Now, where did we leave off?

Last time I wrote something, it was with my finger hovering over the panic button and questioning what it was going to take to get the team together. This was after a mere 6 games.

People were talking. Fans were grumbling. It was all Bud Black's fault, right?

It just gets old after awhile
— Fire Bud Black (@Fire_Bud_Black) April 5, 2014

Flash forward one week, and what do you got?

A 6-7 team.
A team that took a series from many World Series favorites, the Detroit Tigers,
A team that has won 2 in a row and 4 of their last 5.
A team that suddenly is stringing hits together.
A team that is having their pitching (well, maybe not quite Stults yet...) hit their stride and potential.

A team that is finding identity.


One week ago, I was nervous for this team and beginning to lose much of my optimism that has been building since the end of last season, but there have been several bright spots lately.

-Cashner threw a 1-hittter, which featured a bloop single over Gyorko.
-Ross went toe to toe with Cy Young, Max Scherzer and gave him the backhand by outdueling him, while adding an RBI single to boot.

Turned down 6yr/$144M. Haha.

-An extension of Jedd Gyorko, which will keep him in Padre blue (brown??) until 2020 in a 6 yr/$35 million deal.
-Will Venable has strung a few solid games together with the bat and hopefully returning to his Team MVP status of last year.
-Seth Smith turning out to be quite the asset by getting on base and flashing the leather.
-Everth Cabrera not losing anything from his All-Star, steroid-interrupted 2013.



There are a lot of positives and the Padres are slowly starting to climb. Luckily for them, they are facing a weak-armed Rockies team in which I believe they have a good chance to take 3 of 4 games. Erlin, Cashner, and Kennedy. I have faith.


Overall, this team has become exciting to watch again. It was painful for the first few games, sans Opening [Day] Night, with a lack of offense that looked like they couldn't hit a piñata at a ten-year olds birthday.

Last night was fun. A come from behind victory after being down 4-0 at home and scoring 2 runs in the 8th without even getting a hit.



They are now 6-7, and the talk isn't as painful as it was a week ago.

Will the hot streak continue? Let's hope, but I think so.  But whatever happens, just remember...

"That's baseball"

Padres Opening Day: We Have a Winning Record

 I can't describe how ecstatic I am for the Padres victory and the fashion it happened. Seth Smith: you are already paying dividends. Andrew Cashner: continue to deal. Bud Black: DENO CAN HIT!!!

And yes, the Padres have a winning record. This is some kind of nice.

And now I am currently at the airport, waiting to board a plane for Detroit.I get to travel to see my second Opening Day in 24 hours at Comerica Park.


This blog post is short, sure,  but I wanted to take some time out for a special post to thank this guy:

0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, and 1 ugly beard.

You did great buddy, keep up the good work!

Go Padres!

Padres sweep Giants, win 4th straight

Making it short because I have a pool party to attend, but what a sweet game at Petco Park today!

Going for the sweep of the Giants coming into the Sunday day game, the Padres didn't disappoint getting an offensive surge with 3 home runs, including a new-fence-aided Alexi Amarista 2-run shot and jacks by Headley and Hundley as well. It is nice to see the Padres get some production via the long ball since timely hitting isn't always there. Why not just score all runners at one time by hitting the ball over the wall?

Jason Marquis, although slightly shaky, was able to put off a much needed start for the Padres going 6.2IP and only surrendering 2 runs to the Giants lineup. Having to work out of bases loaded jams and runners continually on base isn't a good thing, but getting out of them with small scrapes is what Padres pitches need to do more often. Get out of jams without more than one run is great.

I am glad this series is over though. I was slightly looking forward to the higher attendance games and banter between both sides, but I had enough of it today. I couldn't even get into the park before I was angered by Giants fans who seem to turn up by the millions when they play at Petco Park.

Anyways, got the 6-4 win with another Huston Street save and we got the sweep from our Northern California rivals. I call that a great weekend.

Let us build on this four game winning streak and see if we can piece together a few series victories and get our record back to something respectable. It is obvious that Chase Headley back in the lineup is an amazing thing as today he smacked two doubles, one down each line, and a home run to dead center. His power is still there in all areas and the lineup is greatly impacted because of it. Get Norf, ECab, #WillTheThrill on base ahead of him, and the Padres will score some runs.

Go Padres!

Padres Celebrate Jackie Robinson Day with a Win

WARNING: This blog may contain extreme optimistic bias.

Much like this blog post.

Today was a great day for baseball. As everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson, we can give him a standing ovation from our computers as we read this for what he did for the game of baseball.

As the Padres took on the Dodgers tonight for the first time since last Wednesday's brawl, one would have though thought tensions would be high and some dirty baseball might by played. Fortunately, for those of us who enjoy watching the game of baseball for baseball, the game was overall clean.

