Pads Bedeviled In Tampa

Laura and I headed east bound and down to Tampa to see our 20th stadium. Walking into Tropicana Field for the first time brought back memories of walking into a roller rink in the early 80s. Painted concrete, dim lighting and narrow passageways describe the decor of the Trop's inner concourse. The first thought we had was "wow, this is actually a major league baseball stadium in the 21st century." Once you head to your seats you are greeted by a ceiling circled by catwalks that actually run in front of some of the signage. Also noticeably different than all other parks is the oddly colored Astro Turf field and Astro Turf warning track.

Padres tame the snakes and fish

The last two home series, we got the Padres I was expecting in 2013. Great defense, good starting pitching and some offensive highlights. After coming off a good roadtrip and a recent series split at Wrigley, the Pads came back to Petco and lit it up, taking five out a six against the division rival Diamondbacks and flailing Marlins. The Diamondbacks didn't have as much pop as I expected to see, given their record. The Marlins looked embarrassingly bad with missed catches and a total of four errors on the series. The sweep of the Marlins was already the third sweep by the Padres this season (Dodgers and Giants in April).

The highlight of the homestand for me was seeing Jedd Gyorko's first and second Petco Park homerun (or dinger, as one gentleman behind me on Tuesday repeatedly said).

Padres Squirrel Away Sweep of Giants

Can a squirrel save a season? If you ask Cardinals' fans, they answer yes. Now, Padres fans and Bud Black may also believe in squirrel power. On Saturday night, the Padres dug themselves into a hole with an early five run deficit. It looked a lot like the Brewers series until the 4th inning so the Padres went to the their minor league system for help. No, they did not bring up a talented prospect. They brought in a show-stopping mid-inning entertainer.