Recent Padres History and An Open Letter To Chad Qualls

Upon hearing of the Chad Qualls signing I thought I'd take the opportunity to welcome him to the home team.

Dear Chad
You have a great opportunity to join an established bullpen here in San Diego that may very well serve as the catalyst to a career revival. The tutelage of pitching coach Darren Balsley coupled with the spaciousness of Petco park should serve you well in 2011.


Giving due consideration to the above comments I'd be remiss if I did not point out that even 93 mph fastballs...

... can get knocked the f*ck out of a cavernous park like Petco by even the most diminutive of batters.

You know this... because David Eckstein wrecked you with one swing of the bat on June 7th, 2009... thus proving that even a midget with a propensity for choking up to the bat's fulcrum can best a pitcher in Petco Park.

David Eckstein, Chad. David "fricken" Eckstein.


Welcome to San Diego and the PENitentiary. Best of luck in 2011.


Sincerely
AJM

All in good fun.

The Mrs. and I were there and since I've been recapping games attended I though I'd make a few remarks about this particular one.

The Padres were down 6-1 in the 9th to Arizona and naturally they decided to put forth an epic rally during a game in which I had an afternoon curfew (mother-in-law babysitting came with an expiration time).

So with two runners on base and a 6-3 score, up walked David Eckstein to pinch hit for Luis Perdomo. Eck jumped all over the first pitch from Qualls launching a 3 run bomb, tying the game at 6 a piece. Petco erupted and we were off to extras...

The Mrs. and I managed to push through 'til the top of the 13th... and then we did something that has happened precisely three times since 2004... we began our trek home without knowing the game's outcome.

After 18 innings the Padres had left a surprisingly low number of runners on base (7)... of course, this tends to happen when teams go 9 for 61 at the plate. I took solace in knowing that the climax of such an uninspired offensive performance was absorbed while nestled in the comfort of both couch and central air.


When the 54th out of the day was recorded the Padres were on the 9-6 losing end of a Getaway day marathon; victim to a 3-run HR in the top half of the 18th by Diamondback's 3rd baseman Mark Reynolds. The winning blast was surrendered by the 10th Padres pitcher of the day... light hitting short stop, Josh Wilson. Wilson's ERA would never recover that year.

Ironically it was the Diamondbacks who had waived Wilson only 3 weeks earlier leading to an audition with the Padres. The Padres then proceeded to waive Josh Wilson less than two weeks after his June 7th mound collapse. To the chagrin of Padres fans everywhere, Wilson was claimed forthwith by our despised arch-rivals to the north...

Know your Padres history.