Tagged: brian giles
Come On Guys!!
Last night’s game between the Red Sox and and Angels was not good, man. Not good at all. The Sox got shut out in a 5-0 loss. Jon Lester allowed three runs in six innings, and Ramon Ramirez allowed two. The offense only had four hits and they committed three errors! Ergh. It was not good. Not the greatest way to start off the playoffs, but hey. We’ve seen this team work miracles before. I should not start panicking, but I really don’t want to have to cheer for any other team than the Red Sox this postseason.
Come on, guys, keep your heads up. You’ll get them today.
Josh Beckett is pitching, and we all know how incredible he’s been in the postseason. Let’s hope that he’ll be able to even things up for the Red Sox tonight.
The Dodgers won again last night, which is very frustrating. Get it going, St. Louis!!
When I opened up the newspaper yesterday morning, I found some very perplexing news. Marcus Giles was arrested because his wife said he had assulted her.
Oh boy. Before the season started, I blogged a little about Brian Giles’ situation. His ex-girlfriend accused him of abusing her, and there was a whole mess of that situation. Brian countered that she had abused him, and it was pretty crazy. Brian barely played at all for us this season, and it’s extremely likely that this was his last season in a Padres uniform.
Now, Marcus is getting into it! I almost can’t believe it. He’s been married for quite a while, and they have three little girls. This is just crazy!
Marcus played for one season with the Padres, and I loved him. He got to play with his brother and all that, plus he played pretty well for us. The Padres relased him after that season, though, and he hasn’t played in the majors since. Oh dear.
Well, the Padres made a few moves yesterday, nothing too exciting. Cha Sueng Baek, Cliff Floyd, and Shawn Hill were waived. All three were fails this year. Baek was supposed to be a big part of our rotation, but he got hurt and was out all year. Pretty much the same story for the other two dudes. We actually had a lot of guys who that happened to before the season. It was not good. Like Mark Worrell, one of the pieces in the Khalil Greene trade, the side-armer. The Padres really liked what they were seeing…and then he had to have Tommy John surgery. So much for him.
We’ve got some exciting postseason baseball going on right now. Wow, it’s been amazing! Hope you all are having a lot of fun watching it 🙂
GO PADRES’ FRONT OFFICE!! GO RED SOX!!
Victory! We Have Victory!
Guess what?
THE PADRES WON!!
(wow, that’s a really funny picture!)
It was an amazing game, very well played by both teams. But the Padres came out on top, and that’s all that matters 🙂
Josh Geer and Aaron Cook worked identically. They matched each other almost pitch for pitch. Both starters went eight innings, allowing one run on five hits. But Geer only walked two and struck out three, while Cook walked three and struck out five. Geer has a lower ERA though.
They were both excellent. It was a duel all the way, and both pitchers were really mowing. Looking at the boxscore is really incredible to see how their innings mirrored each other so closely. Like, they both would got 1-2-3 in one inning, and then both face four batters in the next, and it was almost creepy!
Josh Geer definitely had the best outing of his career, and we needed it. I think he’s definitely going to stick around up here for a while.
On the offensive side, we struck Cook early, and it was a good thing that we did. Brian Giles singled, David Eckstein doubled, and a few batters later, Jody Gerut sac-flied him in.
The score stayed 1-0 Padres until the eighth, when Chris Iannetta hit a solo homer to tie things up. That was Geer’s only glitch. I don’t really like Iannetta. He’s annoying, hitting all these homers against us.
In the ninth, Heath Bell came in after not pitching for 10 days. A little rust? Not at all. Heath was pumped up, throwing 96-MPH gas and tearing down the hitters he faced. He allowed a single in the ninth with two outs, but the next batter was blown away.
In the bottom of the ninth, we got a runner on, but couldn’t get him in.
Heath also pitched the tenth, and went 1-2-3. In both of his innings, he got four strikeouts. He was so sharp, it was almost unbelieveable.
To the top of the tenth…
Luis Rodriguez started the inning, making an out. Edgar Gonzalez pinch-hit for Heath Bell. This at-bat gave us the game. Edgar worked a walk on four straight pitches, putting the potential winning run on first.
