Memorial Day: a great day/great re-post/great cause

As a society we all too often remember those who've died fighting for our country but fail to remember those who've lived. These survivors will sometimes face the most unthinkable of challenges. One challenge brought to my attention a few years back was that of Traumatic Brain Injury. The UFC did a benefit for guys afflicted with these injuries a year and a half ago and it compelled me to write something about it. Enjoy....

December 10th, 2008
After a long day I turned on Spike this evening to find a Live UFC event. I was immediately captivated by two things:

1. The advertisement across the back of one fighter's trunks.
2. The audience decked out in camouflage UFC shirts.
   

Now, the advertisement was the impetus for this post.....trust me.....funny.....very funny (see: above link).....but my motivation to burn the midnight oil changed very quickly after I saw that it was not only a fight put on for the entertainment of US soldiers but for the benefit of them as well.

Specifically at hand was the issue of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and the infusion of money needed to help these injured soldiers upon returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The event was not limited to TBI however, as the goal was to raise enough money to build a state of the art treatment facility that would cater to all soldiers returning home with life altering injuries. This endeavor is being undertaken by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a not-for-profit organization.

Why keep reading?

The UFC card was interspersed with vignettes about some of our returning soldiers, the challenges they face, and unfortunately the inadequate care they receive. (click "Read More" to continue)

I Could Only Afford to Throwback to 1984.....at least I didn't wear red

The Padres are wearing the 1978 Brown Away jerseys for the remainder of midweek day games this season.....so.....I felt moderately douchey on account of being decked out in my 1984 gear. On the other hand, I feel as though the spirit of the day was maintained as I went retro by 25 years. Surely I cannot be thought ill of based on such efforts. A home white 1978 Dave Winfield/Gaylord Perry jersey may be in my future.... 

THE GAME
Padres lost. Eleven whole runs scored. Cardinals averted the sweep. I scribed an open letter to a misdirected faction of Padre fans.

Dear Misdirected Faction:

My name is Mike. Some address me by the handle Avenger-in-Chief but the choice is yours really. I am compelled to point out to you that Padres fans are a mottled lot, adorned in nearly every spectrum of gear that has been introduced since the glorious incarnation.....the year of our lord nineteen-hundred and sixty nine. As such there tends to be a general lacking of fan cohesion at home games. The fan-gear color patterns are so disparate it can be difficult for the casual fan let alone those of the die-hard ilk to decipher the locale when watching on television.

Let there be no mistake however, that when the TV is turned on to a torrent of red there is little doubt that the St. Louis Cardinals are one of the teams involved. The same goes for Cardinal games on the road. A virtual Red Sea of fans. During the yearly Cardinals series at Petco this Red Sea will often find itself being parted on Tony Gwynn Drive only to reconstitute itself within the confines of Petco Park. Its an ugly sight to find yourself not only vastly outnumbered by the opposition but to see that they have come to a consensus on a common color (red) thus heightening the effect of their presence. I do not like red. I do not like it in our park. I do not like it in the dark. 


Don't wear RED YOU IDIOT PADRE FANS!!!!In front of me to the left was a fan wearing a Padre hat and a BRIGHT RED t-shirt. In front of me to the right was a fan wearing a Padre shirt and a random BRIGHT RED hat. Don't wear RED YOU IDIOTS!!! Even if its not the Cardinals in town.....DON'T WEAR RED YOU IDIOTS!!! For the Love of Scott Brosius, it's a Padres game!!!
Respectfully
A Non-Red Wearing Padre Fan

I'm serious. Don't wear red into Petco Park.....and a giant F-U to the dude decked out in the Russell Martin Jersey and LAtrine hat. F-U!!!

The Week In Padres: my internal clock has been destroyed

This is where I write a post about not writing posts.
I made a comment last Sunday about Dick Enberg and his constant love of the enemy and then figured I'd a-keep-on-a-rolling with my commentary as I entered this week. I'd have plenty to say as the plan was to get out to the park on Monday to see the Padres battle the Giants for NL West supremacy. I went to the park.....and my body clock hasn't been the same since....

MONDAY:
I bought a park pass for 5 bucks. When I tried to sneak down to a prime location I was caught by Stan the Usher and sent packing. It was OK. I parked up in the standing room only section positioned behind home plate and chatted with a Giants fan for the rest of the game. I enjoyed telling the fan about Matt Cain's Curse and how they had better win tonight because they had NO CHANCE against Latos on Tuesday night.

Truth be told, it's one of the best seats (errr...standing locations) in the park. Great view (although you can't see the jumbo-tron) of a game. I even had a great view of the yahoos who ran on to the field during the 9th inning.....at which point my week began to unravel. The delay that these clowns caused ensured that I wouldn't be getting home until an unsuitably late hour.....an hour that would be sure to have an adverse affect on my systems' functions for the remainder of the week. Sure enough, while excited about a Padre victory, I woke up pretty tired on Tuesday morning. (click "Read More" to continue)

Dick Enberg Analysis: How 'bout a little bias, Dick!?!

