Sez Me …
Peter Seidler never saw a cloudy sky.
To the very end, following his battles with cancer and diabetes, Peter walked in sunshine, soaking up rays of positivity and belief.
Maybe that’s why the late Padres owner loved parades. Why he promised his adopted town a World Series parade, an event it never has experienced on its own streets. Maybe that’s why he never stopped believing.
The shame is that, if there is a celebration, he won’t be here to see it, but he will be grand marshal, riding an empty horse, in spirit.
Before you go building floats, a word of caution. It’s an if — a big and tall one.
Peter was the ultimate optimist, but we no longer can afford to start counting chickens before October is hatched.
This is baseball. So we can’t know much; can’t know much of anything. All we know is that the Pads have wild-carded their way into the National League playoffs, which begin here Tuesday against somebody.
Somebody they can beat. And they can beat anybody. You heard me. That is correct.
Top to bottom, I make this the best Padres team since they were ordained in 1969. You may think this a reach. It’s not.
Although few in number, they have had some good clubs, including two — 1984 and 1998 — that reached the Series but were unsuccessful in finding a parade route. They weren’t as good as 2024’s.
Those two were unfortunate. The teams that beat them — the Tigers in 1984 and Yankees in 1998 — may well have been the two best over the past 75 years. And the Pads weren’t good enough to produce nearly enough secular miracles to beat Detroit and New York.
But there are no ‘84 Tigers and ‘98 Yankees involved now. There is no great team, none without flaws. Not a 100-game winner in either league.
These Padres are not without blemish, which poked out of their flesh prior to the All-Star break. But the Klieg lights suddenly went on, and now, as San Diego teams go, they are as close to clean as they’re likely to get.
General Manager A.J. Preller, who had not excelled at jigsaw puzzles — there were years when his arrogance made it more difficult for himself (Seidler, being Seidler, never gave up on him although it might have been getting close) — finally has the pieces in place. He has a team built to play and win postseason games. Great job.
They have the starting pitching. They have the relief pitching. They can hit. They can hit for power. They can come from behind, hit with runners on base, and walk-off games, which in no way happened in 2023, which was a play with a similar cast. They don’t settle. They never consider themselves out of games. They are dangerous.
New manager Mike Shildt has instilled an attitude in them. Pitching coach Ruben Niebla and batting coach Victor Rodriguez have done genius work — especially after the break.
San Diego has survived injuries, even ace Yu Darvish’s mysterious hiatus. Manny Machado came back too soon from elbow surgery, but since the break has been terrific. Fernando Tatis Jr. missed two months with a leg injury and has returned as a force. Rookie shortstop-turned-center fielder Jackson Merrill has been a revelation.
No chance I’m here to say they will win the World Series. I can’t say they can get out of the playoffs’ first round. It’s baseball. I’m stupid, but I’ve seen too many low tides to put that ship in the water.
Still, they can. And for now that’s damn good. …
Did you notice the number of vacancies in the Dodger Stadium seats when the Pads pulled that historic triple play? I guessed there was an unbearable stink due to Mongo eating beans with his buddies in the stands. …
That 448-foot home run in Dodger Stadium is more proof to the doubters who believe Tatis has lost his muscle since the steroid bust. …
After 50 years of starting for the Rockies and being a major Padres nemesis — he says drawing a walk off Randy Jones remains a career highlight — Charlie Blackmon is retiring. …
Don’t like the pitch clock? In 2021 there were 391 nine-inning MLB games running 3 hours and 30 minutes or longer. As through Sept 26, 2024? Seven. …
With the NFL Team That Used To Be Here’s starting right and left offensive tackles probably grounded by injury, no chance the Judases should risk Justin Herbert’s bad ankle vs. the Chiefs and their doting officials on Sunday. …
Bad enough the Judases have lost 10 straight home games to K.C. …
Pistons owner Tom Gores is purchasing 27 percent of the Judases. No big deal. Fredo Spanos, who finally got his sister off his back (she sold her share), remains in charge. Tom, whose NBA team won 17 games last season, is hoping to join Fredo in bringing that championship attitude to Inglewood. …
Let’s see. Fredo pays $1 a year rent, so he’s covered with landlord Stan “Fred Mertz” Kroenke for 27 million more years. …
To me, the Thick Six — an offensive lineman catching a touchdown pass — shouldn’t be hard to defend. These huge people have to pronounce themselves eligible, so you put somebody on him, right? No? …
NBC showed several replays of Chiefs left tackle Wanya Morris, with Cris Collinsworth singing Wanya’s hosannas. Morris had hands to the defenders’ face on four of them. No calls. …
The Chiefs get away with stuff no other team in my lifetime has gotten away with. The NFL has to stop it. But won’t admit it. …
Oh no? From The Sporting News: Patrick Mahomes has 30 turnovers in his career (22 picks, 8 fumbles) that have been called back by flag. …
The Chiefs were guilty of an end zone pass interference penalty last week that could have been seen by visually impaired Martians. There was no call. And may have reversed the outcome. …
Mahomes has thrown 11 touchdown passes and has nine interceptions over his last eight regular season games. He remains the last guy you want to play, but he’s not the same. …
Officials were running out of flags during Cowboys-Giants Thursday night, but Commish Goodell saved the day when he ordered one of his lackeys to cross the Hudson and rip some off the Plaza Hotel. …
From ace bracketologist Joe Lunardi: “A Big Ten team has not won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in 25 years (Michigan State).” Power conference, my eye. …
The new Pac-12 is going to be a fine basketball conference. Mark Few? My fear is Gonzaga becomes great at football under coach Mark More. …
There have been 1,247 Tommy John surgeries performed on ballplayers since TJ got the first one 50 years ago. Thankfully, it wasn’t Christian Encarcion-Strand. …
If he’s not careful, Bill Belichick will become John Madden without the bluster. …
In no way should Oakland demolish the Coliseum. The Raiders will be back. …
My guess is that Pope Francis will move to Caesar’s Palace before the A’s get a Vegas residence. …
RIP, Maggie Smith. The all-time master of the quip. …
Now that Caitlin Clark’s historic WNBA rookie season has ended, she can head home with the hope her relatives and friends haven’t come to hate her.