Brian Giles came to the plate, with a single and two walks earlier in the night. It was a big at-bat. Gillies worked it. Four foul balls, two pickoff attempts and three balls later, Brian connected and sent the ball deep to right center field. It didn’t get out, but it bounced on the warning track and into the right fielder’s glove. He threw it into the infield, but it was too late. Edgar ran all the way from first to score with a slide. Padres win!!
It was such a great game! I couldn’t believe we actually won! I just sat there, laughing. “Wow, that feels good!!”
And it does, man. We hadn’t won since last Tuesday – a week ago! It was great to beat the Rockies and split the “series”.
But best of all, all the restrictions have now been removed since my boys played hard and got a win.
The boys can now have hot showers, grow out their beards, travel in their luxury plane to Houston, maybe they should leave Jeff the Ram’s Head though, eat lots of candy, have their luxury lockers back, get their money again, leave the ballpark and sleep in their own beds, and of course, no more Vegemite!
Good job, boys. See, having their special things taken away worked! It’s a good thing they won though, ’cause their showers were going to be next!
I knew we were going to have small crowds this homestand, but it is kind of disappointing that no one is out there. We only had 14,000 on Monday, and only 13,000 last night. That’s really sad. I know the Padres haven’t been playing that great, but we need to get out there and support our team. If I could, I would be out there everyday. But I can’t. Our boys played a stellar game last night, and only a few people got to see it.
I just hope we get better crowds in the next two games. Tonight Jake Peavy is pitching, so hopefully more people will come out to see them. Tomorrow is a 2-for-1 Getaway Day, so there will be a bigger crowd then. These Padres need our support. What is baseball without the fans?
Like I said, Jake Peavy is starting tonight. I expect a solid outing for Jakey, especially at home. He’s going to do great, and hopefully out bats can turn on against Jon Garland.
GO PADRES!!
(photo credit: padres.com)
It Always Has To Happen On Fireworks Night…
It was the night before Saturday,
And all through the house, not a creature was stirring…
Except for Kaybee.
Last night, the Padres set out to battle the Pirates at PETCO Park. It was a beautiful night for baseball, and a big crowd of 25,601 was out there to cheer for their Padres.
Kevin Correia started the game, throwing five innings of three-run three-hit ball. He was goooood. He gave up the first run in the second. The Pirates had the bases loaded and their pitcher, Ian Snell, knocked in a run.
The Padres got their first run in the bottom of the second on Adrian Gonzalez’s sixth homer of the year. We got a run each in the third and the fourth, on David Eckstein’s triple and Nick Hundley’s double.
Correia left in the sixth with two on and no outs. Cla Meredith came in and allowed both runs to score, thus tying the game.
It stayed tied for a long time. There was one inning, I think it was the fifth, when I was brushing my teeth while listening to the game. I started yelling at my boys, since they were doing well in that inning. At that time, we needed more insurance. So, Brian Giles and Chase Headley are on base, and Kouz comes to the plate. I start yelling at him, cheering him on, calling him some weird nicknames. It was pretty funny. Ian Snell was starting to lose it by then, so he was throwing balls pretty consistently. My boy got walked!! Then I started yelling at Nick Hundley, who was next up, but he grounded out to end the inning. Oh well. I was hoping for a grand slam or something!
I think I was in bed by the top of the seventh. That doesn’t seem completely right…but I think that was it. Yeah, it was Friday night and all, but we have a big day today, so we went to bed fairly early. And yes, I was in bed with my ancient Walkman and my headphones 🙂
We had some great pitching performances last night. Edward Mujica threw a solid 1-2-3 inning. Luke Gregerson threw the eighth.
Then, Heath Bell came in for the top of the ninth. Nyjer Morgan started off with a single. Heath always makes it interesting 🙂 Then, Jack Wilson popped up right behind himself. Nick Hundley threw the mask off in an instant, and caught the ball. It was a great play! The crowd got back into it, and you could just feel this energy sweep the park. Then Heath picked off the runner at first! You thought the pop-out got the crowd pumped, well this REALLY got them pumped! It was so cool! The batter flew out to right field, and that was that.
