FRIAR PHIL

LUCKY 13TH INNING BRINGS PADRES WIN

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:34:00 +0000

I totally bypassed blogging about the 4 game series with the Phillies because mother taught me that if you don't have anything good to say- don't say it.

So let's leave that behind and focus on the series with the Atlanta Braves.

Last night was an evening of surprises. Brad Hawpe, who has been doing a lot of extra side work, finally woke up his bat at the plate last night. Ryan Ludwick also did his part by smacking out 2 home-runs in the game- the last in the 13th inning won the game for the Padres 5-2. Both had good success against the Atlanta pitcher Lowe in the past and they took advantage of it last night.

I mentioned here before that I am a firm believer- whether anyone wants to suggest I am insane or not- that stability in the batting order and consecutive days played helps batters stay locked in.

Happily we have seen Cameron Maybin fixed at lead off for a few days now. While he is far from perfect he seems to be doing the job of the lead off hitter and is getting locked in to that role- one he was used a lot for when he was with the Florida Marlins.

Brad Hawpe, as we all know, does not look like the guy we saw batting in runners when he played against us with the Colorado Rockies. But he has been in the line-up for a few days straight now and I have a gut feeling that he needed that to really get into a good groove.

Yes he wasn't stellar last night but at least he got a few good hits. With the extra work and perhaps staying consistently in the line-up I think there is a good chance that last night was just not a fluke.

The same with Ryan Ludwick. the key for him was making friends with petco park. Time and time again he would hit balls that in any other park would be homeruns. Last night I think he found out just how he needs to hit them- and where to get them out of the park and out of the reach of the opposing team's outfielder's.

Tonight at the park- even if Ludwick and Hawpe has a a bad at bat- fans should applaud them for the efforts last night. I think it will help boost their confidence even more if they know padre fans are pulling for them...well at least that is the adjustment I am going to personally make at tonight's game.

So we had a line-up that worked again last night- and lo and behold, it is totally changed around again today.

Last night Will Venable who was 0-3 with a walk is batting 2nd tonight! I am sure there is some method to the madness with Buddy Black but it makes no sense to me since Venable has been either struck out or grounds out weakly to the infield.

Brad Hawpe is batting 7th. Hopefully he will do well again tonight but his efforts may be wasted at the bottom of the order.

I would have batted the guy 2nd today.

Yes you read that right- 2nd. When Brad Hawpe is locked in he tends to hit a lot of timely base hits or long sac flies which is exactly what you want the number 2 batter to do.

After all the struggling- knowing that I and many Padres fans were so frustrated that we wanted to run the guy out of town the least he deserved tonight was to be given a chance to be in the mix at the top of the order- just for the sake of patting him on the back.

So tonight we will see what yet another new improved line-up does for the Padres.

Maybe it will be alright but I still say they need a bit more stability on the daily batting order.

Tonight Atlanta's line-up barely is changed with the exception of the pitcher and another player. All the primaries are in their regular spots in their line up positions for Atlanta.

I keep having people tell me that the constant juggling of the line up doesn't matter.

"Remember Buddy Black was manager of the year last year" and "Well he switched it a lot last year too" is what I hear but that was a different team of guys. Most of the players this year are new to the Padres and it seems to me that the more a player gets locked into a certain role the better he is.

Look at it logically.

You want a lead off guy that can either draw a walk or get a single- either way you need him to get on base. You hopefully but a guy with speed in there, like Cameron Maybin, that can steal a base. Your #2 batter should be proficient moving the runner.

A guy like Hawpe who can hit long fly balls to the warning track is perfect for that. You want someone there that does not strike out a lot (I know Hawpe has but he has been just as frustrated as the fans).

The batter in the third position basically is a guy to count on to get the runner to third and get on base himself.

Again the role is not to hit it out of the park but to get a single or double to advance the runner to 3rd or home. The cleanup hitter does just that and has the power of Ryan Ludwick or Nick Hundley to get everyone home.

Each position in the batting order has it's own unique role that should combine into a great team effort.

But if a player is batting 7th one day, second the next and then 5th on another day how can he get locked into the specific role he is to play at bat? How can a player be blamed for a slump if they are not given the daily opportunity to stay in a regular position in the batting order to truly lock in and perfect their role as part of the over all team.

Yes I know switching around is sometimes needed but this daily mixing and matching of the lineup isn't giving guys the chance to really become adapted and thereby become better and more effective batters at the plate.

Argue the point if you like but I really believe that has been the problem this year so far- the lack of a stable batting order and the chance for players like Brad Hawpe and Orlando Hudson, who is tailor made for being a regular #3 batter in my opinion, to lock into a role in the order.

I will be rooting for Brad Hawpe and Ryan Ludwick tonight come what may. these guys have to feel the fans are behind them and I think that will make all the difference in the world along with a stable batting order from day to day.

Tonight's game against the Atlanta Braves starts at 7:05 pm PT

PLAY BALL!

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE OR FRUSTRATION TODAY

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:57:00 +0000

Obviously it was a no go yesterday and just as well. I think the Padres as a team needed a day off. MLB really put the screws to the Padres this season with the schedule they made.

Either Padres fans will be doubly pleased today or our frustration will be doubled as the Padres play a twin bill today with the Chicago Cubs...the first of the season.

Since we didn't play yesterday there is not much to write but I will share with you some of what Cash Kruth wrote on the piece on mlb.com about today's double-header below in the blue text.

Cubs righty Matt Garza (0-2, 6.27 ERA) will face San Diego's Dustin Moseley (0-3, 1.83) in the first game, beginning at 1:20 p.m. ET.

Garza has gotten off to a slow start in his first season with the Cubs. His most recent outing was a loss against the Rockies in which he allowed five runs in six innings. The 27-year-old right-hander has faced the Padres once in his career, on June 24 of last season, when he allowed three runs in eight innings to earn the victory.

Moseley has pitched better than expected thus far, although his record certainly doesn't show it. In all three of his starts, the Padres have been shut out. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first pitcher since Kenny Rogers in 2008 whose team was shut out in each of his first three starts of a season. Before Rogers, Rudy May suffered the distinction in 1972.

Regardless of his hard-luck start, Moseley said he isn't letting the lack of offensive support affect how he prepares.

"You just have to worry about what you can control, and that's going out and doing my job," Moseley said. "I leave the rest up to the game of baseball. [The hitters] could go out and score all sorts of runs for me in the next 10 outings. It's just part of it."

The nightcap, scheduled for 6:05 p.m., features Padres right-hander Aaron Harang (3-0, 1.50) against Chicago left-hander James Russell (1-1, 7.20).

Russell, normally a reliever, is filling in for the Cubs' injured pitching staff, which has Randy Wells and Andrew Cashner on the disabled list. In his first Major League start on April 12, Russell allowed five runs (four earned) in 1 2/3 innings.

"You can only hope it'll go better," said Russell, who has had two short relief appearances since. "I'm looking forward to it."

Harang, a 10-year veteran, has had no such struggles en route to his undefeated start. According to Elias, he is the first pitcher in franchise history to win each of his first three career starts as a Padre while allowing one earned run or less in each of those games.

In his last outing, the 32-year-old righty held the Astros to one run on three hits and struck out a season-high eight in six innings.

The only thing I want to say about the games today is this:

FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS GOOD PADRES, PLEASE TRY AND GIVE MOSELEY A WIN TODAY!

HE SHOULD BE 3-0 THIS SEASON BASED ON HIS LAST THREE STELLAR PITCHING PERFORMANCES!

And Harang has done a great job as well this year and I hope we give him run support today as well.

So for today I hope the Cubs lose both games- but after today, until we see them at Petco Park in September for the last 3 games of the season, I really hope they do well and can pull ahead of the Reds solidly into first place in the National League Central division.

If we cannot be in a World Series then I want to see one played at Wrigley Field before someone decides that the nearly 100 year old stadium with loads of baseball history needs to meet the wrath of a wrecking ball.

Boston has already had post season in equally as historical and ancient Fenway Park- now it's time to give Wrigley Field the chance to host the big show in October...so after today- best of luck to the Chicago Cubs!

PLAY BALL!

ANOTHER 1-0 LOSS IN THE BITTER COLD

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:11:00 +0000

I missed a post yesterday because I was busy as all get out.

The day before yesterday we managed to squeak out a win in Houston and yesterday the guys were in Chicago. The bats were as cold as the weather (they went from 83 degree weather in Houston to a low of 34 degrees with the wind blowing at Wrigley Field in Chicago).

Due to the excellent pitching on both teams and luke-warm at bats there was absolutely no score until the bottom of the tenth inning. Then a problem releasing the ball by Orlando Hudson that failed to get an inning ending double play set other things in motion.

The end result was a 1-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs in game one of the series.

Amongst the cold bats was that of 1st baseman Jorge Cantu. Fans on twitter grouped him in with Hawpe, Ludwick and Venable as being a dead weight (at least at the plate) player.

But in the guy's defense I want to remind everyone that the day before he had flu-like symptoms and sat the game out wrapped in a blanket in the clubhouse.

Yesterday, in almost freezing temperatures, he came out and played because we do not have another 1st baseman that can actually hit the ball. He was diagnosed with tonsillitis and this man still came out to play in freezing conditions- in the late innings it actually started to snow!

So I think instead of bashing him we should be applauding him. Yes he didn't have successful at bats last night, but would you if you felt like crap, had tonsillitis and had to play in near freezing temperatures after just leaving tropical feeling Houston, Texas?

Blame was zipping around last night faster then Denorfia's final throw back into the infield (that missed cut off man Hudson) from fans on Twitter.

But Orlando Hudson in a tweet to me and in Bradford Doolittle's piece today would not let the team be blamed.

In Bradford Doolittle's article he said about his failure to make the inning ending double play:

"I didn't have a good grip on it," said Hudson. "I'm not going to throw it if I don't have a good grip. Then we'd be saying, 'Why you'd throw that ball?' Either way, I'm in a no-win situation."

My guess last night was that his hand was cold and he didn't get a good grip on the ball- seems I was right on that one. You can't blame the guy for that. I would rather miss a double play rather then have a ball thrown over the first baseman's head!

