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"One In Victory, One In Misery... But Only One Can Take It All!"
--Rob Halford (with the band Halford), from "One Will" on CRUCIBLE
As of yesterday, Major League Baseball's regular season now belongs to the ages. The day-after-tomorrow, The Road To The Ring begins, as the eight survivors duke it out for the right to hoist the World Series Championship banner in their stadium next April.
For the umpteenth time since 1998, the Padres will not see the playoffs, except from a TV screen as they cry in their beer yet again. This time, however, we say goodbye to Kevin Towers (don't let the screen door hit you where the dog should have bit you), pink-slipped and looking for new employment. I know that many folks will be waving good bye to Kevin...a few with all five fingers, yet! More heads are definitely going to roll at Padre HQ--and deservedly so.
So now that the season is over, the post-mortem report awaits. Where did we go wrong, in that our team avoided a 100+ loss season...but little else?
1) The team started playing great--but it was already too late! Around September, the Padres started playing like they meant business. It's nice to see that happen...but we needed that to happen when it counted--like say, July and August!
2) An owner with Ebenezer Scrooge Syndrome. Once again, the Padres would not stick a crowbar into their wallet and pony up for a true power threat. Now, I'm not suggesting going out and getting Milton Bradley or Barry Bonds (can you say "Fan Revolt"). However, one of the reasons that our team ate it was the lack of a true home-run producer. The Gonzales Brothers cannot do this alone.
3) Starting Pitching In Davey Jones' Locker. When the Padres shipped Jake Peavy to the ChiSox, the heart of the Padres pitching linup was torn out and tossed off the P.B. Pier. We knew Jake from 'Bama was gone goose (after it was leaked to the sports-radio pundits). Many of our starting rotation were down with injuries...or shipped off to the Portland Beavers to get themselves together.
Still, there was no hope to be had after Jake headed off to the South Side of Chi-Town. The staff needs to be rebuilt, with at least one marquee starter to take the lead starter role.
4) New promotional ideas did not equal bigger fan base. When you build a landfill--never try to build a restaurant within five humdred yards of it
That is what the Padres did by their food promotions, such as the "Five-For-Five" deal co-sponsored by AM/PM, and the "Free Sunday Breakfast" promotions. The great prices on the ballpark grub could have put more rumps in the seats...but the shoddy product playing on the field was enough to spoil the fans' appetites. More spending on better players=more fans in seats! 'Nuff 'Ced!
5)Fan Apathy--A So-Cal Tradition. Although both Los Angeles and San Diego are great places to live and work (if you can afford the housing prices), they are not great places for sports teams to call home. Unlike in the Midwest or the Northeast, the popluation of hard-core "bleeding blue-and-sand" types here in San Diego is much smaller.
Face Facts...when you have a choice between watching the Pads at Petco, or going clubbing in the Gaslamp Quarter, which would your typical fan rather do? Unless the Pads are going full-tilt boogie towards a division title...a full-tilt all-night party at the Gaslamp seems to be the better choice.
When fans are apahetic, the team notices and responds, creating a vicious circle. Because if the fans do not care, it spreads to the team...and the downward spiral begins!
So, the playoffs start on the 7th. The Dodgers drew Filthydelphia (Blame Bill Cosby for that term, not me), while the Cardinals will be facing Colorado. Boston will be facing the Angels, while the Yankees will await the winner of tomorrow's Tigers-Twins one-game playoff.
It will be a very long time before we see the Pads back in the playoffs--and our new owner has a lot of remodeling and renovation to achieve to get the Pads where they need to be.
Until then...pick your team, pay your money, and take your chances. For like any other championship, one one can take it all!
--RKJ
"One In Victory, One In Misery... But Only One Can Take It All!"
--Rob Halford (with the band Halford), from "One Will" on CRUCIBLE
As of yesterday, Major League Baseball's regular season now belongs to the ages. The day-after-tomorrow, The Road To The Ring begins, as the eight survivors duke it out for the right to hoist the World Series Championship banner in their stadium next April.
For the umpteenth time since 1998, the Padres will not see the playoffs, except from a TV screen as they cry in their beer yet again. This time, however, we say goodbye to Kevin Towers (don't let the screen door hit you where the dog should have bit you), pink-slipped and looking for new employment. I know that many folks will be waving good bye to Kevin...a few with all five fingers, yet! More heads are definitely going to roll at Padre HQ--and deservedly so.
So now that the season is over, the post-mortem report awaits. Where did we go wrong, in that our team avoided a 100+ loss season...but little else?
1) The team started playing great--but it was already too late! Around September, the Padres started playing like they meant business. It's nice to see that happen...but we needed that to happen when it counted--like say, July and August!
2) An owner with Ebenezer Scrooge Syndrome. Once again, the Padres would not stick a crowbar into their wallet and pony up for a true power threat. Now, I'm not suggesting going out and getting Milton Bradley or Barry Bonds (can you say "Fan Revolt"). However, one of the reasons that our team ate it was the lack of a true home-run producer. The Gonzales Brothers cannot do this alone.
3) Starting Pitching In Davey Jones' Locker. When the Padres shipped Jake Peavy to the ChiSox, the heart of the Padres pitching linup was torn out and tossed off the P.B. Pier. We knew Jake from 'Bama was gone goose (after it was leaked to the sports-radio pundits). Many of our starting rotation were down with injuries...or shipped off to the Portland Beavers to get themselves together.
Still, there was no hope to be had after Jake headed off to the South Side of Chi-Town. The staff needs to be rebuilt, with at least one marquee starter to take the lead starter role.
4) New promotional ideas did not equal bigger fan base. When you build a landfill--never try to build a restaurant within five humdred yards of it
That is what the Padres did by their food promotions, such as the "Five-For-Five" deal co-sponsored by AM/PM, and the "Free Sunday Breakfast" promotions. The great prices on the ballpark grub could have put more rumps in the seats...but the shoddy product playing on the field was enough to spoil the fans' appetites. More spending on better players=more fans in seats! 'Nuff 'Ced!
5)Fan Apathy--A So-Cal Tradition. Although both Los Angeles and San Diego are great places to live and work (if you can afford the housing prices), they are not great places for sports teams to call home. Unlike in the Midwest or the Northeast, the popluation of hard-core "bleeding blue-and-sand" types here in San Diego is much smaller.
Face Facts...when you have a choice between watching the Pads at Petco, or going clubbing in the Gaslamp Quarter, which would your typical fan rather do? Unless the Pads are going full-tilt boogie towards a division title...a full-tilt all-night party at the Gaslamp seems to be the better choice.
When fans are apahetic, the team notices and responds, creating a vicious circle. Because if the fans do not care, it spreads to the team...and the downward spiral begins!
So, the playoffs start on the 7th. The Dodgers drew Filthydelphia (Blame Bill Cosby for that term, not me), while the Cardinals will be facing Colorado. Boston will be facing the Angels, while the Yankees will await the winner of tomorrow's Tigers-Twins one-game playoff.
It will be a very long time before we see the Pads back in the playoffs--and our new owner has a lot of remodeling and renovation to achieve to get the Pads where they need to be.
Until then...pick your team, pay your money, and take your chances. For like any other championship, one one can take it all!
--RKJ