Left Coast Bias Re-Boot

Trevor Hoffman was scheduled to pitch against the Padres today in Spring Training. Such an event made me think "you know, I haven't had a blog post since last summer." What can I say, law school, getting engaged, brand new HDTV, all of these things distracted me here.

So, here we are. The return of Left Coast Bias. For those of you who can't get enough Padres blogging, the blogs I check everyday are Gaslampball.com and Ducksnorts.com. I recommend them both.

Before we get started, realize I have no sources, no inside track to anything. This is merely the ramblings of a fan of the San Diego Padres. Those ramblings likely will devolve into madness as the season progress's and I begin studying for the bar exam.

Second, as I just said, I will begin studying for the bar. So this may not be so regular in the updates.

Finally, here are 10 updates since last we talked.
1) Brian Giles did not get traded;
2) He might have beat his girlfriend though;
3) Trevor Hoffman was outright released and signed by the Milwaukee Brewers. The divorce was ugly, and as usual, the kids were hurt the most;
4) Matt Vasgersian left the Padres to become the host of the MLB Network;
5) David Eckstein is the new second baseman;
6) Khalil Greene is a St. Louis Cardinal;
7) John Moores sold the team to Jeff Moorad;
8) Jake Peavy was almost traded to the Cubs, Mets, Dodgers, and Braves (yet remains a Padre, for now);
9) Former number one pick Matt Bush got drunk, insulsted most of East County, was arrested and is now a Toronto Blue Jay;
10) All kinds of new, cheap food deals at Petco this year. We will get to more of that in a future post;
11) BONUS: Sandy Alderson is likely gone as soon as the Moore to Moorad deal is done.


So, what is their to expect of this year? The Giants look better, the Dodgers have Manny, the Padres are operating at about $40 million. But, it's spring and hope springs eternal in March. But we are back, ready for another Padres season!

Oh, and two Padres are on the U.S. World Baseball Classic team. Jake Peavy and Heath Bell. But they aren't the only Padres out their. Adrian Gonzalez is raking for the Mexican team with fellow Padre Scott Hairston. Henri Blanco is on the Venezuela team and threw out Derek Jeter the other day. And lots of good baseball going on, I highly recommend checking out the WBC.

Record Day at Petco

I was sitting at Petco Park yesterday watching the Padres/Mets game and as the game progressed into the later innings I couldn't help but notice the score: 1-1. The later the game went, the more it seemed likely that if the Padres were to win, they would win with a 2-1 score, the 4th time in a row they would have won with that score.

But then the Padres loaded the bases with 1 out in the 7th and Tony Clark pinch hitting. But, instead of breaking opening a tie game, Clark grounded weakly to first, forcing the runner at home. This was followed (predictably) by a strikeout. And so it goes.

Around the 8th inning, I started asking my friend how many walk-off games we have seen live. I had seen two: Scott Hairston last year against Pittsburgh in September and 3 years ago I saw Joe Crede walk off a game in Chicago for the White Sox. My friend had seen more, but he is a Yankee fan so his opportunities were greater anyway.

Padres failed to get it done in the 9th inning, then survived a bit of an erratic pitching performance in the 10th by Adams to bring the top of the order up. Honestly, I looked past Hairston's at-bat, seeing Giles and AGon coming up. They never made it. Hairston hit a bomb to the deepest part of the field, ending the game and doubling the amount of times I've seen the Padres walk-off with a homerun, both by Hairston of all things. Padres win 2-1. For the fourth time in a row, for the first time ever in MLB history. A weird, obscure record, but a record nonetheless.

More importantly, the Padres have won 4 in a row against quality teams. They've begun winning the close, low scoring games that were such a staple of past Padre teams, and on Thursday, Jake Peavy returns.

One final note from the game last night. Justin Huber. I like the guy. I think it's cool to have an Aussie on the team. What on earth was that throw home? Wow. He looked very lost in left last night and at the plate. But no, let's keep Headley in Portland (who by the way went 3-5 yesterday).

Padres go for the sweep of the Mets today with Ledezema on the mound.