Break The Streak

I got the call yesterday less than an hour before game time. A friend had an extra ticket to the afternoon Padres game and wondered if I would be interested in going. You betcha!

The weather was warm, the sun high in the sky and they were giving away seat cushions as we walked into the park. Yeah, this game was different, on this day I felt like I could witness my first Padres regular season victory.

The Padres jumped out and held the lead for the first half of the game. But they just couldn't hold on and by the time they had played nine innings the game was tied again, my second extra inning game in a row. I decided to bake in the sun some more and was finally rewarded in the bottom of the 13th inning with a home run by Tadahito Iguchi.

I'm a believer, the burden has lifted, it's not easy, but the Padres can win at PetCo when I attend.


(AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Surfing Anyone?

A lot of you have asked me about surfing lately. I haven't been back out since February. There are a lot of excuses, mostly lame excuses.

- I'm not sure I enjoyed my first adventure enough to purchase a surf board.
- I would rather go with my Surfing Chaplain buddy, but our schedules have clashed over the last couple months.
- Oh yeah, and my latest excuse after today, FREAKING SHARK ATTACK ON SAN DIEGO COUNTY BEACH!!!!

Link to article

I'm a bit stunned after reading the article. Very tragic for this man's family.

Couple of notable quotes from the article:
- "'The shark is still in the area. We're sure of that,' Mayor Joe Kellejian said." > Comforting...
- "Shark attacks are extremely rare. There were 71 confirmed unprovoked cases worldwide last year..." > Unprovoked? I have to admit I was a little distracted at this point in the article trying to imagine the circumstances surrounding a "provoked" shark attack.

Game #4, Giant Memories

There were a couple of things that made me excited about going to this game.

First, I have sentimental feelings toward the San Francisco Giants because they were part of the first major league game I saw live. During a family vacation to San Francisco as a teenager, my mom bought great seats on the third base side just beyond the dugout at Candlestick. We got to see one of baseball's oldest rivalries, Giants/Dodgers. I remember buying my first official major league baseball wool fitted cap with the orange SF logo. A young Matt Williams hit a grand slam home run in the first inning. Great baseball memories!

And the second reason to anticipate Padre game #4, future hall of famer Greg Maddux was pitching for the Padres, trying to win the 350th game of his career. That will make a great memory to blog about!

As scripted, Maddux was great! He pitched 7 innings striking out 5, walking no one, allowing only 4 hits and not giving up a run. The Padres led 1 to 0 with only six outs to go to give Maddux win number 350. Pitcher Heath Bell did his job in the eight and then it's Trevor time. All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman typically comes in to pitch the ninth when the Padres lead and I enjoy the production. The fans rise to their feet, the speakers crank out AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" at the volume it was intended to be heard and fire logos flicker on all the screens around the park. It's a Padre baseball ceremony inspiring the home fans to get excited about what's coming next, a Padre victory. I'm convinced this game will end my personal Padre losing streak.

But my conviction wanes at the crack of the bat delivering a home run to left field. Blown Save again by Trevor. And on this night the Padres have to drag out their loss to 13 innings, causing me to think I missed the last bus so I walked home... in the dark... uphill... no snow though, because this is San Diego. (I didn't really miss the bus, it passed me at about midnight when I was about 6 blocks from home.) Ahhh, now that's a great baseball memory!

Game #3, Oh-fer

Game #3, PetCo Park, Wednesday night, Padres against the defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies. It was 8 innings of well-pitched, low scoring, back and forth baseball. Then came the ninth inning. The Padres were behind just one run, so the fans were hoping for a quick top of the inning and a rally by the home team in the bottom of the inning for the win.

Let's pause for a little background. Before Wednesday I had been to 2 regular season games this year; last year I went to 5 games and I still haven't seen the Padres win a regular season game. That's zero wins and seven losses for a team that typically has a winning record. So statistically speaking I think my little string is somewhat impressive.

But Wednesday night wasn't for ninth inning comebacks and dex's first regular season Padre win. In fact the opposing team scored seven runs in the top of the ninth. THAT'S SEVEN RUNS! Not a lot of fans left in the bottom of the ninth to cheer for the 8 run comeback.

So I'm still in search of that Padre W...

0 and 8...

Oh-fer

Back In The Saddle Again

It's time to break the string of baseball centric posts. Last Sunday I played guitar at church for the first time in about a year. We didn't do anything too different or revolutionary, but it was good to be back in the saddle again.

Game #2, BEAT L A... BEAT L A...

