On This Date 18 Years Ago...

...on May 30, 1994, the Padres beat the Pirates 10-2. Andy Ashby pitched a complete game for his first win of the season after five losses and the Padres' seventeenth against thirty four losses. Ashby struck out eight and walked one; he gave up four hits, the only runs coming from a two run homer by future Padre and polygamist Al Martin in the second inning.

The Padres' offense was led, as it was so many other times, by one Anthony Keith Gwynn. Tony drove in the first five Friar runs on two hits; a two run shot in the first and base clearing double in the seventh. Craig Shipley pitched in a grand slam later in the seventh and Ricky Gutierrez capped off the scoring with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth.

56

Only four players- all pitchers- have worn 56 for the Padres. Ricky Bones was the first in '91. Kevin Walker had it from 2000 through '03 and Scott Cassidy wore it in '05 and '06. Mike Ekstrom was the most recent in '08 and '09.

Twos For Tuesday

John Sipin was the first Padre to wear the deuce, way back in the inaugural year of 1969. Johnny Grubb was the second, from '74 through '76. After Grubb, Luis Menendez and Jerry Turner had the digit in '77 and Rick Sweet followed suit in '78. Alan Wiggins locked it down beginning in '81 up until he was shipped to Baltimore in '85. Bip Roberts wore number 2 when he came up in '86 before getting the 10 with which he is most commonly associated. Tony Fernandez had it in '92. Jim Vatcher also wore it in '92 and did so again in '93. Keith Lockhart wore it for a single season in '94, as did Jody Reed in '95, Jim Tatum in '96 and Andy Sheets in the year of our second National League Championship. Damian Jackson bridged the millenium gap from 1999 through 2001 and again when he returned in '05. Cesar Crespo in '02, Jason Bay in '03 and Kerry Robinson in '04 wore it in Jackson's absence. Jon Knott wore number 2 for three hitless plate appearances in '06 and Morgan Ensberg wore it after he was picked up at the deadline in '07. Luis Rodriguez and Edgar Gonzalez both wore it in '08. Gonzalez wore it again in '09 and  Lance Zawadzki had it for 20 games in the 2010 season and Everth Cabrera took it in '11 when Orlando Hudson showed up and felt entitled to the #1 which Cabrera had been wearing. Am I still resentful toward that jerk? You bet.

PV & Tha D-O-Double-G

Jake Peavy has been having a great season so far, showing White Sox fans the form we saw back in '07 when he picked up his Cy Young Award by notching the pitchers' Triple Crown. But even better than being good at your job is having the chance to hang out with Tha Doggfather. Snoop recently threw out the first pitch at a White Sox game; both the pitch and the pitcher were high and outside.

Nine Years Ago Today...

...Bruce Bochy's brave, brawny bunch beat Bob Brenly's bastards behind Brian's bat breaking. Lawrence went a full nine, allowing one run on a third inning sacrifice fly by future Friar farmhand Alex Cintron. As for the Padres offense, Rondell White homered and drove in two and a young Jason Bay doubled in a run and scored as well the day after he homered in his Major League debut and a day before having his Padres career come to an end at three games when his hand was broken by an Elmer Dessens fastball.

Untitled

I used to have a hat kinda like that except it was just red and white like it should be. I know my mother (who disowned me and I'll likely never see again) has a picture somewhere of me wearing it and a Mariners t-shirt upon the back of which I had painted "CORA" and "28"... Anyway, be sure to keep the faith in our Padres, as absurd as it may seem at times. Stay in school, work your hardest, don't mess with drugs and just try to be the best you you can be to those around you. Love. In the end, it's all a question of heart.