But the Padres were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth, so we went into extras.
It always happens on fireworks night. ALWAYS. I mean, extra innings are almost certain on fireworks night. The fireworks, or Friarworks as they’re calling them this year, happen after the game. Extra innings happen, and you’ve got fireworks downtown near midnight!!
The tenth went pretty well. Both teams got some runners on, but neither were able to score.
In the top of the 11th, I was starting to fall asleep.
Not because the game was boring or anything, but it was late, dark, I was in bed, and it had been a long day. So, once the inning was over, I got out of bed, went into the bathroom, turned on the light, and stared at myself for a few minutes. That woke me up, so I was pretty wide-awake when I climbed back into bed for the bottom half of the 11th.
Needless to say, I was ready for the game to be over. I just wanted to sleep!
It was a great inning, though. Luis Rodriguez started it out with a flyout, then Chris Burke came to the plate. He had a great AB to get walked.
Jody Gerut came up. The first pitch Matt Caps threw him, Jody hit way down the right field line…but foul. The guys said that it was about a foot and a half from being fair, and that would have ended it. But no!
Either that pitch or the walk before had definitely rattled Matt Caps. He threw like three pickoff attempts to first, even though Burke showed no sign that he was going to try to take second. Caps kept throwing over there, then he would step off the mound, and Jody would call time, and it took forever for Caps to throw his next pitch to Jody. But Jody popped out.
Next up was David Eckstein, but Caps was still concerned about Burke over there at first. He threw two pickoff attempts before throwing a pitch to Eck, and when he finally did, he threw a ball and then a pitch out. Burke finally did steal second, the throw going into shallow center field.
Eck walked. So there’s two outs, runners on first and second, 11th inning, 3-3 tie, and Brian “Overdue Overdue Overdue” Giles coming to the plate. He had a great at-bat, running the count to 1-2. I knew he would hit the next pitch. In my slightly sleepy state, it was almost like I was there, at the ballpark, watching the ball in the pitcher’s hand. I just knew that would be the one. And it was. Gillies ripped it down the right field line, and Burke scored easily from second. Padres win!
Of course, by now my whole family was fast asleep. It was 10:45 pm, and I was probably supposed to be sleeping. Kind of hard to have a victory celebration without making noise. I hissed “YES!!!”. Thankfully, my sister was asleep, or she would have hissed, “BE QUIET!!”. I sat up in bed, fully awake now, and pumped my fist a few times. It was all I could do to keep from scream and leaping out of bed to jump around, but I was able to hold back.
It was such a great game. Edwin Moreno threw two great innings to earn his first major league win. We left 12 runners on, but in the end, we got it done. I really really enjoyed listening to the game, and boy was I pumped up afterwards!
Tonight we are playing the Pirates again, Shawn Hill against Elijah Duke. I think our momentum from last night’s game will definitely carry over.
GO PADRES!!!!
(photo credits: farm4.static.flicker.com, examiner.com)
Slammed Out
- 8-3 Giants
Jake Peavy started the game, giving up six runs in six innings on seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts. It was not pretty. We all expected Jake to be dominating, but from the beginning of the game, he didn’t really have it on. The big blow was a grand slam hit by Edgar Renteria in the fourth. That was bad.
It’s really too bad that Jake wasn’t able to get it on. That grand slam was the first he’s given up in his career, a span of 1,284 1/3 innings. I feel really bad for him, ’cause I know he’s really upset at himself for not performing as he should be. Hopefully he will be able to get locked in soon!
Our offense wasn’t the greatest. Matt Cain shut us down pretty well. We got a run in the first on a Brian Giles single. In the third, there was a strange play. Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley were on base when Kouz hit a booming double to deep right-center field. Adrian was being cautious, but Chase could see that the ball wasn’t going to get caught. As a result, they were literally on each other’s heels. Adrian slid into the plate, the ball came into the catcher, and Chase leaped over the catcher, getting himself tagged out. The umpire pointed to Chase, signalling him out, the pointed to Adrian, who had scrambled back and touched the plate. He was safe. It was bizarre! I’ve never seen anything like it. Kouz ended up at third, but was stranded there.
