Keeping The Faith

It's Monday night. TV is bad on Mondays. The only show I'm watching right now on Mondays is Revolution, and I'm not at all excited about that after the pilot. Monday Night Football? Maybe with the sound off. So here I am, looking for something to do, and I noticed that the Padres were one Cardinals win away from being completely eliminated from the playoffs, and they play tonight while the Padres have the night off for the last time this season, so I thought I'd write something.

The Padres' elimination number isn't the only thing that I noticed today. I was off work and not wanting to clean, so I did something I don't normally do and read the latest post from Dex over at Gaslamp Ball. I guess it was the last in his 2012 series on how to enjoy being a Padres fan, or something like that. Lo and behold, part of that post drew my particular attention:

All's I'm saying is that in the grand scheme of things, the Padres are doing pretty well. Sure, there are haters out there who will point out all the random stuff that's wrong with the Padres and the cable deal and all that, but let's be honest. Those guys are idiots. Don't listen to them. They don't actually live in San Diego and probably cry when they masturbate.

Hey, I think that guy is talking about me! Obviously he doesn't know me very well though. Other than in dealing with a recent serious family medical issue, I'm generally pretty stoic and nearly dead inside, no matter my activity, although I make other exceptions for when I watch movies like Field of Dreams, The Notebook, or Dear Zachary (oh man, that one is a crusher).

Here's the thing, and the reason why I'm writing this tonight: I agree with Dex. The Padres have been doing pretty well for some time, and there's a lot to like about the team they've been putting out on the field the past few months, especially from an offensive standpoint. The pitching? Well, that's a work in progress, for sure.

It's September 24th and the Padres are just now being eliminated from playoff contention. Even with the new 2 wild card format, nobody could have thought that possible on June 1st. The Padres have made great strides as this season has gone along, boosted by a strong rookie performance by Yasmani Grandal and a career year from Chase Headley that has been an absolute joy to watch, especially for people who already loved the guy like you know I do. The offense has been quite good, especially when adjusted for park factor, and even a below average hitter like Everth Cabrera has been exciting to watch on the base paths.

Yes, I question the sustainability of this success. Yes, I'm wary of another offseason with Josh Byrnes calling the shots. Yes, I think the fact that over 40% of San Diegans still can't watch the games on TV is ridiculous. The Chargers being blacked out for one game seems to have gotten more attention than a whole season's worth of this Fox Sports SD debacle. But there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic:

• Chase Headley - even allowing for some regression, with the adjustments he's made to his swing, approach, and ability to maintain his weight in-season, it appears that to go along with his strong defense and OBP, Headley is entering the prime of his career with a real power boost that I think should be sustainable in the 20+ home run range. Padres fans (who still use these stats as their benchmarks) have longed for a .280/20/80 guy at that position. Well now you have a .281/29/108 guy who should add on to that in the last 9 games. Be excited. Beg Josh Byrnes and Tom Garfinkel to lock him up.
• Yasmani Grandal - Yonder Alonso was the most MLB-ready prospect obtained in the Mat Latos trade, but Yasmani was the best prospect, and he has shown exactly why. His WAR-rate has actually been better than Headley's. Can he keep it up next year? Will he regress or is he an all-star? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out, and with Nick Hundley's troubles seemingly being able to be traced to his meniscus injury, the Padres catching situation should be really solid next season
• Money to Spend - the Padres have been said to be looking to target multiple outfielders and multiple starting pitchers this offseason. Even if you don't trust the GM, that's exciting. I've got a wish list that includes BJ Upton, Anibal Sanchez, and Edwin Jackson. Your wish list may differ. It's fun to debate who the best options are and which ones might actually sign with the Padres.
• Even the Fox Sports SD situation seems to be looking up. There are rumors that DirecTV will add the channel in its entirety at some point in this offseason (so you can watch reruns of the Giants' playoff clinching celebration, and not just have to suffer through it live), and grumblings that AT&T U-Verse will be adding the channel as well as part of a scheduled upgrade of their Fox lineup. Will Time Warner or Dish get in on it as well? Not as optimistic, but if U-Verse does, that should give San Diegans without satellite availability a legitimate option to switch providers, in what I would classify as an upgrade all-around.

So yeah, things aren't so bad, Padres fans. I agree with Dex, and I didn't even have to resort to name-calling to make my point. I will respond directly to the slap about being an out-of-towner. I was born and raised in San Diego. I left in 2006, 3 weeks before my 25th birthday, for Cleveland because I had fallen in love. I've been here for 6 years now, married for 2 1/2, and not only am I still a big fan of San Diego sports, I feel more connected to the Padres now than at any point in my life. With technological advancements, I have the ability to watch every game the Padres play on Slingbox, and because the games usually don't start here until 10pm, my day is winding down while the game is on and I don't have a lot of distractions to deal with. Not only am I a bigger Padres fan now than I was in 2006, but I use the Padres as a way to maintain my connection with my hometown. What was the first thing I did last time I flew home? Ate Mexican food. What was the next thing? Went to a Padres game with my dad, uncle, and brother, even though I'd been up since 3am local time and traveling all day. Padres fans that live elsewhere have two options; let their fandom fall away, or make a commitment to the franchise by choosing to continue to follow the team, even as distance makes it more difficult.

It's 4-1 Cardinals over the Astros in the 6th. Looks like tonight's the elimination night. But anything can happen, right? Keep the faith.

What Jerry Coleman Means To Me

Thumbs up to the Colonel!

It's Saturday, September 15, and today's the day the Padres will honor long-time radio voice Jerry Coleman prior to tonight's game. The ceremony's piece de resistance is to be the unveiling of a statue of Jerry's likeness. The much-deserved honor is an overdue one, but will allow Jerry to live forever at Petco Park. He will, however (if you'll allow me...), live in the hearts of Padres fans in perpetuity.

Being that Jerry has been broadcasting Padres baseball since before I was born (save for his stint as Padres skipper in 1980), there's certainly the element of having always been there that plays a part in my admiration. He's like a member of the family. Good or bad, (during baseball season) Jerry was always on the air to call the action. With humility and a fantastic sense of humor, Jerry pulled from his years of baseball experience to paint a beautiful picture for the listener.

Sitting in the stands as a kid, my eyes always shot to the KFMB booth after a great play. "Is Jerry going to do it?", I would wonder to myself. And sure enough, there was the giant gold star dangling from the booth. Literally, hang a star on that, baby.

Now, you have to understand...it wasn't always a clear picture that Jerry would paint for the listener. Online, he's known as the "master of the malaprop". That's what's so great about San Diego's relationship with Jerry; he wasn't always technically perfect, but his unique delivery and undeniable charm allowed us to embrace him as one of ours. Much like Rickey Henderson, Jerry Coleman quotes have taken on a life of their own. Some of them actually happened, some of them did not. Most are pretty great, though.

“Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall — and it rolls off! It’s rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres.”

“Rich Folkers is throwing up in the bullpen.”

