SnakeBytes, 8/8: The Morning After Edition

Well, that went about as well as could possibly have been hoped, in the end. Here's to us sweeping the annoying Padres out of town this afternoon. Hey, we've started the job, might as well finish it. Here are recaps of the game: after the jump, there's PTBNL news, and both the good and ugly side of baseball at the lower levels.

Recaps

• [FoxSportsArizona] Gonzo Number Retirement Ceremony - for those who were at the park, missed it, are overseas, or who just want to see it again.
• [SB Nation Arizona] Sweet Win For Gibby's Fighting D-backs - Good recap with some excellent quotes - particularly this one from CY. "You have 50,000 fans in the stands and honestly, it's easy to get that adrenaline flowing. It's easy to play the game and the fans really brought the energy tonight. When you're out there in the field and you hear the screaming fans it definitely makes a difference for us. Pretty much the fans got us the win tonight." What? I thought it was Kirk Gibson? Joe Garagiola said so! And Joe Borowski agreed!
  
• [AZCentral] Diamondbacks get walk-off win over Padres on Luis Gonzalez night - "I know myself as a hitter to the point where I was pretty sure that he was probably going to go to his slider," Young said. "He threw it down one time and I went after it, and then he happened to leave one up."
• [dbacks.com] A lot to celebrate: Sellout, walk-off, Gonzo "It was a great baseball game," said Young of his club's fourth walk-off win of 2010, and third straight 'W' this week. "The big night for Gonzo, I think it went perfect. Pretty much the script."
• [FoxSportsArizona] Young does his best Gonzalez - "It was a really special night, the whole Gonzo thing. It was like watching an educational movie before the game. (There was) a lot of talk about what Gonzo meant to the organization, how he played and how he treated everybody. The kind of the message we have been trying to get across," said Kirk Gibson.
• [Yahoo!] "Gonzo" gets his number retired - "For all of you little kids out there, I want to tell you, dream big. If you work hard and never give up, anything is possible."

Team News and Notes

• [FoxSportsArizona] Reynolds update - Reynolds took a full round of batting practice, ran the bases and took 40-50 ground balls at third base during normal infield work. He also was given a cognitive test for the third straight day.. "He passed the test. He’s fine. I asked him to work out really hard today," Gibson said. "Looking to the week ahead, we’ll get him back in there. He’ll want to play every day. That will be very shortly."
• [AZCentral] D-Backs officially acquire Skaggs from Angels - The worst kept secret in baseball? Said DiPoto of all the moves, "It gives us a much greater depth to choose from, both in the present-day major league form or in what we consider our future wealth. We just went from having a very good group of lower-level prospects in the form of position players and a handful of pitching prospects that we expect to keep up with them."
• [South Bend Tribune] Skaggs no longer in limbo - "I couldn't pitch in a game, I couldn't throw any bullpens, I could only long toss and run," said Skaggs, whose development was disrupted by the rule. "It stunk not lifting weights. It was basically light catch play." An insight into what it means to be a PTBNL.
• [Dbacks.com] Hudson dominant without all of his pitches - "Just three of his 110 pitches in New York on Sunday were sliders.. And in Hudson's 96-pitch outing in Friday's 2-1 win over San Diego, he made a concerted effort to mix in more breaking pitches but still threw only six sliders." Sheesh. Wait till he gets that one working...
• [dbacks.com] Webb, Young race clock to return - "Webb probably won't throw a pitch for the D-backs this year. His bullpen sessions have been shut down and with the Minor League season in its last month, any chance of a rehab assignment is going with it." Well, there's a shocker.
• [Reno Gazette-Journal] Despite MLB efforts, language barrier persists - It's just like Sugar. "People don't realize how hard it is for Latin players to come here and deal with the language barriers and the cultural barriers. It's really different," catcher Carlos Corporan said. "It's hard when you see a guy speaking and all you hear is blah, blah, blah. I would call my mom crying because I was homesick (and) couldn't speak the language. I couldn't even ask for my food."

Around baseball

• [Purple Row] Pedro Alvarez Crushes the Souls of Rockies Fans Everywhere - Three down in the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies tie it, then go 7-5 up in the tenth. And lose 8-7. Look at the fangraph. Huston Street -91.0% WP. Ouch.
• [SI.com] Nationals' Stephen Strasburg throws side session -  He will be limited to 90 pitches on his return this Tuesday, if that goes well, then he'll face Barry Enright on Sunday.
• [SFGiants.com] Giants playes hedging on Taiwan trip - "The Giants voted on the proposal before Saturday's game. "It's pretty even so far," first baseman-outfielder Aubrey Huff said. Huff indicated that the players would not issue their approval, which is required for the trip to occur, unless coaches and certain non-uniformed personnel, such as the traveling secretary, were guaranteed the same supplementary payment given to players for participating." Oh, look. It's about money. I'm astonished.
• [SI] Tampa Bay vs. Toronto - Recap - "Called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday, JP Arencibia homered on the first pitch of his first at-bat, a two-run shot to left in the second. He added another first-pitch homer in the sixth, a solo drive to right off Dale Thayer, and finished with four hits." His 11 total bases are the most in a major-league debut since at least 1920.
• [Montreal Gazette] Edmonton baseball manager resigns after homophobic outburst - More trouble for the GBL. The official report of Bowers’ ejection cited Bowers telling the home-plate umpire: "You know what I heard? I heard you are a (expletive) faggot. The rumor from several managers and people at the league is that you are a fag...I ought to kick your ass, you faggot." That's classy.
• [London Guardian] Eri Yoshida wins plaudits as first Japanese woman in US baseball league - "The Japanese media, meanwhile, have begun the buildup to another exciting prospect for baseball fans and historians: a Japanese woman competing against a male compatriot – the pitcher Mac Suzuki, newly of the Calgary Vipers – in the US professional leagues for the first time."