We got another run in the top of the ninth from a Brian Giles single, but that was it. We had 14 hits, but that was it. The Giants pitching held us down, that’s for sure.
The Giants got two runs off of Luis Perdomo, who threw 1.2 innings. Frankie De La Cruz threw one pitch to get out of the eighth.
It was a pretty sad game. We thought our ace would be able to take care of those Giants, but he wasn’t. We weren’t able to score runs when we had the chances. Frustrating…that’s what I would call it. But today is a new day.
It’s a 12:45 pm game, which is one of the most strange starting times I’ve seen. Chris Young will be pitching against Barry Zito. What a matchup! This will hopefully be a great game.
Yesterday, the Padres did a little reversing. They had traded Chris Burke to the Mariners for cash considerations, but then they traded cash considerations for Chris Burke yesterday.
So in a way, the Mariners were just taking care of him until we found a spot for him. I think it’s great that he’s back with the Padres. He was with the team for most of Spring Training, so he already knows all the guys. Plus, he’s been playing in the NL West with the Diamondbacks for a few years. Or year.
Anyways, I hope we have a really great game today!!
GO PADRES!!!
(photo credit: padres.com)
Me and My Gang
It’s all for one and ONE FOR ALL YA’LL
It’s a brother and a sister kinda thang
Raise up your hands if you all wanna hang with
With me and my gang
We live to ride, we ride to live
Me and my gang
Jump on that train
Grab a hold of them reins
We gonna rock this thang, cock this thang
Me and my gang
Today in the Latest Leaders I got #15, which is the best I have ever ranked. So, first of all, a HUGE thank you to all my readers. You guys have been amazing!!
Lately I have really grown to like Rascal Flatts. Their music is pretty amazing, and one of my favorite CDs is Me and My Gang.
I thought this song was kind of appropriate for the Padres. Kind of seems like a Jake Peavy song, ya know?
The Padres and their fans are on an amazing adventure right now. Hey, five-game winning streak and on top of the NL West. This season is going to be exciting, at least for a while. I think the Padres fans have been skeptical of this winning team, but more and more are coming behind them and joining the party. We don’t know where our Padres are going, but it will be so much fun to find out.
I know that I, for one, will be sticking by these Padres all year, even if Monday night was the last game we will win this year. Even if we lose Jake Peavy (oh boy), even if we don’t lose another game this year. Even if this team crashes and burns. It’s not easy, I found that out last year. But I’m going to stick by this team no matter what.
So, jump on that train, grab a hold of them reins, let’s rock this thang, cock this thang…me and my gang/Padres!!
Today, in my dedication to #15, I’m going to mention 15 members of my gang who have had superb performances in the last week.
GANG MEMBER #15
Luke Gregerson has been excellent this week. He’s gone five innings, giving up only three hits and that’s it. He’s been able to get out of bases-loaded-with-no-outs jams, and he’s been absolutely solid.
GANG MEMBER #14
Adrian Gonzalez has been warming up over the week. He has eight hits, seven RBIs, and two home runs in eight games. He’s going to be so good this year!
GANG MEMBER #13
Scott Hairston is a stellar ballplayer, man. He’s been so solid this week, with some spectacular catches in center field, as well as some blast from the plate. This guy can flat-out play!
GANG MEMBER #12
Luis Rodriguez has been pretty good in the past week. He’s played in seven games, with three hits and four RBIs. But check this out: he has eight walks! Wow, that’s pretty good. But understandable since he’s been hitting low in the lineup, usually right before the pitcher.
GANG MEMBER #11
Duaner Sanchez has kind of gone under the radar, but he’s been solid for the Padres. He’s thrown three innings, allowing nothing but a walk. He came into some essential games, too, like Monday when the Padres had a one-run lead.
GANG MEMBER #10
Heath Bell has had no problems taking over Trevor Hoffman’s job as closer on the Padres. He has four saves in four opportunities so far this season.
GANG MEMBER #9
David Eckstein has been an excellent pickup for the Padres. He’s had some great at-bats, even though they didn’t always end up in a positive result. Still, he’s been very solid in his hitting and his defense.