And really if we want to finger point, Chad Qualls, who came in to pitch that inning blew it again. The last time he was called in he let two runs (that were still Mat Latos' responsibility) score and the game got out of hand.

Same sort of thing happened last night...so Orlando Hudson should have nothing to apologize about but I do think Buddy Black needs to see what is wrong with Chad Qualls and why teams seem to hit him so well before he calls him in during close games.

Orlando was a bit bummed out by not coming through at bat when we had RISP with two outs on a couple of occasions.

Again in that same article he said more:

"That loss is on me," said Hudson. "I didn't come through twice with runners in scoring position, and I didn't turn that double play. That's my loss."

Ok maybe so but a lot of others didn't come through as well.

Buddy Black is soon going to have to make some decisions about Venable, Ludwick and Hawpe I am afraid.

Meanwhile I still believe that the ever changing line-up has an affect on the players consistency. After Cameron Maybin led off and did a fairly good job the other day he was replaced in the next game by Denorfia and then Venable yesterday- both not doing what a good lead off hitter should do...get on base at least 2 out of 5 times at bat.

I am a firm believer that the lead off hitter is the key in many instances and I just do not understand why a kid like cam Maybin- who clearly can hit the ball when it's not freezing cold like it was last night (with the wind chill factor the the temperature had to be in the high 20's)and has some speed should not get some regular consecutive starts in the position.

Have you noticed Nick Hundley's bat has cooled off a bit as well? When he was batting in the 8 spot he told Cory Brock from mlb.com that he felt really comfortable with his place in the lineup and he was hitting well.

Chase Headley and Orlando Hudson seem to do well in the 2 and 3 spot but they need a guy to lead off that knows how to draw walks and that is patient at the plate.

All the shifting of the lineups have not given these guys stability- so how can anyone expect them to settle in. One day you are playing the next you are not. One day you are batting in the lead off the next you are batting 7th.

Leave the lineup pretty much steady for a while (unless you have to do the righty-lefty) things and I think we will see more of these guys settling in with better at bats.

Headley sucked before he was batting second- his position in the order stayed the same for a few days. Stability in the line up works- that may not be coming from a baseball professional but if you look at the teams that are doing well their lineups are much the same from day to day.

Let the guys settle into a role- let Cam Maybin prove he isn't a good lead off guy in consecutive games otherwise we will still see the inconsistency that we keep seeing at the plate.

Today's game against the Chicago Cubs has been officially postponed...more details tomorrow

RESHUFFLED LINEUP HELPS PADRES LOSE- AGAIN

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:20:00 +0000

I will tell you from the start today I am looking for comments and opinions on today's post.

Last night, because of two great defensive plays that robbed us by the Houston Astros defense, we lost again 5-3 to the Astros.

But beyond the defensive plays I believe there are some other reasons why this team can't seem to pull together a two-game winning streak this season.

Don't get me wrong- I love having Buddy Black as our manager. he is a very nice man and one of the best managers in the major leagues but I think he made a mistake last night putting Mat Latos on the mound in the bottom of the 7th.

In the Padres top of the 7th Mat Latos was on base and he was hustling around the bags. I worry when a pitcher spends a lot of time on the bases during an inning and since this was Mat's second start I expected him to just go 6 and see Like Gregerson in the 7th.

The tried and true was left in the bullpen and when Latos gave up two walks in a row Chad Qualls came in and the Astros beat up on him giving them the lead.

So I think that decision factored into the loss yesterday.

A lot of people are saying that the Padres can't hit...well that is true for some of them but I think the bigger problem is stability in the lineup.

Yesterday, for some reason we had Hundley off (one of the two hot bats on the team) and the line up had a lot of the "B" players in it. Today the other good bat, while we go against the Astros best pitcher, Orlando Hudson is out of the line up.

Cameron Maybin did a good job at lead off the day before and yet yesterday Patterson was batting lead-off and never got on base because he was impatient at the plate and would swing at crap that either flied out or grounded out.

Cameron should have been given another day to prove he can be a good lead off guy yesterday in my opinion. How can he prove it if he does it just every 4th or 5th day?

Every day there is a new lineup and the players, aside from a couple, are shuffled around in the line up each day.

Yesterday's line up looked like this:

Patterson 7, Venable 9, Hudson 4, Headley 5, Hawpe 3, Maybin 8, Gonzalez 6, Johnson 2, Latos 1

Today it looks like this:

Denorfia 9, Patterson 4, Headley 5, Cantu 3, Hundley 2, Ludwick 7, Maybin 8, Bartlett 6, Richard 1

I asked a couple of players, on Twitter, if being bounced around in the line-up messes them up and as expected they said no- probably because they didn't want to say anything negative about Buddy Black's line ups.

But I remember playing ball in high school. One year we had a coach that kept our line up fairly consistent. We had a good year and won a lot of games. The next year we got a new coach (the old one retired from teaching) and every time we played there was a different line up. I played short stop and usually was batted 6th in the order. In our winning year I, as did my teammates, got comfortable and settled in with my role and place in the batting order. The next year I was a mess and it messed up my flow.

Maybe it is different for Major league ball players but I have to think that if the line up changes every day (I know it has to some because of the righty-lefty thing) how can guys like Cameron Maybin- who I still think, if given a chance to settle into an every day role, would be a fabulous lead off hitter for our team. The kid has great speed and he is patient at the plate (something we didn't see with Patterson and Venable last night)

So I will ask anyone that reads this today- what do you think?

Do you think the daily reshuffling of the lineup is affecting the consistency of hitting on this team? Certainly Nick Hundley, who said he felt real comfortable in the 8 spot last week, kind of cooled off a bit after he was moved around.

Am I way off base or do you think not having stability in the line-up is what the real problem is with the low batting averages these guys have?

There has to be a reason why we let a team like Houston, with a pitcher yesterday with an ERA over 10, beat us and hold us to three runs like he was Cy Young himself.

Friday's line-up was a winner and I say don't fix what isn't broken. This series for the Padres should have been a 3 out of 4 win...instead we will struggle today to try to tie the series before heading to Chicago.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Today's game starts at 11:05am PT - the final game with the Houston Astros.

PLAY BALL!

PADRES TEAM EFFORT BEATS ASTROS 4-2

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:44:00 +0000

Ryan Ludwick has got to be feeling good today. Before this road trip, at Petco Park, the guy couldn't get a break. he made contact with the ball and sailed a few of them but you all know Petco Park...it is not exactly a hitter's paradise.

So I was probably as pleased as he was last night when he hit a two run single in the 7th inning last night. Ludwick said that he is standing "straighter" in the batter's box and hopefully that will help him see the ball better.

It was a good team effort last night and we came away with a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

Not a lot of time for me to write today but I just wanted to say that I have faith in the Padres team.

Sometimes, like Thursday night, it may not seem like it but I wasn't the only one frustrated, but remember I grew up with the New York Mets in the 1970's so I am used to abysmal starts!

Really we cannot tell anything this early on- once we get deep into may we will have a better idea about what the Padres will do as we get into the summer and fall.

For now I hope they can take the next two from Houston and win the series in Chicago after that so we gain back some of the games we lost before we start the next homestand- a really tough one with four games against the Phillies!

Good luck tonight Padres- let's give Mat Latos his first win of the season!

Today's game starts at 4:05 pm PT against the Houston Astros again.

PLAY BALL!

HERE'S TO YOU NUMBER 42

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:48:00 +0000

I really have nothing to say about yesterday's pitiful loss to the Houston Astros and this team denying Moseley a win by making the Astros starting pitcher look like Cy Young. If you missed it we lost 1-0 in the first game of four at Minute Maid Park.

Hopefully the team will do better today.

I need a break from writing as well today so we will keep it simple with a few thoughts about Number 42.

Today MLB honors a man that had a lot of courage and who we all know broke the color barrier. It kind of makes me ashamed the generation before my parents. Not being a bigot myself I just don't understand how these people could devalue another human being just because of skin color

There were so many great players in the Negro Leagues and Jackie had the courage to go out and play and suffer the abuse of bigots every day.

This man was one in a million- one of those people in history that helps, in their own little way, to change things for the good when we, as humans, are ignorant and just plain stupid like the people who kept back folks out of baseball for so long.

Not only did he change the face of the game but he changed the face of the world. After seeing Jackie my parents generation started waking up and more and more people started to say enough with the deep seeded prejudice in America.

I admire this man so much because I cannot imagine how hard it was for him to take the field every day hearing bigots at Ebbet's Field yelling racial slurs at him. This man held his head up high the whole time and made those who chastised him look like the fools they were.

So as we get ready for today's Padres Game I hope everyone takes a moment to go read about Jackie- especially you kids who see 64 years ago as an eternity away.

Here's to you number 42...we have very few like you these days!

You can click here to visit the Official Jackie Robinson website and read more about him.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A MLB VIDEO WITH PADRE PLAYERS MAYBIN, PATTERSON AND VENABLE TALKING ABOUT NUMBER 42!

Today's game against the Houston astros starts at 5:05pm PT...win one for Jackie Padres!

PLAY BALL!

NOBODY LIKES THE UMP- ESPECIALLY ANGEL HERNANDEZ

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Before I get started today I want to mention something that Orlando Hudson, the guy who came through with a big single in the 9th yesterday to give us a walk off win against one of the best teams in the National League so far this year- The Cincinnati Reds, reminded me of last night.

After the game ended with a 3-2 victory for the Padres yesterday I tweeted congratulations to Orlando. I had already heard that he is a modest man and plugs his ears when reporters try to talk about things he is doing well. So it didn't surprise me when he tweeted back and reminded me to thank the guys that got on base before him, otherwise his hit would have been just a single.

He was right about that, in the last few innings yesterday we saw a really good team effort and a tip of the hat has got to go especially to Brad Hawpe who was very patient at the plate and drew a walk from the Reds pitcher in relief to give us our first man on base in the bottom of the 9th yesterday.

I am bringing this up today because I really like Orlando Hudson. I sort of cheated on the Padres a couple of years ago when he was with Arizona. I kept an eye on him over there and was pleased as punch when we signed him to a two-year contract.

Aside from his playing prowess and his work to help Autistic children off the field, this man reminds me a lot of Tony Gwynn, Sr.