Tuesday's Tony Gwynn: The Tull Group

On a side note before I get to the gist of this post, I have to say that every time I see the above card, I instantly start mentally singing "Tony, yoooooouu arrrre my shining star..."
Yesterday, the rumors were confirmed. Tony Gwynn is on board with Thomas Tull's group vying for ownership of the Padres. For those who are unaware who Tull is, Gaslamp Ball Entertainment Correspondent matthewverygood profiled him a week ago. To quote mvg, "He is a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He runs the hugely-successful Legendary Pictures and is responsible for bringing us such films as Inception, The Dark Knight, Watchmen, and 300. He's one of the most powerful men in Hollywood - Thomas Tull, the hero San Diego deserves." All of that is well and good but what got me on board was the inclusion of Gwynn. As far as I'm concerned, Tony Gwynn's endorsement is as good as Ron Swanson's.

Gary Matthews, Jr. Or Whatever

I was going to write about Gary Matthews, Jr. for Mustache Monday so I snapped these pics of another card from the whole bunch of awesome ones Nick of Dime Boxes fame sent my way. I was at a loss to come up with anything interesting to say about Matthews other than the standard trope about him being a second generation Major Leaguer and, of course, making mention of his 55 million dollar catch. You probably also know he came up with the Padres and wasn't anything special there. If you didn't know that, that makes perfect sense too because, yeah, the whole nothing special thing. Anyway, sorry for the crappy post; I'll put up a better one in the morning. Go watch some Futurama. I've been half-watching In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela (s6e2); I guess I'll give it my full attention now...

Will Wins It!

Before the bottom of the ninth today, with the score tied 2-2, I predicted William would win it. I wasn't right then and I wasn't right yet when he came up in the eleventh. But after a two out single by pinch hitting pitcher Clayton Richard in the 13th inning, Venable came through. Will laced a single to left and Clay Dick raced around as de facto left fielder Howie Kendrick bobbled the ball and threw wide to the first base side. Win! And guess what else- we aren't in last place anymore!

Ben Davis: Back In Baseball

The last time I wrote about Ben Davis he was still trying to work his way back to the Majors as a pitcher. He officially announced his retirement a little over a year ago after beginning Spring Training for what would have been his second season as a pitcher for the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic League. "It's something I've been thinking of for a couple of years," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time. "My numbers started to decline and I just figured, you know what, I'm going to shut it down now." Davis added that he felt it was time "to go get a real job" and did so; he got hired on as a sales rep for the Wells Fargo Center, selling premium seating for the home of the Flyers and 76ers. He recently took on a second job with mother corporation Comcast doing pregame and postgame analysis for Phillies games; he also dabbles in the radio end of things. He lives in nearby West Chester, also home to Jackass jackass Bam Margera, with his wife Megan and three children. Much like how Geoff considers Kory the MVP of Team Blum, Ben is in awe of the work his wife does. “Doing what I do is fun," said Davis. "What Megan does is the toughest job in the world, I think.” Davis seems at peace with his past career and happy in his new one; he confirms as much by stating that he is "very blessed".

Happy Birthday, Ed Whitson!

Eric Show wasn't the only pitcher for the Padres in the 80s born on May 19th. His former rotation-mate Ed Whitson was once a year older to the day. Whitson served two tours of duty in San Diego, sandwiching his infamously disastrous time with the Yankees. In his early career, he spent time in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Cleveland. The list of players he was traded with and for during his career reads like a who's who of 70s and 80s baseball. In '79, he was traded from the Pirates to the Giants with others for Bill Madlock- who had won two batting titles and would go on to win two more, the original Dave Roberts and Lenny Randle, who is best known for punching his manager in the face and trying to blow a fair ball foul. After the '81 season, Whitson was sent to Cleveland for Joe Posnanski's favorite player Duane Kuiper. A year later, he came to San Diego for Juan Eichelberger (that name keeps coming up, doesn't it, WG?) and Broderick Perkins. After his rocky time in New York which involved Whitson doing some manager punching of his own (but it was Billy Martin so it doesn't count), he came back to the Padres in exchange for Tim Stoddard and spent his final 5 1/2 seasons there. He now spends his days in Dublin, Ohio, where he serves as a volunteer coach for his son's high school team.