Nine Padres trotted out donning Jackie Robinson's #42 and they seem to have a different sense about them. I saw plenty of times they had patience at the plate (0-2 walks by Everth and Denorfia in the 7th), leaving balls in the dirt, hitting the ball solid overall and seeming to make me have faith in everyone in the lineup to get a hit tonight (including the pitcher Eric Stults with a 3-run jack in the second).

The Padres were able to compile 9 hits and 9 walks tonight in the 6-3 victory as 7 starters came away with a base knock. Yes, this includes Cameron Maybin, Sexi Alexi Amarista and recently called up Kyle "The K Man" Blanks.

Even the pitching seemed to be on point. It is no secret that the Padres have had their trouble with pitchers going deep in the game. Stults started off the same throwing over 20 pitches in the 1st, his stat line ended up quite well going 6IP, 9 hits, 4K's and 3 ER, giving the Padres their second quality start in a row. Although the hits were high, he was able to battle out of jams, including a first inning bases loaded one, in which he struck out Eithier to end the inning. He consistently was able to hit his spots and give the Padres a chance to win.

The bullpen actually did their job for once! Brad Brach pitched the 7th striking out Kemp looking and getting Gonzalez to GIDP, Luke Gregerson pitched a shutout 8th and Huston Street came in for the save. 3 IP, 0 runs. That is what good bullpens do.

Poor Kemp. Not really.

It is amazing when you do the right things and play to the ability to team has, they can actually win. 17 runners reached base, pitching did their job an and the defense yielded no errors. Do this a lot, and you will win some games.

What made me most stoked overall this game? Consistency. Padres were able to continuously get batters on base in every inning, including a lot of leadoff men. This is how you score. With patience at the plate drawing walks and sac bunting them over, the Padres played smart baseball and were able to get some runs without having to do to much.


Leaves a good taste in my mouth tonight with the hopes Chase Headley makes it to LA tomorrow to make his season debut.

Yes, you will hit many balls that way, Chase.

Padres Weight Loss Program: Lose 19lbs EASY!

We get it, you are fat. We all are. Not many of us can complete a complete cycle of p90x, mainly because we get fed up with Tony Horton around Day 8. Not to worry, we at The Pitiful Padres help you to cut calories this year while religiously watching your favorite baseball team, the San Diego Padres.

Panda Sandoval needs to get on my program

Step 1: Find a perfect spot to watch

This might sound tougher than it sounds. Well, not really. Found a couch and a big TV. This is where your 162-game + playoffs* (*not guaranteed) work out will take place.

Step 2: Construct your workout

• Pre-Game: 
• If you are like me, you are pacing for at least 20 minutes prior to the game beginning waiting for the first pitch home run-turned-fly-ball at Petco Park. Without even knowing, you have began your workout and burned 68 calories before the Star-Spangled Banner is botched by some eight year old girl scout troop.
  
• During Game:









 Padres fan, King Leonidas, used this workout before filming 300

• Sac Bunt/Stolen Base sit-ups: Since the Padres are one of the most efficient teams in these two categories in 2012 with 155 SB's (2nd) and 63 Sac Bunts (9th), let us fans show our appreciation for the efficiency the Padres use to produced and the small ball tactics they display by doing sit-ups. Every 5 push ups is 1 calorie, so why not go 25 sit-ups to burn 5. The Padres average 1.34 of these run producers a game which comes out to 6.72 calories per game which getting abs to rival those of the Spartans in 300.
• Home Run Hops: For every Padres home run Chase Headley hits, or any Padre for that matter, you can celebrate with them by jumping up and down for 30 seconds. The Padres hit just 121 (.75) home runs last year, which ranked 3rd last in the MLB, so this rare feat deserves some recognition. And at 6.25 calories per jack, your scale is going to be stoked about those fences moving in this year. 4.68 calories per game
• Squats for strike outs: The Padres struck out 1238 times last season (7.64/game), which ranked 14th in the league. To imitate Padres players taking a squat on the bench after swinging and missing, start doing squats for 30 seconds. To calculate calories, a simple math problem: Your Weight x .096 x .5 (30 seconds). For me (180lbs), that is 8.64 calories per whiff if we calculate that times 7.64, that is 66 calories a game. Lets just hope the Padres don't run into Aaron Harang again, or your legs could be on fire for a few innings.
• Double Plays=Strong Legs Since the Padres were too lazy to run out that ground ball to short stop, your calves with suffer because of it. Stand up and do calf raises for 30 seconds to burn. Don't worry, Padres grounded into 100 DP's last year (26th) for only 2 calories per game
• Running For Runs The Padres were 23rd in the MLB last year with 651 runs scored last year, so why don't us fans give a little extra hustle to inspire the Padres and run in place for 30 seconds after every run scored. This will burn 5 calories and with the average of 4.01 runs per game, that is 20 calories per game
• Post Game
• Padres Victory Push ups After every Padres victory, which we can assume on 162 this year, do 25 push ups. For all those glass-half-empty people, do 25 even if they lose to encourage them for next game. At 1 calorie each, that is 25 calories per game

Now to do our final tallies. If we add up the average calories burned per game with the exercise and then factor in 295 calories for sitting and watching the game (2.9hrs, the average length of game x 102 calories/hour sitting and talking), we come up with 419.4 calories per game burned! Times that by 162 games, we can burn 67,942.8 calories per season which if divided by 3,500 (the amount of calories in a pound), we can burn 19.41lbs this season simply by watching baseball.