Tony is one of the nicest and most humble men out there and was a wonderful hero- for 20 years straight with the Padres- for many who saw him play and lived here in San Diego.

Tony never wanted wins, even if he was instrumental in them, to be all about him. Instead I remember him minimizing his efforts on many occasions and giving credit to his teammates as well.

These days with players that sometimes have egos as fat as some of the MLB umpires that is a rare quality to see in a MLB player and Orlando seems to be the same sort of guy Tony Gwynn is. There definitely is no "I" and team and I stand corrected from yesterday on Twitter- Orlando made some fine defensive and offensive plays but we saw another team effort yesterday and the guys that came through in the 9th all need a big pat on the back from us fans.

Last night the guys hopped on a plane and headed to Houston, Texas.

The Padres will start their second road trip this season going against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Field.

Again, on this blog, I am not going to rewrite stats and pre-game stuff that you can find elsewhere...I just am going to say that we have a big chance to get a lot of wins on this visit to Houston and then in Chicago for three games with the Cubs.

We all know Petco Park is a pitcher's park so now that the guys are on the road I suspect that we will see some bats really come alive- especially Ludwick who is making contact but just missing home runs because they get caught in Petco.

So offensively against the Houston Astros, who are doing worse in the win-loss column then we are, we should see a lot of the hitting we have been waiting to see at Petco. After this last home stand I am sure the guys are happy visiting a couple of relatively hitter friendly parks.

The name of the Houston stadium also brings to mind something that bugs the crap out of me. Obviously I am not a kid and have been on the planet for well over 40 years now. I have been a baseball fan since I saw the amazing New York Mets in 1969.

Back then stadiums were named after key players, owners, a person who was a big part of the ball club or the city it was in.

In the era of huge salaries and the need for teams these days to compete with payroll rather than raw talent on the field we also have the stadiums corporately sponsored. We have that here at home. I have pets, I shop at Petco but I think our new stadium should have been named Gwynn field or something.

So while it probably shouldn't, it irks me, that ball parks are named after big corporate sponsors, who buy the naming rights, and not anything to do with past players or the teams itself.

What disturbs me more these days is the blown calls by umpires and the egos they have that go unchecked.

That's MLB umpire Angel Hernandez getting reemed out, back in 2009, by Jim Leyland. Yesterday he threw out Buddy Black for making comments about his inconsistency at calling balls and strikes at the plate.

In a post-game press conference Buddy admitted that he knows he isn't supposed to argue balls and strikes but my question is - why not?

I don't know who or when umpires were elevated to infallible god status but I think managers should be able to call umpires on their bad calls especially if it adversely is affecting a game.

Yesterday we saw yet another Padre runner called out at first base when the television replay clearly showed that he was safe and arrived well ahead of the ball.

In the last couple of years these aging umpires seem to blow calls throughout MLB on a daily basis...with no accountability what so ever.

Players can get ejected and fined for a number of offenses. But Major league umpires can do whatever they want and affect the honest play of a game without anybody saying a damn thing. If they do they are thrown out of the game.

I think there should be some monitoring of umpires. If they are consistently blowing calls or tend to call the same pitches, in the same location a strike and then later a ball then their performance should be reviewed.

If they are consistently messing up calls or inconsistent behind home plate, just like a player that is not doing well offensively or defensively get sent down to the minor leagues until they re-prove that they are good enough to umpire a MLB game.

While Buddy may have broke the scared rule of not arguing balls and strikes yesterday he wasn't doing it just to heckle Hernandez.

He was right and MLB baseball...to make these games really fair contests...needs to start holding the umpires accountable for their missed calls or blatantly inconsistency that sometimes obviously favors one team over another.

Back to today's game...

Here is wishing the entire Padres team a successful road trip this next 7 days...I think we, the fans of the team, will be pleasantly surprised!

Today's game starts at 5:05pm PT (7:05 pm CT).

PLAY BALL!

PADRES SEEING RED AGAIN AND SO ARE THE FANS

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:17:00 +0000

I really am at a loss as to what to say about last night's game. An attendance of a a little over 17,000 watched in horror, as did I, the Padres leave the bases loaded in the 9th and again in the 10th inning.

Then things got worse when Luebke, who was pitching for the Padres got two outs and then an offensive explosion by the Reds won the game for them by a score of 8-2.

Even the Swinging Friar got the camera ready to record the event- it had to be one of the most heart wrenching games I have seen a long time.

I personally, as a fan, am tired of excuses.

I know it's only the 11th game today but Buddy Black has to do something about Ludwick and Hawpe- especially when they come in and kill a 2-out bases loaded rally.

These are veteran players that should be able to hit in clutch situations...and hell isn't that what we paid for when we got Ludwick?

So instead of reliving that game- you can read about what happened elsewhere...let's take a look at today's game.

The line-up is changed a bit again today and Will Venable and Nick Hundley (two of the people that actually get hits and get off base) are off!

Meanwhile Denorfia is in to play for Venable and Johnson will be the man behind the plate catching.

Ryan Ludwick is in the line-up again today. That poor man needs a day off just to chill out. It is apparent that both he and Hawpe are frustrated at the plate.

Ludwick is getting better though. The batting average may not reflect that at .094 but a couple of hits he had last night, in any other ballpark would have been home runs.

The guy is just having a string of bad luck. He needs a day off and I would have given him today off so he would be mentally fresh when he goes with the team to Houston this week. I suspect in Houston his long fly ball outs may be home runs...but we have to wait and see.

Batting lead off today is Cameron Maybin and I am happy about that.

I think this guy, was getting settled in the role, is capable of being a lead off hitter. He just has to be very, very patient at the plate and work the count.

He doesn't have to hit the big hit but just get on base. Cameron has good speed and he is a spunky kid so I like the possibilities of him being aggressive and stealing bases.

Will Venable is a good lead off player as well but I would like to see Will batting 5 or 6th to give that middle of the line-up a bit of help.

Bartlett feels better and he is back in the line-up batting 2nd today.

So we will see if the changes work out today.

Here is today's line-up:

MAYBIN-BARLETT-HUDSON-CANTU-LUDWICK-HEADLEY-DENORFIA-JOHNSON-AND STAUFFER WHO WILL BE STARTING AS THE PITCHER TODAY.

Game starts at 3:35pm PT and it can't be any worse than yesterday- maybe the team will surprise us as they wrap up the home-stand and get at least one win in the series with the new Big Red Machine- the Cincinnati Reds.

PLAY BALL!

LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE AFTER 3-2 LOSS

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:09:00 +0000

It was a game, last night, that the San Diego Padres should have won had it not been for some bad luck and some good defense by the Cincinatti Reds...oh and a blown call by the third base umpire late in the game. We lost that game 3-2 and gave Mat Latos, who pitched very effectively allowing 5 hits and 3 runs, his first loss for his first start of the year.

Once again in that game there were some bad umpire calls. Cory Brock, the Padres MLB beat reporter points out, in his piece, "The Padres got a leadoff double in the eighth inning from shortstop Alberto Gonzalez -- who filled in for the second time in as many days for Jason Bartlett, who is getting close to playing after being sidelined with a tight back. Pinch-hitter Chris Denorfia, charged with moving Gonzalez to third base on a bunt, got the bunt down but it wasn't far enough from catcher Ramon Hernandez, who picked up the ball and fired to third base to get Gonzalez. Television replays showed that Gonzalez beat the tag."

One blown call...yet again by Major League umpires that can't seem to figure out how to get in to position to clearly see plays made the difference between us losing and tying and possibly winning the game. That is not to say that we need to get better offensively but that sure did not help the Padres out last night.

It was a frustrating game for the fans- me included. But as Orlando Hudson reminded me yesterday, the game of baseball looks easy but it is one of the hardest sports to play.

Still it is hard for us fans to watch the ship sink when you have great players like Orlando hustling and getting in scoring position and then having the same two batters that are not producing much at all come up after him and end what could have been a game tying inning.

It's hard not to get frustrated by that and to question why the manager, Bud Black, keeps putting two guys that are obviously having a rough start back to back and that far up in the order.

But I am not a professional player or manager so there must be a logical reason for what he does with the line-ups.

So yes, we had a loss yesterday, but what is the point on dwelling on the negative?

Instead let's look at the bright side. We could be fans in Boston now watching the team, whose fans so readily proclaimed would be stellar with Adrian Gonzales while his former team was now the "worst team in baseball without him", lose game after game so far this season.

Beyond that and the loss yesterday there were some positives. Let's start with our pitchers last night.

First there is Matt Latos.

Last night Mat made his first appearance as a Padre for 2011 and despite the lack of offense really stayed sharp most of the time he was in there pitching.

It was a great first start of the year and he looked great on the mound.

Yes he did give up a couple of home runs but what I, and everyone else has to keep in mind is that these are not the crappy Cincinnati Reds from a few years back. This is the defending National League Central Champions and offensively and defensively they have a hell of a good team.

When you keep that in mind and consider that Mat just allowed 5 hits and they scored just 3 earned runs while he was pitching you have to tip your hat at Mat because he held them to a minimum of scoring and pitched a great game- they really did deserve a win in my opinion.

When Mat was finished Buddy Black called in Ernesto Frieri and then Chad Qualls to get us out of the top of the 8th unscathed and then had Pat Neshek come in for the top of the 9th and he did the same so the Reds did not score.

The combined effort of the pitchers last night was top notch considering the caliber of team the Cincinnati Reds have become in the past year. The run support was not there but again we have to remember what team we are playing.

For some reason MLB and those who make the schedule thought it was a good idea to have the Padres play an April schedule with barely a day off and a schedule that started at home with the defending World Champion San Franciso Giants. Then we had our tough nemesis the LA Dodgers to face and now the Reds.

When we come back from the road trips we get to face more of the toughest teams in the National League. We first start with the Phillies and then play Atlanta as the month ends.

I think we have a big chance to go above .500 on the road since we first play the hapless Houston Astros and then the Chicago Cubs (although the Cubs may put up a good fight too) so it is not an easy schedule of teams to play.

So we deserved to win- Latos deserved a win but we were playing a top notch Cincinnati Reds team.