I Wish Eric Show Was Turning 56 Today

Today would have been Eric Show's 56th birthday. Sadly, the last birthday he celebrated was 19 years ago as he didn't make it to see 38. A deep and troubled man, Show took his last breath a mere 2 1/2 years after throwing his last Major League pitch. He was a resident at an inpatient rehab facility when he shot his fatal speedball, a lethal combination of heroin and cocaine that had already taken John Belushi and would eventually claim Chris Farley and Ken Caminiti. Show sits atop many pages in the pitching section of the Padres' record book and is also remembered by casual fans for surrendering Pete Rose's record breaking hit and taking a seat on the mound during the hullaballoo that followed. Friends remember him as much more; a thoughtful man, one eager to learn and question those doing the teaching. He was a talented musician, intrigued with politics and was a quiet philanthropist who kept his giving out of the public eye. A child of abuse, he searched his entire life for peace, seeking relief in religion, drugs and alcohol. Like many, he never found it here.

Kevin Walker & Kerry Wood: When You've Just Gotta Go

Kerry Wood announced his retirement today. He is remembered for many things, including his 20 strikeout game and Dusty Baker ruining his arm. What stands out to me the most was the time he was arrested in 1999 for public urination. Also in attendance and also urinating was Wood's former high school teammate and future San Diego Padre Kevin Walker. It is not noted in the police report whether the two crossed streams.

Cool Stuff Keeps Happening

My favorite thing about having this blog is the guest posts. As much as I love reliving the history of the only team that matters to me, it's even more enjoyable to read what writers whom I respect have to say about the things we both appreciate; be it baseball cards, the Padres, a particular player or any combination of the aforementioned. Today I noticed a tweet by my favorite non-fiction author* that noted how underrated Garry Templeton was. After instantly retweeting it, I @replied- half jokingly, half "Hey, it's worth a shot"- asking if there was any way I could twist his arm into writing a guest spot about Tempy. To my amazement, he replied back proposing a trade: he'd write about Garry here if I'd write about my favorite Padre for his blog. Wait, what? Let me get this right. You'll write about Templeton for my humble little nerdblog and I get to share with the world my love of Joey Cora? That's an even more lopsided trade than when the Astros got 15 years of Jeff Bagwell for 15 games of Larry Andersen... So, that's something that will be happening. I would try to write a cleaner conclusion to this but my mind is elsewhere; there's a certain little second baseman who I'm already mentally pre-writing about.

*I specified "non-fiction" for the specific purpose of giving a shout-out to Jeff Shelby. Go buy his books.

Baseball Is Life: Jimmy Jones & Ack

Jimmy Jones is back in the big leagues but I'm sure even he wouldn't want it to happen this way. The word came down yesterday that Jones got the call up from San Antonio- where he's regularly the pitching coach- to fill in as bullpen coach while Darrel Ackerfelds gets more treatment for his pancreatic cancer. Ack's story is heartwrenching and warming all at once; it's a testament to the power of baseball. I remember the shirts that were popular in the mid-nineties that had a huge picture of a sports ball on the back with the words "(Baseball, Golf, Football, et cetera) Is Life. The rest is just details." surrounding the graphic; John Kruk wore one at his press conference when he returned from his bout with cancer (and yes, he already made the one ball joke so you don't have to). I've always thought of my preoccupation approaching obsession with baseball as a defect but it seems that to some it really is a saving grace. A lot of people say they live for baseball but Ack shows what that really means. And, given everything he's overcome to this point to come in and get to work with his bullpen boys, the fact that this round of treatment is keeping him from clocking in scares me. I have hope, though. Jimmy Jones is, by all accounts, a good man who is good at what he does. Therefor no offense is intended toward Mr. Jones when I say that I hope his interim position is brief.

