The season has been a huge disappointment, but there have been some good performances:

• Edgar Gonzalez has finally gotten his chance and has made the utmost of it.  He is red hot now pushing his average to .321 and making a very strong case to be the incumbant 2nd baseman in 2009.
• The other Gonzalez, Adrian, has had a terrific year at both the plate and at 1st base.  He has put himself in the upper tier of all-around players in the NL.
• Brian Giles is my current hero.  He proved to everyone that he indeed is the team leader in St. Louis on Saturday when he made a great catch before running into the wall in the RF corner at full speed.  He risked his future career to try and catch a fly ball during the most difficult season My Pads have had in awhile.  I hope he is with us in 2009. 
• The only hitter hotter than E-Gon is Scott Hairston who hit yet another HR last night.  He keeps pulling even outside pitches, but the results of late have been spectacular.

The offense was led by the Gonzalez brothers, Edgar and All-Star Adrian, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Peavy who all had two hits each.  But the big hit failed us when needed. 

I’m still hoping and waiting for our 20 game win streak…

Yesterday’s Results:

Cards 4, Padres 3

Rockies 5, Pirates 3

Standings:

D-backs         47-48         ——

Dodgers         46-49           1

Giants           40-55            7

Rockies         40-57            8

Padres          37-59          10.5

Today:  @ Cardinals  5:15 PDT          Maddux (3-8) @ Looper (9-7)

Go Chargers!!!

Yesterday’s Results:

Braves 12, Padres 3

Phillies 6, D-backs 3

Dodgers 9, Marlins 1

Giants 4, Cubs 2

Mets 7, Rockies 0

Standings:

D-backs         47-48          ——

Dodgers         46-49            1

Giants           40-55             7

Rockies         39-57            8.5

Padres          37-58            10

Many thanks to channel 4 in San Diego for showing most of the ceremony which we watched on Directv’s Extra Innings. 

My wife and I laughed, cheered, and cried throughout the ceremony, interviews, and highlights that were shown during the game.

We were very happy with the good reception Kevin Brown received from the Padres Faithful.  Tony Gwynn got a rousing ovation, but Trevor Hoffman’s seemed somewhat subdued in comparison.  Maybe it just seemed that way on TV.  Trevor had 53 saves in 54 oppurtunities in 1998…simply amazing!

All the players seemed to really enjoy the gathering and we just love Greg Vaughn.  It sounds like his son might be pretty good.

Of course, for us, the moment when Kevin Towers carried out Caminiti’s jersey was a moment of tearful emotion.  RIP Ken.

The game?  The offense let another decent start for Greg Maddux go for naught…not every year can be like 1998.

Yesterday’s Results:

Braves 4, Padres 1

D-backs 10, Phillies 4

Marlins 5, Dodgers 3

Cubs 8, Giants 7

Mets 3, Rockies 0

Standings:

D-backs          47-47          ——

Dodgers          45-49            2

Giants            39-55            8

Rockies          39-56           8.5

Padres           37-57           10

Today:  Braves  1:05 PDT            Wolf (6-8) – Campillo (3-4)

My 1998 Padres began Spring Training with a different outlook than ever before~~they expected to win the World Series.  The front office had aquired a legitimate #1 Ace, Kevin Brown, in the offseason which added to a very strong club across the board.   

Here was the lineup for most of the year:

2B   Quilvio Veras

CF   Steve Finley

RF   Tony Gwynn

3B   Ken Caminiti

LF   Greg Vaughn

1B   Wally Joyner

C    Carlos Hernandez

SS   Chris Gomez

The Rotation:

Kevin Brown 

Andy Ashby

Sterling Hitchcock

Joey Hamilton

Mark Langston

The Closer:

Trevor Hoffman

It was a fantastic group of guys who combined to win 98 games in the regular season.

Some Stats:

Gwynn hit .321

Vaughn hit 50 HR’s & 119 RBI’s

Brown went 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA

Hoffman had 53 Saves..53! 

As I wrote in the first post, I went to school and played baseball for a couple of years with Ken Caminiti while living in San Jose.  I moved back to Utah early in my sophomore year of high school and never contacted him again, but I followed his career very closely.  When he was traded to the Padres in 1995 is when my wife and I first fell in love with the city and county of San Diego.

We even purchased season tickets (a partial plan) for 1996, 1997, and 1998.  We made several trips each year back then (we soon found out that you actually have to pay credit cards back).  Our seats were on the loge level between home and 3rd base.  It was a great place to watch the game from and gave us a great view into the Padres dugout. 

Our usual routine for game days were to drive down to the beach and take a morning walk, have a light breakfast and lunch, arrive early at the Q and eat a heavy, delicious dinner at Randy Jones’ BBQ.  Those were wonderful days and nights in Mission Valley.

We attended Game 3 of the NL Championship Series and Game 3 of the World Series and will never forget the incredible electricity within the stadium.  I can’t even describe the feverish pitch the crowd created as the music blared just before the team took the field.  Unreal.

The Post-season

The Padres faced the Houston Astros in the first round of the playoffs.  Randy Johnson had been recently aquired by the Astros which already included the offense of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio.  Although the Friars had won an astounding 98 games, they only had the 3rd best record in the NL in 1998.  Houston had won 102 games and the Atlanta Braves registered 106 victories while in the middle of their amazing run.

Game 1 was the biggest game of the series as Kevin Brown outpitched Randy Johnson as he struck out 16 Houston hitters in 8 innings and the Padres stunned the Astros 2-1.  Brown’s 16 K’s were the 2nd most in playoff history to Bob Gibson’s 17 in the 1968 World Series.

