Based on the last blog post and the subsequent 3-0 sweep of the Marlins, the Padres are now an amazing 45-30 on the season.
I again went through Baseball Reference and I could only find one better start in Padres history, 1998. You know what happened then. Even the World Series season of 1984 saw the Friars at 44-31 after 75 games.
What I really like is I think they've compiled their great mark without necessarily being their best. GM Jed Hoyer could add a hitter at some point. No one is playing above their heads. RF Will Venable is hot at the plate this past week -- what if it's a trend instead of a guy being streaky? What if SS Everth Cabrera makes up for his injury-plagued first half with a solid last three months? What if 3B Chase Headley recaptures his April form? Things can get even better.
It was interesting how this coincides with a newspaper article that wonders whether fans will start noticing. I think they will, particularly with the Rockies in this week. Attendance is down nearly 2 percent from last season. If you really want to see an attendance increase, add a hitter. Show the fans the franchise is serious about contending.
In fact, Venable's surge of the past week, in which he hit three tie-breaking, game-winning homers, shows just how important another hitter can be to the Padres. With their pitching, they only need a little more offense, not a lot. That's how close they are to maybe being favored in this race.
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Did the World Cup really create that much excitement around here or is it just a media fiction?
I'm actually leaning toward the latter, seriously. I have yet to talk to, or overhear others in conversation, about the quadrennial soccer championship. Not once. Sure, people gather at sports bars to watch the games but they always do every four years. This is a big town, so there will be soccer fans and they'll be excited but that doesn't make it new. Those in the media who say the win over Algeria that put the USA in the knockout round was some sort of classic forget that NO ONE WAS ABLE TO SCORE until a rebound came out in front of Landon Donovan. Any U8 player in AYSO could have converted that goal opportunity.
I'm sorry, but the World Cup is an absolute waste of my time and I didn't buy into the over-hype of the past week.
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Two things have me very concerned about what the restructuring of The San Diego Union-Tribune is going to mean to the future of local sports coverage.
1. The most recent round of layoffs included the sports editor and two reporters, Nicole Vargas, the lone remaining specialist in high school sports, and Hank Wesch, who handled USD basketball in addition to horse racing. I since saw a Wesch horse-racing column, so it was either something already in the can or he returned to the paper at half his former salary (an offer extended to several of those recently laid-off, and accepted by a few). Who is going to cover these important facets of the local sports scene now, and are they going to know what in the heck they're writing about?
2. The brass has sold their recent moves to the public with the line of "we're really going to offer extensive coverage of the main areas of interest in local sports -- the Padres and Chargers." What about San Diego State, which could have two ranked basketball teams and which could demonstrate this fall whether the football program is on the rise? What about the paradise sports of golf and tennis? The extreme sports popular with the younger audience?
Call me confused and worried.
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Local tennis buffs should be concerned about Jelena Jankovic retiring from a Wimbledon match early Monday (our time) because of a back injury. The Serb, ranked third in the world, is the highest entrant so far in the Mercury Insurance Open at La Costa next month. Samantha Stosur is not going to sell tickets, no matter how well she played in Paris.
The list of player commitments has few recognizable names at this point and almost no Americans. The biggest missing name is that of Venus Williams, a frequent champion at La Costa in the tourney's older forms. I'm sure most of the big-name players are waiting to see how things play out at Wimbledon before committing to their summer schedules, which are basically precursors to the U.S. Open. Look for a lot of them, including one Williams sister, to be in Carlsbad by the end of July.
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