"On the mound is Randy Jones, the left-hander with the Karl Marx hairdo."

Or, my favorite Coleman-isms, which I actually heard during a Padres/Indians game in Cleveland a few years ago. A fan kept playing a drum in the stands, which Ted and Jerry had made note of a few times. Finally, Jerry lets loose with this gem, which made Ted absolutely loose his shit. Uncontrollable laughter.

"Why doesn't that guy go home and bang something else?"

As Jerry has gotten older and Ted Leitner did a little more of the heavy lifting during broadcasts, we got the "What'd you do today, Jer?" portions of the broadcast. And, surely self-aware, Jerry would tell what should have been a generally uninteresting story about going for a walk (generally, with his beloved dog, Gus) that would have Ted and listeners rolling by the end of it. Only Jerry Coleman.

These days, it seems like Jerry calls most of his games with Andy Masur, and we've pretty much seen these segments done away with. I am a fan of Andy's work, but the chemistry just isn't the same as it is when Jerry and Ted are working together. So, it was a treat the other day when I turned on the radio, and sure enough Jerry and Ted were in the booth. At that moment, I heard those magic words - "What'd you do today, Jer?"

I wish I could tell you today what Jerry talked about, but I was so happy. And I suppose that's what it boils down to with Jerry, he makes me happy. Always has. He's an American hero, a Hall of Fame broadcaster (both National Radio Hall of Fame and a Ford C. Frick winner, giving him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame), Rookie of the Year, World Series Champion, and All-Star. To me, though, he's Jerry. He's an integral part of my baseball family....and he makes me happy.

Congratulations, Jerry. All honors are deserved, and then some. I think I speak for all Padres fans when I say that we have a deep affection for you and hope to hear you for years to come.

Here are a couple of quotes I'm partial to, as much as we love the Coleman-isms:

"Oh, Doctor! You can hang a star on that, baby! A star for the ages for Tony Gwynn! Number 3,000!"

"A one-hopper to Nettles to Wiggins, and the Padres have the National League Pennant! Oh, Doctor! You can hang a star on that, baby!"

"Here's the 1-1 pitch. It's on the way to Tucker. Drive left-center field in the air coming on quickly. Finley. He's under it. He's got it! And the Padres drape the National League flag around their shoulders for 1998! Oh, Doctor!"

Late night update:
Here are a few photographs I took at the unveiling of Jerry's statue.

Too Expensive? Don't Buy It.

Disclaimer: Yes, all I ever write about is Chase Headley. I don’t mean to, but today I read something about the Chase Headley situation that made me go on a rant on twitter (@The_NV), so here I am, several hours later, properly motivated to expound on that rant with a real thousand word blog post. So here goes nothing.

Chase Headley is getting expensive. He’s entering his third arbitration year in 2013, thanks to his super-two status in 2011, and that means he’s going to start making real money. Somewhere around $6 million next year, they say. That’s a lot of money. This is why the Padres need to trade him and start Jedd Gyorko at 3B next year. Gyorko is $5.5 million less expensive than Headley, and have you seen him crushing baseballs in Tucson? It’s impressive. He’s ready. It’s time to move on.

Wait, what?

The Padres long-awaited ownership transfer is almost over. Ron Fowler, the O’Malley/Seidler kids, Phil Mickelson, and whoever else they’ve got with them have been approved by the owners. Moores and Moorad are past history, thank God. We have about a week to go before all the money is exchanged and our new overlords will be willing to actually speak to the media and the fans about where the Padres are headed under their leadership.

What should this mean? A changing of the guard should mean a restoration of the pre-2008 direction of the Padres. Payroll’s going up, it seems. The Padres, pre-trade deadline, apparently with the approval of our new overlords, Josh Byrnes started handing out contracts. Carlos Quentin got a 3 year deal worth at least $27 million. Huston Street got a 2 year deal worth at least $14 million. Next year, they will make a combined $16.75 million. Also, reportedly, the Padres are looking at outfielders this offseason, including but not limited to Josh Hamilton, Michael Bourn, and BJ Upton. 

Those guys are going to make a lot of money. Hamilton and Bourn will likely make north of $15 million a year for at least 5 years. Upton won’t make as much, but signing him would still be a significant long-term investment. If the Padres are seriously considering one of these guys, then why are they seemingly so hesitant to commit to Chase Headley’s $6 million arbitration number?

If the Padres do plan to spend money this offseason, $6 million is nothing. $6 million isn’t going to prevent them from doing anything they’re already planning or hoping to do. Chase Headley is not getting expensive.  Chase Headley, given the production that should be expected from him for the next 5+ years, will likely never be expensive. If the Padres signed Chase Headley tomorrow to a $5 year, $55 million, which I think would be market value and buying high, the only time he’s ever expensive is the on the last year of a back loaded deal. Chase Headley making $13 million in 2016 isn’t expensive. $15 million in 2017 would be pretty steep, sure, but given the trajectory the franchise should be on, not going to break the bank, and in 2017 he’ll only be 33 years old. If they want to see if Chase’s 20+ home run power is sustainable before they bust out the checkbook, $6 million is a bargain. The idea that $6 million is a lot of money in Major League Baseball in 2013, for a team with new owners and a new billion-dollar TV deal, should be taken out back and shot. Anybody who says $6 million is expensive should be dismissed immediately.

But what about Jedd Gyorko? He, so many say, is ready to step right in whenever the team brings him up, whether it’s to play third or second. I watched a video of a homer he hit the other day. It was a great right-handed swing that should work pretty well in Petco. I’m in. Let’s do it. Let’s put him at second base, sign an outfielder, bring up our young starters who are healthy and put this baby into overdrive for 2013!

What Jedd Gyorko shouldn’t do is push Chase Headley off his bag and out of town. Gyorko is not a great defender, at third or second, and almost all his value will be in his offense, playing half his games in an extreme pitcher’s park he’ll have to adjust to or work around, against much better pitching than he’s faced thus far in his short professional career. Not even Chase Headley was allowed to push the starter off his bag when he arrived in San Diego, and he was a much higher ranked prospect than Gyorko currently is. He’s not Jurickson Profar by any means. Profar is a phenom, one of the 5 best prospects in baseball. Gyorko is a consensus borderline top 50 prospect. That’s good, but it’s not “push your best player out of town” good.

And that brings me to my final point: Chase Headley is the best player on the Padres. He is the team MVP for 2012. He’s homegrown, a clubhouse leader, and no matter what stats you value most, and he’s the best the Padres have to offer. He is, in a lot of ways, like Adrian Gonzalez before the 2010 season. One of the ways he’s not like Adrian is that he won’t make anywhere near $20+ million a year when he eventually signs a long-term deal somewhere. If the new owners want to signal a changing of the guard, to show the fans that brighter days are ahead, isn’t extending your best player the best way to do so? Wouldn’t trading your best player send the opposite signal, that these new owners bring the status quo to San Diego, the inability to commit to competing on a regular basis? Phil Mickelson wants to change the culture of the Padres and the community? Wouldn’t the best way to make that commitment to the fans (other than getting the team on TV throughout the county) be making a commitment to the team’s best player?