Houston won Game 2 to even the series, but more than 65,000 fans welcomed the Swinging Friars home.  Kevin Brown went 6.2 innings on just 3 days rest as the Padres won again by the score of 2-1.  Trevor struck out the side to secure the win.

Sterling Hitchcock closed out the Astros in Game 4 as he whiffed 11 in 6 innings and Jim Leyritz hit his 3rd HR of the short series in the 6-1 clincher.

In the NLCS the Braves were the next victim. 

Ken Caminiti hit a HR in the top of the 10th inning in Game 1 to lead the Padres to the 3-2 victory. 

San Diego went on to win the next two games to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.  Kevin Brown threw a complete game 3-0 shutout in Game 2.  But the Braves won Games 4 & 5 in San Diego to scare the dickens out of us as they traveled back to Atlanta for Game 6.

My Padres finally finished off the series with a comfortable 5-0 win and a NL Championship celebration that I will never forget watching on TV.  It was the most fun I have ever had as a sports fan.

The World Series was still a lot of fun even though we lost.  It was an incredible experience to attend a World Series game and something I didn’t even dream I would do as I grew up in a small town in Utah.

The offense was led by four players who each had 2 hits:  the red-hot Scott Hairston, the Gonzalez brothers-Adrian and Edgar, and Chase Headley.

Yesterday’s Results:

Padres 4, Braves 0 

Phillies 6, D-backs 5

Marlins 3, Dodgers 1

Cubs 3, Giants 1

Mets 2, Rockies 1

Standings:

D-backs       46-47         ——

Dodgers       45-48           1

Giants          39-54           7

Rockies        39-55          7.5

Padres         37-56          9

Today:  Braves 7:15 PDT             Maddux (3-7) – Morton (1-2)

Yesterday’s Results:

D-backs 7, Nationals 5

Marlins 5, Dodgers 4

Mets 7, Giants 3

Brewers 11, Rockies 1

Standings:

D-backs        46-46        ——

Dodgers        45-47          1

Giants          39-53           7

Rockies        39-54          7.5

Padres         36-56          10

Today:  Braves 7:05 PDT            Peavy (6-5) – Reyes (3-7)

The only positive for the Padres in the game was the continued hot streak for Scott Hairston.  He went 2-3 including his 5th HR in as many games. 

This has been a very frustrating season and I am actually looking forward to the All-Star Break.  However, I am excited about Saturday’s celebration for the 1998 NL Champion San Diego Padres.  It was a fantastic year and I will have a post regarding that team and the great fun we had that season.

Yesterday’s Results:

Marlins 5, Padres 2

Nationals 5, D-backs 0

Dodgers 2, Braves 1

Mets 5, Giants 0

Rockies 8, Brewers 3

Standings:

Dodgers         45-46         ——

D-backs         45-46         ——

Giants           39-52            6

Rockies         39-53           6.5

Padres          36-56          9.5

No Game Today

Wow!!!

What happened?

Did the roster shakeup help?

Is Ambres, Myrow, Hundley, and Rodriguez better than the incumbants?

I hope we see the same lineup again today, at least.  And the looks Maddux, Peavy, and CY were giving on the bench suggest they want to have the same lineup when they are on the hill.

A player who has worn the Sand and Navy all season long is the hottest hitter of all.  Scott Hairston hit a tape-measure HR last night, his 4th HR in his last 4 games, and added 2 other hits.  Chase Headley also had 3 hits and 4 RBI.

But the real story for me was the new kids on the block.  Brian Myrow, a career minor leaguer, got the call up and hit his 1st MLB HR.  Myrow was the PCL batting champ last season with the Portland Beavers and was hitting .321 this season with an eye popping .455 OBP.  Why haven’t we seen him before now?  Well, he plays 1st base (All-Star A-Gon…); but when it became apparant that Paul McAnulty wasn’t getting it done, which should have been several weeks ago, I would have liked to see him as a PH.

SS Luis Rodriguez, C Nick Hundley, and RF Chip Ambres each contributed with a hit as well.

Go Beavers…errr…Go Padres!!!

Yesterday’s Results:

Padres 10, Marlins 1

D-backs 2, Nationals 0

Braves 9, Dodgers 3

Mets 7, Giants 0

Brewers 7, Rockies 3

Standings:

D-backs       45-45        ——

Dodgers       44-46          1

Giants         39-51           6

Rockies       38-53          7.5

Padres        36-55         9.5

 Today:  Marlins 12:35 PDT         Baek (2-4) – Olsen (4-4)

Again last night the Sand and Navy could only muster one run against Ricky Nolasco of the Marlins.  Nolasco won his 10th game of the season and looked very good doing it.  However, disposing of the Padres lineup right now may not be anything to shout about. 

The Padres are still only 9.5 games out, but they are now chasing two teams instead of one which makes a comeback very difficult at best.  I’d just be happy to start playing better baseball, then see what deals we can make at the trade deadline to help us in the future.  Randy Wolf’s start tonight is very important because he is one of the few players we have who has/had some decent trade value.  He has struggled a great deal his last few starts, but reportedly has regained his form in the bullpen.  Let’s hope for the best…

Yesterday’s Results:

Marlins 3, Padres 1

Rockies 4, Brewers 3

Dodgers 3, Braves 0

Standings:

Dodgers        44-45        ——

D-backs        44-45        ——

Giants          39-50           5

Rockies        38-52          6.5

Padres         35-55         9.5

Today:  Marlins  7:05 PDT           Wolf (5-8) – Miller (5-7)