GANG MEMBER #8
Chase Headley has been playing very well for the Padres. He has six hits and five RBIs in eight games. He also has two home runs, and great defense in left field.
GANG MEMBER #7
Henry Blanco was not signed by the Padres for his offense, but San Diego has recieved some of it anyway. In addition to catching some excellent games, Henry has two home runs already.
GANG MEMBER #6
Chris Young has throw 13 innings so far, allowing only two earned runs with 12 strikeouts. He has earned two wins, beating Randy Wolf and Tim Lincecum.
GANG MEMBER #5
Jody Gerut has five hits so far, including a home run and three doubles. He’s also had stellar defense in center. It’s been so much fun to watch him…
GANG MEMBER #4
Brian Giles has five hits and four walks, but has not come through in a lot of big situations, like bases loaded with no outs. His defense has been superb, though. He knows that right field corner in PETCO so well!
GANG MEMBER #3
Nick Hundley has definitley improved at the plate from last year. I think he’s going to have a really good offensive year. His catching has also been great.
GANG MEMBER #2
OH MY GOODNESS!!! That picture is soooooo cute!!! WOW, I totally love it!!! Ah, where was I? Oh yes, Kevin Kouzmanoff’s amazingness! He has six hits so far. I think he’s still warming up. He’ll get better as the season goes on… Just look at that guy. Wow.
GANG MEMBER #1
Jake Peavy’s first start wasn’t the best, but his second was incredible. In 15.1 innings pitched, he has 18 strikeouts. I am so thankful that he’s still here in San Diego, and I hope he will be sticking around for a long time.
Again, thanks so much to all my readers! Without you guys, this blog has no meaning. Keep checking back here for all the latest Padres news!
Today the Padres are playing the Mets again, Kevin Correia against Oliver Perez. GO PADRES!!!
Padres Win Against Team Korea
- 10-4 Padres
What a game! Last night, the Padres played Team Korea in an exhibition game. The Padres played a great game.
Kevin Correia started, throwing four innings and giving up one hit and one walk. It’s looking even more likely that this guy will get the fourth spot in our rotation, and I think he’s doing great. I mean, four innings and one hit. That’s pretty good, my friends. Pretty great! Wade LeBlanc took the mound next and went three scoreless innings, giving up two hits. LeBlanc has been struggling a bit this spring, so it’s great to see him have some solid innings there. Ivan Nova got hit the hardest, giving up four runs on five hits. But Scott Patterson had a scoreless hitless inning to end the game. I am so glad that our pitching is getting back to form!
On the hitting side, we did very well. We had 14 hits and 10 runs! Brian Giles had three hits in three ABs and drove in two runs. Giles is old, and he’s had a lot of injury problems, but boy can he hit! If he can stay healthy and out of jail, he will be really good for us this year. Chase Headley had two two-run doubles. Yay! Kyle Blanks had a RBI. Cliff Floyd and Jody Gerut each had two hits. Nick Hundley threw out a potential basestealer!
Definitely a great game for my Padres. The pitching was great, and we hit very well. It was a feel-good game.
Today we are playing the Brewers. I bet Trevor’s going to pitch. I mean, he’s gotta face us sometime. I really hope I don’t miss it, though. So, we’ll see how that’s going to go. He probably won’t pitch. I don’t know. All that matters is that we win the game! Hopefully I will get to listen to a lot of this game.
- CF Drew Macias
- 2B David Eckstein
- 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff
- RF Emil Brown
- 1B Kyle Blanks
- LF Will Venable
- C Eliezer Alfonso
- SS Everth Cabrera
- SP Josh Geer
Geer is going four innings, then Cla Meredith, Chris Britton, Chad Reineke, Matt Buschmann, Cesar Carrillo.
GO PADRES!!
What a Weekend
It was a really great weekend. Sure, the Padres didn’t do so great, but there was a lot of cool stuff that happened. Hang in there for this long entry, because there’s some pretty cool stuff ahead…
To start, I realized that I needed to make a poster for Trevor. When Jake Peavy won his CY Young award in 2007, I made this really cool poster commemorating that. I also made a poster when Chase Headley was finally called up to the majors last year. So, it made sense that I should make one for Trevor. I worked on this during the game on Saturday:
This is now hanging on my wall. Pretty cool, huh?
