Gwynn Thoughts: The statue, the brick

On Thursday I wrote of a few initial memories that arose from the ashes of my mind after hearing of Tony Gwynn's pending cancer surgery. I meant to continue with my Gwynn thoughts on Friday but life found a way to interrupt my little plans. This was from the 2007 season . . .

I knew this girl. She was not a baseball fan. But it was tickets to a ball game she had received for some demonstration of excellence. She knew I was a baseball fan however and quickly approached me to make the sale.

Sheepishly, I replied to her sales pitch, "Awww . . . I don't know. Those seats are pretty expensive." 

She reduced the price and I guiltily scooped them up. This particular game was to be played off in the future. July 21st to be exact. Against the Phillies. Excited that the seats were right behind the visitors' dugout I filed away the tickets and didn't give the game another thought . . .

As the date came-up on me over the summer I realized it would be the game in which Tony Gywnn would be immortalized with a statue at the Park in the Park. 

Earlier that year as a Valentine's Day gift for Mrs. AJM I had purchased a brick inscribed with our daughter's name to be placed around the base of the statue. Perfectly, I had purchased tickets to the game in which Tony Gwynn would be recognized for his career accomplishments. One week later he would head to Cooperstown to be enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame.

The seats were three rows behind the visitor's dugout, the best seats I ever had to a game. And that is my most vivid memory* -- being close to the Phillies players as Ted Leitner served as Master of Ceremonies. Each player -- Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and the rest of the Phillies -- stood at the top of the dugout with stares fixed on Gwynn. I may have spent more time watching them pay their respects to Gwynn than watching Gwynn receive a career summation from Leitner. I didn't feel too bad about it though -- I have a brick.

*This game was absolutely brutal. The Phillies stomped the Padres into the ground. The fossil known as Jamie Moyer, baffled the Padres into submission and Ryan Howard destroyed whoever was pitching for the home nine.

***
Research tells me that the match-up between Jaime Moyer and David Wells (both 44 years old) combined to be the second oldest pitching match-up in the history of the game:

On Saturday, the second-oldest match-up will take place at PETCO Park between the San Diego Padres' David Wells and the Philadelphia Phillies' Jamie Moyer.
The 44-year-olds will have a combined age of 88 years, 307 days when they take the mound, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

They didn't think to mention who was #1 so I went and found it for you (us). Here it is: The oldest pitching match-up occurred in 1987 when Don Sutton and Phil Niekro got after it at 90 years and 135 days. Interestingly enough, in 2007 the mark for the oldest lefty match-up was set four different times:

April 12th: Jamie Moyer versus Tom Glavine
April 24th: David Wells versus Randy Johnson
May 9th: Jaime Moyer versus Randy Johnson
July 21st: David Wells versus Jamie Moyer.

What a fun year for old people.

***
To be specific regarding Ryan Howard. He hit two HRs, one of which landed in the upper deck in left center field, and finished with 5 RBI. Just so I can describe the destruction with a degree of precision, ya know.

***
Milton Bradley fell a double short of the cycle. It was his 10th game as a Padre.

***
Khalil Green left three runners on base and Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out twice. I. Am. Shocked!

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Thank you, Mr. Padre.

San Diego Padres: Greatness on the Block at the Winter Meetings

Yesterday while driving home I divided my time between XX1090 with Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton and Xtra Sports 1360's The Drive, with Josh Rosenberg and Jeff Dotseth. Both shows are entertaining and informative. Yesterday's programs both leaned towards entertaining, for the exact same reasons: the maniacal callers.

Both programs spent chunks of time discussing the Padres and their 'possible' actions at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. There have been a few Padre trade rumors, primarily centered around Kevin Kouzmanoff and Heath Bell. After listening to San Diego's callers you would have been certain that the community regarded Kevin Kouzmanoff as the second coming of Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Brooks Robinson all rolled into one super fantastic player. I have news for sports radio caller: HE'S NOT. HE'S JUST A DUDE. A DUDE WHO HITS FOR LESS POWER THAN A CORNER INFIELDER SHOULD! A DUDE WHO STRIKES OUT A LOT. A DUDE WHO NEVER WALKS!! LET ME REPEAT.........HE'S JUST A GUY!!!!!!!!

Now let me offer this disclaimer. I like Kevin Kouzmanoff. If I could go get a beer with one Padre it would probably be him (perhaps Heath Bell just to hear the sh*t he would say). He seems like a great guy and he puts forth a nice effort, day in and day out. He plays a solid, if not range deficient, third base. I'd also be ecstatic if he was only required to be the #7 or #8 hitter in our line-up......but he's not. Kevin Kouzmanoff is supposed to be the guy who protects Adrian Gonzalez and in that roll he under performs quite dramatically.

If Padre fans want to see a team that is actually moving forward heading into 2010 they may have to accept the fact that a deal involving Kevin Kouzmanoff may be the means to that end.

You see, we already have a 3rd baseman named Chase Headley. He was the organization's minor league player of the year not so long ago, the Padres' #1 rated prospect, so let's give him a chance to develop at his natural position. Then we can give Kyle Blanks a chance to play everyday in LF which might be a good thing for his development. Oh yea......that guy Will Venable......how 'bout we see if his second half of 2009 was the real thing or a fluke by giving him everyday ABs out in RF. Guys must be given a chance moving forward and right now Kevin Kouzmanoff is impeding the development of our other players. We know what Kouz is; and so do the other MLB clubs. If he can gain us a another piece of the puzzle then make the deal happen, young Jed Hoyer.

In Summation:
Please stop complaining that the sky is falling because Kouz might be dealt.......And please, never ever let me hear the following phrase uttered again on talk radio:

"If Kouz gets traded then I'm not going to a game for the next 10 years. I'm done"

If that's what you think, then you really have no expectation of a championship in San Diego......and you are dumber than the day is long!

I would also prefer to never hear the following from a radio caller regarding Kouz trade talk:

"Why are they going to move him? If it ain't broke, then don't fix it!"

It is broke.....YOU F*CKING MORON! The Padres are coming off of 4th and 5th place finishes!

If San Diego's fans continue to call in with such asinine opinions it is incumbent upon Lee Hamilton, Jeff Dotseth, and Josh Rosenberg to destroy these mindless a**hats with extreme prejudice. I would say that this is all just my humble opinion but doing so would suggest that the Kouz-lovers have a leg to stand on.......which they DON'T!!!

Go Padres
(I apologize for an excessively bold-italic-CAPITALIZED-24 point font induced tirade)

Avenging Jack Murphy Meets 619 Sports: part deux

Less goat cheese; more of my voice. I discuss, with Craig and Chris, the Fate of Koooz, the Tao of Eckstein and the young players who are making us tune-in to watch a team that is 20-odd games out of 1st place.....the three youngsters mentioned have all had nice performances in the two games since taping, especially the 8 Train.

Avenging Jack Murphy meets 619 Sports: part deux [Podcast]