A Modest Proposal For Huston Street's 9th Inning Music

During Saturday's Fanfest at PETCO Park, Huston Street addressed his Closer's Music for 2012 while sitting on a forum panel moderated by Mud Grant. He said it would be a surprise. I have an opinion on this . . .

Since 1998 there have been two songs* San Diego Padres fans have heard in the 9th inning of a close game: Hells Bells for Trevor Hoffman and Heath Bell's Blow Me Away. Fourteen seasons with little variation, a remarkable feat.

*In 2003 Rod Beck took over for an injured Trevor Hoffman and saved 20 games. Who knows how Shooter would have rolled . . .

Is the discussion of entrance music frivolous? Yes. Am I going to write something about it regardless? Yes. Is my idea going to be more radical? Is it an election year?*

* Answering a question with a question is the way forward. Write that down . . .
When Huston Street was acquired by the San Diego Padres on December 7th, 2011 fans immediately chimed in with the obvious suggestions for 9th inning entrance music, most of which included the words Street or Streets referenced. But we don't need music from U2, The Cure, or the motion picture soundtrack to Annie*.

*I live in a household of females. Reserve judgement lest ye be judged yourself.

In my mind however, there's only one real song choice for Huston Street. I can't resist the idea that Street Fighting Man should be his music for the remainder of his time in San Diego.*

*A career which may or may not last past July 31st of this year.

But I wasn't talking about the Rolling Stones' Street Fighting Man. I much prefer a call to war: Rage Against The Machine's version of Street Fighting Man.

In 2000 RATM released Renegades, a collection of militant/anti-establishment/call-to-revolution type cover-songs. It featured a gritty, hard-edged Street Fighting Man that would subsequently be featured when ever someone wanted to show video footage of backyard revolution:

Whether this song played as the soundtrack  to Protestant and Catholic clashes in Northern Ireland or to the recent revolutions on the Arab Street the connotations were manifest: Rage!!!

Could this song get a moribund crowd to their feet during the 9th inning of a 2-1 game at PETCO?*

*Rhetorical question, you twit.

But Street Fighting Man is only one part of San Diego's 9th inning revolution, my good people.

While Huston Street charges out of the pen and begins his warm-up tosses there must be some sort of video montage projecting throughout the park. And since it's an election year I propose that the Padres focus on our current backyard revolution -- the battle against MLB to get ownership approved, specifically as it relates to current Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendricks and his vendetta against former partner and current Padres owner, Jeffrey Moorad.

I want a video montage with Samuel L. Jackson crushing snakes. I want to see video stills of Arizona Diamondbacks logos bursting into flames. There needs to be lots of fire! The city of Phoenix? Fire! Every place in the greater-Phoenix area should be ablaze with fire. A burning metropolis, one in which, only Peoria* survives the fury.

*The Seattle Mariners' locker room at the Peoria Sports Complex should burn to the ground.

Video stills of Ken Kendricks? He's the devil. He. Should. Be. ON. FIRE! Kendricks should have protruding horns from his ample forehead. And be holding a pitch fork! And he should be . . . on fire!!! There should be Molotov cocktails soaring through the air with Chase Field set in a fiery background. Chase Field's fate? Burned to the ground! This revolution shall be televised! Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Kevin Towers and Sean Burroughs? Horns. Pitchforks. Fire!!! The literal bonds between the organizations of Arizona and San Diego . . . MUST BURN*!

*We will spare former Kearney Komet, Alan Trammel.

The video shall end with Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel standing on the cliffs of Torrey Pines bellowing, "We are the San Diego Padres. And we approve of this message."

In summation: Rage Against The Machine's Street Fighting Man, Samuel L. Jackson, dying snakes, fire, connotations of devils, and more fire.

Good luck to Huston Street and the 2012 San Diego Padres.

Sight For Sore Eyes After Sweep

I spend a lot of time looking at Baseball-Reference.com for all my nerdy number baseball needs, especially Padres game logs, so as to be accurate when I harangue players like Will Venable and Orlando Hudson. It also serves a valuable purpose when I laud players like Cameron Maybin.

When I look at Baseball Reference I often think of the old carpenter's maxim of, "Measure Twice, Cut Once, my friend."*--- a reminder to look up the numbers before properly laying into a player.

Having said that, it pleased me to see the following graphic this morning:

In case you're missing it let me zoom in...

A nice fresh row of retired numbers featuring Trevor Hoffman. Good stuff.

*I added the 'my friend' to that old proverb and in so doing I believe its been improved upon. Don't you?

Trying to remember the 2010 Padres: Game 3 (Houston... we have a Beerfest?)

You have entered a site engaged in a highly complex experiment... an experiment designed to test the parameters of my mind... and it is about to seriously unravel.

