Mustache Monday: Winfield, Whitson, Hoyt & The Other 31s

I wrote this intending to post it tomorrow. However, when I went to set it to autopost, I discovered that there are only 30 days in April. I didn't feel like sitting on it that long (TWSS!) and since all three of the principles are 'stached, it made sense to drop it today.
Seven players wore number 31 before Dave Winfield and seven others wore it after him. Leon Everitt, Frankie Libran, the original Dave Roberts and Rafael Robles all wore number 31 in the Padres' inaugural Major League season; Paul Doyle, Jerry Nyman and Roberto Rodriguez did so in 1970. Robles wore it again in '72. Winfield showed up in '73 and kept it through '80 when he headed to the Bronx. Ed Whitson donned the digits in '83 and '84 until he also headed to the Bronx. LaMarr Hoyt had it in '85 and '86. Whitson wore it once again when he returned from his unsuccessful stint in New York; this time he kept it from '87 through '91. Dave Staton, as we all know, wore it in '94. I have a card of him but I'm holding off on writing about it for obvious reasons. Billy Bean- not to be confused with Billy Beane- wore it in '95. I still haven't read Bean's book; it seems like it would be fascinating. The number was issued to Bob Tewksbury in '96 and Trey Beamon in '97. Matt Clement was the last to have it, from 1998 until it was announced in 2000 that it would be retired for in honor of Winfield.

Cards Of All 13 Of The 30s In Padres History

Thirteen different players have worn number 30 as a member of the San Diego Padres. For the first time in FoC history, I'm going to include cards of all of the players- the first time, that is, unless you count number 19 and I don't because that was only Gene Richards and Tony. Anyway, enough with the preliminaries; here they are: Mike Corkins led off, from 1969 through '71; Derrel Thomas was next, from '72 through '74 and again in '78. Hector Torres wore it in '75 and '76 and Tim Flannery had it for his rookie season in '79. Dave Cash donned it in '80, followed by Danny Boone in '81 and '82. Eric Show kept it from '82 through '90, succeeded by Kevin Ward in '91 and '92. Phil Clark rocked 30 in '93 through '95, as did Ryan Klesko from 2000 through '06. Heath Bell is credited by BR as wearing 30 in '07 in addition to 21. However, Greg Maddux was on the roster all of '07 and was back in '08. Eliezer Alfonzo had it last, for the '09 "We Ruin Everything" Padres.

Monday's Mat Latos

I wasn't glad to see Mat Latos go, but since he got traded and there's nothing I can do about it, I'm glad it was to Cincinnati. A lot of my friends are Reds fans and I've always watched and listened to a lot of their games over the years since they're the closest Major League team. I was talking to my friend Nic- a Reds fan- after the trade and said that I'd still watch his starts and be rooting for him. Nic asked who I'd root for when Mat faces the Padres. Of course I'd root for the Friars and said as much immediately. I thought for a second and added a caveat. In the wildest, most ridiculous best case scenario, I'd like him to throw a no-hitter and lose 1-0 on an unearned run. But, since that's pretty imfrigginprobable, I'd just like to see Latos perform well and take a no-decision in a Padres win. I realized I just set it up for some a-hole to make a snide remark about the Padres winning being pretty imfrigginprobable, so go for it; just know in advance that you're a terrible person.

Kotsay Comes Through Again For The First Time

Tonight, Mark Kotsay did exactly what he was brought on board to do this time around. Brought in as a pinch hitter down by a run with No-Dog and Childish Cambino on in the eighth, Kotsay smacked a dub to center, scoring both. These were the only runs the Padres would need as Huston Street came in and picked up his second save. Bro Hymn!

All 24 Of The 24s For The 24th

There have been 24 men who have worn number 24 for the Padres. Walt Hriniak was the first and Chris Krug also wore it in 1969. Jerry Nyman and Jim Williams had it in '70, followed by Leron Lee from '71 through '73. Joe McIntosh in '74 and Ken Reynolds in '76 were succeeded by Dave Wehrmeister from '76 through '78. Dan Briggs donned it in '79, as did Luis Salazar in '80 and '87. Dave Edwards had the 24 in '81 and '82, followed by Champ Summers in '84, Dave LaPoint in '86, and Jerald Clark from '88 through '92. Current hitting coach Phil Plantier wore it in '93 and '94. Roberto Petagine had it in '95 before Rickey Henderson in '96, '97 and again in '01. Mark Langston in '98, David Newhan in '99, and Joe Vitiello in 2000 wore it in Rickey's absence. San Diego-born Aztec alumnus Alex Palaez wore it for all three games of his career in '02, follwed by another San Diegan, Brian Giles from '03 through '09. Mike Baxter had it in '10 and Cam Maybin has held it down since we swiped him from the then-Florida Marlins. I hope to see it between Tony's 19 and Winfield's 31 in his honor fifteen or so years from now.