My brother’s second game of the season was Saturday afternoon. The boys played pretty well. They lost 5-4, but I thought they did a good job. I really should have brought my scorebook. I wanted to keep track of the game somehow, and the only logical thing to do was keep score of it. But all I had was a pencil and a little notepad. I had to invent my own way of keeping score of the game! It was really interesting because I’m so used to the convienence of a scorebook. Next time I’m definitely bringing my scorebook. That should help me keep better track of what’s going on. For example, I missed some of the scoring of the other team somehow, so at the end of the game I had that my brother’s team had won 4-3. But they had lost 5-4 instead. Hmm.. One of the highlights of the game was when a kid from the other team hit an inside-the-park home run. Even though it was the other team, it was pretty cool to see. The boys’ next game is Tuesday night. Hopefully it won’t get rained out!
Yesterday afternoon, my family went to a local park to practice baseball with my brothers. Unfortunately, there were adult softball games being played on both fields. We found a patch of grass and played some catch, but when we were done, my dad and I went to watch one of the games. It was really interesting. It was very casual, co-ed, just a bunch of people having fun playing softball. It was funny because a guy hit an inside-the-park home run! I mean, how many times do you see two inside-the-park home runs in the space of two days? But some of those players were really good. It looked like so much fun!
I’ve been thinking about the 2009 pocket schedules a little. I have a lot of them, like two from each of the last four years. So, I was wondering when I would find a display of them in a store or somewhere. Yesterday, my dad handed me one. I literally screamed! A guy from our church had found one somewhere and gave it to my dad to give to me. It’s a really cool schedule this year, with the 40th anniversary logo on the front.
And now, the best part of this entry! I think I mentioned that my friend and his family were going to the game in Peoria on Saturday. This family is one of my closest friends, so they definitely know all about my fandom and love of the Padres. They got to watch a terrible game, but they did have a lot of fun. They had some really great seats that were merely a few rows behind the Padres’ first base dugout. Once it was 10-5 Oakland, they left the game. I expected them to bring me something back, since I’m like a really big Padres fan and stuff, but I had no idea what they planned to bring me, and boy was it a shock. One of the things they brought back was this really cool Spring Training cap. I love it!
How cool is that?
My friend showed me a bunch of the pictures they had taken. They got a lot of really great pictures, and maybe I’ll post some once I get them. Anyway, he was telling me about the autographs they got while showing me the really up-close pictures of the players. I was really happy for them, and I remember thinking that I hoped they had brought the autographs so I could see them. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
Later in the day, my friend and his brother came up to me and my sister and presented us with these plastic Padres hats…autographed by seven players! I was so shocked. No way had I expected that they got the autographs for us! That helmet is probably worth a lot. It was signed by Brian Giles, Kevin Kouzmanoff (yay!), Cha Seung Baek, and David Eckstein. The other three…well, we have no idea who they are. I think they were minor league players. I might have been able to recognize them if I was there, but I don’t think my friend studied the rosters at all. I might be able to figure it out when I get the pictures, but for now we have three unknown autographers. If any of you can read Scribble, please let me know.
I had a really hard time getting a good picture of the hat, because it reflects everything. The light, the flash, the surrounding area. So, these are the best I could do, but you’ll get the point. (A note: my friend was able to get the hats at a thrift store for a dollar. I’m telling you, there are some incredible deals at thrift stores!)
This one is really dark, but you can kind of see the autographs.
A sort of better picture 🙂
Brian Giles
Top to bottom: Cha Seung Baek (53) and David Eckstein
Two of the unknown autographs
KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ!!!
So, that pretty much made my day. Sorry I wasn’t able to get that great pictures of it, but maybe I’ll try again later. Now we need to figure out how to display it…Thank you so much to my friends who gave this really cool stuff to me!
What a weekend, huh? It was a really great one, full of fun and blessings. GO PADRES!!