No Deal

I don't have a lot to say. I didn't want Chase Headley traded. He wasn't traded. This is good.

I don't know how long Chase will be a Padre. I hope for many years to come.

I'm not going to pretend to know what the front office's plan for the team is going forward. I don't even know who the front office is going to be going forward.

I'm happy to still have Chase Headley. I think he's better than Jedd Gyorko. I hope he's extended. I hope Gyorko can either play second base or get the Padres something valuable in trade. I don't know what's going to happen.

I would like to see the Padres try to compete in 2013, or at least build towards competing in 2014. I think that is probably the plan. I don't know. If they are going to try, they're going to have to make some serious moves and add a significant amount of payroll in the offseason. We'll see what happens.

Tonight I'm going to drink a beer and watch Chase Headley hit 3rd for the Padres, and be thankful he's still on the team.

Oh, Dog!: The Padres Brewing Project

Some months back, I was thinking about some sort of gimmick for this blog. Aside from writing angry, rambling horse shit posts that nobody actually reads, of course. Rather, let's refer to this as "recurring subject matter" as opposed to a gimmick. Anyway, follow my logic to loosely connect some of my passions:

1. I love the San Diego Padres.
2. I love beer.
3. I love brewing beer.
4. I hate blue uniforms.
5. I love brown uniforms. Brown is the only acceptable color for the San Diego Padres.
6. I should brew a brown ale dedicated to the Padres.
7. I am not particularly fond of most brown ales.
8. I should brew Padres-themed brown ales in various styles. As a challenge to myself as a brewer and a beer drinker.
9. I should blog about it.
10. Why not?

So, with that I decided to brew brown ales in an attempt to find one that I might enjoy. I won't necessarily attempt to make a standard brown ale, but rather I would take inspiration from Padres past and present and brew a style (very) loosely-related to the player. The first beer I came up with was a saison. 

Saison is a style of beer hailing from the Wallonia region of Belgium, originally brewed in the farmhouses of the region (hence the "farmhouse" ale label). It was originally light, refreshing, and low-ABV, as the beer was intended to be consumed through hot summer days by farm workers. Some of my favorite modern examples of this would be Ommegang's Hennepin, The Lost Abbey's Carnevale, Saison DuPont, Stone/Victory/Dogfish Head's Saison du BUFF, and Boulevard's Tank 7. It's a style of beer one might enjoy on a warm, Saturday afternoon whilst mowing their lawn. Drawing on the inspiration of a lawn mowing phenomenon, I present to you "Oh, Dog!"

Cheers!

Now, it's worth noting that Orlando Hudson was still a member of the Padres when I brewed this beer. The name was a funny, relevant reference at the time. Relevant, anyway. With your assistance and imagination, it could still be. Help a guy out!

The thing I love about saison is that it's a very malleable style. If a beer was going to shoot the shit with anyone and everyone they come across, I would argue that it would be saison. Not that imagination doesn't allow you to approach any beer as a blank canvas of sorts (and, certainly, this project is built entirely upon this premise), but I feel with saison it is particularly so. While it's normally a pale style beer, I didn't think it would be too thrown off if I attempted a brown saison. As it turns out, it worked! Very typical saison flavor here, light, refreshing, spicy, fruity, with a dry (and slightly caramel, in this instance!) finish. The nutty flavor you wouldn't normally find in this style actually blends in quite well, as it's pretty subtle. And at 5.8% ABV, it's totally ready for the ballpark!

I only bottled half of this batch of beer. The rest, I have set aside and infected. "WHAT?", you may ask. By that, I basically mean I added wild yeast and bacteria to the beer in order to "sour" it. So, we'll see how the process changes this beer. I'm using previously-infected oak from a lambic I made a couple of years ago. It's already yielded great results in the past, so this should be fun.

Next beer? I have ideas, but I'm also open to suggestions. Also, if you're a home brewer, I'm more than willing to share any of these recipes with you. Drop a line in the comments section, and I'll get on it.

Taking Back Brass Monkey

Got this dance that's more than real...

Ryan Ludwick ruined "Brass Monkey" for my wife. Not that it's her favorite song, nor are the Beastie Boys her favorite band. However, it's just one of those songs that's an integral part of her life. It's ridiculous, it's fun, it's a childhood memory. Hell, the woman had it as her ringtone when we met (and she still married me, even though I razzed her about ringtones. Bless her.). For the last year and a half, Brass Monkey makes the poor woman cringe. That's not right.

For you, it may be that Dave Hansen ruined Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop", or Joe Randa ruining The Cult's "She Sells Sanctuary". Or maybe you're a fan of mariachi, and Sean Burroughs ruined that for you. It's understandable.

We've began a therapy regimen, which is essentially me playing the song and saying "get over it, already!" Okay, not really...but she is opening back up to the song. Perhaps it's Ludwick leaving town. Perhaps it's the unfortunate/untimely passing of Adam  Yauch, but it doesn't matter. She is enjoying the song again, though in small doses. She's recovering. The fact is, you too can overcome a terrible player ruining a song for you via their walk-up music. Slowly, but surely, you can re-introduce these songs back into your lives. Take it back!

I would blame Jeff Cirillo for ruining "Bad Boy For Life" or "Machine Head", but those songs suck to begin with.

Home Run Derby: Serious Business

The discussion surrounding the Home Run Derby generally consists of how awful Chris Berman is, or how much all of the people watching the event don't care about it. Not this year, though!

As I'm sure you're all well aware of by now, Robinson Cano was booed throughout his entire appearance in the Home Run Derby on Monday night. Well, save for the eruption of cheers when he made an out. If you didn't see it, you surely caught the sanctimonious backlash from the national media through their Twitter accounts.

Kansas City berates Robinson Cano for not choosing Billy Butler for the Home Run Derby. Rest of America goes: Billy who?
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 9, 2012

Or "I'm a national sports writer, allow me to unintentionally point out the national media's bias toward larger markets."

I get Kansas City sticking up for its guy, Butler, but it reeks of inferiority. We should want to see the best HR hitters. That's not Billy.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 10, 2012 

Just because the Royals haven't won anything in a quarter-century doesn't mean the fans deserve something. Isn't the All-Star Game enough?
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 10, 2012

The irrational booing of Robinson Cano is simply a reminder of how badly Royals fans long for legitimacy.
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) July 10, 2012

Why is it necessary to pull the "jealousy" card when fans of a mid/small market team actually voice their opinion on a matter? If you disagree with the fans booing, then fine. State that opinion and move on. These tweets feel unnecessarily personal, though.

With Gammons being a big Red Sox fan, I wonder...what was it when Red Sox fans chanted "Just Say No" at recovering addict Darryl Strawberry during the 1999 ALCS? And that certainly isn't the only inappropriate fan reaction in Fenway Park history. Or how the shirts sold outside of Fenway with clever messages such as "Roger Clemens Is A Piece Of Shit" and "A-Rod Sucks, Jeter Swallows"? They exist. I've seen them being sold outside of Fenway with my own eyes. I'm sure it's all due to the passion of a large market fan base. It's all in fun!