Mustache Monday: Eric Show

The late Show was a San Diego mainstay for ten years before spending his last season in Oakland. A prototypical reliable, middle of the road starter, the high point of his career, like many other Padres in his era, was the 1984 season. Not only did Show put up fifteen wins for that year's National League Champions, he also had his best year with the bat. He hit three of his four career home runs and finished with a .246 average and ten RBI, his only time in double digits.

.294 And Rising

.294 is a pretty good batting average as far as batting average goes. Everyone seemed pretty pleased with Spidercam's .294 mark last season, which happened to match Steve Garvey's career average. When it comes to team win percentage, though, .294 is a horse of another color. A very ugly color. We're talking about a baby poop green horse here. But you know what? It's better than .250, just the way .250 was better than .200 before that. What I'm trying to say is we're on the upswing. We'll be at Tony's career average before you know it, then his '94 average, and before you know it our winning percentage starts looking like good slugging percentages. Faith: keep it!

Andres Berumen & His Place In History

Andres Berumen was born in Tijuana on jodes's birthday in 1971 and drafted by the Royals out of Banning High in Wilmington, CA. The then-Florida Marlins selected him in the '92 Expansion Draft and traded him to San Diego months later along with Trevor in the Sheffield trade. Upon making his debut with the Padres on April 27, 1995, he became the first native of Tijuana to play in the Majors. He made it into 37 games that season and three the next. He didn't do much better in Las Vegas in '96 or the beginning of '97 and was traded to Seattle. He never suited up for the Mariners or, for that matter, any other Major League team again. He provided organizational depth- which is a polite way of saying "absorbed repeated poundings"- in Tacoma through the '98 season before leaving affiliated baseball altogether. He surfaced again in 2000 with Reynoso of the Mexican League, pitching only five games before walking away for good.

Fred Norman & The Indignity Of A 3-12 Record

Oh, man, the Padres are 3-12 now. The good news is that there is no way we're actually this bad; the bad news is that it looks like we're not going to be all that much better. Two other teams in franchise history have started 3-12; the '87 squad finished 65-97 and the '94 Friars ended 47-70 in the strike-shortened season, their win percentage only .008 higher than Tony's BA. As for Fred Norman, what's he doing here? He wasn't still playing in either of those seasons but he did manage to compile a 3-12 record in 1971, his first season with the Padres. It was a deceptive 3-12, as most pitchers' W-L records are, however, as he posted a 3.32 ERA and a dead-even ERA+ of 100. He went 9-11 the next year and began 1973 with a 1-7 record before being traded to the budding Big Red Machine, going 12-6 for Cincinnati the rest of the season and staying there through the '79 season. Norman retired after spending 1980 with the Expos with a career Major League win-loss record of 104-103.

Four 20s For 4/20

Of the seventeen in team history, Ivan Murrell was the first to wear 20 for the Friars, from 1969 through '72.The first Dave Roberts wore it from '72 through '75. George Hendrick had it in early '77 and Jerry Turner kept it from '77 through '83. Bobby Brown was next, from '83 through '85, followed by Gary Green in '86 and '89. Tim Teufel donned the deuce-doughnut from '91 through '93, as did Ray McDavid '94 and '95 as well as Chris Jones in '97 and Greg Myers in '98 and '99. Greg LaRocca and Al Martin both wore it in 2000, succeeded by Rick Wilkins in '01 and the duo of Kevin Barker and Brett Tomko in '02. Miguel Ojeda was the penultimate player with 20 on his back, from '03 through '05; Manny Alexander was the last in '05 and '06. Manager Bud (quite the appropriate name for today's post) Black has worn it to varying levels of success- or lack thereof- since 2007.

Friday's Fingers

I guess it's only appropriate that today falls on a Friday. Man, what a classic movie. I saw part of the second one and it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. Probably because I didn't bother watching the third one...

