I have to admit that I grew up a fan of the San Francisco Giants as a kid, having lived in the Bay Area when I chose my teams. Being a San Diegan now for decades, my allegiance is firmly with the Padres, though I retain a soft spot for the Giants and continue to hope they do well.
Which brings me to Tuesday night's 1-0 Padres victory over the Giants, won by brilliant pitching and Chase Headley's one-hit and smart base-running.
When I was a kid, back in the day as a Giants fan, I quickly learned to hate the Dodgers. It wasn't because it was fashionable in the Bay Area, but darn the Dodgers were frustrating. They'd throw out a pitching staff that would shut down sluggers Willie Mays and Willie McCovey and then manage to push across a run or two, usually matching their hit total.
It drove us all nuts, but Tuesday night was a perfect example of it. The Padres couldn't touch Jonathan Sanchez, who is right up there with Tim Lincecum now as Bruce Bochy's best starter, except for Headley's single. He stole second, went to third on a foul out and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Giants got runners to third base in the eighth and ninth innings but couldn't bring them home.
Doing the little things correctly won the game for the Padres. When Headley scored on the sac fly, Giants RF Nick Schierholtz made a pretty good throw but he didn't set himself up to make the catch in a way that would have made his toss even better. When the Giants had a late scoring threat with a runner on third, a batter hit the ball to Padres RF Jerry Hairston, who positioned himself perfectly to catch the ball while moving forward and at an angle so that he could make the throw immediately. That forced the runner to hold at third, and Hairston's heave might have led to an out. A small thing like setting yourself up to make a catch plays a huge role in the game.
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Go to SignOnSanDiego to read Tim Sullivan's column on the Giants Barry Zito. I thought the product of Grossmont and Uni highs was a flake who didn't deserve his huge contract. In the five minutes it took to read the article, he became one of my favorite players.
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Speaking of newspaper columnists, it was interesting to read Nick Canepa's article about the new idea to have a soft, retractable roof over the proposed Chargers downtown stadium. Clearly, the facility needs to be used for more than 11 or 12 football games to be worth anything, so if it can attract conventions, concerts and other special events, all the better.
Its use as a convention facility, though, would have to tie in to the current San Diego Convention Center, which itself is in need of expansion. The trouble is the two buildings won't be next to each other, requiring a walk through one of the least-desirable areas in town.
I agree we have to think big to get a stadium built in a way that will prove beneficial to the Chargers and taxpayers, not small. While we're headed in the right general direction, more brainstorming is needed.
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The Chargers schedule came out with a lot of road games early and a lot of home contests at mid-season. I see 9-7 right now, but will obviously wait and see what happens with the draft and free agency before making a final prediction. My bet is it won't be much different.
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The NFL draft being Thursday, I'll throw in my two cents about what I want. I have no idea what is up GM AJ Smith's sleeves, so I can't make a prediction other than deals are possible before things get going in earnest.
My priorities for the Bolts are a defensive tackle to replace Jamal Williams and a right tackle to solidify the offensive line.
My dream would be for Smith to package LB Shawne Merriman and a couple other guys for Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh or Oklahoma DT Gerald McCoy -- both likely top-five picks -- but those are long shots and experience has told me not to put all my eggs in one player's basket. Still, when the Bolts make their selection late in the first round, someone like Alabama's Terrence Cody might be available. We'll see.
As much as I want a solid right tackle, this area does not appear to be too deep in this draft, so if Smith were to go for a running back or cornerback with his second pick, I wouldn't be upset at all. Heck, if RBs Jonathan Dwyer (Georgia Tech), Ryan Matthews (Fresno State) or Jahvid Best (Cal) were on the board still for Smith's first round selection, he might take one of them instead of a DT. There's something to be said for choosing the best player available.
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Can it be that no San Diego State players will be chosen in the draft? No one is rated highly, so it's possible. The only guy with a chance is LB Luke Laologi, who along with LB Jerry Milling and T Peter Nelson should sign as rookie free agents. If memory serves, it could be the second time in three years no Aztec is picked. If that doesn't tell you about why SDSU has struggled in football, nothing will.
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