Wednesday's Winnings

Well, I had intended on waking up and writing about Doug Brocail for his birthday but then my plans got derailed in the best kind of way. I stepped outside to partake in a filthy habit that I already know is wrong and stupid and about which I need no further lectures. Poking out of the mailbox was the corner of a ubiquitous ocher bubble mailer. My heart fluttered a bit. "Could it be?" I thought. "Nah, it's probably just some book she ordered off half-dot-com."  WRONG. It was my contest winnings from Nick at my favorite card blog Dime Boxes. To quote Peggy Hill, "Ho yeah!" I was ripping it open and reading the note before I even made it back inside. There was so much goodness inside. Minis and Tonys and Trevors, oh my! There were also several players who were unrepresented in my collection and will now get their day in the sun. Or as glowing pixels in the basements of fellow nerds' mothers. Whatever. Well, I'd write more but I'm excited to get back to perusing these. I'll be back later, writing about one or more of these cards. Sorry to Doug Brocail fans and thanks to Nick. You've got one coming!

Tuesday's Tom Griffin: 30 Years Ago Today

I knew I recognized Tom Griffin's name but couldn't quite place why until I flipped the card over. "Oh, okay," I thought immediately upon seeing that his first season was with the '69 Astros. The place I'd seen his name hundreds of times before was in the pages of Ball Four. Griffin stayed in Houston until August of '76 when the Padres picked him up off the waiver wire. In the small sample size of eleven starts the remainder of that season, Tom seemed to turn a corner, putting up a 2.94 ERA in contrast to the 6.05 he posted for Houston in 20 games earlier in the year, mostly in relief. He didn't fare quite as well for the Friars in 1977 but still performed adequately enough to stay with the club all season; being used in a swingman role likely contributed to the dip in his numbers. After '77, Griffin got his first taste of free agency, which was still brand new to baseball. He signed with the then-California Angels and was released after the season. After heading north to San Francisco, Griffin put together three of his most solid seasons before being traded to Pittsburgh after the '81 season. He would last only six games with the Pirates before being released thirty years ago to the day.

Mustache Monday: All About Tim Scott

There are a lot of Tim Scotts in the world, several of whom have achieved as much notoriety as the man on this card. In my research for this entry (which consisted of me googling "tim scott" to get to his B.R. page), I came across a veteran Hollywood actor, a congressman from South Carolina, an up and coming young actor, a singer-songwriter, a DJ, a photographer and a freshman safety for UNC. This made me wonder if having such a common name was an obstacle for any of them. I feel like casting directors, record executives and even scouts would have an unwitting subconscious bias toward the performers with more memorable names. I don't know; maybe I'm overthinking this- that does happen fairly often.
Tim Scott, the relief pitcher, blended in with the crowd on the diamond as well. He debuted with two games as a Padre in 1991 and had a somewhat rocky full rookie season in '92. After a strong start to the '93 season, Tim was sent to Montreal for the legendary Archi Cianfrocco. He fared better his next three and a half seasons, posting ERA+ marks of 139, 157, 109 and 140 before seemingly hitting a wall upon being traded by les Expos to San Francisco. This is where the bouncing around really begins. He was waived by the Giants after the '96 season, picked up by the Reds and granted free agency two months later without as much as getting a jersey with his name on it. The Padres took another look at him, signing him in January of '97 and releasing him in May after 18 innings featuring 16 earned runs. He signed with Colorado, gave up 3 earnies in 2 2/3 innings over three games and was let loose again. The Mariners picked him up on waivers but he would not see the Majors with them or, in fact, with any other team. He kept at it, though, pitching in the minors through 2002 as a member of the Dodgers, Pirates, Reds and Yankees organizations as well as for three different teams in the independent Western League. He retired with 50 wins and 50 losses and a 3.78 ERA over 15 minor league seasons and went 24-13 with a 4.13 during his seven years digging into Major League mounds.

One For The Moms

Pink bat day again

Who else's card could I post?