Fifth Place Isn't Always A Bad Thing (Finally, A Post About Andy Benes)

I've had this stupid little nerd-blog for over three years and I've never written anything about Andy Benes. I was a little surprised when I realized that since he's a fairly big part of the Padres' somewhat spotty and relatively short history. He was the franchise's all-time leader in strikeouts until Jake Peavy surpassed his total. In his 6 1/2 seasons in San Diego, he made his way to precisely fifth on counting stats lists such as games started, innings pitched, batters faced, accumulated rWAR, shutouts, earned runs and WPA. He was the Opening Day starter his last three seasons with the Padres, including 1994 when he led the league in strikeouts.

Thursday's Tony Gwynn: Take That, Giants!

The most dramatic of Tony's seven batting titles was his fourth, when he edged out Will Clark on the final day of the 1989 season. Members of both clubs had one prime objective; "We'd already clinched and it was the last day and we were doing whatever we could to get Will that title," said then-Giants third baseman Matt Williams. Williams and the rest of Clark's cohorts were unsuccessful as Tony went 3-4 while Clark managed just a single in four at bats. "You'd just feel defenseless. You're standing there with a glove, but for what purpose? What good was a glove doing you with Tony Gwynn at the plate?" mused Williams; "That day, he just did to us what he did to everybody. And he did it for 20 years."

Jake Peavy & The Glory Of Third Place

This 2009 Topps (#206) commemorates Jake Peavy finishing third in the '08 National League ERA race, one year removed from his pitching Triple Crown. He finished fourth in strikeouts in '08 and was off of the leader board with ten wins- which doesn't matter because it's a completely meaningless statistic.

Kotsay's Return

Mark Kotsay did pretty well for himself in his first game as a Padre since 2003. He singled twice in three at bats and took a walk. Not a bad day's work. He did ground into a double play but I'll let that slide; I try to keep it posi around here.

Some Halfway Interesting Trivia

I don't really want to talk about yesterday's game; I've already said all I have to say about Dale Scott, Umpire and the outright BS that went down. Wonko did bring up an interesting stat earlier in the game thread, though: Eric Show and Joey Hamilton share the team record for most batters hit, with 46 each. Hamilton did it over five seasons in San Diego while it took Show twice as long.

Friday Flannery

One thing I didn't know about Flan was that he retired voluntarily. In fact, he announced a month beforehand that he would be playing his last game on September 29, 1989, his 32nd birthday. "It's a decision I've been thinking about for the last year," said Flan at the time. "If I wasn't going to play for this club, I wasn't going to play for any other club. I've always been a San Diego Padre, and I will retire a San Diego Padre."

This Thursday's Garvey: May His Dreams Of Ownership Be Dashed

So, apparently Garvey has expressed interest in being part of a potential Padres ownership group. Vomit. For one, he's a Dodger. Yeah, yeah, his number is retired by the Padres but that's the subject of much debate. Secondly, we're once again his second choice behind those same damn, dirty Dodgers. He tried to buy in there before Magic and his people spent an ungodly sum for what amounts to garbage covered in feces. See, the Dodger love runs deep in Garvey's veins. It's odd, though, because if you cut him, he does not bleed blue like Tommy Lasorda; he bleeds brown. This is not because he is a true Padre; it's because he's full of shit.

Trevor & The 5 Other 51s

The number 51 had only been worn by five Padres before Trevor showed up and ensured that six would be the limit. John Curtis was the first of them in parts of the 1980 through '82 seasons. Fred Kuhaulua also wore it in '81 when Curtis was on assignment. Greg Booker, son-in-law of Padres manager and general manager Jack McKeon, pitched six years of relief in 51 for the Friars from '83 through '89. Don Schulze also donned it in '89. Mike Maddux was the penultimate Padre to have it in '91 and '92. Nobody wore it in '93; Trevor wore number 34 after coming over from the then Florida Marlins. He made the switch to 51 in the spring of '94 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Both Of The 19s: Gene Richards & Tony

Before Tony, only Gene Richards had worn number 19. He wore it briefly at the beginning of 1978, after wearing 29 the previous year and before wearing 9 the rest of the year and 17 his last five years in San Diego.

Brian Giles: Public Enemy

I used to be a big fan of Brian Giles but then, as you know, certain things came to light. I simply won't cheer for a lady-beater. Can't. He didn't do much of anything for anyone to cheer for anyway in his last season in San Diego. What gets forgotten (by me, at least) is that he committed one last disgusting and unforgivable act after he left the Padres. He went to Spring Training as a Dodger in 2010 before retiring. Seeing the picture of him wearing a Dodgers uniform is still unsettling.

