Out of the East, where the sun meets the sea and legends are born, comes a figure poised to captivate the baseball world. Rōki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese phenom whose name already echoes in the halls of destiny, now stands at the threshold of a new chapter. On a crisp Tuesday at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, his agent, Joel Wolfe, met with reporters and…
At 23 years old, Roki Sasaki finds himself shackled by the red tape of MLB’s international bonus pool rules. Here’s the skinny, folks: Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old flamethrower from Japan, is the talk of baseball’s hot stove. But let’s not kid ourselves—landing Sasaki is no cakewalk, thanks to MLB’s international bonus pool rules. Unless you’re 25 and a grizzled pro with six years in a…
It’s been 54 years. Welcome to Lysergic World San Francisco, April 16-19, 1993 presentation of one of the most infamous days in San Diego sports history. Los Angeles, April 8, 1984- Former Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher Dock Ellis says he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched a June 12, 1970 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Ellis, later co-ordinator of an anti-drug program in Los…
It was all over, especially the shouting, little that it was, as the San Diego Padres wrapped up the 2015 home schedule at Petco Park. And oh, by the way, in this season of their continued discontent, the Padres humbled their apparent arch-nemesis Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 behind Ian Kennedy’s best game of a 9-15, .428 ERA season. Believe it or not, the Brewers had won…
Several local players made the grade in the wild, and weird Major League Baseball (MLB) abbreviated five-round draft on Wednesday and Thursday while the San Diego Padres took six newbies with hopes to bring them into the Petco fold. The five-round 2020 MLB Draft is in the books now. A total of 160 selections were made over two nights in the abbreviated selection process. MLB…
With all due respect to ABC’s Wide World of Sports…Spanning North County to bring you the constant variety of sports… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition… This is The Escondido Grapevine’s Wide World of Sports Shorts. Play ball? Padres caravan rolls through Westfield North County, Escondido Alas, 2016 has just begun and the Padres are million-to-one…
Alas, 2016 has just begun and the Padres are million-to-one shots to make the National League playoffs. A little roadblock like that certainly isn’t nearly enough to derail the Padres Caravan from rolling through Westfield North County. Last stop before spring training begins, the Padres and fellow staff and travelers were all over the county the weekend of Feb. 11-13. They hit the Escondido mall…
Her name was Marisol Lopez. She was 29 years old. She was from San Diego. She was the woman whose decomposed body was found nearly two months ago at the shore of Lake Hodges by some dogs accompanying a trail runner. Technically speaking, Lopez was found in the 19900 block of Lake Drive in the community of Del Dios. She was wearing a distinctive ring,…
It was all over, especially the shouting, little that it was, as the San Diego Padres wrapped up their 2015 home schedule at Petco Park. And oh, by the way, in this season of their continued discontent, the Padres humbled their apparent arch-nemesis Milwaukee Brewers 3-1 behind Ian Kennedy’s best game of a 9-15, 4.28 ERA season. Believe it or not, the Brewers had won…