Was in attendance for the Padres-Rockies contest on Tuesday the 15th.  The 6 run 6th for the Padres was an absolute blast thanks to doubles from Brian Giles, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Hollywood Jim Edmonds.  Though by far the most exhilarating play of the 6th inning was a walk from Khalil Greene.  You read that right.  No?  Fine, look it up.  It really happened.

edit (4/16): Far be it from me to admit being wrong about anything, but the guys at the ‘Snorts point out Khalil walked not once but twice that inning. I figure that this much discipline from Khalil is so rare it warrants an admission. Enjoy.

Not to mention the little no hitter our boy Randall Christopher Wolf took for 6 and 2/3rds.  It didn’t start until the 7th inning, but nervousness took over and my body was shaking watching the game.  It’s hard to imagine what Randall was going through on the mound.

I have now attended a couple near historic games at Petco.  Besides the Wolf almost no hitter, I also saw Mikey C’s near cycle, only to be denied the opportunity to finish it out due to his own awesomeness.  My dad mentioned witnessing a cycle hit by the Tigers’ Travis Fryman in ‘93.

But to the matter at hand.  Matt Holliday was booed loudly by the crowd of ~23,000 before and during each plate appearance.  I doubt the stadium harbored any deep resentment towards the guy, rather I’d like to think it was more of a fun boo than anything else.

We sat in left and witnessed a group growing both in numbers and obnoxiousness as the game progressed.  The chanting seen above went on like that for innings. They got their haggle on too.  It was a wonderful scene.

And I still have that stupid “guess the moving hat hiding the ball” music stuck in my head.

A couple months ago, Towers was hoping to lock up Khalil:

“He’s one of our better players, and we’d like him to be here for some time,” General Manager Kevin Towers said yesterday.

Now…

“A long-term contract with Khalil at this time is probably doubtful,” said Towers. “I don’t know, it might not be able to get done.”

Padres, Greene fail to reach deal, eye arbitration

Towers went on to say that the problem might not be monetary but rather familial. The Greene family is back on the East Coast and health concerns might draw Khalil’s interest over there.

As we went over a couple months ago, parting ways with Khalil might be in the best interest of the club. While a solid fielder and a great power threat (coming from his position), Khalil’s inability to get on-base negates a lot. If we could dangle him out there in the effort to grab a replacement shortstop/replacement power bat (or both), we might as well. Now that the timer’s seemingly been set.

Isn’t Pittsburgh on the East Coast? Bay and Jack Wilson would do. And if the Pirates insist, they can throw in Ian Snell as well.

Ray update: The Rockies have locked up their shortstop.

Personally, I think they did this to make us look bad. Why else would they extend Tulowitzki before finding out if he can hit at sea level or not?

The World Series starts in less than 24 hours, with the Colorado Rockies and Jesus Christ taking on the Boston Red Sox, who are on their own. As fate would have it, both of these teams faced off against OUR San Diego Padres this season, which gives us a common denominator to compare these two teams with. Let’s break it down, position-by-position.

Catcher

Yorvit Torrealba vs. Jason Varitek

Against the Padres this season, Torrealba put up a line of .138/.153/.224 with an OPS of .377. That’s really bad. On the flipside, Varitek put up a line of .500/.625/1.333 with an OPS of 1.958. That’s really good.

Add to the equation that Varitek is a grizzled vet with a C on his uniform and this one is very clear.

Advantage: Boston

First Base

Todd Helton vs. Kevin Youkilis

aka “You look like a goat, Murray”

Usually, I judge players based on their facial hair. Varitek’s sexy beard, for example, is way better than what Torreabla’s sporting, but I can’t do that in this case. Both Helton and Youkilis are 100% mountain, so I guess I’ll go to the numbers.

Helton: .819 OPS

Youkilis: .500 OPS

Helton it is. I’d imagine it’s not too late for Youk to turn that glorious goatee into a beard, so I’ll get back to you if/when he does.

Advantage: Colorado

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The Rockies destroyed Arizona, just like they destroyed Philadelphia. Just like they’ll probably destroy Cleveland (or Boston, I suppose). And, really, the Diamondbacks have no one to blame but themselves.

Before I get to that, Byrnes really shit the bed, didn’t he? It was only appropriate that he would come up as the tying run with two outs in the bottom of ninth in game four, and it’s poetic that he would ground out to short on a check swing. He didn’t even get a full swing in.

But that situation should never have happened because the Colorado Rockies should never have made the playoffs. Arizona had them against the ropes at the end of the season and they let them slide, as Melvin put in the second string and let the Rockies force their way into a one-game playoff with OUR San Diego Padres. The rest, of course, is history. And since those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it, Black and co. need to learn one important lesson:

Always go for the kill.

Compassion is for the weak. If it’s April and Matt Holliday is up with a bum leg, put a fastball right on his kneecap. You’ll feel real stupid if you don’t and he bashes another 25 home runs next September.

Congratulations to the Rockies, though. That was a dismantling.

Holiday never touched the plate

It isn’t so much that he never touched the plate and the call was wrong. Umpires are humans. The human element of the game is important. We as fans shouldn’t make excuses. The team had their chances. That’s life.

But according to this website, ESPN is trying to cover up the bad call. How egregious. It doesn’t surprise me though. ESPN has been anything but an unbiased source of ‘news’ for as long as I can remember. They exist to entertain. It is why they waste time “who’s nowing” rather than conducting and explaining research on evaluation methods.

MLB is apparently in cover up mode as well, but the reasoning there is a little more obvious.

It is probably bad for the business of everyone involved if people learn that umpires make mistakes. Especially in favor of the darling team with the great backstory.

R. EDIT:

I’ve always had a problem with the idea of “human error” being part of the game. I’m not going to argue that it’s not, but the humans making errors should be the players. Human error in that game should’ve been reserved for Matt Holliday breaking in on Giles’ double or Peavy failing to show up. It shouldn’t include Tim McClellan blowing a titanic call because he was out of position.

I think it should also be noted that McClellan’s call was only the second time that weekend that the Padres had gotten screwed. That Friday, against Milwaukee, Bruce Froemming missed a very obvious call at first base that luckily didn’t matter thanks to a timely double play. That’s the same Bruce Froemming who defended Mike Winters after he went after Milton Bradley. It’s quite the coincidence, isn’t it?

HOWEVER, I’m saying this the night after the Yankees were on the wrong side of three bad calls in a game they would go on to lose against the Indians. Shit happens. Just ask Josh Paul or Tony Tarasco.