Tuesday's Tony Gwynn: Life Won't Wait

I love this card so much because it captures that great Gwynn laugh. Man, there's nothing like it, even if only seen. Heard, it's almost magical. Tony's had a lot to frown about the last couple of years but he still stays upbeat and that means a lot to someone like me. I've been one prone to depression and getting frustrated at the smallest of things but seeing how an idol keeps a Positive Mental Attitude throughout all sorts of adversity has been strengthening. If Tony can kick cancer's ass and live to chuckle, I have no business getting pissy when anything happens. It's a good perspective to have gained but I hate how it came about. Keep taking care of yourself, Tony; we don't just love you, we need you.

Mustache Monday: Jeremy Hernandez

Jeremy Hernandez pitched in parts of three seasons for the Padres in the early '90s. He appeared in 56 usually low leverage situations before being traded to Cleveland in '93 for another Hernandez, Fernando. He went on to pitch for the Marlins in '94 and the first month of the '95 season before hanging 'em up. In his five seasons, he managed to collect 7 ABs, recording no hits but only striking out twice.

Game Recap: Chase Breaks Through

As Chase goes, so goeth the Padres. The Friars finally popped their win cherry today, the margin of victory being provided by Headley's eighth inning grand slam. The Savior had a great all-around day at the plate after opening with three hitless and hapless games that had led to much grumbling among the Friar faithful; I recall wishing at one point that his name was Take Headley. He got back on the right track today by reaching base four times- on three walks and a single, stealing a base and scoring twice in addition to the aforementioned four RBI.

Eight Eights On The Eighth

In the now forty-four years that the Padres have existed, twenty-seven men have worn the number eight in the regular season. These are those men:

Chris Cannizzaro 1969- '71, '74

Angel Bravo '71

Johnny Jeter '71, '72

Dave Marshall '73

Dave Hilton '74

Ted Kubiak '75, '76

Pat Scanlon '77

Barry Evans '78- '81

Joe Pittman '82

Dane Iorg '86

John Kruk '86- '89

Fred Lynn '90

Brian Dorsett '91

Tony Fernandez '91

Gary Pettis '92

Scott Livingstone '95- '97

Mark Sweeney '97, '98

Eric Owens 2000

Cesar Crespo '01, '02

Deivi Cruz '02

Mark Loretta '03- '05

Terrmel Sledge '06, '07

Michael Barrett '08

Chris Burke '09

Kyle Blanks '09

Yorvit Torrealba '10

Jason Bartlett '11- '12

Happy Birthday, Ricky Bones!

For some reason, I was thinking that Ricky Bones was a Padre longer than he was. I guess because I had a lot of his cards. Apparently they were all '92s since he only pitched eleven games for San Diego, all starts after debuting August 11, 1991. Before the next season he was sent to the Brewers in the Sheffield trade. He went on to pitch for five additional teams in his eleven year career and is now the Mets' bullpen coach. Anyway, he turned 43 today and this makes me wonder... How many current Major League coaches are younger than Jamie Moyer? Hmmm; I'll get back to you.

47s For 4/7

22 players have worn 47 for the Padres. Joe Niekro was the first in the Friars' inaugural season. Ralph Garcia was next in '72, followed by Rich Troedson in '73 and '74 and Bob Shirley in '77 and '78. Dennis Blair wore it in '80, as did Dennis Rasmussen in '83 and Bob Stoddard in '86. Randy Byers (not to be confused with Randy Myers) rocked it in '87 and '88. Bruce Hurst was the first to wear it longer than two seasons, keeping it from '89 through '93. Jose Martinez in '94, Willie Blair in '95 and '96, and Pete Smith in '97 and '98 followed. Brandon Kolb held it down in 2000 and Rudy Seanez wore it in his first tour of duty in '01. David Lundquist, Wil Nieves and Brandon Villafuerte all wore 47 in '02 and Jesse Orosco wore it in '03, the last of his 24 seasons. Justin Germano also wore it his first time around in '04, as did Tim Stauffer in '05. From '06 until the 2010 trading deadline it as worn by third base coach Glenn Hoffman, at which time he took #30 upon the acquisition of Ryan Ludwick who wore it until getting traded to Pittsburgh a year later. Jeremy Hermida wore it last September and will continue to until he's released in late May.