The fact of the matter is this: Robinson Cano promised to add a Royal to his squad and he reneged on his promise. Small or large market, ANY fanbase would be angry. As noted above, one argument against Butler is that he just didn't deserve to be a part of the home run derby. Sitting at 16 home runs, Butler currently has more home runs than Derby Champion Prince Fielder. And that's certainly not to say Prince Fielder should have been excluded, especially since he's the defending champion...just pointing out that Butler's numbers go against the narrative. Recent Home Run Derby entrants have included noted sluggers and/or superstars such as Nick Swisher, Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Brandon Inge, Alex Rios, and Hee-Seop Choi. So, as you can see, there's a standard to be upheld in the Home Run Derby. Can't just let anyone in.

The thing that's being lost here is that it's an exhibition. The fans attending what amounts to a glorified batting practice are paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of doing so. Why shouldn't their team be represented if there's a reasonable candidate available? Especially when the "captain" promised to name said player to his team. And if that guy reneges on his promise, so what if the fans boo him? It's not like they threw water on him and his family, like Arizona fans did to Prince Fielder last year for passing on Justin Upton(though, there are reports that KC fans booed Cano's family in the stands, and that isn't right.). Passan's level of irritation in that column is nowhere near what we've seen from him after Kansas City fans booed New York's Robinson Cano.

In the end, I think Padres fans can understand where KC fans are coming from. It's easy to jump on your high horse and pretend everyone should play nice, but we can't forget that fan is an abbreviation. Passionate people are going to react passionately; it is inherent to sports fandom. Smaller teams such as ourselves and the Royals rarely get the chance to shine, and when our players get pushed aside, we feel for them. We feel for our club, our city, ourselves. It's not easy being a fan of a club that has the cards stacked against it, always with the carrot dangling in front of us. The Royals and their fans had the rug pulled out from under them, and the fans reacted as they should have.

And, really, in the end...it was kind of funny.

Don't Look Now...

I know, some of you can't look now. I sincerely empathize. It is by luck only that my parents have had Cox for as long as I can remember, and thus I am able to watch every Padres game on FSSD via the fantastic technology that is Slingbox. I'm an apartment dweller here in the Cleveland suburbs, so I know about limited cable provider choices. The fact that the only real alternative to Time Warner for many San Diegans is AT&T U-Verse, and FSSD can't even come to an agreement with them, is perhaps the most ridiculous aspect of the whole situation. But that is not what this post is about.

Anyway, if you haven't been paying attention the past week, and I can't blame you if you haven't, the San Diego Padres have now won 6 games in a row. They aren't heading to the playoffs, but they're climbing out of the gutter. I've watched about 80% of the games this year, and these have been 6 of the most fun thus far this season (other than the part where Andrew Cashner couldn't make it through his 3rd start without hitting the DL).

Tonight's glorious walk-off victory was a complete thriller. The rival Reds (well, in Cleveland they are the rival Reds) came to town for the start of a 3 game set, and the first pitching matchup is two guys who were once opening day starters for the other team and who were traded for each other in the offseason? That's intrigue.

Mat Latos rode into town and killed it, throwing 7 really strong innings. The last time I watched him pitch was against the Indians a couple weeks ago, and he was absolutely shelled. Afterward, he claimed the Indians were stealing signs. The Indians claimed he was tipping pitches (see what I mean about the rivalry?). What I saw was a pitcher throwing thigh high fastballs right down the middle. Tonight's version of Mat Latos was a completely different guy. His release point was better, his pitch locations were better, he didn't leave anything out over the middle of the plate.

Volquez was strong too. He struggled early, throwing a lot of pitches and giving up a run, but he settled down nicely and was able to get through 7 strong. His off-speed pitches were electric, and he relied heavily on them late in the start. And he only walked 3, 1 intentionally, so by his standards his command was excellent.

Latos got lucky in the 7th. Cam Maybin got called out sliding head first (why? I have no idea) into the first base bag when he was clearly safe. Bud Black was ejected. He may even have cursed. He didn't fight long. Maybe he knew something we didn't, because in the 8th bench coach Rick Renteria sent up Logan Forsythe to pinch-hit and Forsythe crushed a game-tying home run. In Petco Park. After 9:30pm pdt. Off one of the best setup men in the game, Sean Marshall. Crazy.

The game stayed tied going into the bottom of the 9th. The revelation that has been Yasmani Grandal (your loss, Reds fans!) doubled to start the inning. The Reds walked Yonder (I wish your last name was Rizzo) Alonso intentionally to set up the double play. Cam Maybin bunted a sky high chopper off home plate for an infield single to load the bases. Up strode Everth Cabrera, who crushed a one-hopper over the wall in left-center for a game-winning ground rule something or other (single? double? Everth never touched 2nd, Alonso never touched home), flipped his bat like an absolute boss, and that was that.

Padres win. So many injuries this season. So much underperformance. So much ownership nonsense. None of that has mattered the last 6. It can't last. Not with this pitching staff. Doesn't matter. I'll take what I can get. Good baseball right now is good enough. There's an argument to be made for tanking for the #1 pick in next year's draft. I'd counter that with guys like Grandal, Alonso, Everth, and Maybin out there playing every day, it's more important for the team's future to see them succeed as much as possible the rest of the season. The 2009 Padres stunk up the first half then battled back to 75 wins by the end of the year, building momentum that continued almost to the end of the 2010 season (so bitter). Maybe this team can do the same thing.

Bud Black is never getting fired. Ever. Sorry to end on a sour note.

I Think I Might Like Padres POV

Watching this evening's affair in Seattle, I began thinking about how I might enjoy Padres POV. It appears to be a show where Fox Sports San Diego cameras follow a player through their day at the ballpark, coupled with candid interviews. It looks like One on One with Jane Mitchell for those of us who aren't Madres...but I wouldn't know, because I can't see it.

Unless you live in a specific part of San Diego County and are a Cox Communications subscriber, you're likely in the same boat that I am. Some of you fall into the "completely blacked out" category, while others find themselves in the situation where they can only watch the games and Padres Live on Fox Sports San Diego. As DirecTV customers, we fall into the latter category. The trouble is, the Padres and Fox Sports San Diego are telling you to switch to DirecTV if you live in Time-Warner territory, when there's only a partial product to offer.

Fox Sports SD 19 hrs of the day on DirecTV. Riveting.

It seems wrong for the acting CEO of the Padres to shill on behalf of any company, but especially for one that isn't even offering the Padres' channel all of the time. Via Twitter, I've asked Fox Sports San Diego when they plan to be available full-time on DirecTV, and their answer was that I should call up DirecTV and let them know I want FSSD as a full-time channel. This isn't much different than Time-Warner customers being asked to either switch providers (which isn't an option for people in rentals or on property where a where dishes may be obscured for one reason or another) or to call up TW and harass their customer service reps. Reps who also don't deserve to be put in the middle of this nonsense. Overall, the mentality of the Padres and Fox Sports San Diego seems to be this; we got the channel up and running, you do the rest.