(pictures: all mine)
Wanted: A New Owner
Not much happening baseball-wise around here. Of course, the news about the team being sold is making quite a stir. I believe Jane over at Confessions of a She-Fan is starting a collection for anyone who wants to contribute to buying them, but I’m not sure if we will be able to gather up $300+ million. I’m just hoping that we will sell the team, and that we will get a new owner who will bring a different philosophy and a different way of doing things. We need change. We need someone who can built a team but make it appealing to the fans as well. I mean, there are some great guys on the Padres team right now. Jody Gerut is a really good player, and he was so much fun to watch last year. There are all these exciting young guys who are fresh from the minors. They are great, exciting players, but the average fan won’t come out to watch rookies. He (or she) comes out to watch stars like Jake Peavy, Manny, A-Rod, you know, the big names. Obviously, the Padres are not going to get a star as big as A-Rod, because we don’t have enough money. But we need players that the fans would have heard of somewhere. An Omar Vizquel might be known. Having Greg Maddux here was great, because he’s pretty much a legend, but we had him for a fairly low price. We have about $20 million available for the rest of our roster. It is pretty scary. Jake Peavy (if he stays) and Brian Giles take up half our payroll. It’s sad. We still need a shortstop, a veteran catcher, possibly a closer (Trevor…), and more bullpen help. Oh, and more starting pitching. Can we get all we need for $20 mil???? We’ll just have to see.
Well, it rained hard all day yesterday. It was a really good rain. Today is kind of cloudy, but I think the rain is over. It was great. Christmas is in a week…
Game 163: A Fan’s Perspective
I know it’s been over a year. I know that what’s over is over, what’s done is done. But it still hurts. So I have a little “unfinished business”: I need to deal with Game 163 for once and for all. For the first and last time on this blog, I will deal with it. I need to let it go.
All baseball fans probably remember this game. It was Monday, October 1, 2007. We had just lost two hard, hard games. On Saturday, Trevor Hoffman had a one run lead, two outs, and a runner at third. He had a 1-2 count on Tony Gwynn Jr. We were one strike away from the playoffs. But the next pitch, which was low, was shot down the left field line. We eventually lost in extras. That was hard. Then on Sunday we lost, so, on Monday, we had to play a tiebreaker for the wild card against the Rockies at Coors Field.
It was a super emotional game for me. I was actually at a dance class during the majority of it, so I didn’t know what was happening. But I did get to hear Adrian Gonzalez’s grand slam. I was so excited and I had so much energy it was insane. I did get to check the game once in a while. I couldn’t believe it was still going. Looking back, I really should have stayed home, But when I finally did get home, it was nerve-wracking. I went into my room with the radio blaring. I think I got back around the 11th inning. When Scott Hairston hit the 2-run homer, I was so excited, as in, jumping around my room excited. I could hardly believe that we could really be getting this. Right after the homer, rookie Chase Headley got a single, and I really wanted the guys to get him in. Trevor had had a rough weekend, and I was hoping he could have bigger cushion. But no. So he came into the bottom of the 13th with a 8-6 lead. He got destroyed by the Rockies. Let me tell you, they were on absolute fire. It was unbelieveable. During that 13th, I held on to hope as long as I could. But it was not to be, and I was devistated. I cried for a good half hour, and then I had to go brush my teeth. I thought it was so weird. I mean, here my team just got brutally eliminated, and I have to go on with life and brush my teeth.
It took me a long time to recover from that game. I couldn’t watch the highlights for quite a long time, especially the last play. I would always break down to see Trevor get bashed around like that. My friend recorded the game, and when I finally made myself watch it, it was so hard. Especially watching the Rockies celebration. They were so detestable in my eyes. I finally had to stop it when they were talking to all the players afterwards. I know for many people it was so cool that this underdog team won in such an exciting manner, but for me it was pure pain. I rooted against the Rockies all throught the postseason. I don’t hate them anymore, though. The pain was so fresh, and I couldn’t root for the team that inflicted it. But it made me a Red Sox fan, so I am thankful for that. I started wearing black, and I don’t like wearing bright colors to this day. Last year was a tough, tough offseason. (Just FYI, that was my “obsessed” stage. Things are much different now.)
