Monday, July 14, 2008

Padres at the Break (Brink)

So, I've been a bit of a slacker in updating post here. What can I say? Work...and play, has gotten in the way. But we are back for an All-Star post to ease us into the break. A couple thoughts from over the weekend:

- The Padres lost last night 12-3. The nice thing about 58 losses by the All Star Break is that all the losses blend together, making it hard to remember any one. I barely remember yesterday's loss already.

- The UT did an interesting "By the Numbers" piece today here. What jumps out at me is the 0-48 record in games when trailing after 8. So at no point this year has San Diego come back on another team's closer.

- The Padres are 11-16 in 1-run games which, more then anything, means that they have played 27 1 run games. They have played 26 "blowout" games (games decided by 5 or more runs).

- The 1998 National League Championship Team was honored over the weekend. I was 3 when the Padres won the '84 pennant so the '98 team was really my first experience with the Padres in the World Series. I lived in Tucson at the time but I remember how excited I was to see my team on national t.v. with all the playoff fanfare. Finally, when I had had enough, I drove out to San Diego for a game during the NLCS and it remains one of the most exciting sporting events I have been to. The 1998 season was some of the most fun I have ever had as a baseball fan and I'm glad they were honored this weekend. So thanks to Greg Vaughn, Ken Caminiti, Sterling Hitchcock, Kevin Brown, Carlos Hernandez, Tony Gwynn, Steve Finley and the rest of the squad. You gave me memories I wouldn't trade for anything.

- Only 1 Padre in the All-Star Game, Adrian Gonzalez (who should be in the Home Run Derby). As is typical, the major markets lead the way in voting and players sent to the game. Not that San Diego warranted more than 1 this year though.

- Finally, Jayson Stark wrote a scathing article about ARod not taking part in the Home Run Derby in Yankee Stadium. A good read (as most of Stark's stuff is).

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