This afternoon, I heard another Fox Sports San Diego ad on the radio. We're 62 games, 8.5 innings into  the season and instead of hearing about Padres baseball being available for fans across the county, the PR engine is revving back up. Switch to DirecTV, where we're still just half-assing it. Just stop it, Padres and Fox. We don't care. We just want to watch the Padres, and you're lucky that we're still interested. Stop taking fans for granted, stop putting fans in the middle of your squabble, and stop asking us to do your job for you.

We'd all like to have A Cup Of Coffee With Dick Enberg. At least, we think we might.



******* Update for 6-14-2012


A bit earlier, Fox Sports San Diego sent this picture out through Facebook and Twitter.

Cool, dudes! You're showing everyone what's up here, bro. Totally sticking it to Time Warner by hiring those trucks to block a fire lane! Feuding in public like a couple of multi-billion dollar babies (slight Alice Cooper reference unintentional), as if we should care.

This is extremely disappointing.

Chase Headley Is Very Good At Baseball

As a semi-superstitious person (generally only when it comes to sports), this is going to be hard to write. A piece like this could put Chase Headley in the hospital. If nothing else, he’ll likely go 0-17 over the next week. He’ll still walk 10 times though. You can’t jinx that.

Anyway, it’s time for everyone to admit that Chase Headley is good. Has been for quite some time. Well before you think. Not only is he good, but if he is the Padres’ lone representative at the All-Star Game this year in Kansas City (wait, KC is getting one and San Diego still hasn’t had one since Petco opened?),  he will deserve to be there. Yes, Hanley Ramirez has more power. Yes, David Freese has better name recognition. Yes, Chipper Jones is still putting up positive numbers in his final season. But the only NL 3^rd baseman whose combination of offense and defense actually eclipses Headley’s is David Wright. The only AL 3^rd baseman who is having a better season than Chase is Mike Moustakas. You heard that right: Chase Headley is one of the top 3 third basemen in the league so far this year. He should be an All-Star. You should appreciate that.

Like I said, this isn’t new. Chase has been good for some time. He was good in 2010. He was average on offense, but he was a gold glove-caliber defender. In 2011, the defense took a step back but he figured out how to hit right-handed and became a plus hitter. This year, he’s putting the whole package together. He’s even hitting for some power, on pace for close to 20 home runs, currently leading the team in that category (Carlos Quentin might have something to say about that soon). If he stays healthy (and gets a few days off every now and then), he could be a 6 WAR player this year.

I know that he can be frustrating at times. Almost every player is for some reason. The Diamondbacks have benched Justin Upton this week. Justin Upton is an All-Star with superstar potential. He’s struggling right now and it’s frustrating to his fans and his coaches. He’s going to be fine. Adrian Gonzalez was frustrating at times too. Remember that? The Red Sox are dealing with that right now, and they’re paying him tons of money. The Padres were paying him less than 25% of what he’s making now. Those two are great players. Chase Headley is very good. Of course he’s going to ground out with RISP sometimes, or take a walk when the team really needs a hit. He’s also going to consistently get on base, hit a bunch of doubles, knock one out from time to time, and play excellent defense.

So admit it. He’s good. He’s not a bust. Sorry. The team sucks. The ownership situation sucks. There’s not a lot of good going on out there. Carlos Quentin’s been good for a week and it’s been exciting, but Chase Headley has been good all year. Let’s appreciate that, and hope our lame-duck GM doesn’t trade him to the Cubs for a reliever (starter? Future patient of Dr. Andrews?) this summer.

Fried Appels Aren’t Carnival Food, and Other Nerdy Mumbo Jumbo

It’s late on a Tuesday night. I’m drinking Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. Carlos Quentin hit 2 home runs tonight, and then Logan Forsythe and his glorious beard hit a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9^th. At Petco Park. Impressive. I’ve got tomorrow off work and I can't stop thinking about how the new CBA made the Padres select Max Fried over Mark Appel in the first round of the MLB draft. I’m that nerd.

In case you missed it, the 2012 MLB rule 4 draft began with the 1^st round on Monday evening, continued with rounds 2-15 today, and will conclude tomorrow with rounds 16-40. All told, roughly 1200 men I’d never heard of before and 30 I learned about just recently will get selected over these 3 days. This is a huge undertaking, and in their new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the owners and players have totally screwed things up. Why? Because the owners want to save money, and players who are already in the league don’t care about the players who aren’t.

Because you almost certainly missed it, here’s the difference between this year's draft and previous years: teams now have a cap on how much they can spend on draft picks. Also, the draft was cut from 50 to 40 rounds, but that’s not important, the cap is what matters. Each pick from 1^st overall to the last pick of the 10^th round is given a slot value, and the total amount of slotted money for a team’s picks in the top 10 rounds is added up to equal their cap. For example, the Padres had 14 picks in the first 10 rounds, and a total of roughly $9.9 million to spend.

Not only have they set a cap, they’ve decided to enforce it. For every dollar you spend above your cap up to 5%, you are fined 75 cents. If the Padres spend 5% above their $9.9 million cap, they will be fined approximately $371,000. If they spend more than that, but less than 10% above their cap, they continue to be fined and lose their 1^st round pick in the next draft. If they spent more than 10% above their cap, there are the fines and also the loss of their 1^st and 2^nd round picks. These are steep penalties, and teams will be very reluctant to reach that 5% limit. Oh, two more things: if you fail to sign a player in the top 10 rounds, the slotted value of that pick is removed from your bonus pool. Also, any player drafted after the 10^th round that gets a bonus over $100,000 counts towards your cap, so you can’t let a player with high demands slip through the cracks, draft him after the 10^th round, and then pay him big bucks to sign.

For the Padres, the new CBA and its rules came into play immediately. After their dream pick, 18 year old Puerto Rican SS Carlos Correa, was taken 1^st overall, the player many had projected to be 1^st overall, Stanford RHP Mark Appel, fell down to the Padres selection, the 7^th overall pick. The rumor was out that Appel, as a college junior with the option to return to Stanford for a senior season, was asking for a ton of money to sign. Lame duck GM Josh Byrnes and his well-qualified team passed on Appel, opting for top high school pitcher Max Fried. Normally, if the Padres don’t take the best player available because he’s deemed too expensive, they’re considered cheap. Appel was reportedly ranked just ahead of Fried on the Padres’ draft board. Should they have taken the best player available? Has this notoriously cheap franchise gone cheap again?