If you were at any of the games I've been rehashing or remember watching them on the tube then join my little Irish Wake and splash the comment section with your alcohol laden commemorations! For further series explanation [go here]

GAME 3 of 18
April 30th, 2010
Padres v. Brewers @ Petco Park


WHAT I THINK I KNOW...

Beerfest?

***
There are serious recollection issues on this one, friends. Let me see...

I believe this particular game was a part of the brilliantly conceived but poorly executed Beerfest hosted by the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. I'm basing this quasi-gut-feeling on the opponent. I seem to recall the comedic connection between having a Beer Fest prior to a game against the Brewers. I guess it's not really that funny.

***
Like I said, great concept for Beerfest, but it was a logistical snafu right off the bat. I arrived with my buddy Al but we shunned the lines, instead settling for a Petco Park beverage over the choice microbrews of San Diego. There was just no denting the lines. We cursed Tom Garfinkel!

***
Perhaps a Friarhood meet-up as well? If so, I seem to recall sitting with SDPads1 of RJ's Fro and also meeting Mel from The Sacrifice Bunt.

***
The Padres win this game for sure. I'm going with a 3-0 shutout of the vaunted Milwaukee offense of Braun, Fielder, Hart, et. al.

***
Weren't we starting to feel pretty good about the Padres at this point? I think the Milwaukee series saw the Padres staff begin to really assert itself allowing maybe just a couple of runs in a 4 game (?) series.

***
I have no idea how the Padres scored. I have no idea who pitched. Did I just make up a bunch of stuff?

Source: An overactive imagination... and a ticket stub.

RESEARCH SAYS...

Phewwww! It was the Beerfest game! I guess I should be thankful that the opponent was the Brewers, giving me cause to connect the beer soaked dots.

***
The Padres did in fact win the game 3-0 with Clayton Richard (1-2) getting the "W" after throwing 6 innings and striking out 8. Dave Bush was the big loser.

***
With April coming to an end the Padres improved their record to 15-8 after blanking the Brewers in consecutive games by an aggregate score of 12-0. The Padres and Brewers would split the next two games; a 2-1 loss for Mat Latos but a series clinching win on Sunday for Jon Garland by a score of 8-0. Trevor Hoffman saved the lone win for the Brewers.

***
As I said, the Padres had taken the 1st two games of the series by scoring 12 runs. Care to guess who went 0 for 8 with 1 walk in those two wins? I think the Padres offense will survive in 2011.

***
Attendance-- 29,366. Pretty weak considering it was a Friday during a sustained run of success...with a BEERFEST promotion! Alas, it would be the attendance story of the season.

NOTABLE OMISSIONS...

GAB: Gregerson (7th), Adams (8th), and Bell (9th) made quick work of the Brewers resulting in a speedy game time of 2:46.

***

BRO-B-I in full effect: in a 1-0 game in the 7th, Scott Hairston hit a pinch hit blast plating he and brother Jerry. The HR was vintage Hairston. Since his arrival from Arizona in 2007 he hit quite a few memorable homers at Petco that looked just like this one. Scotty was never afraid of Petco; too bad we couldn't have seen more of these.

Give it a look... it was a no doubter.

***
Shutout streak of 24 innings for Padres pitching staff.

***
This was the Padres 10th win in 11 games.

***
New Padres catcher Greg Zaun was behind the plate for the Brewers going 1 for 3 with a walk.

***
Tony Gwynn Jr., the evening's hitting star, went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored. TGJ finished April hitting .255 with a .758 OPS. However, Gwynn the Younger, could not maintain his torrid April pace; he now plies his trade in what I like to refer to as an Overcrowded Version of Hell (Los Angeles).

Sources: Baseball Reference & Padres.com

LASTING IMPRESSIONS...

Shut outs are cool. An expertly planned Beerfest may have been even MORE cool. Going to games with friends and meeting more once there is the very definition of good times... and a hangover.

***
It's a beautiful day... let's play 15... more of these.

A Terrible Trevor Hoffman fan?

So it ends.

After 601 saves Trevor Hoffman hung up his spikes and fans we're left to reflect on a remarkable career. I have begun to think of the successes and failures, but perhaps most importantly, what he has meant to San Diego.

Sorry... but that last one there... I think about it a lot.

As a city without championships San Diegans are often left with little else than the memories of individual players and their place in our community. In that sense the names Gwynn and Hoffman are synonymous; players who enjoyed tremendous on-field success, became trademarks of the Padres organization and pillars of our community---guys who we were proud to call our own.

