MANNY MACHABO….That is some glove, and we have seen an occasional burst of power. He entered this weekend series batting just (.234) but that is a small sample size. He seems so fluid, as if the game comes so easy to him.

FERNANDO TATIS…The glove, always the glove. Gifted, fast, quick twitch, wow. He has shown some long ball, and is hitting (.233) but he has been everything advertised as a 20-year old phenom.

IAN KINSLER…A strong spring, but a slump at the start of the season, and now the kid Luis Urias is getting some opportunities. Kinsler will play again and will contribute.

ERIC HOSMER…The glove remains good, the big at bats are still missing, as witnessed by this (.213) batting average and his 23M a year salary. Waiting for stardom to arrive.

WIL MYERS..A good start with the bat, and glaring deficiencies everywhere with the glove. Lost flyballs, bad angles to bly balls, dropped fly balls. It seems the outfield has land mines in it when he’s out there tracking ball down. What to do? Hopefully not playing him in centerfield.

FRANMIL REYES…A really slow start, hitting (.091) the first two weeks, but he does hit with power. He still lumbers out there in the outfield. Probably more platoon than anything.

HUNTER RENFROE…Probably the most complete guy in the garden and the quandary, play him all over, or plant him at one spot and let him play?

AUSTIN HEDGES…The mystery of his streak hitting continues, but there is no doubt about his glove and leadership abilities.

FRANCISCO MEJIA….Every once in awhile you let him catch, but that looks like an adventure on defense. Great debate, should he be polishing his craft everyday in El Paso?

ERIC LAUER-JOEY LUCCHESI….Pitching so well, beyond their years. Despite an odd bad inning, or a grand slam home run or a bases loaded triple, these guys weather the bad inning and come right back at you. They are anchors, young anchors in this rotation.

NICK MARGEVICIUS…This has been a real surprise, considering he never pitched above AA, and he does not seem rattled by anything..

MATT STRAHM….Maybe the glitch in the rotation so far, especially since he was so good in the Cactus League. They need patience with him considering it’s been over two years since he was a starter.

CHRIS PADDACK….He is backing up his big bravado with real major league stuff. The key is to monitor pitch counts, and stressful innings, but he has no fear out on the mind Very good.

PEDRO AVILA…That major league debut was shaky at first, startling after that, for someone who had not pitched above Class A ball. He spent four years toiling in the low minors, but seems to be growing with a wide array of pitches. For his debut, not bad.

KIRBY YATES-CRAIG STAMMEN…Excellent out of the gate, Stammen setting up Yates. Main worry, not Yates 7-saves already, but the overuse factor. Lots of appearances already.

DOWN ON THE FARM….As good as it has been up top, it’s not been good out of the gate for the kid pitchers. Cal Quantrill has an (18.00-ERA) in El Paso. Logan Allen is at (19.80) in El Paso. Adrian Morejon (10.13) in Amarillo. Lots of starts still to come, so we bide out time watching and writing about them. Small sample size, lots of summer starts still to come.

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“Lakers-The Magic-Replaced by a Quitter”

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It was a shocker, without a rationale explanation.

Magic Johnson, the most popular Laker in its great history, has walked out on the franchise, leaving it in disarray.

This from a man who brought the franchise together in its glory years run, leading them to NBA titles, and likely saving the franchise and maybe even the league with his arrival corresponding to Larry Bird and then Michael Jordan.

It was a coward’s way out of the job he created, wanted, then failed at.

He never spoke to owner Jeannie Buss. He never told his GM-Rob Pelinka. There was no communication with LeBron James, whom he lured to LA just 9-months ago.

Instead, Magic became Magic, doing what he wanted, bailing on the franchise. Just like when he wanted to try coaching, and talked his way into that job with disastrous results, a 10-game losing streak. Doing what he wanted, by being a party animal and contracting the HIV virus so many years ago.

Magic views himself as an ambassador of everything. The NBA, business development, owning a piece of the Dodgers, but his staying power on these projects short lived.

He wants to operate by his own rules, work when he wants, play golf when he wants, be a TV celebrity when he wants.

He lasted less than two years with the Lakers, as losses piled upon losses. His player acquisitions aside from writing a Buss family check to get King James, have been disastrous.

He eroded the lockeroom by attempting to package all his young players in the ill-fated Anthony Davis-New Orleans trade talks.

He hired the GM-Rob Pelinka but has seemingly turned on him. He wanted to oust his coach. He signed 4-free agents in the off season to compliment James, none of whom was a difference maker.

You tell me what his glowing accomplishments are since his playing days ended?

And it was much the same when he wanted to be the face, the spokesman of the Dodgers.

A group of tampering fines later, he realized he couldn’t do what he wanted to do.

Oh he was beloved as a player, but that was a long time ago.

Insinuations everywhere that he was never committed to do the job the way a lead basketball exec should, grind thru the season, scout, work hard at the league level, help your players grow. None of that happened.

Insinuations too of some personal clashes with his own employees, in a story that has still yet to be exposed, but is rumored coming, and will paint him in a poor light.

He didn’t like the backstabbing he observed in the front office or his lockerroom, yet these were his hires, his player signings, and he was never around to deal with it.

He didn’t like the criticism, but it was his organization that paid LeBron James all that money, then let James become disinterested in the team, while the player was out about developing his post career business entities in Los Angeles. His player, his problems now.

These type of hires never work out. As great as they were, Michael Jordan has had no success in Charlotte, and he is viewed as a Magic type exec, fly in, do some work, go play golf and go to the casinos.

Larry Bird never really accomplished a lot with his home state Indiana Pacers. Kevin McHale got bounced out of Minnesota. Elgin Baylor’s great career ended badly as the leader of the woeful LA Clippers.

And now Earvin Johnson can put his name next to them as failures in the front office.

The Lakers history has been written by doers, like legendary owner Jerry Buss and then his General Manager Jerry West.

They were the catalyst who made deals that brought Johnson to LA, James Worthy,, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. and so many more.

The NBA has changed, so much for the bad, that you have to placate the stars, whether it’s LeBron, or Anthony Davis, or Kevin Durant. Magic Johnson wanted to be placated and be allowed to do what he wanted as the team continues to flounder.

Who could have thought it would be six years without a playoff spot.

Where do they go from here? They need great leadership, with values, work ethic and basketball smarts.

Jerry West is in his 80’s. Legendary owner Jerry Colangelo is from a different era. Pat Riley is still in Miami. Phil Jackson is retired with health issues.

Magic Johnson has left the Lakers in chaos, and left his reputation in tatters, regardless of the stupidity of Lakers fans who think he can do no wrong. Look at what he has done to set the franchise back again.

The season opened with a thundering slam dunk by LeBron James in the opening minutes against Portland. It ended like a devastating blocked shot, a thundering rejection with Johnson quitting on the job an hour before the final game of the season began against Portland..

The Lakers are in chaos. Even their legendary star wants out from the mess he created.

You’d never think you’d put his name in the same sentence with the verb to describe what just happened.

Magic Johnson is a quitter.

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