The Game was a reflection of our season. It seemed like every Padre in that dugout played in that game. The rookies, the veterans, they were all there. Even the broken-fingered Mike Cameron was out there, running the bases and playing center. Bud Black pulled out all the stops, and he played the game like it was his last. And it was.
We had our ace, Jake Peavy, out there. He was so sharp all season. We had pretty much the same infield. Adrian Gonzalez, Geoff Blum, Khalil Greene, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Josh Bard had caught the majority of Jake’s games, and he was out there again. The outfield was the same way it had been in the last few days.
We showed the resiliance that we had shown all year. Adrian’s grand slam represented the incredible 30 home run 100 RBI season he had. Jake did not do well. He gave up too many runs too early. These Padres hung on all the way to the 13th, when Scotty hit the two-run homer. He had been hitting walk-offs ever since we got him in an incredible deal. Heath “Workhorse” Bell was out there for the longest stint of his season, and he held them to nothing. Joe Thatcher, who came in a trade that upset some players, pitched a couple of scoreless innings. He was in line for the win if we had won it. All the players threw their guts in the game, but it wasn’t enough. After Scotty’s homer, Trevor Hoffman came into the game. The Padres were excited. They thought they were going to win this, and why shouldn’t they? The all-time saves leader was going out there to try to save it for them. Yeah, he had had a rough weekend, but they knew that he wanted this as much as they did. Besides, he’d done it 524 times, so why can’t he do it again?
But it was not to be. I don’t know what happened to him, but something was not right with Trevor Hoffman that night. Maybe it was Michael Barrett, the catcher. Maybe Trevor had done something that messed him up. Or maybe it was simply the Rockies. They were unstoppable.
So Trevor promptly gave up two runs and a triple. Here’s the situation: Holliday at third with Jamey Carroll at the plate, with no outs (They had intentionally walked Todd Helton, but that run didn’t matter). We Padres fans are holding on for dear life, hoping that Trevor can somehow leave the game tied. Carroll hits a ball to the right fielder, Brian Giles, who throws it perfectly to the plate. Holliday is sliding in and Barrett is blocking the plate. The ball comes in, Barrett doesn’t get it, Holliday doesn’t touch the plate, and the umpire doesn’t make the call. Barrett scrambles for the ball to tag Holliday, but the ump signals safe.
That’s it. Padres season over. Padres fans devistated. One city torn apart, while the other is filled with rejoicing. A dream crushed for one team, but a dream realized for the other.
A group of men devistated. Particulary one, who stands in front of his locker surrounded by reporters, fighting back tears, taking all the blame onto himself. It wasn’t entirely Trevor’s fault. The whole team lost, the whole team failed. And yet, Trevor takes all the blame, everything. That’s so beautiful in the midst of this pain.
It hurt so bad. But you know, it’s over. The Rockies didn’t win it all. The Padres survived the offseason and the season. What’s over is over, what’s done is done. This game was one of the best played game in years. It was so amazing, so heartbreaking.
Looking back, we weren’t meant to win that game, to go to the postseason. It wasn’t meant to be, and so I am finally OK with it. I am finally over it.
TACO DAY!
Tuesday was Taco Day in America, thanks to Jason Bartlett of the Rays who stole a base in game 1 of the World Series. So, around 4 in the afternoon San Diego time, I headed to my nearest Taco Bell. This particular Taco Bell is old, small, and not the nicest place to be. When I walked in, it was crowded with weird teenagers, homeless guys, and some really strange people. So I waited in line for a while because the people ahead of me were not just ordering their free taco. Once I finally got it ordered, I had to move to the side and wait. While I waited there were many other strange people that came through. I had to wait 10 to 15 minutes. When I finally got it, I was very relieved to get out of there! I went home to enjoy it. With a little peach salsa, it was amazing. But very small. So, thank you, Jason Bartlett! I’m still not sure if it was worth my time, but hey, free food is free food.
In a little Padres news, the World Series is over. That means that we only have a few days to pick up Brian Giles’ option. So get done, front office!!!
Unfinished Business 
