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