HAHA!

Not sure how many of you have seen this very funny video, but here it is. Sorry the subtitles are so small...but take some time to watch!

All-Time Padres: 2B

Some names that need to be mentioned in this post: Roberto Alomar, he broke into the league as a Padre and made his first All Star team as a Padre. Tim Flannery, he spent the entirety of his career (as a player) in San Diego. His stats are nothing to write home about...but Flan is a great club house guy...that alone might earn him a spot on the All-Padres Team.

But in all seriousness, the second base position comes down to two Padres, Bip Roberts and Quilvio Veras. Bip played with the Pads longer than Q. Bip also had superior offensive stats. On the other hand Q was part of the team that took the Padres to the World Series. Q was in the leadoff spot for the majority of the season.

I'm going to have to go with Bip. Statistically Bip out performed Q and I have seen Bip do a sideline report. He would be great for the club house. He is also a very versatile player, in case of injury he could fill in at almost any position. The alternate would have to be Tim Flannery because he would be a great clubhouse guy!

All Time Padres Recap:
All Time Padres RF: Tony Gwynn
All Time Padres CF: Steve Finley
All Time Padres LF: Ted Williams
All Time Padres 3B: Ken Caminiti
All Time Padres SS: Gary Templeton
All Time Padres 2B: Bip Roberts

All-Time Padres: SS

All time Padres shortstop really comes down to two guys: The Wizard and Jumpsteady (Ozzie Smith and Garry Templeton, respectively). This debate is a surprisingly underwhelming statistical analysis - both were pretty terrible hitters as Friars.

The Padres traded Ozzie Smith for Garry Templeton in 1981 after Templeton had a Milton Bradley-esque (circa LA Dodgers Milton) moment, flipping off the fans in St. Louis. The trade worked out better for the Cardinals than it did for the Padres, but Templeton did wind up being the Padres all-time leader in games played at shortstop. Prior to the trade, Templeton had won another Silver Slugger award and made 2 All-Star appearences in 6 years with the Cardinals. The Wizard of Oz merely went on to win 11 Gold Gloves and make 11 All-Star teams in a row (and 3 more All-Star teams after that) with the Cardinals. Nice move, Padres.

As a Padre, Ozzie Smith hit an abyssmal .231 with only 1 home run, although he did steal 147 bases in his 4 years with the club. Smith was the runner-up NL Rookie of the Year in 1978 (probably would have won it if he had hit a damn thing), won Gold Gloves in both '80 and '81, and made the All-Star team in '81.

Templeton fared a little better at the plate, hitting .252 with 427 RBIs over 10 years. He won the Silver Slugger award in 1984, and was an All-Star in 1985. Templeton is by far the longest-tenured Padres shortstop, playing 1224 games at the 6 spot - 543 games more than the runner up, and 642 more than Ozzie.

I've got to go with Garry Templeton here. Both had above-average-but-less-than-stellar careers as Padres, but I've got to give the nod to the guy who played here for a decade. I would have gone with Smith, but amazingly, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find good highlights of Smith's barehanded play as a Padre. All I found were a bunch of lame tribute videos posted by sycophantic Cardinals fans. What kind of fan base wears all red because they're told to? It's not charming or particularly advantageous. Cardinals fans are almost on par with Cubs fans, BoSox fans, and, yes, even the most-hated Giants fans. Just giving a friendly heads-up. There's still time for them to salvage some dignity.

Also, fun little side note that had no bearing on the outcome of this posting: I worked with Garry Templeton's son, Garry Templeton, Jr. for a while.

All Time Padres Recap:
All Time Padres RF: Tony Gwynn
All Time Padres CF: Steve Finley
All Time Padres LF: Ted Williams
All Time Padres 3B: Ken Caminiti
All Time Padres SS: Gary Templeton

Bolts to the Bowl

Launch Party
I know it's probably a bit early to start talking Super Bowl. It's probably a bit early to be talking Chargers in reality...But I am officially launching my "Bolts to the Bowl" campaign! We all know this year HAS to be the year. The core of the team is healthy. We look great on paper. We have the experience, both regular season and playoff. Our coaches have been here long enough to have no excuses.

All Time Padres: 3B

This is a unanimous decision. Mr Ken Caminiti is by far the best 3B in the history of the Padres. He beats the likes of Sean Bouroughs and even Gary Sheffield. We all know he won the NL MVP in '96 and was on the team which won the Western Division for the first time since '84.