Fun Fact: Chase Headley will actually help you lose the most weight on the team! Leading the team with 157 strikeouts (1,356 calories), 95 Runs  (475 calories), 31 HRs (193.75) and contributing 22 Sac/SB (110 calories) and 7 GIDP (14 calories), Headley alone contributes for 2148.75 calories without even including his wins. Headley helps you lose .61lbs, he is your weight loss MVP.

Of course these numbers don't factor in the number of hot dogs (290 calories, 21g fat/dog), Peanuts (840 calories/8oz bag), Nachos (1500 calories/40 chips with 4oz cheese), Pretzels (400 calories), and soda (230 calories/20oz) according to a "Health Website"

I guess what I am trying to say is, you are fighting a losing battle, so everything helps. But overall, my message, however conflicting it may be, EAT UP FATTY! BASEBALL IS BACK!

Padres win 9-3 in Spring Training opener

First thing to be said: I am not going to do this every spring training game, I just thought in honor of a first game blowout victory, I would be willing to muster up some words of goodwill.

In my short synopsis of the game, it was basically over before it really began. The Padres drop a six-run dump on the Mariners which consisted of four hits, including a Jedd Gyorko Grand Slam, 4 walks, and a dropped fly ball. Cool Padres offense. Scored 3 more times knocking in 9 total on 10 hits.

Gyorko has the ability to spit venom which could prove valuable to earn a roster spot.

On the other side, San Diego's own,Sean O'Sullivan, did the Padres well giving them exactly what they would want in a Spring Training start going two hitless, scoreless innings.


So, what now? I know it is just one swing, but what if Jedd has an amazing spring? He has power, which we saw in Tucson last year, belting 24 bombs. Also, he has been taking strides to become a good asset on defense.

“I’ve always been known as a hitter first. I also want to be known for my defense and all-around play." 

So, this could prove to be a tough decision for Buddy Black. Do you bring him up to start the season, or hand over the job to Forsythe? And lets say they get more bad news about Evereth Cabrera's potential PED mishap in Miami? If I was a better man, and I am, I would say the Gyorko may start the season with the Padres, if the numbers and the defense can back it up.

As far as O'Sullivan, the pitching rotation is wide open as far as I am concerned for the maybe 3 and definitely 4-5 spots in the rotation. A good spring for him may prove valuable, and this start only helped put his name further in the mix of 10 guys.

Hey, Bret, I am the coach you know? I got this...

All in all, good to see a Padres win and start the season off with a bang. First place in the Cactus League! Hey, I will take what I can get.

The Pitiful Padres: Here we begin.

The 2013 San Diego Padres season is closing in on us quickly. In just five days time, pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Peoria to begin their spring training and just nine days time until the full roster voluntary date for all players invited to Spring Training this year.

This is going to be a big year for the Pads. With new owners, hopefully big things to expected and the lack of playoff streak can end. This being said, the NL West is not going to be a cake walk this year....again. Our rivals from two hours away have decided they wanted to spend every penny Magic Johnson and all his buddies have on signing every big name player they can get a hold of for the Dodgers and the Giants are coming off their second World Series in the last few years.

I have faith though. We have a good team as it is, when healthy, and if players play to their full potential we can get a lot out of this squad. Even with the 5th lowest payroll in the league (even after a 17% increase from last year according to Yahoo!), odds are against them, but I have a feeling this could be a great year.

The fences moving in, Headley coming off an MVP caliber season and Alonzo coming into his sophomore season (and Grandal after his 50 game...um...vacation). With Maybin getting hot the second half of the season, Hundley returning to the lineup after clearing his head in the minors and the Padres hopefully not using 15 different starting pitchers this year due to a ton of bad luck, I could see this being a fun summer being a Padres fans, with hopeful shades of 2010.

Of course ever team gets excited to start of the year and every teams fanbase is "going to win the World Series". I am not going to predict that, but I wouldn't be surprised if they snuck into the playoffs somehow. With the 5th best 2nd half record last year (other 4 teams made the playoffs), the Padres have shown what they are capable of and if they improve their road performance (34-47) and keep up their home performance (42-39), I have full confidence the Pads can break .500 this year.

Who knows? I could be speculating. But why not have faith? Why count out the Padres? I won't until they are mathematically eliminated. I hope for a fun season and I plan on being at Petco Park for as many games possible this year.

I hope to see everyone at Fan Fest this Saturday, February 9th at Petco Park where you can meet the players, get autographs, run the bases, tour the clubhouse, buy season tickets, play catch on the field, buy game used gear, and get excited about the 2013 Padres.

Good luck guys, and I hope to keep the excitement up late into October.

-Bret