As I reflected yesterday on the consistency and greatness of Trevor's career I began to sift through and sort his most memorable performances. These were the ones that my mind jigsawed back together:
(click "Read More" to continue)

•  October 20th 1998--After a season of absolute dominance and 53 saved games, Trevor surrendered a lead in game 3 of the World Series when he allowed a 3-run HR to Yankees 3rd baseman, Scott Brosius. The blown save would lead to a game 3 loss that evening and the series would end abruptly the following night (television).

• September 29th, 2007-- (game 161) With an opportunity to clinch the division against the Milwaukee Brewers Trevor could not keep the light hitting Tony Gwynn Jr. from pulling an RBI triple down the line. TGJ's hit sent the game to extra innings where it would end in the 11th with a disheartening Padres loss. The son of the greatest player in the history of the Padres franchise had dashed our hopes while batting against perhaps the second most beloved player (television).

• October 1st, 2007-- (game 163) In the most heartbreaking game in my time as a Padres fan Trevor let open the floodgates against the Colorado Rockies in the 13th inning of game 163. The third, and winning, run scored when Matt Holiday's chin bounced off the Denver dirt and he was ruled safe by home plate umpire Tim McClelland (television).

• June 24th, 2008-- The Padres, mired in a miserable follow-up to the 2007 season, trotted out Trevor Hoffman during the 9th inning of a 1-1 tie. I told my wife that he never does well entering a game in the 8th or with runners on base... or during a tie game. After striking out the first two batters in the top half of the 9th he gave up two HRs in rapid succession. My wife, a calm and reasonable person, became vocal in her displeasure. I did something I rarely ever do... I booed. I booed Trevor Hoffman (attended).

As I took stock of my fanhood and recalled the most lucid moments in Trevor Hoffman's career I came to the only logical conclusion: I am a terrible Trevor Hoffman fan.

I beat myself up over it. How could a player who exhibited such greatness serve only as the tragic punchline to my most memorable pains as a Padres fan?

I sat and thought and was left with little reward for the effort. I could come up with no specific performances of greatness by Trevor. Sure, I could remember change-ups that dropped off the table leaving hitters baffled but there was no 1-2-3 inning requiring a mere 3 pitches. There was no 9 pitch inning of 3 batters coaxed into flailing swings at the famous change-up. Nor could I recall some great defensive stab whereupon Trevor wielded to second base for an inning ending double play.

There had to be something. While the Padres could never claim that memorable World Series moment where everyone mobbed the closer like the Mets did to Jesse Orosco* in the 1986 WS, there had to be something about a Trevor appearance that stood out...

And then the cobwebs began to clear from the deepest recesses of my mind and a smile appeared on my face. I began to remember.

In fact I began to remember every game I attended where Trevor Hoffman pitched... and then I began to remember his appearances I watched on television... and there was a similar artistry to them all. I had not forgotten a thing.

My memory was not limited to the scars that were produced so many years before. I recalled the rhythm to each and every one of Trevor's entrances. They were remarkably consistent in both appearance and performance.

As a fan I realized that I didn't need to remember anything more specific than the sound of Hells Bells playing over the PA or my imagination of the tune being played during the commercial break of a telecast watched at home. It didn't matter that Hells Bells was not played when Trevor had a save opportunity on the road.... because it automatically became my mind's soundtrack each and every time. 

 

If Hells Bells was played it meant Trevor Time... and if Trevor made his late inning appearance it was near certain the Padres would walk off the field with a win.

Trevor Hoffman walked off the field a winner almost 9 out of 10 times during his career... and for me, wins aren't too bad of a memory.

Thanks Trevor.

* The final out of the '86 series is one of my favorites. Jesse Orosco flipped his glove high into the New York sky after the final out of game 7; it was an action I would often imitate amongst friends at the ball field. Orosco would go on to pitch for another 20 years or so and during the latter stretch of his career he would go trick or treating at my parent's house. Actually he accompanied his children to my house on Halloween. Jesse Orosco was my neighbor for a short time here in San Diego but I never mustered the nerve to ask him to recreate that October night in 1986. That would have been cool.

The Long Awaited Trip To Cooperstown

I completely blew it in 2007.

I was so consumed by hatred for the New England Patriots and a trip to Foxborough, MA to see the Chargers play that I never considered the only true touring option for 2007; a trip to Cooperstown, NY to see Tony Gwynn's induction into baseball's HOF*.

Like I said... I blew it.

So here's my chance (and yours) for atonement.

Assuming by the year 2016, HOF voters will have come around to the idea of electing Closers in to The Hall on the first ballot, Padres fans will have the opportunity to travel to New York and see Trevor Hoffman's induction.

It's never to early to start planning.

*I should really contact Tony Gwynn and apologize. He deserved to have all of San Diego there in New York to see his HOF induction, considering the sacrifices he made to spend his entire career here. A little support... is it too much to ask for?