I would like to share a little known story about Ken. In '96 the Pads were playing the Mets in Mexico City, Ken, dehydrated and sick had a reputation of playing through pain and it didn't stop him from playing in this game. He took two liters of IV solution to rehydrate and two "snickers" bars and got back into the game. He hit two homers en route to a 8-0 win over the Mets and this win put them in a tie with the Dodgers for first in the West. I have a suspicion that the "snickers" had a bit of steroids lodged in them. I call them "Snickeroids".

Another memory, he made a diving play on the third base line and thew the batter out from his backside!

Pictures of Ken Caminiti:

Ken Caminiti '98 Championship
Caminiti Swing
Colleague
Nice Dive at the Q

All Time Padres Recap:
All Time Padres RF: Tony Gwynn
All Time Padres CF: Steve Finley
All Time Padres LF: Ted Williams
All Time Padres 3B: Ken Caminiti

Lil Mac

Mac Attack is Back! I don't own a Wii but this commercial is forcing me to get one. Talk about an awesome commercial...Glass Joe is back along with all the other favorites.

10-0

Perfection! This has been a great start to fantasy baseball season for me...A perfect 10-0 in my two leagues! I'm not only showing this to brag (my counterpart Tommy is #2 in my division in the CBS league...Blackout Wednesday) but I'm also showing this to build my credibility...

In the words of the great Ron Burgondy...when it comes to baseball, I'm kinda a big deal

Say it Aint So

And no I'm not talking about Manny and how baseball is full of cheaters/roiders/liars. I'm talking about Lorenzo Neal signing with the Raiders!

Say It Aint So! I'm not worried he will lead the Raiders to victory. I guess you can say I'm disappointed. Lorenzo was a "Raider Hater" in San Diego. But I guess we all need a paycheck...right Lorenzo? I'm going to cut you some slack and say it is only for a paycheck.

Chargers have an 11 game winning streak against the Raiders...There is no reason it wont continue....GO BOLTS make it 13 in '09!
PS...How awesome is that pic of Neal smashing Morrison!

Mannywood: Population 0

I have to say...I am extremely happy to not be a Dodgers fan! To start, the "Baseball Boogie"?!?!? They missed the mark on this one. I know the "Super Bowl Shuffle" had great reviews, as it should. But at least it sounded like Grand Master Flash.

At any rate...we all know about Manny! Going to miss 50 games because he took a banned substance. He says he got it from his personal doctor and didn't know it was banned. I want to say, this excuse has been used and I wont accept it as an excuse anymore. I will also no long accept the excuse of a "tainted sample". But how hard is it to get your agent, doctor or YOURSELF to call MLB and ask if it's OK to take it.

But, Dodger fans, all I can say is, you had to expect Manny to do something out of this world this season.

Out of Town Fans

I couldn't help but to notice a large portion of the readers of this blog are reading from out of San Diego. I'll let you in on a secret...I'm writing from out of town! I don't want to sound like an MLB.com spokesman for their streaming video, mainly because spokesman GET PAID and I'm not. But I got to tell you...this is a sweet product.

This is my first season out of SD in a while and if you are like me and need to watch the Padres, or any team for that matter, this is by far the best way. And look at the picture, it's always that clear! Last night T Gwynn was in the announcers booth doing the game and I got to listen to All-Time Padre call the game!

And if you are interested here is more information about MLB.tv

All-Time Padres: LF

I'm going to take this one in a little bit of (perhaps) an unexpected direction - Ted Williams. Teddy Ballgame played left field for the Padres from 1937-1938 when they were a part of the Pacific Coast League. The Red Sox bought him from the Friars before spring training 1938, so he really only had one post-high school season in San Diego.

Williams played reasonably well with the Padres before heading off to Boston, posting a line of .271 BA, 23 HR, and 98 RBIs. While this clearly doesn't constitute an exceptional stint in a Padres uniform, we make an exception for the Splendid Splinter.

Williams was arguably the greatest hitter to play the game (and missed 3 years from 1943-45 when he was 24-26 YEARS OLD to serve as a pilot in the Marine Corps in WWII!!!). Lifetime line: .344 BA, 521 HR, 1839 RBIs and never struck out more than 64 times in a season (his rookie season, no less). Between his status as one of the 10 best players to ever put on a uniform and a US Marine (a fantastic connection to the city of San Diego), there's no way to leave Williams out. Read all about Williams' experience with the Padres here: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/95winter/williams.htm.