On Friday night there were some Dick Enberg complaints on Twitter regarding his bias........or lack thereof, to be more exact. The prevailing sentiment was that Enberg gets WAY too excited about play by the opposition and not enough for the Padres. Sure Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are good. But in giving them praise is it necessary to fawn over them?

Por Ejemplo: 

Casey Blake was chasing a foul pop-up in Friday's 4-3 loss, one that ultimately fell into the stands. As Blake ran out of room he slid to avoid an unnecessary trip into the bleachers. Enberg proceeded to make it sound like Blake had made a play tantamount to the Mays over the shoulder World Series grab combined with an Aaron Rowand face first in to the wall catch......it was neither of those. There was nothing special about Casey Blake's effort especially for a guy who's making $6.25 million/season. Enberg's unctuous praise of Blake led me to Tweet the following:

HaHa. I AM FUNNY.......but that is besides the point! (click "Read More" to continue)

2010 MLB Predictions: where I take stock of my stupidity

Today's sweep of the Giants has left the Padres with a 22-12 record and given me cause to reevaluate my preseason prediction of 83 wins. Things have changed......and not just because Mat Latos threw a CG 1-hitter to close out the Gigantes......it is much, much more than that.

Padres/Giants Series: Game 1 in Screen Scrapes

 There were runners left on base. Too many to count. Where the Padres are concerned....Bases loaded = Bad

Davis Eckstein got on base with great frequency (2 for 2 with 3 walks). Eckstein destroys the opposition's will to live with his sheer scrappiness. Slayer of wills...David Eckstein.

Is that why a 3-2 game lasted an eternity?

I'm still not over it......17 WALKS!!!!!

Padres take game 1.

Lake Elsinore:reveling in some Manny Ramirez fail

I had a chance to go up to Lake Elsinore with Steve from the Friarhood to see the Storm play the Inland Empire 66ers (Dodgers High A) last Thursday night. While there we met up with Peter from the Padres Run Down. This game had two huge attractions:

1. Thirsty Thursday.......$1 beers until the 6th inning.
2. Heckle Fest........Manny Ramirez was doing a rehab assignment with the 66ers which could only lead to good fun.

Manny hit lead-off for the 66ers so as to maximize at-bats. He started by seeing four balls outside the zone from Storm pitcher and 2007 1st round draft pick, Nick Schmidt. Kind of weak. If I was going up against a "Manny type" on a rehab assignment, I'd have attacked him.....of course that's just me*.

Manny then made his way to second after another walk and then Schmidt quickly found himself looking death squarely in the eyes against the 66ers number three hitter**. Luckily for Schmidt the line-drive up the box deadened his non throwing fore-arm and not his face. A slight ricochet left Schmidt with time to gather the loose ball and spin to first to get the force......of course that wasn't the correct play. In Schmidt's stupor he failed to recognize that Manny Ramirez is horrible on the base paths and looked more like a flailing marionette hung up between second and third. Alas, Schmidt missed his opportunity to get the force at third......but as Schmidt wheeled to 1st, Manny made his mad dash to 3rd.
[Enter Allan Dykstra]
The Padres 2008 1st round pick announced his presence with authority......by air mailing the throw over Storm third baseman, Vince Belnome's, head. Ahhhh, to watch High-A ball up close. Those youngsters! Manny ultimately came around to score on the errant throw and I found myself chuckling about Ramirez' base running; that's just "Manny being Manny"(lol)***
[click "Read More" to continue]

Appealing to the Court of Morgan Ensberg: the Dallas Braden/Alex Rodriguez Saga

A couple of weeks ago A's pitcher Dallas Braden and Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez engaged in a dispute over baseball's "unwritten rules". I wanted to make a comment on it at the time, not in defense of Dallas Braden , but to indict Alex Rodriguez based on his past actions. I ended up making a comment on the matter but did so at Morgan Ensberg's Baseball I.Q. (his blog).

Ensberg wrote his blog post as though he were a judge presiding over his court (You might want to click that link before hand to see Ensberg's exact argument but I can sum it up by saying this: he sides with Rodriguez on the grounds that there is no unwritten rule regarding this issue and Braden overreacted in such a way as to prove that he was actually in the wrong). I responded as though I were a prosecutor. Ensberg then went on to respond to my response to his response.....got that?

Now that Dallas Braden has pitched a perfect game and has discussed seeking retribution against A-Rod when their teams meet in July, now seems like the perfect time to post my appeal to the court of Morgan Ensberg (click "Read More" to continue)

Better Recognize....the SD on my hat!

Long, long, ago I went traipsing through the United Kingdom. While there, I left no stones unturned in England, Scotland and Wales (gross exaggeration). In Wales, I made my way to a ferry and hopped over to Ireland, as well. Through it all I wore my San Diego Padres hat (navy blue with orange and white interlocking "SD"). The mother country is a damp place and the constant precipitation (not to mention perspiration) turned that hat into a dank mess. But I cared not for appearances. I wore my SD with pride. I was representin'!