I still have a problem with the Ludwick- Hawpe back to back after hitters like Hudson in the batting order thing but I guess when you face really hot teams like the Reds with a pitcher that is half way decent like yesterday you have to strike when the iron is hot.

Another bright light and positive that came out of last night's game was the awakening of the bat of one of my favorite players from last year Will Venable.

On my my Twitter account you may have read me saying that I would like to see Cameron Maybin in the lead off spot instead of Will Venable.

I want to make it clear that it is not because I do not have faith in Will. I have watched him progress into a fine player and he is one hell of a great left fielder.

I just think that Will would do well in the 4 or 5 spot and that Cameron Maybin, much like Mike Cameron from a few years ago, has the spunkiness and the skill to be a good lead off hitter that consistently gets on base this year.

I was really pleased as punch to see Will Venable get some really good lead off hits last night.

Even though I, as many of you so far this season, get really frustrated when umpires blow calls or guys on the team fail to take advantage of opportunities (we were 0-4 last night with RISP) there are always brights sides to even a loss that shouldn't have been like last night's.

Tonight we face the Reds again and all we can do is think positive and hope that our offense is able to capitalize if the Reds starting or relief pitchers falter.

It makes it tough for the guys because to win this series they have to win two in a row but like I said, once we go out on the road to Houston Thursday, I think we all will be surprised at whose bats come screamingly alive since they won't be playing in pitcher friendly parks like Petco.

Keep the faith Padres fans...like I said at the start of this post... at least we aren't in Boston!

Tonight's game against the Reds starts at 7:05 PT

PLAY BALL!

PADRES PLAY WITH PASSION-BEAT LA 7-2

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Late last night, long after the great victory of the San Diego Padres over the LA Dodgers. I received a "tweet" back from Padres new 2nd base wizard Orlando Hudson who hit a brilliant long double on a line drive to LA Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier.

That double, in the bottom of the 3rd inning, set the plate for Jorge Cantu and he came through with a single on a line drive to center fielder Matt Kemp driving Orlando home and making the score 1-1 and putting the Padres back in the game.

At the time I tweeted a congrats to Orlando via my Twitter account and when I checked it before I went to bed I saw that he wrote back.

Orlando wrote, " thx lil buddy and hopefully many more 2 come! A hit is a hit- I'll take 200 hits a year just like dat lol"

You know what Padres fans?

I really believe that this man could do that, don't you?

We just saw one of the biggest disgraces to the game of baseball Manny Ramirez"retire" because he allegedly tested dirty in Spring training- again (see this well said blog post by Bob Scanlan saying good riddance to Manny) and last night I saw, via the tweet, a real humble and classy man in the form of Orlando Hudson.

It is not many Major League baseball players that would take time to tweet back a fan and that speaks volumes about this man.

Not only is he an asset to the team (he and Bartlett make the best pair at 2nd and short I have seen in a long time) and a man of passion both for the game and for the charity that he holds dear, he is also a decent human being. By the way you can visit Orlando's website, here, to learn more about The C.A.T.C.H Foundation...I charity I plan to become acquainted with because my extended family was affected by it as well.

This was evidenced in another tweet he sent to another Twitter user that simply said "I am blessed and it's my duty to bless others.".

So you can have your drugged up, power hitting Manny Ramirez, those that are still in his fan base. I will take great human beings like Orlando Hudson on my team.

Yesterday his hit seemed to motivate the rest of the line-up...I firmly believe that it was the staring point for a lot of explosive offense yesterday.

That hit by Orlando Hudson seemed to have sparked the fire back into the other players offensively yesterday afternoon at Petco.

After the game was tied in the bottom of the third the passion and the determination of this relatively new Padres team came back to life. The same sort of team spirit and drive to win that we saw at the start of the season in St. Louis.

In the bottom of the 4th Ryan Ludwick, who has been in a very frustrating slump, was first to bat.

After getting a called strike on a sinker ball thrown by Dodgers pitcher John Ely he slammed an 0-1 count changeup into the second deck of the left field pavilion making the score 2-1 Padres!

In the bottom of the 6th inning both Jorge Cantu and Brad Hawpe were struck out.

It looked like the momentum from Orlando Hudson's "wake up the team" double from the 3rd inning was wearing off.

But then Ryan Ludwick was at the plate and had one of the best at bats I have watched a Padres player have this season.

Nine pitches were thrown by Ely until he finally walked Ludwick and gave the Padres the go ahead run on base.

Nick Hundley then came to the plate and with two outs and Ludwick on 1st base slammed the first pitch he saw ( a four-seam fastball) 403 feet into the Padres bullpen to make the score 4-1 Padres.

The momentum hadn't died after all.

The Dodgers got another run in the top of the 7th because of an error by our pitcher Aaron Harang...who btw is now 2-0 with a great start this season!

James Loney reached on a fielder's choice, fielded by pitcher Aaron Harang and pesky Matt Kemp scored to make it a 4-2 Padres game.

That would be all the runs for the Dodgers yesterday.

In the bottom of the the 7th the guy who I think, despite opposing opinions should be our lead off man, Cameron Maybin was brought into the game and stepped to the plate. Dodgers relief pitcher Jansen threw two cutters resulting in a 1-1 count.

The next pitch was also a cutter but this time Cameron Maybin got a hold of it and slammed it nearly in the same spot Hundley hit his homer earlier!

With one swing Cameron Maybin made it a 5-2 game...another insurance run for the Padres.

In the bottom of the 8th inning there was more passionate team play to come.

Nick Hundley drew a walk and then Chase Headley came to the plate and sacrificed Nick over to second. Our new Gonzales- Alberto, who was hit-less the whole game, came through with a well hit single, on a soft fly ball, to right fielder Andre Ethier and Nick Hundley scored..sealing the deal and pretty much the game by making it 6-2 Padres.

Lance Cormie, now the Dodgers pitcher in relief, threw a wild pitch advancing Alberto Gonzales to second and then the little guy that could- Cameron Maybin did it again.

He slammed a 3-2 cutter into a long triple- sending Gonzales to home plate and making it 7-2 Padres...which was the final score yesterday.

In yesterday's post I talked about how not having an every day stable line-up may affects teams in my opinion and I still stand by it. I understand that Buddy Black is testing out players early in the year but I do believe it has an affect.

But other little things affect a team as well. And some for the positive.

Orlando Hudson's big double...which he humbly just said was a "hit"... may just have been the thing that brought the Padres out of their offensive coma and gave us a big win yesterday.

It goes to show that the little things do count- whether it is just getting "a hit" that is a double, being patient at the plate and drawing a walk or a little extra hustle on the base pads makes a world of difference and it did yesterday.

Hopefully the regained momentum and drive to win and prove the naysayers wrong will stay with the team tonight as we take on the surprisingly good Cincinnati Reds at 7:05pm PT!

PLAY BALL!

PADRES EARN DOUBLE LOSSES LAST NIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:24:00 +0000

Even the Friar looked stressed last night as the Padres finished up the game that was suspended in the wee hours of the morning and then played the regularly scheduled game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Either someone in Los Angeles put a curse on us (obviously in the form of Tony Gwynn Jr. who was a thorn in his hometown and former team's side yesterday) or the current Padres didn't really have the drive to win like the Dodgers did.

I suspect it is the latter. Unlike baseball when I was a kid baseball today is not consistent as far as who is on your team from year to year. Some teams still retain the major stars of their teams but the Padres, as do most of the others, seem to produce a new line-up each season.

Back then, when I was a kid and watched the Mets, the same group of players would return year in and year out unless a player retired. That consistency made the game better.

From year to year the players would know each other and were comfortable playing the game with each other. Now days, with teams switching up rosters from year to year thanks to the greed in baseball and the free agent system there is no consistency. I think and the lack of consistency made the last two games some of the worst I have seen played in a long time.

Most of these guys on the team are new to the Padres so they are not really tuned into the big rivalry between the Dodgers and the Padres. Clearly the Dodgers, who have many of the same players from last year, were in tune and it showed with the aggressive base running, the timely hitting and the good defensive plays.

After we lost the first game by a score of 4-2- thanks to Tony Gwynn Jr., who seemed to be giving the team that traded him away the big middle finger as he ran around the bases and scored a few runs for his new team- it seemed as if the Padres gave up before the started. Or at least it seemed that way.

Granted the Dodgers starting pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, was on his game and pitched brilliantly. In fact he wound up one out short of having a complete game but this same Padres team handled tough pitching and a tough team on the road- namely the St. Louis Cardinals.

That team- or at least the line-up was a completely different team of players then we saw last night.

Our defense got sloppy, we couldn't hit the ball- and when we could and had the bases loaded, at least once in Friday's fiasco and two times in last night's regular game, impatience at the plate and hitting bad pitches ended one rally and the collision of Chase Headley and Casey Blake to get the final out of the ninth inning was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The team that took the field in St. Louis, at the start of the season, was excited to play and in to the competition of the game. They came home and won the first from the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants and then lost the next day thanks to the stellar pitching of Tim Lincecum.

I am not sure what happened Thursday on the off day but when this same group of players returned on Friday for the first of three with our big rivals- the Los Angeles Dodgers they seemed as if they were defeated before we even got to the second rain delay of that game.

Conversely many of the Dodger players, who are back from last year, are aware of the bitter rivalry and gave it their all for the fans that traveled down to Petco.

That was the difference in the two teams I saw last night.

And because the Dodgers played as a team, while our guys seemed to play as individuals at the plate- swinging to hard and hitting long fly balls to Tony Gwynn Jr. in center field that they intended to be home runs instead of getting the timely and well placed hits the Dodgers got to move their runners- The Los Angels Dodgers deserved to win the two games and we earned our losses.

The new and "improved" Padre team has no real allegiance to the fans here in San Diego.

The Dodger team, with players that have stayed on the team like Ethier and Loney, have more of an allegiance to the fans to go out and beat a rival team.

You could clearly see that when you compare how the two teams played last night.

The Dodgers were intense and aiming on winning while the Padres seemed more concerned with hitting a home run and upping their dwindling batting averages. I saw no intensity in our team like I did with the Dodger team.

I think that is what I dislike about baseball today as compared to when I was a kid.