Left field is another thin position in Padres history, making this pick even more justifiable. As a big league club, the only notable left fielders were Greg Vaughn and Rickey Henderson - both quality players (particularly Rickey, who can easily be argued as the greatest leadoff hitter of all time), but neither had extraordinary careers as Padres.

All Time Padres: LF

Teddy "Ball Game" Williams wins the All Time Padres Team for right field on a technicality/loop hole Tommy and I think is fine to exploit. The best of the rest leaves us to look at the careers of Greg Vaughn and Ricky Henderson. Vaughn hit 50 HRs one season with the Padres but I have to go with Rickey.

Rickey once hit a HR and on that HR he broke the MLB record for runs scored. Rickey then rounding third with no play at the plate, slid into home plate for his record breaking run. For more Funny Rickey Henderson stories click here Some of my favorites, #4-#10, #16 and #21. Heck, I love 'em all. Please take some time to click the link and read these awesomely funny stories!

All Time Padres Recap:
All Time Padres RF: Tony Gwynn
All Time Padres CF: Steve Finley
All Time Padres LF: Ted Williams

9th Inning Tease

Local Celebrity at the Padres game last night. And that is all the highlights...a fan in the crowd, Phillip Rivers. GO BOLTS!

Jakkkkkkkkkkkke did have 12 K's. D-backs commit 4 errors and the Padres capitalize by scoring 0! What a tease though...bases loaded in the 9th, 0 outs and the Pads get 1 run on a double play...

They won last night, if they won tonight, that would make it two in a row. If they win tomorrow it would have been 3 in a row. It's called a winning streak, it has been done before...

Chargers Mini Camp Pics

This is a pic of the Chargers 2009 Draft Class. Visit this link for a complete mini camp pictoral. Go Bolts!

All Time Padres: CF

Center field may be the least competitive of all positions in Pads' history. Steve Finley is the obvious choice - which is sad, considering Finley played only 4 seasons with the Friars (although as T-Bone has pointed out in conversations, Tony Gwynn played a few games in center, so the dearth of talent may make this a reasonable argument).

The majority of the other center fielders in Padres history is a collection of "who's that f---ing guy?" guys. The only notable exceptions being Mike Cameron, Mark Kotsay, Dave Roberts, and, yes, Ruben Rivera. Just kidding. Rivera sucked.

Cameron won hisself a Gold Glove as the Friars' center fielder, so is the most accomplished as a Padre. Problem is, he only played 2 seasons. Kotsay was fun to watch and always seemed to have a lot of outfield assists, but only played 3 seasons and never did anything of note. Roberts is really only famous for having saved the Red Sox' season in 2004, but he was a fun catalyst for the Padres for a season.

I've got nothing. This is easily the weakest position in Padres history. Why did we not trade for Griffey when the Reds were shopping him around? At least then we would have had a guy going into the Hall. This article doesn't even warrant a picture.

All-Time Padres Recap:
RF: Tony Gwynn
CF: Steve Finley

All-Time Padres Team: CF

Steve Finley took us to the World Series. Need I say more?

Well he had an 18 year career with many teams where he compiled over 2,500 hits and 304 HR's. The matter here is Finley was excellent in the clutch! I can remember his game winning shots...a rocket in the gap or home run, and the two arms go straight up in celebration!

Now lets talk about his glove. Best defensive CF the Padres ever had. And this is back in the Qualcomm days (The Murph) when there were flimsy, padded outfield fences with palm trees behind them. Finley mastered the art of running full speed into that thing and snagging an extra base hit or HR away. Finley makes the All-Time Padres Team with his clutch hitting and his glove in the outfield.

All-Time Padres Recap:
RF: Tony Gwynn
CF: Steve Finley

It's A Walk Off...

Yet another dominating pitching performance from the Padres pitching staff. Almost spoiled by a lack of run support. Heath was fired up and dominant. Even Geer was impressive.

But you want to know what surprised me the most? Brian goaddamn Giles! Where does he have the balls to finally hit a ball in the gap? Don't get me wrong, I love it. But man, Giles has been looking like broken down 38 year old he is. But the Padres have got one win under their belts this week and now play Arizona. This week is a mini test to see if they can bounce back from the domination of the Dodgers. Peavy is scheduled for tonight...expect another low scoring affair.