Word to your mother

13s For The 13th

Seventeen men have worn Mike Ness's favorite number as a member of our San Diego Padres. Ramon Webster was the first, in 1971. The delightfully named Dick Sharon wore it in '75 and future bad manager Bobby Valentine had it in '77. Fernando Gonzalez donned the 13 in '78 and '79; Bobby Tolan also wore it in '79. Juan Eichelberger trotted it out of the bullpen in '81 and '82, as did Mark Davis in '87. No-good Gwynn-hater Mike Pagliarulo performed poorly in it in '89 and '90. Todd Steverson wore it in his only appearance with the Padres, a strikeout in a single pinch hit AB in '96. The well-traveled Jorge Velandia rocked the 13 in '97, followed by eventual actual murderer Jim Leyritz in '98 and '99 and mere Schilling-killer Ben Davis in 2000 and '01. Gary Matthews wore it in the last season at The Q and Antonio Osuna was the first to wear it at Petco Park, in '04. The memorable Robert Fick wore 13 in his '05 stint and light-hitting backup middle infielder Oscar Robles wore it for a short period in '07 and fan favorite Chris Denorfia has proudly donned it since 2010.

Closer Haiku

Thayer the slayer

Yet again another save

Quite a few to go

Haiku: Jesus Guzman

May's hottest hitter

Maybe last year was for real

Small glimmer of hope

Dave Staton: A Guest Post by Friar Fever

From time to time, a guest author who has passed the vetting process (me liking them) contributes something that makes everything I've written look like dog crap in comparison. The fifth and latest guest post, written by friend of the blog and all around class act Friar Fever, is no exception. Enjoy!

In the card above, you have Dave Staton, a third baseman in the San Diego Padres organization in 1991. In fact, Upper Deck gives him a moniker of "Top Prospect '91". Now that has got to be one heavy burden to be forced to lug around. We all know that Staton didn't become a star player for the San Diego Padres, or any other Major League club for that matter, yet such a story is commonplace in a sport like baseball. Top prospects just don't pan out sometimes and they may find themselves sent to obscurity. Sadly, that such scenario has been the case for Dave Staton. That is, until his jersey was purchased by Gaslamp Ball at the 2012 Padres Fanfest and the start of a wonderful adventure began. In the blink of an eye, the name Dave Staton became relevant again through tales of The Sisterhood of The Traveling Jersey. As of right now, Staton's jersey has made way through Arizona, California, and even made a stop in Mexico. 
A few months ago, inspired by what I'd seen on Friars On Cardboard, I went looking through my boxes for any Padres cards I could find. All of my efforts yielded me a pretty nice stack of cards. Cards I had forgotten that I'd had. Of course, I did nothing with them. Up until a month ago, they'd just been keeping me company on my desktop. One afternoon, while reading a post regarding the Staton jersey, I wondered if I even had some of his cards. Lo and behold, I found 3 different ones. Needless to say, I was a bit excited to somewhat make myself feel like I was part of the whole Dave Staton experience that has been happening on Gaslamp Ball. But, I never really looked at those cards, because I never really had a reason to. That is until I was asked to do this guest post and took them from the pile. One card was rather plain and looks like any other card. The next had him wearing #28 on the front of the card and #26 on the back. That was unique. However, it was on that 1991 prospect card that I made a very interesting and quite shocking discovery. All of Staton's accolades may not have ever been a possibility.
In the card above, you see Dave Staton swinging for the fences. What you don't see is that he had to fight to even have the chance. On the back of that 1991 Upper Deck card is a brief paragraph. Some background information on Staton and what he brings to the table. Needless to say, Upper Deck cuts right to the chase.
In his sophomore year of high school, Dave was diagnosed as having lupus, a disorder in which the immune system forms antibodies that attack healthy tissue. The pain became so intense that he had to use crutches. A few years later, his lupus in remission and no longer suffering, he was drafted in the 5th round by the Padres in 1989 and assigned to Spokane to play third base. There, he won the short season triple crown, batting .362 with 17 HR and 72 RBI in 70 games. He started 1990 playing third base at Riverside, but played mostly first base after his promotion to Wichita. Dave's 26 homers tied him for fourth best in the minor leagues in 1990.
Lupus. The disease that could have ended not only his playing career before it truly began, but could have cost him his life. Lupus could possibly be the reason for which his time with the Padres was so short. 2 years in the Bigs and gone. In fact, his final game as a Padre occurred on May 19th, 1994. Now, I don't know if lupus was the reason for his career ending. That's something only Dave Staton knows. All that I do know for sure is that Dave Staton was able to live his dream and play in the Major Leagues. Luckily, with the help of a spring training jersey, Gaslamp Ball and many of their followers will be able to continue the legacy of Dave Staton a mere 18 years later. A legacy that was far too short. A legacy that we all wish could have included more reasons to cheer during the 90s. But most importantly, it is a legacy that will be forever immortalized in baseball cards and jerseys because his health allowed it to happen.
TTG, thank you for the opportunity to contribute a guest post to your awesome blog. I hope this post was as intriguing to you and your followers as it has been for me. Go Padres!