I understand that there is free agency and players these days go for the money rather than the principle of staying with a team regardless, for the fans, like Tony Gwynn Sr. did for twenty years with the Padres.

I think players switching teams and being traded like one changes their underwear has ruined the consistency and continuity of the game for many teams in this day and age.

Being consistent is the way a team wins.

When the line-up and the players keep changing from year to year it is like staring from scratch again and new players really have no allegiance to the fan base in big games and early on they are not given the chance to develop into a true nine man team that plays well on an every day basis.

So when they play high-profile games like the three this weekend- with a big time rival they don't have the drive or intensity to win for the fans like the Dodgers seemed to have last night.

The other thing that has bothered me for a while is the way Buddy Black fiddles with the line-up. Just when you get a line-up that seems to play well together- both offensively and defensively it is shaken up and non-regular starters are thrown in the mix. Buddy did that in St. Louis. Game two of that series produced a lot of offense and great defensive plays by the team. We won by a score of 11-3.

The line up was as follows:

Venable, Bartlett, Hudson, Hawpe, Ludwick, Headley, Maybin, Hundley and Richard

The next day we lost by a score of 2-0 and the line-up was totally switched around:

Barlett, Hudson, Cantu, Ludwick, Headley, Denorfia, Maybin,Hundley and Moseley

Of course I am just a fan and not a professional manager but even so I had to ask myself during that series and many times last season why Buddy Black keeps fixing things that are not broken?

I know there are rational reasons why line-ups are tweaked (the right-lefty factor) but again this does not help a new group of guys playing as a team get the consistency that we see in the Dodgers- who really don't tweak their line-up all that much and even the defending World Champion Giants.

The New York Yankees keep the same line-up and that brings wins and consistency to that team.

You don't need a triple million dollar payroll to have a winning team but I think you do need to allow your every day players the chance to get settled into where they bat in the line-up and used to playing defensively with each other in the field.

Buddy Black is real nice man but you have to decide whether you want to cater to people's egos on the bench or consistently put a squad of guys on the field that produce runs, work well defensively with each other and use the rest as needed.

It may bruise some egos but sorry. The game of baseball is played so that one team wins and one team loses. It is not about being fair and giving every player a chance to play like a Little League team of boys. It is about winning the damn games- a winning team brings more fans to the stadium.

So I don't think we can blame the players on the Padres for the sloppy defensive play and the lack of drive to win for the fans that was apparent last night.

They lack continuity and consistency and I wish that when we get a line-up, that works well together, that Buddy Black leave it be and give these new guys a chance to work as a nine man every day player team and not make the line-up a big surprise from day to day.

We earned the losses yesterday and the Dodgers earned their wins.

Let's see what line-up we get today and if, after a good night's sleep, the Padres can manage to win one today for the fans who are out at the park rooting for them.

Today's game starts at 1:05 pm PT

PLAY BALL!

A WET AND WEIRD GAME LAST NIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 16:06:00 +0000

Yesterday's game, that hasn't finished yet, was bizarre to say the least! It would have been a good night to bring back the big BEAT LA towels. Well after midnight and after 4 rain delays the game was suspended with the Padres in a tie with the Dodgers (2 - 2) as the top of the 9th inning was stopped with another wave of heavy rain.

On the 50's show "I Love Lucy", when there would be a Lucy caused disaster, Ricky Riccardo would look shocked and puzzled and would say "What happuned?"

I was saying that to myself last night.

First the game was delayed preemptively by the Padres management and, of course, not a drop of rain fell...until the second inning. Then the skies opened up and we were in at least and hour and thirty-five minute rain delay.

Play eventually resumed. Ted Lilly came back on the mound for the Dodgers but Padres starting pitcher Clayton Richard, who had a brilliant 1st inning, did not return and Cory Luebke took the mound. At that point the score was still Padres 0 - Dodgers 0.

Luebke did a pretty good job of pitching until there was a double steal in the top of the 4th. Matt Kemp stole second and Casey Blake stole third with Juan Uribe batting. A major throwing error by Nick Hundley allowed Blake to score from 3rd so the score was now Dodgers 1 - Padres 0.

Meanwhile the weather report didn't look promising and by the time we were in the bottom of the 5th it was clear, to even a layman like me, that there was a big green and yellow blob of the weather radar meaning another cell of heavy rain was coming.

Before the rain came Orlando Hudson singled in Will Venable. Then Ryan Ludwick was out again but at least these time it was a sacrifice of sorts allowing Orlando Hudson to score.

At this point the score was Padres 2 Dodgers 1...and it was now an official game.

That is when the first head scratcher occurred.

Home plate umpire Ed Rapuano had to know, after the fifth inning ended, that another big swell of rain was coming fast. Petco Park has a wonderful grounds crew and I am sure they had the latest from the National weather Service.

Instead of delaying the game again and getting the tarps on the field preemptively like the Padre management did at the start of the game Rapuano let the players take the field in the top of the sixth.

Meanwhile the rain was starting to come down and was getting heavier by the minute.

Cory Luebke walked two batters in a row and finally was replaced...the score was still Padres 2 - Dodgers 1. Clearly the defense was having a lot of trouble in the rain and still Rapuano let the inning go on.

Enter Chad Qualls, who did alright considering the rain, but eventually allowed the tying run to score when he pitched to Kemp and he hit a single driving in the run...then after the score was tied Ed Rapuano decides to stop the game.

The other head scratcher was Qualls...he pitched fairly well but why not bring in Adams (who was used later in the night) or even Gregerson to make sure the Dodgers did not score?

Corey Brock, the MLB Padre reporter offered this observation from his article that he didn't get to publish until nearly 3am this morning:

"The Padres had plenty of chances -- rain or shine. They were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on base. On two occasions, San Diego advanced runners to third base with less than two outs and was unable to score.

This proved important, as the Dodgers tied the score with a run in the sixth inning off reliever Chad Qualls when Kemp -- who had three hits -- lined an RBI single to left field. That was right before another delay."

That seemed to be our problem last year as well. By the time the third rain delay occurred we should have had a score of at least Padres 4 - Dodgers 1...but instead the game stayed tied at two a piece.

Sixty-seven minutes later play was resumed until the top of the ninth inning. Matt Kemp just singled and the rain came again. This time Rapuano let the delay last 27 minutes until he finally suspended the game.

All of this could have been avoided if umpire Ed Rapuano had a brain and had got the tarps on the field before the sixth inning started.

Some may argue that it wasn't raining much at this point but if Padres management could have the brains to get the tarps on the field and delay the game at the start why didn't this guy, who I am sure in between innings was told what was coming?

Had he done that it could have been declared finished after 5 innings since that is an official regulation game at that point and the Padres would have won.

But as it is the game will resume later today. They will finish up last night's game- still tied at two- at 5:35 pm PT and with the Dodgers having a Matt Kemp on base. After that game finally ends they anticipate playing the scheduled game at 7:05pm PT or when the first contest ends if it goes long and the tie isn't broken after nine innings.

People coming to the games tonight have to have a SATURDAY ticket, according to Corey Brock's article, and the Padres announced that tonight's game is a sell out.

Best case scenario- The Padres score first and win the game they should have won last night and do well in the next game.

Worst case scenario- losing the first game and playing bad defense and leaving way too many in scoring position in the second game tonight. That will make the Dodger fans even more cockier and self-righteous which will not make for a great day Sunday.

But let's think positive- that the boys will play good defense with no rain in their eyes and hit the ball when we have big scoring opportunities tonight.

LAST NIGHT'S PADRES MVP:

One guy that shined through the clouds of last night's game was Cameron Maybin. Before the tie game was postponed, Maybin was 2-for-3 with two stolen bases! Let's hope he repeats that again today and his teammates as well.

It really was one of the oddest rain delay games I have seen in my lifetime- here in a city where it hardly rains at all in the Spring and Summer.

Get ready to bite your nails tonight and let's hope that in at least one of the games tonight we actually BEAT LA!

Play Ball!

HERE COME THE DODGERS AND THEIR FANS

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:38:00 +0000

The LA Dodgers play tonight at Petco Park and after what happened at Dodger Stadium I am sure Padres fans will be on their guard.

I certainly am not a Dodger fan but I don't hate the team itself or the organization. What I can't stand is some of the fans. Especially when they come to Petco Park and pick fights with Padres fans.

This is not to say there are not decent people that are Dodgers fans but for the most part, at every San Diego vs. LA game I have been at here at Petco Park, the Dodger fans I have seen have been rude, obnoxious and over-the-top.

Conceited to the max they think that just because they sport the name of a team that has a vast history both in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles in the late 1950's, they are superior to the Padres.

So far this season it seems like the Padres are superior to the Dodgers as far as the win- loss stats are concerned and this weekend it will be a critical series for the Padres to win. Best case scenario is that we sweep the Dodgers, but even if we win 2 out of 3 it still will be good for the Padres in the standings.

So we will see what happens tonight.

I am curious to see if security is beefed up outside the gates before and after the game tonight given what happened in LA when the San Francisco fan was brutally beaten and a reported hundred or so people were around and did nothing to stop it or even capture the two suspects that beat the man senseless.

Tonight's game starts at 7:05pm and there is a fireworks presentation after the game.

LET'S GO PADRES...AND...BEAT L.A.!!

PLAY BALL!

THE FREAKY FANS AND PRICES AT PETCO

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:59:00 +0000

I am still not quite sure what happened yesterday. Why Bud Black decided to put in untested pitchers as opposed to guys like Adams and Gregerson in a game where San Francisco's "Freak" Tim Lincecum was dominating the Padre offense and the game was still within reach?

We ended up losing 8-4 after a mini, all too late, rally in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs yesterday.

In the stands there were mostly fans of the "freak" and the San Francisco Giants. And boy some of these people were complete assholes.

Baseball fans, like most Americans, seem to have short term memory and limited recall when it counts.

The San Francisco fans forgot that the day before their starting pitcher was taken out early in the game and the Padres pitching, combined with some really good defensive plays, allowed their team to score only one time- losing 3-1 in the Padres home opener.

They seem to have forgotten that their team went into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth. If the Padres offense didn't implode in the last two weeks of last season we may have been the ones boasting about being "World Champions".