All-Time Padres Team: RF

So, this one isn't much of a debate. Clearly T-Gwynn wins this one in a landslide, but for the sake of argument (and because he was the Padres' first Hall of Famer), I'm going to say Dave Winfield ought to be the choice here.

Dave Winfield clocked 882 games in right field (1117 games as a Padre total - 3rd all time) for the Padres from 1973-1980. He hit .284 (10th all time), slugged .464 (7th all time), .821 OPS (9th all time), scored 599 runs (2nd all time), 1134 hits (3rd all time), 179 doubles (4th all time), 39 triples (3rd all time), 154 home runs (3rd all time), 626 RBI's (2nd all time), 463 walks (4th all time), and stole 133 bases (4th all time). He ranks in the top 10 in virtually all hitting categories as a Padre - and did it in only 8 seasons.

While with the Padres, Winfield won 2 Gold Gloves, was a 4-time All-Star, and was twice in the top 10 in MVP voting (10th and 3rd).

Tony Gwynn is the only Padre Winfield is consistently behind in any of these categories, and much of that can be attributed to Gwynn's 20 years with the club.

Winfield's career numbers are significantly higher than Gwynn's in many categories (notably HR's and RBI's).

All that said, Gwynn is still The Man. Sorry, Dave.

All-Time Padre Team: RF

Tony Gwynn
I get the distinct honor and privilege of writing about "Mr. Padre" himself. T. Gwynn was the reason I became a Padres fan. T Gwynn is the reason I why my life long dedication for the Padres persists. In a time when Mark McGwire goes from the A's to the Cardinals and Wade Boggs goes between AL East Division rivals Yankees and Red Soxs and finishes his career in Tampa, T Gwynn played for only one team.

Do we need to review his career statistics as a Padre?
Career Batting Average: .338
Career Hits: 3141
Allstar Games: 15
Gold Gloves: 5
Silver Sluggers: 7

"The Batman", "Mr. Padre", "T Gwynn". He discovered/created the 5.5 hole. He made his living with his consistency at the plate. Quite possibly can be called the best at his craft of all time, as mentioned in Sports Illustrated.

Enjoy these pictures:
Young T. Gwynn
Batman Tony
BBall Tony
Mr. Padre
Wheaties Gwynn

Breaking the posting virginity

Thank you all for coming! After a long and much-anticipated wait, here it is. My first blog post. I realize many of you are thinking, "Why should I listen to what Tommy has to say?" or, more importantly, "Who's this f---ing guy?"

Well, you're in luck. In this as-yet-unnamed column, I'll be tackling such hard-hitting issues as "Why Kevin Towers Shouldn't Have a Job" and "From $9 beers to $8.50? Really, Padres? That's your plan to save me money?". Who knows, I may even start petitioning for a local Sam Presti-type to go buy the Grizzlies and move them here from Memphis. The NBA in San Diego. Yes we can!

I look forward to your comments - to hearing why I'm wrong, or why I'm off my rocker, or why I'm the smartest human being that has ever posted on the internet.

Go Pads,
Tommy

Swept Away By the Weekend

What can I say? Padres got swept this weekend. Not happy about it and I'm sure you, the reader/San Diego Sports Fan/Padres Fan, are not happy about it either. On the plus side, the Padres pitching is doing quite well. Two 1-run losses, to the first place Dodgers shows promise for the Padres.

This week we face NL West worst Colorado Rockies for two games and the Arizona D-Backs for another two game series. Then we head to Texas to face off against the Houston Stros. This week will be a great measuring stick to the resilience of this team.

In other news, I am having a phenomenal fantasy season. As you can see from the picture above, I'm a combined 8-0 in my two fantasy leagues. I guess you can say it's tough to argue my baseball knowledge...try me...

Chargers Mini Camp Pics

Here is a link to minicamp pictures of the bolts. The Best one is to see Merriman and LT out there again.

Charger Mini Camp Pictures

8 Innings, 2 Hits, 1 Walk and 8 K's

It's a Walk Off...

What a waste of an awesome line. Jake in all his Jager drinking glory had a waste of a phenomenal start taken away from him by the bullpen. Two nights in a row the Padres fall in terrible fashion. Last night on a past ball, from the outfield and tonight...on a bases loaded walk.

Merriman Goes Down

And this might be why we drafted an OLB with our first draft pick. None of us know how healthy he is and if he is going to be around in 2010. I personally think we (Chargers) would be stupid not to resign/franchise tag him next year! But then again it is all dependent upon his health.