A wonderful sunny afternoon Sunday game, sold out crowd of over 44,000 for a game against the arch rival L.A. Dodgers. The pitching match up is Padre 6-foot 10-inch Chris Young against Dodger 6-foot 6-inch Derek Lowe. So basically, in order to be a starting pitcher in this game you have to be a real tall dude.

This is my first Padre/Dodger game but one thing I learned is that it is customary to yell BEAT L A, BEAT L A over and over again if you are a Padre fan. I just want to go on record as saying I'm not a big fan of any cheer that involves naming the opponent. I think you should cheer your own team to win without mentioning the other team. At least "BEAT L A" is better than "YANKEES SUCK", but still in the same genre of cheers I least enjoy.

Well in the end the Padres entered the 9th inning tied. The call came to bring in Hoffman again. Since the game is tied it's not a Save situation, so no BS this time. Unfortunately that is where the good news ends. Hoffman gives up a run and the game ends with another Padres loss.

Oh well, did I mention that it was a beautiful 70 degree Sunday afternoon, that's what I'll remember most.

Game #1, Too Much BS

I went to my first 2008 regular season Padres game last night. Greg Maddux was once again on the mound and I was hoping to see his 348th career win. Maddux wasn't un-hittable, but the Padres were getting hits too, which made for a very close, back and forth game.

Then came the ninth inning. Padre Trevor Hoffman is the all time Saves leader in baseball. He jogs from the outfield to the mound as the AC/DC song Hell's Bells screams out of the park speakers. It's really quite entertaining, that is, if you are a fan of baseball, loud rock music and cheering like an idiot.

Hoffman earns that Save stat by getting the other team out without giving up the lead of three runs or less. On this night he only has a one run lead, but remember he has done this more times than anyone else in baseball history. He easily dispatches the first two batters in only three pitches. All the Padre fans stand, we're one out away from victory, then there is a walk, then a couple hits, then the back breaker, a 3-run homer.

And that leads us to BS. When a pitcher comes in during a Save opportunity and gives up the lead then it is called a Blown Save, abbreviated BS.

That's it for game #1. Padres lose to the Houston Astros 9 to 6. Hopefully the rest of my games will have more Padre W, less Padre L and no more Padre BS.

Hey, it's Spring Training for me too!

My first baseball game of the season was Friday, March 28. The actual season hasn't started yet, but the San Diego Padres played the L.A. Angels in an exhibition spring training game at PetCo Park. The ticket package I purchased included a ticket to this game too.

My seat was in the lower left field section and as I arrived Greg Maddux was warming up very near the stands in the outfield. There were many people with cameras down in the first rows trying to snap pictures of the future Hall of Famer. A little later they posted a stat on the big screen, Greg Maddux is "ranked 9th all-time with 347 career wins". Now I know, if you are not a baseball fan this is all blah, blah, blah, so my point is that I'm having a really great time at this point in the story.

At the beginning of the 3rd inning the Padres took the field, warming up by tossing a ball with teammates. A man dressed in retro Padres gear is pleading with the center fielder, Scott Hairston, to throw the warm up ball to him in the stands when they are done. Sure enough, Hairston launches the ball in his general direction in a long lazy arch. I'm six rows behind the guy pleading for the ball and I'm certain that this ball will drop somewhere in front of me. But as I watch, the ball does seem to be coming closer to me than the retro Padre fan. I at least get my hands out of my pockets but I'm still rather confident the ball will land two rows in front of me or at least hit the hands of the people sitting in front of me. Then miraculously the ball seems to speed up from it's lazy arch, zoom over the heads of the people in front of me, never touch my hands and HIT ME IN THE RIGHT LEG! The ball skitters across the aisle to a guy two rows down. Over the next few seconds I begin to realize what just happened. I just let the easiest opportunity to get a ball at a Major League game hit me in the lap without even getting a hand on it. Unbelievable!

Later in the game a guy across the aisle asked if my leg was fine. I'm thinking that it's nowhere near as bruised as my ego. Instead I say, "Hey, it's spring training for me too."

Despite my bruised ego I still had a good time and I'm looking forward to the next 20 games.

Baseball Is In The Air

To borrow a southern California term, I'm so STOKED!

I'm stoked that spring training baseball has started. Last weekend I made some baseball centric purchases and they came in the mail this week. A San Diego Padres baseball cap and a ticket package for 20 Padres games this season.

For the record, I'm still first a Seattle Mariner fan, but I really enjoy going to Major League Baseball games. I've lived most of my life in non-MLB cites (all but the last 3 years), so the idea of going to watch an MLB game at the park after work on a sunny summer day is still a bit of a novelty to me.



PLAY BALL!