Hard to believe that I've been writing this blog for an entire year now! It's even harder to believe that, of all things, I felt compelled to start This Team Makes Me Drink because I vehemently disagreed with Melvin Upton, Jr. being traded- that hot take (Melvin Upton goes to the 6!!!) didn't age too well.
I genuinely thought that I would write a couple posts, get bored, and completely forget about ever writing about sports again- but alas, here we are, a full trip around the sun later- and what better way to celebrate TTMMD turning a year old than by going to a Padre game?
And what a celebration it was. The Padres won, 7-5, splitting the series with the Mets, and more importantly, allowing me to experience my first Padres W in over two calendar years.
My thoughts/stray observations from my experience are below, but first, a few acknowledgments: I'd like to give a big shoutout to my Mom being my #1 reader and for unfailingly promoting this blog on all of her social media, my Dad for the tickets and instilling my love for baseball, and YOU, for taking the time out of your day to listen to what I have to say.
Game 102, 7/27/2017- Padres vs. Mets:
- Petco Park is nice. Really, really, really, really, nice. Which makes it truly a shame that this place was half-full, and to add insult to injury, half of that half-full crowd was made up of Mets fans.
- 14 dollars for a 12 oz. cup of Ballast Point? Sigh.
- I got to see the wonderfully-named Chris FLEXen make his Major League debut- unfortunately for him though, Flexen promptly got flexed on by the first batter he faced- Manny Margot took him yard after only three pitches. It was a rough debut for Flexen, going almost 70 pitches through only three innings of work.
- Speaking of Manny Margot, how good is this kid? Besides the aforementioned home run, he also put the Padres ahead for good with a bases clearing double, and came just a triple shy of the cycle. I've got a feeling that Margot alone could make that Craig Kimbrel trade age really well.
- As the picture above shows, I bought a Padres bucket hat. It's a contender for the best 35 bucks I've ever spent. Shoutout to Rachel for helping me pick it.
- I once had a neighbor named Chris Barnwell, who played in 13 games for the Brewers back in 2006. For whatever reason, Dusty Coleman kinda reminds me of Chris Barnwell. Coleman's career to this point is comprised of just 7 games- and as a 30 year old fringe player, you've got to wonder how much time is left in his already-short MLB career. For now, though, Dusty has plenty of cause to celebrate- I got to witness Coleman hit his first career homer, which was a three run shot that pushed the Padres lead up to 7-1. Chris is an awesome dude who grinded for years in the minors to get a well-earned taste of the majors- and I'm sure Dusty Coleman exemplifies all of those qualities as well.
- I can cross getting to see Phil Maton pitch live off the bucket list- dude came in and totally shut down any momentum the Mets had after they put up 4 runs in the 7th to tighten the game up. Maton has a HUGE stride, allowing him to release the ball closer to the plate- and thereby making his 93 MPH fastball look like 98 to the naked eye. Maton is undoubtedly the closer of the future.
- This GIF of Luis Torrens running off the field after only two outs was even funnier in person.
- Finally, Brad Hand shut down the Mets with a 1-2-3 inning, and more importantly, boosted his trade value in the process (shoutout Bob Nightengale for that FUEGO take). That slider of his is absolutely filthy. Of all the transactions AJ has made during his tenure as the Padres GM, dare I say that Brad Hand is the best pickup of the Preller era? I don't think that's even a remotely controversial statement anymore, but hopefully, whoever the Padres acquire in return for Hand replaces the latter for that title, though. Somebody tell Ron Folwer to shut up and let AJ cash out Hand for maximum value.
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