No. Here’s why. The Pirates took Appel with the 8^th overall pick. They have a $6.6 million cap. The 8^th pick in the draft has a $2.9 million slot value ($100,000 less than the Padres at 7). If Appel demands $4 million to sign, that’s $1.1 million that Pittsburgh is either going to have to cut from their later picks (by taking college seniors with limited ability who will sign for well under their slot values), or they’re going to have to be willing to pay steep fines and lose their picks next year. If Appel demands $5 million, even worse. If Appel demands $6 million, a number that was reported but not confirmed, that’s almost the Pirates’ entire bonus pool.

Chances are Mark Appel is going back to school to hope for better next year. The Padres took the 2^nd best player available, who will likely accept slot money or perhaps slightly less ($3 million is good money for most), and maintained their ability to be aggressive with their remaining 13 capped picks, including taking 2 more high school pitchers in the compensation round who may have dropped out of the 1^st round due to signability concerns.

In my opinion, this new system flat out sucks. You’re going to see a lot of talented high school players fall out of the top 10 rounds, maybe not even drafted at all, because they have strong college commitments or high salary demands (the two often come hand in hand). One of the advantages the Padres had was an ability to be hyper-aggressive in the draft because draft picks are generally inexpensive. Even if you spend $15 million on bonuses in a draft, it’s worth it if you can get 6 pre-free agency years of an all-star caliber player.

Last year, the Padres went for broke on 2 high schoolers with strong college commitments, drafting RHP Joe Ross 25th and C Austin Hedges 82nd, spending close to $6 million combined to keep them. This year, those two picks would have had a combined slot value of less than $2.5 million. If the new rules had been in effect last year, Ross and Hedges would be playing for UCLA right now, and the Padres farm system would be significantly worse.

College seniors are generally seen as easy signs. They’re older (bad), if they’d have been worth anything significant they would have been drafted and signed as juniors (bad), and because they don’t have the option of going back to school for another year they don’t have a lot of leverage. Usually these guys can wait until the later rounds. This year, so many seniors were being picked in the top 10 rounds due to signability that Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein tweeted “the new system was supposed to line up talent with draft slot. With all the senior sign crap from rounds 4-10, it's a complete failure.”

The owners might disagree. The actual purpose of the new system was to limit draft expenditures, not to line up the talent. The owners don’t care if a kid refuses to sign and goes to college. Their goal was to eliminate agent leverage. In that way, the new system will prove to be a huge success. Teams scrambled to pick signable players who will take under slot deals in order to free up a couple hundred thousand for their high-ceilinged high school draftees. Everybody is trying to stay within their cap, working within the confines of the new system. The owners won, baseball lost, and the Padres took Max Fried instead of Mark Appel for good reason.

In conclusion: Bring Back the Brown. And the old draft system. I'm buzzed. Hoptimum is good stuff.

The Suggestion Box

Word has come out that the Padres may be sold sooner rather than later (according to hints dropped by local media types, we're talking this week or perhaps next week), which is more than likely good news after the Moorad debacle. Looking at the groups who have been reported as being "finalists" in the bidding process, I can't say that I have a real problem with any of them. On paper, I see positives with every group, and very few negatives. That said, we've been burned badly, and I have some suggestions/demands for the incoming ownership group.

A Major League team requires a Major League payroll: $43M, $37M, $45M, $55M. Those are the payrolls for the last four seasons of Padres baseball. Considering the Padres (and other "small-market" clubs) were reportedly receiving $35-40M annually from revenue sharing, these numbers are absurd at best. Really, they're flat-out infuriating and insulting to the fanbase. Instead of supporting a Major League payroll, Jeff Moorad implied that attendance needed to improve to see spending increase. With the new television contract, there's not excuse not to field an $80M+ baseball club.

The burden of proof is on you, not the fans: As I said in the previous section, Jeff Moorad implied that it was on Padres fans to buy tickets if they wanted to see the payroll increase to a reasonable level. The Padres fanbase has no reason to trust ownership, and this kind of attitude isn't going to serve you well with San Diego fans. We need a reason to trust that you have the club's best interests at heart.

What you shouldn't do is come into town telling us who and what we are; Tom Garfinkel-style turd polishing will not work anymore. I wish I had all of the answers to what you need to do to rebuild trust, but I know bringing in legitimate Major League talent is the first step. Make us feel welcome in our own park, and establish Petco Park as home of the San Diego Padres and Padres fans, not the "any fan will do" method that has allowed opposing fans to fill our ballpark. Thank your predecessors, because you're walking into a shit situation and it's their fault. The good thing is that when we're given something to buy into, we show up.

GET THE GAMES ON TV. NOW: Don't shill for DirecTV, don't throw up your hands/shrug your shoulders and tell the fans to call up Time Warner and AT&T and do your job for you. Get the games on TV, now.

Focus on draft and development: This should be an easy one for a team in this market, but our history suggests otherwise. If you're serious about winning in San Diego (and if you're not, stop reading and please drop out of the bidding), you're going to need to build from the ground up. Draft the best talent available, then sign that talent. "Signability" is not a word that should be in your vocabulary. Spend money on international scouting and free agents. Do not stick your nose in the process, allow the people you hired to actually do their job. Which brings me to....

Hire/retain good baseball people and let them do their jobs: Stay in the owner's box. Do what you need to do to make this business run optimally, but do not directly involve yourself in the on-field product. We don't need the owner forcing things like, say, multi-year deals with Orlando Hudson. Or drafting Matt Bush over whomever. Let the baseball people work, and if they're not doing their job, step in and replace them.

Intelligent free agent signings: In the world of sports talk radio and newspaper comment sections, willingness to spend big in free agency is the ultimate measure of an owner's constitution.  I would argue that free agency isn't as important as developing your own talent and retaining it, but it's a necessary piece of the puzzle. Free agency should be used to compliment your existing roster, to fill in holes that you're unable to fill through your system. The Padres are never going to find themselves in the position to sign Albert Pujols, nor should they aspire to be in that position. We should use free agency dollars to bolster a homegrown roster, not putting all of our eggs in one or two baskets...or worse, create a revolving door of stopgaps (i.e. the Kevin Towers Plan).

Additional items I'd like to see:
+ I'd like to see less of a "house cleaning" and more "taking out the trash". Namely, Black and Byrnes being sent on their way.

+ Bring back brown (and gold) as our primary color(s). The common misconception seems to be that the "Bring Back The Brown" movement wants to bring back a specific uniform set. That's not the case. Rather, I'd like to see an evolution. We do have a history, which has now been ignored for 22 years. We need to embrace that history and re-establish a kit that is distinctly San Diego Padres. Give us our identity back.

Fat Guy Trudging Up A Mountain

News flash: It's tough being a Padres fan.

Thank you, and good night!










Seriously now, when a big-spending and/or successful team such as the Rangers, Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals comes to town, I've grown to expect to be outnumbered in the stands. It's an unfortunate reality, especially with San Diego being a transient city. There's no more evidence of our city's transience than the great exodus of Atlantans in the mid-aughts, only to be replaced by natives of the greater Philadelphia area. The logical conclusion is that roaming, baseball-loving nomads set up camp in San Diego for a period of 5-10 years and then move on. Bless them. I've gotten off track.