Gwynn Facts 26-34 of 52: Top Of The Leaderboard

26. Tony led the league in at bats and runs once apiece, both in 1986.
27. He led the league in hits 7 times and batting average 8 times, both first in 1984 and last in '97.
28. Tony also led the league in win probability added both of those years.
29. He led the league in sacrifice flies once, also in '97.
30. The most double plays Gwynn grounded into in a season was 20, which he did three times. It led the league in his .394 season.
31. He led the league in OBP once, also in 1994.
32. He led the league in WAR outright in '87 and in WAR among position players in '86.
33. Most impressive to me was that he led the league in at bats per strikeouts an amazing ten times.
34. Defensively, Tony led the NL in games and assists as a RF in 1984 and '86; he led in putouts as a RF in '84, '86 and '90.

Haikuesday: A Birthday Poem For Adrian Gonzalez

 Oh, look at the date

Happy birthday, Adrian

I liked Edgar more

A Picture Of A Baseball Card & A Bunch Of Words

I haven't posted anything for a couple days; I hope one or both of my readers weren't too bummed. My sleep has been all out of whack for some reason and I'd just been feeling blah, out of it and not like writing. I finally got a good night's sleep- I even missed last night's win- and woke up today in a mood to write. I hammered out a bunch of words on Tom Griffin and his career before I got to the end and realized that I should hold it off until next Tuesday. Confused? Don't be; it'll all make sense then. Now that you already know what to expect then, I might as well spoil everything else that's queued up. Since Tuesday is Haikuesday, I'll churn one of those out this evening. Tomorrow is Tony The Gwynn's 52nd birthday and you know that, like in years past, I'm gonna be all over that. Ooh, that reminds me, today is Adrian Gonzalez's birthday. I should probably write something about that but who knows? I care about his birthday about as much as it seems he cares about everything, which is very little. Anyway, back to the calendar, Thursday will bring 10s for the 10th. Speaking of which, how do you guys (and gals, of course; you know what I mean. I'm a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude...) feel about the Friars By The Numbers series? Like? Dislike? Should I do it less often? Let me know in the comments.

Sixes On The Sixth

Of the eleven players to wear 6 for the Padres, Rafael Robles was the first in 1970. Don Mason wore it in parts of the '71 through '73 seasons. Fred "Chicken" Stanley had it for 39 games in '72 and Bob Davis had it for five in '73. Rich Morales was the third player to wear it in '73 and kept it through '74. Don Hahn and John Scott both donned it in '75, followed by Bill Almon from '76 through '79 and Tim Flannery from '80 through '82. Steve Garvey came over and took it from Flan in '83 and kept it through '87. Keith Moreland wore it briefly in the beginning of '88 before it was decided it would be retired for Garvey.

Happy Birthday, Larry Andersen!

Larry Andersen pitched 699 games in 17 seasons spread over 20 years, starting with three games for the 1975 Indians, ending with the strike in '94 during his second stint with the Phillies. Before coming to San Diego via free agency for the '91 and '92 seasons, Andersen also pitched for the Mariners, Philadelphia, Houston and the Red Sox, famously being the centerpiece of what is arguably the best or worst trade of all time, depending on perspective. The Red Sox got a good relief pitcher for 15 games; the Astros got a franchise icon and Hall Of Fame caliber first baseman for 15 years. Though, yes, he'll forever best be known as the guy who got traded for Jeff Bagwell, Andersen was actually a very good reliever year in and year out for a long time, checking out with a career 121 ERA+ and, less importantly, a 3.15 ERA. He was even better in his time with the Padres, putting up a 136 and 2.74, respectively, in 82 innings over 72 games, chalking up 15 saves in that time. These days Andersen works as a TV color guy for the Phillies and still manages to find his way into the news.

