Counting Down!
Can almost see Peoria from here; Profar to The A; a game of Padres Connections, and more...
It’s Happpppppening
I’m a sucker for a countdown, and as of right now, we are merely three weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting.
The team’s gear and equipment is already Peoria-bound, I’m sure a bunch of players who don’t live there are already just about heading out and your friendly neighborhood announcers won’t be far behind.
Keep reading today for some thoughts on Jurickson Profar signing w/the Braves, Bob Uecker’s legacy, a brand new game, his year’s Hall-of-Fame class, and some other random stuff…
Pro
For the second time in three years, Jurickson Profar has departed the Padres in free agency. This time, it wasn’t all that surprising.
The best bargain in baseball a season ago, Profar was an absolutely critical contributor for the 2024 squad. Not only the sensational numbers, but that little bit of extra that he brought were all major reasons why last year’s team won more games than all but one Padre team ever.
Those contributions, mind you, came after was what basically a disastrous 2023 adventure in Colorado, where by some measures, he was literally (literally!) the worst position player in baseball most of the season. The Padres signed him on August 31st of that year and re-debuted on September 9th. As you surely recall, that season was a major disappointment in SD, but the Pads went 9-5 with him on the roster (after starting the year 73-75), leading to some half-serious-ish comments about his value. Well, those comments got real serious in 2024.
When I think back on last season, I think my overall lasting memory, despite the tough ending, was that that team supplied what felt like a decade’s worth of memories over the course of six and a half months. And as you surely know, Profar was in the middle of almost all of them.
Now he’s off to Atlanta, where he can regularly chat with Nats’ catcher Keibert Ruiz if he so desires. The Braves, of course, had their 2024 season come to an end in the Wild Card Series at Petco. They’ll open 2025 in that same spot and I for one imagine that Profar is going to get quite an ovation when he’s introduced during the Opening Day festivities.
Ueck
The baseball world lost a one-of-a-kinder last Thursday, as former big leaguer and longtime Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker passed away at the age of 90.
One of the very best things about baseball and what I am so lucky to do for a living is the connections that are fostered between fans and their announcers. While all the other sports have their respective TV and/or radio voices, the constancy of baseball deepens that two-way affection in a way that is unique to this sport.
Throw on top of that some of the legendary long runs that so many have had, and what a special thing to be a part of. In Milwaukee, it was always and will always be Ueck.
A bunch of people reached out this week asking for some stories of my interactions with him over the years and I’ll be totally frank with you: 95% of what I got the chance to hear him say is probably not safe for newsletter. He also was a guy, at least later in his career when I got to be around him, who had a little bit of an air of intimidation around him. He had that aura and whether he meant it or not, he didn’t necessarily come across as someone you’d just go up to and start chatting with out of nowhere. But every encounter I ever had with him was delightful, including a moment last year that I’ll remember very fondly.
We were in Milwaukee and one of their great radio announcers, Lane Grindle, asked me to do their pregame radio interview. We went into the Brewers’ booth, which includes a giant circular table in the back. Lane and I sat down, started to make some small talk and then Bob walked in with his dinner (a salad) and began to eat. I kind of nodded at him, though not sure he saw it. Lane started to record and we begin the interview and the whole time I’m talking, I keep kind of peeking over to Bob, who is very into his salad and doesn’t appear to be listening in any way whatsoever1. At one point a couple of minutes into the interview, I made some crack about something and without looking up, Ueck sort of chortled and then laughed and I don’t know that I have ever had a more proud professional moment. At that moment I was thinking to myself, “Alright, I got him to laugh, I’m part of the crew now.”
Uecker’s primary legacy will be his sense of humor, elite comedic timing and game calling, but make no mistake: he knew this job as well as anyone who’s ever done it, which is reflected by his remarkable coaching tree. Guys who once worked with him or alongside him, were mentored by him and went on to have great careers include Hall-of-Fame Cubs voice Pat Hughes, our old friend Matt Vasgersian, the White Sox’ Len Kasper, Twins voice Cory Provus, current Pirates broadcaster Joe Block, Jim Powell, who had a great run with the Braves, and of course the Brewers’ current collection of on-air talent, all of whom are excellent and all of whom, I’m sure, were touched by him in some way (Brian Anderson, Sophia Minnaert, Jeff Levering, Lane and Josh Maurer). Off the top of my head, I’d have a really hard time naming any other baseball announcer who helped shepherd and spread out that much talent around the league. While that’s understandably not what most people will remember him for, it will always stick with me. So long to one of the absolute titans of this funny little world2.
HoF, 2025
Congrats to Ichiro, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who have been elected to the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame.
I am generally turned off by most HOF discourse (including, yes, whoever the one person was who didn’t vote for Ichiro is), but A-I want to recognize this trio and B-what a cool group it is.
Three totally different guys from totally different backgrounds who did things totally their own way. A pretty beautiful representation of all that is awesome about baseball.
Ichiro among the most interesting and enigmatic figures in the game’s history, Sabathia an absolute force on the mound and in the clubhouse, and Wagner one of the most dominant guys to ever do what he did.
Should be yet another special summer in Cooperstown.
Good Reads
Couple of must-reads if you’re the kind of person that would subscribe and follow a newsletter such as this…
First, from The Atlantic, a borderline unbelievable (yet true!) story of some childhood friends becoming serious baseball memorabilia thieves. The old cliché about if this were a movie script it would be rejected for not being realistic enough applies.
Secondly, a look at how umpires call the strikezone these days from Davy Andrews of Fangraphs. Spoiler: better than ever. Some tremendous food for thought as the automated strikezone of the future appears to be closer than ever.
Programming Reminder
Last week ESPN released their early slate of Sunday night games and, as you can see above, the Pads are one of the very featured teams. First Sunday of the season: 4:10pm vs Profar and the Braves at Petco; 4/20 in Houston and then back in SD on July 6th at 6:10 PT (I believe there’s a Sunday Night double-header that week, so there will be another earlier game, as well—hence the later start).
Whenever ESPN or FOX comes in for an exclusive telecast, there are portions of the fan base who are displeased with the national coverage, so this is just your gennnntle reminder that for all 162 regular season games (and every postseason game, and most every Spring Training game), your friends at Padres radio have you covered. Feel free to join Tony and Jesse!
Padres Connections
While it hasn’t quite reached Wordle-levels of interest, the daily “Connections” game has become a part of my daily routine and I thought it would be fun to put together a Padres-themed version for this newsletter—we’ll see if it becomes a regular feature or not.
If you aren’t familiar, it’s a pretty straightforward task: you are given a grid of 16 words or phrases and must connect them into groups of four. The yellow ones are the easiest, followed in difficulty by green, blue and purple.
You can only make four mistakes, but we’ll make this one pretty simple, maybe get more tricky as time goes on. Click the button to play and hope you enjoy!
Talk soon and thanks as always for reading 💪
I don’t blame him, of course
I can’t believe I went through that whole thing without mentioning his role as Harry Doyle (pictured) in Major League. My literal favorite movie of all time. Hardcore Padres Radio listeners will know Tony and I both adore the movie and usually once a year when the Pads are playing the Guardians, we’ll sneak in some silly convo about the movie as if it were real life. If you’ve ever wondered if one could seamlessly have a conversation that involves both Emmanuel Clase and Rick Vaughn as if they share space in the same record book, well yes, yes one can.