My Padres are not doing well right now.

I’m not giving up on this team. I am a die-hard Padres fan, and there’s no other team I would rather root for. But right now, we are not playing like we can, and we’re losing like crazy. I’ve said it before, I’m not afraid to criticize this team, especially when they losing like this. I’m not going to say everything’s peachy when it’s not. So, in order to solve our apparent problems, I must rant and it might seem like I’m bashing them. Well, if I do, it’s only because I love them. Here we go…

On Saturday night, Chris Young threw an absolute gem, similar to Jake Peavy’s the night before. CY went seven innings, six hits, one run, five strikeouts. He was very sharp, and he gave this team a huge chance to win. 

What do we do with that chance? Of course, we ruin it. We let it slip away, and we don’t capitalize on opportunities to score. Sure, we got an Edgar Gonzalez solo homer in the top of the first but that was it for the entire game!! We left six on. We got five walks and three hits.

But the Dodgers were held down pretty well too. Edwin Moreno and Cla Meredith had excellent outings. The game went to the tenth, tied at one.

Luke Gregerson comes into the game. He gets the bases loaded, no outs. He allows a single and the game. We lost 2-1 in extras. It was so sad!

We left six on. But there was one inning where we got the bases loaded with one out. Randy Wolf was tiring, so a new pitcher was brought in.

My boy Kouz is at the plate. What do you think he does? First pitch from a fresh pitcher with the bases loaded and one out, he hits into a double play. I was not happy with him. Not happy at all.

But he halfway redeemed himself when he barehanded a grounder and got a runner out at first. I still love you, Kouz 🙂

Man, I can’t believe we only got three hits in the entire game!! That’s terribly pathetic!!

Yesterday’s game was terribly pathetic too. Chad Gaudin started, throwing 5.2 innings and allowing six runs. Arturo Lopez allowed a run, but Luis Perdomo threw two perfect innings.

This time, we got six hits. Brian Giles and Jody Gerut each hit a solo homer. That was Gillies’ first of the year, so maybe he’s heating up. Edgar Gonzalez drove in another run with a double.

The game was pretty close for a while, but then the Dodgers pulled ahead and they never looked back. They ended the torturous series with a sweep, 7-3.

I don’t know what to do with my Padres. We should have won two, maybe three games in this series. Instead, we won NONE.

It’s all about clutch hitting, man. Yesterday, in the sixth, the Dodgers got four runs to pull ahead for good. They got all four of those runs with two outs. The Padres, once they got two outs, they were done. There wasn’t a clutch hit in the entire series for the Padres!

But the Dodgers were a lot better than us. They were hitting when the opportunity came to score some runs. They were working together as a team, and they were getting the job done. I didn’t feel any of that from the Padres at all!

We couldn’t win with Jake Peavy pitching, we couldn’t win with Chris Young pitching, and we couldn’t even win with Chad Gaudin pitching!! I mean, if we can’t win with our aces going out there and having outings like they did, how on earth are we supposed to win with the guys like Kevin Correia and Josh Geer? Baseball is so unfair!

We were 4-for-29 with runners in scoring position for the whole series. That’s scary. It’s all about the clutch hitting, and that’s proof that we weren’t. We lost 3.5 games in the standings, and now we’re in fourth place in the NL West, only ahead of the Rockies. We’re headed for the cellar, that place that I never want to go to again. We’ve lost five in a row. We’re not hitting, and we’re not pitching. We had a great little run at the beginning of the season, but that’s over now. We’ve officially fallen back to earth.

Now is the time when winning really matters. Now is the time that we have to fight, and fight hard to stay with the other teams in our division. Now is the time that we have to persevere, not give up, ’cause this is when it’s hardest to do so.

Padres fans were hesitant to get too excited about the run we made at the beginning of the season, and you can bet that those fans are retreating, saying that they were right. We’re going to have very small crowds for the next few days as we play at home.

We’re not playing like we should be. We’ve got the talent, but something’s happened to this team. They are reeling, defeated, struck down. But they aren’t giving up. They’re going to fight with all they have. Sometimes, it just won’t work.

It’s times like these when you see who really loves this team and who doesn’t. When the times get tough, some fans will abandon their team. But I can’t. I couldn’t stop supporting this team if I wanted to. The die-hard Padres fans can’t and won’t leave this team. 

We’ve gone through this before. All of our 40 years of existence have been characterized by losing and failure. We made it through last season. We endured 99 losses and lived to tell. We can do it again if we have to. This team may lose the rest of their games this season, but we’ll stick by them. No matter what.

And you know what, it’s only the beginning of May. We have a TON of baseball to be played, and there’s no reason to believe that we won’t get better. I think that we will rebound and have an excellent second half. I still think we can get to the playoffs. This team is too good to stay like this for long. We’ve seen it. We know they can win on a consistent basis. I think they will go back to doing that soon.

We’re playing the Rockies for two games at home starting today. The game tonight is crucial for San Diego to win. We need a win after five straight losses, to get back on track. If we don’t win tonight…oh boy. And so, to help the players be motivated to get this win, I propose a few, uh, restrictions until they win:

1) No hot showers until they win.

2) Everybody has to shave.

 3) If they don’t win during this homestand, they have to travel to Houston in a bus.

4) They will have to put Jeff the Ram’s Head in the dugout for full display.

5) No candy in the clubhouse until we win a game.

If they want something to eat, they can have some of Buddy Black’s favorite snack:

6) The team needs to get together for a serious meeting.

7) They need to have a ceremonial burning of the sand uniforms.

 

8) And above all, this team needs to bring out their bats!

Hopefully, my Padres will snap out of it tonight against those Rockies.

GO PADRES!!!

(photo credits: neatitems.com, fda.gov, farm1.static.flicker.com, home.flash.net, countryinns.com)