Frieri To The Angels

I got this card along with a host of others from my friend Shane two years ago and scanned it and started to write about it on August 2nd, 2010, which also happened to be the day I wrote the best thing I've written for this silly little nerdblog. I kept dawdling around without finishing or retooling it until today, when I was given a newsworthy enough reason to dust it off. Ernasty is an Angel now. He served well in his time in America's Finest City but met the inevitable end that successful Padres relievers meet by being flipped for two promising kids. He was never one of my favorites but he didn't scare the crap out of me when he got called in like the Scott Linebrinks and Greg Burkes of the world, so there's that. I wish Frieri the best in all of his future endeavors on and off the field; thanks for serving, Big Ern.

Three 3s For Thursday The Third

Tommy Dean was the first of twenty-one men to wear number 3 for the Padres, from 1969 through '71. Ball Four character Curt "Buffalo" Blefary was second in '72, followed by Randy Elliott in '74 and Willie Davis in '76. The first Dave Roberts had it for two seasons, '77 and '78, as did Bill Fahey in '79 and '80. Juan Bonilla held it down from '81 through '83 and Jerry Royster wore it in '85 and '86. Darrell Sherman led a revolving door in the nineties, wearing it in '93, succeeded by Melvin Nieves in '94 and '95, Jody Reed in '96, Mandy Romero in '97 and '98, Andy Sheets also in '98, and the legendary Eric Owens in 1999. Shane Victorino had it briefly as a Rule V pick in '03 until he was returned from whence he came. Khalil Greene was issued 3 when he was called up in '03 and kept it through '08 when he was traded to the Cardinals. David Eckstein wore it briefly in early '09 before getting his usual 22. Craig Stansberry wore it later in '09 and Luis Durango hit some infield singles in it in 2010. Jorge Cantu didn't wear it last season because that never happened. Shhhh. Andy Parrino has it now and that's all that matters.

Jeff Suppan Haiku

This one goes out to Electric Friar, who suggested I do a haiku after I tweeted that I was going to dig around for an old Jeff Suppan card. I had to clean the card up a little bit since he was pictured as a Brewer.

52s For 5/2

An even dozen have worn number 52 as a member of the Padres. After 18 years without one, the Friars had two in 1987 in the form of Mark Grant and Jim Steels. Dave Leiper picked up where they left off in '88 and '89. Tim Mauser wore it from '93 through '95, followed by Joey Long in '97 and Ed Vosberg in '99. After a few more years without being issued, it was worn by Matt Herges in 2003, Ricky Stone in '04, and Clay Hensley in '05 and '07. Enrique Gonzalez wore it briefly in '08, as did Josh Geer in '08 and '09. Cory Luebke has worn it since last season when Chad Qualls showed up and gave him a Macbook for his number 50.

Every 1 Ever

Bob Barton was the first to wear #1 for the Friars in 1970 through early '72. Mike Fiore and Johnny Grubb also wore it that season, with Grubb keeping it through the '74 season. He was still with the Padres in '75, switching his number to 2 while no one wore 1. Weird. Ozzie Smith took it over in '78 until he got traded for current Yuma Panthers manager Garry Templeton, who in turn kept it until he was traded in 1991. Tony Fernandez wore #1 in '92 and Luis Lopez had it in '93 and '94 and again in '96; nobody wore it in his absence in '95. Two Carloses shared it in 1999; Baerga and Garcia. Santiago Perez wore it for 43 games in 2001 and Ramon Vazquez had it from '02 through '04. Drew Macias and Luke Carlin rocked it in '07 and '08, respectively. More recently, the legendary and lovable Everth Cabrera held it down for two seasons until some mouth-running, decline-phase, apathetic jerk with a bad sense of entitlement showed up and took it away from him.