The point is that I expect my stadium to be overrun, but I didn't quite expect my mountain to be overrun. Allow me to give you a bit of background on myself: I'm a fat dude. I've been fatter, not quite as fat, and where I am now. I'd call myself Obesity Goldilocks, but really none of it is just right for me. I've recently set off on a weight-loss journey, which I've been very successful at up to this point. It used to be part of my exercise routine to hike up Cowles Mountain. It's a special place to me; I even made my wife hike to the top of it before I finally proposed to her. I am rambling again.

I decided to make a very quick return to the mountain the day Junior Seau passed away. I'm sure it was to clear my head, but I also had been itching to get back. For the first time EVER, I didn't make the summit. I wasn't determined to do so, but it's still the only time I haven't made the summit. Today, I made it (hooray me, or whatever). On the way up, though, it dawned on me..."I've seen Dodgers/Angels/Cardinals/Red Sox/Yankees/Phillies shirts, but I'm the only one wearing a Padres shirt."

And I mean, a bizarrely large number of Phillies shirts.

Now, okay. To be fair,  it's not necessarily the situation where your first thought is to throw on your team colors and represent. I'd be lying if I said it was intentional on my part. However, it got me thinking about the situation. Everyone on the mountain is healthy, hurrying up and hurrying down. I, am not. I'm the slow, deliberate, fat guy busting his ass up the mountain. I'm going to get there, but it's going to take some time and a whole lot of effort. It's not easy, I could just give up, but I'm not going to. There's a metaphor for the Padres in there.

And I'm not talking about being a "never say die" fan. Nobody needs to be lectured on how to be a good fan when the team is this awful. It did serve to remind me, though, of why I am a Padres fan and I haven't just thrown in the towel and jumped on someone else's bandwagon. It's tough, but if we get to that summit, it's going to be the sweetest.

At some point, I'm going to be in great shape and hauling ass up and down that mountain without a second thought. And it will mean something, but it will never mean more than it did on a day like today.

But seriously, can we get some Padres shirts on that mountain? Please? Fucking Phillies....

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

This is primarily a San Diego Padres blog, and while I could write about Jered Weaver, Peter O’Malley, Jeff Suppan, Mark Kotsay, Matt Effin Bush, or Heath Bell, I’ve got other things on my mind. Mostly being thankful that my mind still generally works the way it’s supposed to.

There’s nothing bigger going on in San Diego Sports right now than the death of Junior Seau, and I feel compelled to write about what likely caused him to take his own life and how it will impact sports in this country, especially but not exclusively football, going forward.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes. It’s caused by repetitive brain trauma, through concussions and smaller impacts called sub-concussions. This repeated trauma progressively alters and destroys brain tissue until the athlete basically gets a version of progressive and debilitating dementia that ruins their lives, if they don’t commit suicide before it gets that far. Symptoms of CTE include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, aggression, and chronic depression. And that’s all before the progressive dementia.

As the speed and power of impacts in the NFL have increased significantly over the last two or so decades, the safety of the players really hasn't even tried to keep up until just recently, and even now they’re just starting to take baby steps of progress. CTE kills football players. It’s really that simple. Junior Seau ultimately pulled the trigger, but it was almost surely because of memory loss, confusion, and depression, and then the deepening of that depression once the realization hits that you're suffering from a progressively degenerative brain condition when you should still be in the prime of your life. Here's what Seau said in March to SI's Jim Trotter when asked about safety changes being made to prevent concussions:

"It has to happen," he said. "Those who are saying the game is changing for the worse, well, they don't have a father who can't remember his name because of the game. I'm pretty sure if everybody had to wake with their dad not knowing his name, not knowing his kids' name, not being able to function at a normal rate after football, they would understand that the game needs to change. If it doesn't there are going to be more players, more great players, being affected by the things that we know of and aren't changing. That's not right."

It's pretty obvious now that the dad he was talking about was himself. It's heartbreaking. I love football, but the powers that be can't continue to sweep this type of stuff under the rug. They've made changes in how they treat players who get concussions, but that's only a small part of the problem. They need to do more to prevent concussions and sub-concussions. They need to do more to make sure players self-report concussions. They need to make sure the pressure to win isn't driving their players to suicide after they retire.

The Chargers, this offseason, lost a player to retirement in pro bowl guard Kris Dielman, after he suffered a major concussion in a game and not only stayed in the game but wasn't diagnosed until after he had a seizure on the flight home. He retired rather than risking further head injuries. Hopefully he saved himself from the horrors of CTE, but it's impossible to say right now because the effects of CTE can come on at any time and, as of right now, CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem. This is why players are shooting themselves in the chest, to preserve their brains for diagnosis and further study. You've gotta think that this is why Junior did so as well.

It’s hard to reconcile the unfortunate irony of the situation. Junior Seau loved football. He played with unmatched passion, and his goal on the field was to make plays, oftentimes by hitting the other team’s player so hard that they received a concussion. Many players play with similar passion and argue against changes to the game. However, Junior recognized late in his life that players have to be protected from themselves, for their futures. It’s time for the NFL and other sports leagues to really proactively work to prevent future CTE-related deaths. Retired athletes often suffer from drug, alcohol, marital, and financial issues after retirement. They shouldn’t be losing their minds as well.

Junior Seau’s death is a huge loss to his family, to football, to the city of San Diego, to all he affected throughout his life. I wish Junior had spoken out about his pain. He could have been an ambassador, an agent of change in life rather than in death. The Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy will likely get a chance to use Junior’s brain to further their research, but there’s so much he could have done in life.  I hope other former players who are out there suffering right now will choose to speak up and share their stories rather than just promising to donate their brain in death. The next generation of athletes still has a chance to avoid this type of tragedy.

For further reading, check out the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and former Chargers beat writer Jim Trotter's excellent article from Sports Illustrated that inspired me to write this post.

Bread, Circuses, and Fences. Oh, my!

As you will come to find out through this blog, I'm as much of a fan of procrastination and putting things off as anyone. So when the Padres would occasionally discuss altering the dimensions of the park and never really get beyond the idea phase (or only make a minor alteration), I understood where they were coming from. There even appeared to be an attitude shift over the last couple of season, with the organizational philosophy seemingly skewing toward using the ballpark as an advantage, as opposed to fighting it. So, it was much to my surprise that the issue of the fences was raised again by the club, this early in the season.

Why now? The skeptic in me thinks it has something to do with the Padres getting hammered in the PR department. The team is struggling, half of the county can't watch the team on television, and the ownership situation is an embarrassing (yes, Barry Bloom. Embarrassing.) mess. It's a distraction. To many, an appealing one. And while I'm sure I'm on the right path here, I also think this is a discussion worth having...if we agree that this is it, once and for all.

It's at this point that I would like to direct you to a couple of great Hardball Times articles written by Geoff Young: Taking Advantage of Petco Park and Petco Park Revisited.