The Giants finished last year with a 92 -70 record while we finished 2 games behind with a 90-72 final win-loss tally. They forget that in the final series with the Giants we won 2 out 3 games but just came up short.

They seem to forget that a year before in 2009 the Giants finished third ending up being 7 games behind the LA Dodgers and in 2008 they finished 12 games behind the Dodgers as well.

So the Padres last year were not a team to sneeze at and yet these idiots come to a visiting park and act like they are the damn New York Yankees with multiple World Series titles under their collective belts. Before last year Giant fans at Petco were fairly tame but this year they seemed to be just as obnoxious, albeit with higher IQ's, then they Dodger fans Petco Park will see this weekend.

Having to deal with idiots makes going to a game a drag. Sure we want our teams to win but the day before I didn't see Padres fans taunting the San Francisco fans during and after the game. I just kept thinking about Wilson's giant beard and laughed to myself to keep from exploding on a few dick bags in the stands.

People need to grow up and remember what good sportsmanship means I think...and if not then they should be ejected from the damn park- especially if they are being rude and obnoxious in a park that is not their own.

Maybe that is why so many Padres fans stayed away yesterday- they knew that we would have a tough time with Lincecum and didn't want to hear the ravings of fans of a team that has a starting record worse than our own.

But beyond that I think it is a matter of economics.

People are being screwed left and right by politicians, in both parties, beholden to corporations. Politicians are currently looking for ways to make cuts to Medicaid and other programs that help the neediest in this country while not blinking an eye while big companies like GE make a $14 billion profit last year and paid not one single dime in taxes. So I think it is very hard for the average American worker and baseball fan to make multiple weekly trips to the ballpark especially if they are struggling to feed their family or, for some, to even make mortgage payments so they do not lose their homes.

It certainly is tough for me this season. I love baseball and the Padres. I love going to Petco Park but this year I just cannot afford a season ticket or to attend as many games as I did years ago when the price of groceries and gas keeps going up and wages are not.

It is not that I do not support my team- that is what we hear a lot when fans fail to show up at the park...the fans are complacent is the cry from writers and bloggers but I don't think that is the case at all.

The fact of the matter is I, as it is with many in San Diego, cannot afford to support the team's multi-million dollar salaries.

I know at Petco we have some of the most affordable ticket prices in Major league baseball but when you get inside, if you want a beverage or a snack, it is "highway robbery" as one guy sitting close to me the other day said.

A 24 ounce can of Budweiser, that retails at most liquor stores for well under $2, is now a whopping $9.75 at Petco Park. Math majors: what percentage of a mark-up is that?

That is an absolutely ridiculous price to pay for one can of beer. Unless you are really wealthy and have a platinum card, ten bucks is a lot of money for an average fan to dish out for a beer. And $4 for a bottle of $1.19 water at the nearby 7-11 store is just as bad.

But parks like Petco have no choice- it is on the backs of the average fan that revenue is made to pay the insane player salaries in all professional sports in America.

Just look at the major league team payrolls and the average salaries on this page from USA TODAY. They report that the average San Diego Padre salary is $ 1,479,649! Just to play a game of baseball. I have no problem with people getting rich and doing well but seriously folks, do you think a person who plays a sport, should be paid as much as they do when people that go to college for years with multiple degrees are lucky if they make six figures a year?

There are cut backs all over this country- jobs lost, car plants closing, people losing their homes due to foreclosure because of predatory lenders and yet Major League Baseball players and their agents have the audacity to demand millions of dollars a year to play baseball games while every day another person loses a job or their home in America today..

The average fan pays for these high salaries at the ticket booth, at most stadiums, but especially at the concession stands. The mark up is incredible.

Padres owner Jeff Moorad said to Hacksaw on XX1090 the other day that all profit goes back into maintaining the stadium and that he wants to get a high definition scoreboard.

That's fine and dandy but I would like to buy a bag of peanuts or Cracker Jacks without having to take out a second mortgage on my house.

I think that fans want to show up to the games- I have many friends that I invite to come along but they say they just can't afford it. They are die-hard Padres fans as well and do support the team, but times are rough and they have to choose between the grocery store or spending cash they cannot afford to part with at the ballpark.

And if it is a case where it is a dad bringing the wife and kids- by the time they get done buying the tickets and then getting the snacks that the kids want it costs at least $100 bucks or more for a three and a half hour visit to the stadium.

I think it is time that Padres players step up to the plate and realize that many, not as fortunate as they are, are struggling even to buy a $5 Park In The Park ticket and perhaps give back part of the exorbitant salaries to the Padres so maybe the ballpark here and in other cities can return to be an affordable fun place for people of all ages and economic status.

Take the greed out of baseball and make it affordable- at the ticket booth and at the concession stands and more people would come to more games.

Keep raising the salaries and the cost of beer, soda and food at the parks to help pay for these multi-million dollar salaries and they will continue to see empty seats. Right now, in 2011, most people cannot afford to spend boatloads of cash at the ballpark every day like they used to in year's past when salaries were reasonable and not over the top like they are now in baseball and all other major league sports.

And there is another group of people that are affected big time by this issue. All the folks that do the work at Petco Park. From the GSR's to the maintenance people, like last year, this year they have already been told that work hours will be cut if attendance is low. I have many friends that work at the park so I am getting this info first hand.

So while player salaries are on the rise these people that depend on that paycheck to just survive may lose pay and valuable hours at work if the average fan cannot afford multiple weekly trips to the ball park.

That is a shame because without all the ancillary folks that make Petco Park clean and function well the highly paid players would not have such a wonderful facility to play in.

So we who write blogs, and even professional sports writers, need to stop wagging the accusing finger at Padres fans for not showing up and start shaking it at the players and their agents who don't seem to give a damn about how their salaries affect prices at the stadiums and subsequently the lack of fans in the seats and the affect on the workers like make Petco Park the great ball park it is to visit.

Next game: Friday @Petco Park vs. The LA Dodgers at 7:05 pm

PLAY BALL!

OPENING DAY BLOCK PARTY EXCLUDED MANY UNDER 21

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:07:00 +0000

What a day it was yesterday!

A great home opener with a win against the defending world champion San Francisco Giants in a venue like Petco Park made for a great day indeed!

We beat the Giants 3-1 yesterday and I am not going to rewrite the game highlights that you can find elsewhere.

Instead I have a bone to pick about the block party before the game.

What I didn't care for was the East Village Opening Day Block Party this year.

Last year the whole 4-5 blocks was open to everyone but this year, as it is with most events in San Diego, it became nothing more than a giant merchandising fair.

Aside from the live broadcast from XX1090 am there wasn't much to do with baseball or the Padres at the event- and wasn't that the whole point of it?

Worse was the fact that half of the "block party" was fenced off as a "beer garden" so anyone under 21 missed the great food samples and entertainment stage within the fenced in area.

I don't want to sound like an anti-alcohol person because I have a beer or two myself on occasion but why the hell did we need a beer garden, for people to get sloppy drunk like some I saw did, at 11am in the morning on a Tuesday?

Furthermore baseball, for me has always been a family event. There were loads of moms and dads out with the kids and a lot of young Padres fans around the festival as well.

There was no reason to exclude young fans from enjoying the block party- and really most of the entertainment and free food samples were in the fenced off area.

In the area where all could wander there was a huge row of catering trucks selling food, other booths that were selling stuff that had nothing to do with the San Diego Padres or baseball at all.

So I have to wonder what the planners of this were thinking.

Fine and dandy if you want to have an East Village block party on any other day, but I expected it to be like last year where everything at the block party was accessible to fans of all ages.

Instead, as I walked around, I had everything from cellular companies to people registering me to vote trying to either sell me something or sign something.

Again if this was at a regular block party I wouldn't have cared but this was supposed to be a big pre-opening day game celebration for Padres fans.

Aside from the great day of broadcasting provided by XX1090 am you wouldn't know that it was a baseball related event.

Instead of having a beer garden and all the merchandisers selling their crap, a real Opening Day block party should have focused on the family.

There should have been a lot more to do with baseball and the Padres rather than trying to sell a great new kind of mineral water or the other non-baseball related crap they had on display.

Trevor was back home to join in with others as the Padres celebrated it's 75th year. The Padres could have had a display out there with a bit of Padres history, some of the ball players- past and present on the main stage instead of the crappy band.

They surely could have come up with baseball related things for the kids to do- but instead the people who organized this event went for what they usually do in this city- making a buck however they can.

Again I have no problem with street vendors or small catering businesses trying to make a buck but really, folks, was this "block party" really a pre-game fanfest in anticipation of the first pitch since last October at Petco Park or just a way to make some revenue for the various businesses out there selling their goods?

I think the whole thing was a disgrace.

There should not have been a damn beer garden- period.

This was a family event...because baseball at Petco Park is a family event and kids and those under 21 shouldn't have been excluded from half the block party.

So shame on whoever organized this event. I am going to write to the Padres ownership about that and hopefully next year, when the city does a "Opening Day Block Party" it will be a block party open for all and family friendly with vendors and things related to baseball and the Padres.

In the meantime we take on the Giants again for the last game of this two-game series...hopefully the boys will come through with another win today so we have a lot of momentum when the Dodgers come to town Friday!

PLAY BALL!

PADRES HOME OPENING DAY 2011

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:27:00 +0000

It all starts today- well at least here at home.

It's the Padres 2011 home opener, where we can try to get a little bit of revenge on the defending world champion San Francisco Giants today at 3:35pm.

But before the game starts XX1090 is co-sponsoring the Opening Day Block Party behind the park!

From XX1090, "Come out and join XX 1090 sports radio with the East Village Association on April 5th for the 2011 Alexander & Associates Tax Professionals Padres Opening Day Block Party. We'll be broadcasting all day, starting with Hacksaw at 10a and leading right up to the 3:35p game time.

This is a FREE event for families and Padres fans of all ages. Celebrate with XX1090 on two whole blocks downtown on J street. We'll be doin' it up big from 11:30a - 5:00p on J, between 7th st and 9th."

It was a real fun time last year and I will be down there taking some pics to send on my twitter account.

As for how the team will do today, we are coming off a great series where we took 2 out of 3 games from a team that historically we have a hard time beating in their home stadium so I believe the momentum is still there.