I wonder how Padres owner Jeffrey Moorad feels about the ol' "SD"? Oh, hey....there's an on-line copy of the San Diego Metropolitan magazine with an article on Padres owner Jeffrey Moorad......I wonder if he has an opinion:

Whenever Jeff Moorad speaks, you’ll see him proudly sporting a new Padres logo: “SD” it reads.
“There aren’t many cities in the country that are known by just their initials,” Moorad told members of Rotary Club of Coronado in April. “There’s LA, NY and maybe SF. We should market San Diego: SD. It’s got great cache around the world.”

Hey there you go, Mr. Moorad! I knew that he and I were simpatico. The "SD" is pretty explicit whereas a hat with an interlocking "CR" (a la the team in Colorado) is a concept that just leaves foreigners dazed and confused, the world over. Alright for the "SD"!

Ever since those days of travelin' around representing San Diego I've started to notice how many different Padre color schemes there are adorning this city's fans. It's a pretty disjointed fan-base and the roots of this disunion seem to have been sown when blue was introduced as a primary color. (click "Read More" to continue)

Stuck In My Craw: Padres Pitchers......and The Sacrifice Bunt-ing

Blog names are always interesting. Some have obvious meanings and others leave something to the imagination. I've always wondered why "The Sacrifice Bunt" calls itself The Sacrifice Bunt. I looked through their archives (first few posts anyways) to see if there were any explanations but found nothing. I met Melvin last week at Beerfest but the question wasn't at the top of my action item list*. I can only hypothesize as to why Melvin and Ray named their blog The Sac Bunt. It goes something like this:

Are you EFFING SERIOUS? Really? Really, Chris Young? All you have to do is stick the bat out and catch the ball with the barrel of your bat and you can't even do that? Really? It's the most basic of tasks. Not to mention....you're a PROFESSIONAL!!! Really? You are the best in the WORLD at this task. ALLEGEDLY!!! Not to mention it would dramatically help your cause....you know....kind of like free throws in the NBA.....they're FREE POINTS, for the love of Scott Brosius!!!. Move a runner over, big fella. Get yourself a run and in the process, maybe a win. Geez.......(walks away to inaudible grumbling "my grandmother could have pushed that bunt down the first base line!")

(click "Read More" to continue)

Dick Enberg Analysis: "A looper....ya know? A caddy, a looper, a jock."

I haven't written anything related to the analysis of Dick Enberg lately. My last commentary alluded to him needing to be in the booth for about a month before he could be evaluated with a level of fairness. As such, the weekly post died. It has now risen like a zombie*.

Dick was off chasing Olympians through the woodlands of Canada and lacked the proper spring training required of not only an announcer unfamiliar with a new team but the preparation required of someone having been out of the game for 25 years. I've cut him a lot of slack. Many have not. By my rudimentary accounting system.....Mr. Enberg's grace period lasts another two days. Having offered that disclaimer....

I must point out that Dick Enberg has a particular call that makes me laugh out-loud each night. I wouldn't say that the laughter is side-splitting but it's audible and when I hear it I feel like James Brown......good. (click "Read More" to continue)

Ancient Bud Black Mind Tricks

Among all of MLB's managers, Bud Black is the only one who is a former hurler. There must be a valid reason for such a case.

Could it be that he knows how to use psychology to cajole pitchers in to doing what may seem to be against their perceived self-interests? Let us call these the Bud Black Mind Tricks.....if he indeed is versed in this ancient art.

Last week, the Padres Trail, posted a column about the Mat Latos/Wade Leblanc "5th starter issue" which was then debated thoroughly in a thread at Gaslamp Ball.

THE PREMISE: what should happen with the two young pitchers once Chris Young returns from the disabled list?

At the time of the posting LeBlanc had been pitching lights out and then went on to get the win after pitching 6.1 innings of scoreless ball. Did Latos meet the challenge? He went on to pitch 6 innings of 2 run ball and got hung with the loss (both runs came on homers). Not a bad outing but also not on par with LeBlanc. What to do, what to do....... (click "Read More" to continue)

National MLB Writer Enjoys The Laughter Elicited By San Diego's Padres

With the Brewers current standing in the NL Central (seven games back),  Fox writer Ken Rosenthal discusses the possibility of GM Doug Melvin dealing Prince Fielder. Among a couple of complications in a deal for Fielder, Rosenthal puts his main focus on the potential availability of another power hitting first baseman. Rosenthal writes:

First base, at least at this point, is not an obvious need for most contenders -- and the 16-9 Padres, still could trade first baseman Adrian Gonzalez if they fail to, ahem, run away with the NL West. 

 First off, I think Ken Rosenthal is a bit of a dick. You only need to read the insertion of "ahem" into the above line to arrive at that view (those who disagree...LEAVE NOW!)

As that is my opinion, please don't take this post as some sort of grand indignation I've concocted in reaction to being disrespected as a fan of the Padres. I'm not surprised that Rosenthal would take this view in any way because not only is he a dick...he's a stupid dick.
MY POINT:
Do the Padres need to "run away with the NL West" in order to keep Adrian? I think that just being in contention at the trade deadline would do the trick (it's not like Adrian would pass through waivers later in the season with a salary under $5 million). Lazy sports writer.

Sweet. We're in agreement then.....Ken Rosenthal is a dick and an uninformed one at that.