Rankings since 2009:
Doubles
2010 - .810, 30th
2011 - .904, 23rd

Triples
2010 - 1.300, 7th
2011 - 1.387, 5th

Petco Park suppresses offense, that much is clear. What's also clear is that triples are back in style at Petco Park, so perhaps it's that parks fluctuate in certain areas for unknown reasons. That, or we agree to go with the assumption that the lull from 2006-2010 was due to the departure of Ramon Hernandez.

Petco Park has remained at/near the bottom of Major League Baseball in doubles allowed. I'm not sure how the dimensions of Petco Park come into play here, but anecdotally they don't really seem to. The numbers have remained consistent, even after the minor alterations made in the offseason prior to 2006. I see this as an indicator of something deeper than ballpark dimensions, and I fear moving the fences in even more might made it even more difficult to hit a double. Imagine, if you will, Yonder Alonso being thrown out at first base on a ball hit to the wall. You know it could will happen.

Now, take a look for yourself. These are current hit charts for Padres position players: Yonder Alonso, Orlando Hudson, Jason Bartlett, Chase Headley, Andy Parrino, Nick Hundley, John Baker, Will Venable, Jeremy Hermida, Cam Maybin, Chris Denorfia, Jesus Guzman, Kyle Blanks, and Mark Kotsay.

What does this information show us? This team isn't losing ballgames because balls are dying on Petco Park's warning track. They're losing because of a .640 OPS, 65 runs scored, and 21 errors. As of today, Fangraphs lists us dead last in their base running metric BsR. The team plays with a lack of discipline that is alarming. It points more toward the quality of leadership and the quality of the players on the field, in my opinion.

The problem may very well be Petco Park. I believe it plays a part, to a certain extent. And I'm not even against the idea of moving the fences in. As someone who has long desired a thorough study into why Petco Park plays the way it does, I welcome the idea. I look forward to being able to speak to what makes Petco Park the park that it is, free of speculation. I want to know why.


I do have one thing to ask of the Padres: Please...shit, or get off of the pot. Conduct an extremely thorough investigation into why Petco Park plays the way it does, share that information with your fans, and move forward with whatever it is that you decide to do. For the love of God, give us some good science and make this conversation go away once and for all.* And stop with the distractions. Please?

As a side note, aesthetically, this is my favorite concept for Petco Park. Created by @ParkAtThePark some years ago:

Reasons why I love this concept:

• I am not a fan of "Petco Porch"
• The "Beachers" are the worst seats in the park, they're overpriced, and he has eliminated those in favor of extending the Park at the Park.
• We lose the on-field bullpen.
• If you need to alter dimensions at Petco Park, RF is the place to start.
• There is no golf club in this picture, which pre-dates the golf club. Still, a bonus.

* - never gonna happen

Some Day Our Prince Will Come. In the Meantime…

Be patient, Padres fan. Someday our prince will come. That magical kiss of competitive payrolls will smack us on the lips and wake us from our nightmares. That glass slipper of front office consistency will slip gently onto our tired, overburdened feet. Hopefully this time when we kiss the frog of ownership change, it doesn’t turn out to be a poorly dressed dude with a weird beard who leaves behind his cronies in major front office positions after the other owners decide they don’t like the way he ribbits. Or something. I don’t have kids, so I haven’t seen a Disney princess movie in a long ass time (at least 3 weeks). The point is, someday our prince (or princess, you never know) will come and save us from this ownership debacle. Hopefully soon. Hopefully he has no relationship with Barry Bloom.

In the meantime, it sucks to be a Padres fan. Lowest payroll in the league. Off to a slow start with very few bright spots. We’ve got a young team with a lot of potential, but very little of it likely to be realized this season. We’ve got a new amazing TV contract, but still more than half the county can’t watch the games on TV as huge corporations bicker over relatively small fees, and the big TV money has yet to be reinvested into the product on the field.

Those things will likely work themselves out in time (except that the Padres may never be on Time Warner. Get used to that.). Most worrisome are these two facts:  1) we’ve got an Interim CEO who is more concerned with breakfast than baseball, more interested in marketing than Moneyball, and 2) we’ve got a lame duck GM who isn’t afraid to make big trades, but who almost certainly won’t be around to have to deal with the long-term consequences of them (though he’ll still be getting paid for years to come).

Padres Interim CEO (chances of dropping the Interim while keeping the CEO: not dissimilar to the chances Mark Kotsay makes the 2012 All-Star game) Tom Garfinkel seems set on moving in the fences, permanently altering the ballpark that even our detractors *cough*ColeHamels*cough* call unbelievable (in a good way). He talks of ongoing studies and no immediate plans, but he also notes that they could have plans submitted to MLB before the end of the year. Whether or not you think the fences should move, isn’t this something that should be decided by whoever buys the team in the next 12-18 months? Why should Jeff Moorad’s former car fetcher get to make these kinds of franchise-altering decisions? Shouldn’t someone (anyone!) step in and tell him to cool it on the legacy building?

Jeff Moorad’s handpicked General Manager decided that Mat Latos wasn’t worthy of a contract extension, trading him 3 years before he would become a free agent. Jeff Moorad’s handpicked General Manager Josh Byrnes then chose the first baseman he received for Latos, Yonder Alonso, over the younger, higher ceilinged Anthony Rizzo. You can debate the merits of these trades. You can’t debate this: Jeff Moorad is now (basically) gone yet his handpicked GM remains, unafraid to continue making decisions that will affect the Padres roster for the next decade. Shouldn’t someone tell him to chill out? Take away his cell phone? I know we can’t just put the team in a holding pattern while the ownership is in one, but should we really just trust a lame duck GM to build the roster in his vision?

These are my concerns. I’m not afraid of change. I can’t wait for our prince to come and shape this franchise, his new kingdom, in his vision. But what kind of kingdom will our prince inherit? Shouldn’t he get to decide where the castle walls should be? Shouldn’t he decide which generals to keep and which ones to lock in the tower? These are my concerns. I love the Padres. It’s not always easy. It’s especially hard right now. I have hope and patience. Let’s not let Jeff Moorad’s guys ruin a mediocre thing.

Thanks for nothing, Padres!

Introductory articles are horse shit, plain and simple.

We could go through a manifesto, raison d'etre, whatever and so forth...but what's the point? We are a blog, and we will be writing about the San Diego Padres. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing worth rambling on about to get you excited.

Right now, I'm watching The Evil Cole Hamels defeat my Padres, have Fox Sports San Diego name him "Player Of The Game", and continue to be a god damned dreamboat. Simply put, it's the same old song and dance I've seen a million times - player disparages the Padres, player comes to town, player succeeds. While popular culture has rammed the idea of the lowly underdog vanquishing his rival down our throats, popular culture is clearly not a Padres fan.

Werth? Sanchez? Hamels? Hamels? Fart. Noise. In each and every instance. Thanks, Padres. Don't you know we've spent the better part of our day gnashing our teeth on the internet?

Fittingly, Orlando Hudson just made the final out of the game. Thanks for nothing.