I haven't seen the line-up yet but I hope Buddy Black goes with the opening day in St. Louis line-up and the guys continue to play small ball today.

So here's hoping we come up with a win today at the sold out Petco Park today!

On another note...the Dodgers are coming this weekend...and that means their unruly and rude fans who always stink up Petco Park will be there too.

Last year I watched, in my section, as Dodger fans got drunk, picked fights with Padres fans and got ejected from the Park.

Sadly during the Giants series with the Dodgers something horrible happened. The two scumbags in that police sketch below, according to NBC LA, beat and left in critical condition a 42-year-old Giants fan.

"Police said the argument started when the two men began taunting three men in Giants gear as thousands of baseball fans left the stadium after Thursday night's 2-1 Dodger victory, Detective T.J. Moore said.

The Giants fans tried to distance themselves from their assailants, and two made it away from them, but one was struck with fists on the back of the head and as he fell, his head hit the ground in Parking Lot 2 on the third base side of the ballpark, Moore said.

Both attackers then kicked the victim, who suffered a head injury, and ran, Moore said. When the victim's friends turned around to look for him, they saw him on the ground and made their way back to him.

Contributions from the Giants and Dodgers increased the reward offered for information in the attack on a San Francisco fan to $50,000.

The fan was attacked in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium after Thursday's season opener. Bryan Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic from Santa Cruz, was is in a medically induced coma.

Spokesman Josh Rawitch said Monday the Los Angeles Dodgers will contribute $25,000. Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter said the team will pledge $10,000. After the attack, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich announced a $10,000 reward. Stow's employer contributed $5,000."

I know this isn't the fault of the Dodgers organization. For some reason ganstas up there and even here in San Diego love wearing Dodger caps. I think the organization needs to speak out against the types of cowardly scumbags that attacked this fan and wannabe ganstas that use their team logo as a sign of being a tough guy.

I spoke with a source at the SDPD and they told me that the police will be "very present" at the games Friday, Saturday and Sunday but still watch your back if you are out at the games.

I think that is why San Diego and San Francisco fans hate the Dodgers so much- I don't think it is the team itself (although they didn't win any love from me with fat ass Manny Ramirez last year) I think it because we cannot stand the Dodger fans who can't act like decent human beings at sporting events.

Here's hoping that Giant fan recovers and the Dodgers help to pay the guys medical bills.

And here's hoping we have a home opener win today!!

See you around the block party later today.

PLAY BALL!

PADRES RETURN TO SMALL BALL AND WIN BIG

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:31:00 +0000

As Cory Brock's headline from yesterday suggests "Little things add up as Padres roll over Cards" and the little things are something known as "small ball".

Wikipedia defines it as such:

"In the sport of baseball, small-ball is an informal and colloquial term for an offensive strategy in which the batting team emphasizes placing runners on base and then advancing them into position to score a run in a deliberate, methodical way. This strategy places a high value on individual runs and attempts to score them without requiring extra base hits, or sometimes without base hits at all, instead using bases on balls, stolen bases, sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly balls, the hit-and-run play, and aggressive base running with such plays as the contact play. A commonly used term for a run produced playing small-ball is a 'manufactured run'."

And that is how we managed to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of the season yesterday by a score of 11 - 3! I am still laughing at the Boston area bloggers who suggested that because we no longer have "power hitter" Adrian Gonzalez we now had the worst line-up in Major League Baseball (see my post from March 31, 2011).

Their beloved Red Sox were slaughtered by the Texas Rangers yesterday by a score of 12 - 5.

The Red Sox are 0 -2 on the season and the Padres are 2-0! Again who has a terrible line-up, Boston bloggers?

On the XX1090 am broadcast, Ted Lightner, kept saying the 2011 team looks like 2010. It may look like it with the two consecutive wins to start the season but there is a big difference.

While we had a lot of great guys on the team last year, it seemed to me and my buddies at Petco Park that many, when it really counted, went up to the plate swinging to get a home run.

In some ways I think it is a blessing that we traded Adrian Gonzalez because now there isn't someone to keep up with. I really liked Adrian- he is a good guy and did a lot for the local community but I think not having a super star power hitter on the team will make a big difference in play this year.

This team, as opposed to last years, seems more into playing the game of baseball rather than playing the game of pumping up individual stats- to hopefully gain a good bonus or a pay hike in the following season. At least that is the conclusion my buddies and I came to watching a lot of the play last year.

I can't tell you how many times adults and kids alike got all excited at the park last year when we had men on base and a big chance to score and we would see whoever was up at bat swinging hard at crappy pitches.

They would either strike out or pop out ending the rally.

The last two days I think we saw a different sort of play. Yes it is nice to get a grand slam or perhaps hit a big homer that drives in a couple of runs. You get a lot of press for that accomplishment.

But it is even better, as proved by yesterday's rally that scored six runs, that timely hits- whether a single, a double or a sacrifice bunt to move the runners home is one of the best ways to play ball.

Go ahead and smack one out of the park if a pitcher makes a mistake and serves you up your bread and butter pitch but don't go to the plate with the idea that you have to hit the ball out of the park.

Chances are that won't happen....as was proved time and time again last season...especially in the last few weeks.

So we will see if we can sweep the Cardinals today.

For the 2011 season the team's success, in my opinion, will be guaranteed if they continue to play as a team and play the game of small ball.

It apparently works out well...the proof in the pudding was yesterday's game!

FOOD AT THE PARK: One of my favorite San Diego restaurants will be serving up their pizza at the park this year. Namely the folks at Filippi's Pizza Groto.

" The San Diego Padres announced today a partnership with Filippi’s Pizza Grotto, making the San Diego-based family of restaurants PETCO Park’s pizza vendor. Padres President and COO Tom Garfinkel made the announcement.

“Filippi’s Pizza is an authentic San Diego brand, beloved among San Diegans, and the Padres are excited to welcome them into our family of valued corporate partners,” said Garfinkel. “We are committed to ensuring our fans have a terrific experience at PETCO Park, and that includes providing them with great tasting food.”

Under the multi-year partnership, Filippi’s will sell their famous pizza (cheese, pepperoni and veggie) at five locations inside PETCO Park (sections 113, 115, 311, 320 and Mercado/Home Plate), beginning on Tuesday, April 5, when the Padres open their season at home against the San Francisco Giants.

"Filippi's is proud to be the Official Pizza of the Padres starting this season," said Bobby DePhilippis. "We look forward to providing baseball fans at PETCO Park authentic restaurant-style pizza prepared in the family tradition of the freshest and finest Italian ingredients."

Filippi's Cash and Carry, the original deli grocery, opened on India Street in 1950, and has grown to become a successful line of 14 family restaurants: 10 within San Diego County and two in Riverside County, as well as restaurants in Napa and Cabo San Lucas. Today, each Filippi's Pizza Grotto is owned and operated by family members of the original founders."

If you are in San Diego and love real Italian food Filiippi's Pizza Groto is fabulous!

The downside is that I suspect the price for a single slice may cost, at Petco Park, nearly as much as ordering a small pizza at the restaurant. It is a little ways from Petco Park but still a great after the game venue to go have a celebratory dinner!

In a post later this week I will look at concession prices (I still think charging $4 for a $1.19 bottle of water is ridiculous the way the economy is these days) and the fact that many people who do the grunt work at Petco may get their hours cut again this year if people don't come out to the games (I have many friends that work at Petco Park so that is where I get my info about this) and why I think the players need to step up to the plate to help out!

Meanwhile...I am dusting off the broom for today- just in case small ball helps us sweep the St. Louis cardinals today!

Game starts at 11:15am Pacific Time today.

PLAY BALL!

PADRES WORK AS A TEAM

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:54:00 +0000

I am laughing my ass off this evening. As we all know Adrian Gonzalez is no longer with the Padres and is playing for the Boston Red Sox.

Well as the post-game show on XX1090 am was starting yesterday I came across a Boston area blog called FENWAY FAITHFUL REPORT.

On the blog was a post that was titled. "Without Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres Have the Worst Lineup in Baseball"

Here is a little of what was written:

"Gonzalez went 30-and-100 and led the team in nearly every offensive category last season. No one else on the roster posted more than 13 homers or 58 RBI.It’s pretty safe to say that without the slugger in 2011, the Padres will have the worst offense in baseball."

Really now?

Is that why we won the opening game of the season against a tough opponent like St. Louis 5-3 yesterday?

Of course this idiot will say that it was because of the throwing error but I beg to differ.

What we saw yesterday was a TEAM.

Boston always seemed to be star struck to me- boasting a huge payroll they can buy big names and look to one or two guys to carry the team.

Last year it just was not Adrian Gonzalez and the 30-100 stats that almost got us to the playoffs. It was a team effort- and that is the difference Mister Fenway Faithful between your club and ours.

The guys who were in the line up yesterday are a great combination of players- some with a lot of experience and not just a bunch of journeymen players.

And we saw that yesterday as the scappy Padres kept fighting back and eventually took the lead in the 11th inning and beat the Cardinals.

So go ahead and get excited about Adrian you all in Boston.

He did help the team last year but just as many times as he hit the ball I sat in frustration at Petco Park when our "slugger" would come up with men on base and two outs and a big chance to either take the lead or get some add on runs and he would time and time again - STRIKE OR FLY OUT!

Yet our guys yesterday turned four brilliant double plays and had some timely hitting. The only downer was when we had the bases loaded and we left those men on base.

Doesn't seem like we have that bad of a line-up after all, does it?

The team will do just fine without Adrian Gonzalez- he was a local hero to many that came to the park but he was no Tony Gwynn.

When it came down to it the padres couldn't afford the millions he would have wanted so with dollar signs in his eyes- as it sadly is with most professional sports players today- he chose to go elsewhere instead of compromising and staying here in his hometown for the hometown fans like the great Mister Padre Tony Gwynn did for 20 seasons.

Oh and one last thing...

Boston lost the season opener to Texas 9-5 today.

Adrian Gonzalez drove in three runs during his debut with the Boston Red Sox...but apparently your combined line-up couldn't scratch out a win, could they Mister Fenway Faithful?

