Who's watching, watching....?

…The 2009 Padres?
(Editor's Note: As reported to the AIC by one member of the Collective)
With much fan-fare but low expectations, the Pads took the field for opening week led by hometown hero Adrian Gonzales and returning ace Jake Peavy (but for how long?). Following an opening day loss, the fellas rallied to a series push against our division rival: the LA Cholos…err, Dodgers. The boys then followed it up with a sweep of the San Francisco baseball Giants to finish opening week not only with a winning record, but atop the competitive NL West (Editor's Note: competitive??? Competitive=euphemism for mediocre?).

I had the opportunity and the pleasure to attend Saturday night’s game, and what a game it was. (actually I had the opportunity to go to 4 games this week, but even with the 5 dollar meal-deal, 4 games is too much for this rank-and-file avenger to handle…waiting for Uncle Sam to subsidize my entertainment needs! Baseball’s too big to Fail!...but I digress…). Needless to say, it was definitely in the top 4 Padres games I’ve ever been to, which read as follows, in descending order:

• 4- 1999 “Meet the Mrs.... get kicked out” (falling from 1 to 4 due to the course of history)
• 3- 2006 “JD Drew eviscerated by the AIC” (he’s much better than Doug Mirabelli you know)
• 2- 2009 “Read the Blog to find out why” (check out my balls)
• 1- 2006 “Seats on the 1st base wall/Irish fan heckles the Ump”
  

(Editor's Note: Who the fuck does things in a "Top 4" format? JD Drew and Doug Mirabelli are useless cunts and deserved the lashing they received. I'm glad that I factor in to two of your top 4 life experiences......it could have been 3/4 if you had invited me on Saturday.....thanks Dick!)

Saturday’s game was a fast-paced one, taking only a little over 2 hours to complete, but it had a little bit of everything:

• Great pitching (8 2/3 from Jake)
• Clutch hitting (a rarity in San Diego)
• Some great defensive plays by Hairston and Giles-aka Jake the Mus…(keep yer hands in yer pockets Brian) (Editor's note: An excellent reference to Once Were Warriors: Go to You Tube)
  
• Three home runs including 2 by Senor Blanco
• A Win...most important of all.
  

The overriding factor that made this my all-time #2 Padres game though was not any of the above aspects of the game, nor was it the fact that the tickets were a gift from a friend, not even finding free parking on the street.....it was this ‘lil guy....

From having no balls to one.....you gotta start somewhere

.....who somehow found his way from Jake’s hand, rifled off the bat of third basemen Pablo Sandoval, rocketed over our heads, caromed off of a railing and into my outstretched hand. What a thrill! I felt like I was 12 again! Not even finding the free parking was a better feeling! Baseball’s back, and I’ll be back to see it live to be sure, let’s hope the Pads can keep on exceeding expectations. See ya at the park!

The Mad Italian (aka: The Ghost of Sid Going)
“Taller than Joe Morris, Dirtier than McConkey’s Mustache”