Now who exactly has the "worst line-up in baseball?"...at least over the past two days?

NEXT GAME : April 2, 2011 @St Louis 1:15pm Pacific Time

PLAY BALL!!

OPENING (AWAY) DAY 2011

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:15:00 +0000

Here we go...

I kind of lost track of doing this blog last season- probably because I was at the stadium too much LOL.

We start off the season in St. Louis against the Cardinals and then come home on April 5th to take on the World Champion San Francisco Giants.

Could MLB come up with a harder set of opening day opponents than these two teams?

Adrian Gonzalez is gone- off to Boston to make more money.

I will address the player salaries verses the way hours are already scheduled to be cut for Petco park workers real soon here on this blog.

Today however let's stay away from drama and celebrate something that many of us wait through a long, long winter for.

The line-up today looks nothing like the Padres of 2010.

One person that I will miss is David Eckstein.

Here is the starting line-up for today:

The game has just started so I will update this post after the game!

PLAY BALL!

Live Updates- Well we just had the golden opportunity of the game in the top of the 8th. Score was still; tied 2-2 and the bases were loaded with two outs and the Padres do what they usually do. Swing at crapola pitches when it really counts. on a 1-2 count Hawpe flied out to the short outfield. Inning over ...let's see if we can have another rally or will this one be a walk off by either team?

Bottom of the 8th- You would know Matt Holliday- mister "I really touched home plate even though I really didn't" when he was with Colorado just hit a home run. Padres 2- Cardinals 3.

If we lose today it is the teams fault- once again Padres players chocke when the big hit was needed. We will see what happens in the top of the 9th...pretty easy to guess what that will be.

But wait...

That was last year's team!

With two outs in the top of the 9th our new center fielder Cameron Maybin hit a 2 out solo 400 foot plus home run to dead center! So we stay alive..3-3 tied...let's hope for extra innings!

And indeed we got them...

In the top of the 11th we went ahead 4-3 on an error by St. Louis- great base running by Chase Headley !! But looks like center fielder Maybin is hurt :( Plus we just got another add on run - score 5-3 Padres!

As the bottom of the 11th opens Cameron Maybin is still in the game so I hope that kid is alright. He seems to be a really good player and i am glad we picked him up.

And now is HEATH BELL time...

The end result:

PADRES WIN THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON 5-2 OVER THE ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!

Mar 31/11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E
Padres 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 8 0 «
Cardinals 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 12 1

RIGHT CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL BOXSCORE.

Next Game: Saturday @ St Louis

ABC 1989 World Series Game 3 Earthquake

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 01:10:00 +0000

NBC News on 1989 San Francisco Earthquake - Oct., 1989

HOME OPENER: PADRES WIPE OUT BRAVES 17-2

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Maybe it was because San Diego Chargers football star Philip Rivers threw out the first pitch- because the opening day game yesterday that I attended produced a football- like score.

San Diego scored a Petco Park record 17 runs on Monday, and Blanks and Venable led the charge. Blanks finished with a homer and five RBIs.

Blanks still has nine strikeouts in 25 at-bats, but his power potential remains more than a fantasy temptation. Mixed-leaguers should double check the wire to see if he's available.

He's a bench play that will be an ever-day starter in the near future. Same goes for Venable (3-for-5, HR, 4 runs, 2 RBIs SB).

Both Venable and Blanks were on hit short for completing the cycle.

Perhaps it was just the energy of the day- being at home in front of their fans made these guys play like a major league team. Or perhaps they took a good look at the kind of ball Colorado played and decided they wanted to emulate them.

Out of the 17 runs there we only two home runs that accounted for 5 of the runs. The rest came from the Padres doing what they failed to do on their first road trip- playing small ball, getting timely hits that move the runners either into scoring position or all the way home.

That is how you win ballgames.

You don't leave multiple men on base and squander scoring opportunities because each batter is trying to get that big hit. Pitcher Kevin Correia proved that even a bloop single- just feet behind the first baseman can produce runs and help lead to a win as opposed to a loss that should not have been.

So it was an exciting day yesterday- from the great street party behind the stadium to seeing friends I haven't seen since the 2009 season ended it was a perfect day for baseball and a hell of a way to start the season in our home field.

Hopefully that momentum will carry into Wednesday when we take on the Atlanta Braves again.

I just had to take a picture of the scoreboard-we watched Padres history yesterday and I hate to cast a shadow on anything but I doubt that we will see scores like this a lot this seaso0n...but then again miracles can happen...look at the 1969 Mets!

You can right click here for the game wrap up via the San Diego Padres website!

TWO MORE DAYS

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:39:00 +0000

Two more days until I can go back home...well at least the place feels like home during the baseball season.

I am really excited to see friends and fellow fans at Petco Park Monday as we have our home opener against the Atlanta Braves.

What I am not too thrilled about is the state of play I have seen thus far. Yes I know the season has barely started but there are some fundamental playing mistakes that bother me.

On the top of the list is the head first slide.

I cannot understand why players do that- ok it is easy to sit here and second guess but seems like spikes up when sliding is always more effective. Then the defense has to worry about getting a spike in the face while trying to make the play.

The elimination of Chris Young from the Atlanta series worries me as well. The pitching has been ok- although I think the middle relief needs some work. But once again this year, small ball seems to elude the Padres players.

Seems like every time we get a base runner he is either left there or thrown out.

Bases loaded in the top of the 8th today and again they were not able to capitalize on that- that has been the problem with this team the last few years. Plenty of scoring opportunities but when it counts they somehow can't manage to get it done.

In the top of the 10th there were some timely hits that got Kyle Blanks to third base...then a pitching change...and just like in the 8th Venable was unable to move the runners.

Same scenario in the 12th- bases loaded again and no deal- a fly out that ended the inning.

Sometimes I think these guys try to hard, in these situations, to hit it out of the park rather than trying to hit a bloop single that would have put the team ahead by a run. That's 9 men left on base since the 8th inning as of the 12th inning.

Finally in the 14th Adrian Gonzales doubled home the go ahead run making the score 5-4. And that means it's Heath Bell time.

And of course after a double play with two outs there would be a bloop single stretched into a double...tying run on second base. An intentional walk, which was a good move in my opinion by Buddy Black, and then Bell - who I think purposely creates drama strikes out the side...and finally...

The Padres win 5-4 and Heath Bell gets the second save in two tries.

On a positive note the bullpen was awesomely good tonight.

So we will see what happens- maybe when they come home, in front of the hometown fans they will start playing like a major league team ....so far I have seen AAA at best and that just will not do because I believe we have the talent on the team...they just need to tighten up and play like a team.

RIGHT CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S GAME RECAP

HE'S BACK!!

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 05:04:00 +0000

Really happy with the performance of Chris young this evening.

Until the bottom of the 7th inning Young held on to a one hit, 5-0 shut out against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Luke Gregerson came in as a relief pitcher and quickly gave up a run and blew the shut out. Maybe it is because it is his first outing this year but this guy didn't really have good command tonight. After loading the bases Cesar Ramos came in followed by Adams who was able to serve up a fast ball that resulted in a long fly ball out taken care of by Scott Hairston.

The 7th ended with a score of 5-3...which at least gives us a chance to see Heath Bell for the first time this season.

Tonight's game didn't exactly make me feel super confident about our middle relief pitchers. Hopefully that will be worked out because along with good starting pitching, that stays healthy, we need solid and reliable middle relief paving the way, if need be, for Heath Bell to come on and get a save.

In the bottom of the 8th inning Mike Adams was in again and after a walk - with the tying run on first base ended the inning leaving the score remaining 5-3. Adams was sharp and on the money tonight and I can see this guy being a possible closer if he stays with the Padres.

In the top of the 9th Adrian Gonzales came through with his second home run of the season with a big time insurance run making the score 6-3. There was talk during the off season of a possible trade- I am so glad hometown guy Adrian stayed home with the Padres.

With that Heath Bell came in for his first save attempt of the 2010 season and true to form he did the job giving the Padres their first win of the regular season and his first save in one attempt this year.

FINAL SCORE:

SAN DIEGO- 6
ARIZONA- 3

1-1 ON THE SEASON SO FAR.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM TONIGHT'S GAME

GO PADRES!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Finally after a real long winter the 2010 baseball season is here and we didn't start off very well today playing in Phoenix against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

From the AP:

"Stephen Drew hit an inside-the-park home run and Dan Haren held San Diego to three hits in seven innings in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 6-3 win over the Padres on Monday."

"For the second year in a row, someone hit an inside-the-park homer on opening day — former Diamondbacks player Emilio Bonifacio did it for the Florida Marlins last year, which was the first one after 41 years."

"Drew's was the sixth inside-the-park home run in the franchise's 13-year history and the fifth by any player at Chase Field."

"Adrian Gonzalez and Kyle Blanks hit consecutive two-out homers off Bob Howry in the ninth for San Diego".

It would have been nice to start the season off with a win but who would have thought that there would have been another inside the park homer in this game.

The one that really matters is our home opener, here at Petco Park on April 12th. In that game we will be taking on the Atlanta Braves.

I am pleased that Adrian started the year off with a homer and am really glad that we held on to Kyle Blanks...I have a feeling if he stays healthy this year he will do well.

So hurray!

It really is spring when baseball starts.

The Friars try again tomorrow starting at an odd 6:40PM PT start time and you can catch all the action on XX SPORTS 1090...BE SURE TO TUNE IN AN HOUR EARLY FOR PRE-GAME STUFF...ESPECIALLY WHEN WE ARE AT HOME!

JUST RIGHT CLICK HERE TO VISIT XX SPORTS 1090!

My favorite American League team- the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (still think they should go back to being the California Angels) are about to start their home opener.

You can catch the play by play for that game on AM 830 KLAA and you can right click here to listen online!

GO PADRES!

GO ANGELS!

IT'S ALMOST HERE

noreply@blogger.com (FRIAR PHIL) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:03:00 +0000

OPENING DAY APRIL 12, 2010

I JUST CANNOT WAIT- IT ISN'T SPRING IF THERE ISN'T BASEBALL!!

Mar 31/11 1 2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
Padres 0 0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	5	8	0 «
Cardinals 1 0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	12	1