Padres take second in the West

Crappy way to finish, but in a few days, I’ll have some distance and I’ll be really pleased with this season and where the organization is headed. Don’t think I’ve felt this good about the organization in a long time. Even if right at this very moment nothing feels very good.

We definitely know every game counts.

At the stadium? Where in the stadium? What time?

And tell them that Dex gave me permission to clock ’em.

hm… how much do you reckon it would cost to take a flier on Brandon Webb or Brad Penny? Or, hell, even one of the Reds’ duo of Harang and Arroyo? This comes with the rather important assumption that the Reds don’t pick up the option on either of those two, of course.

I’m looking at this list of names and if I were in the front office I wouldn’t be inclined to pay for anyone except perhaps Crawford or Jose Reyes. Double perhaps for Coco Crisp after a fifth of vodka.

I wish Dex had told us this earlier in the season.

Mine is shattered

Folks all over had us written off at Game 0, so I am mighty proud & pleased that it took until Game 162 to be eliminated.

I agree Dex – EVERY GAME COUNTS! I could not but help to think of that the last three weeks. ONE DAMN GAME!! Grrr….

Mostly this team was damn FUN to watch. Game after game until that 10 game skid they made me smile & had me cheering. I often referred to them as the Little Team That Could what with their minuscule payroll & their no name players playing in a town that ESPN forgot.

Despite our frequent frustration at Bud Black – what he did with the group starting from the All Star break last year is nothing short of incredible.

Heath Bell set the tone that first week by defying & challenging everyone who asked him about potential trades for he and Adrian. He boldly predicted the Padres would be buyers & not sellers at the trade deadline & he was right.

I love this team. I love the GLB crew here & on twitter who keep me smiling through the heartache.

The Padres deserve it

the Padres deserve to be welcomed home as much as the fucking Pirates do

I had plays for making the trip from Vegas to SD tonight for game 163. Not gonna make it to great the team. Wish i lived closer. Maybe soon!!! One last thing: to think that those lousy giants had over one million more fans show up to games this year really urks me. A little more fan support and maybe then the front office will BELIEVE!!! Thank you GLB and Padres for a great season. My first season on GLB and ill be back next year. Great overall season.
I love you Padres ( you have no idea )

is a Padres fan, and I spent (almost) as much time talking Padres baseball with him as I did my own team. The turn around from 2009 to 2010 is outstanding, and what’s even more imprssive is that they did it without making any major trades or free agency signings. Will Venable and Matt Latos are going to be stars next year, and I for one wont write the Padres off next year.

… No, I blame the Dodgers. Remember that 3-game sweep back in May? The Padres should have won at least TWO of those games. The Dodgers drove the Padres out of the playoffs. Every Game Counts.

But the more you think about the season the more you feel good, We brought winning baseball back to San Diego. This season can only help Adrian stay here and all our young guys just got that much more experience in big games. The great thing about the Padres is their youth. Unlike the Giants who have a bunch of rented veterans, the Padres have mostly young talent that got to experience these pressure cooked situations and got to experience the highs and lows of a great season.

Really happy with the new ownership this year and I hope they can sign a few good players this offseason. We for sure have Ludwick right? And Miggy is a free agent right? Wish it was the other way around. Obviously Crawford is way out of our range but somebody more than half decent could be a big for this team.

I hope to make it to my first spring training next year and in the mean time, I’ll be checking in to GLB every day.

GO PADRES

They played to their potential and that was not good enough. Jed needs to go to work and add to the level of talent.

Stairs, Hundley, and Cunningham didn’t even play.

If you take the Dodgers’ place as the only other good team in the west, that would be a positive development. Also, excellent job on raising everyone’s blood pressure.

I still think the difference between making it and not making it was the injuries to Gwynn and Hairston.

I just want to say congrats on what really was a remarkable season for your team. All the baseball know-it-alls had both the Giants and Padres 4th/5th in the division and boy did we really shake things up. Everyone had you guys written off before the season even started and even though I wanted you guys to lose in our run for the playoffs I still was very afraid of your team and how hard you guys play. You guys have nothing to be ashamed of this season and I sincerely tip my cap to you guys. You guys are the personification of pitching and defense, something that I think is lost in this age of baseball when everything is about hitting home runs/ RBI’s and stuff.

Good luck in the offseason and we’ll see you next season.

But i Know how it feels to come so close and come up empty handed ex 2003 Raiders and Sharks about every year!!
But my heart goes out to all ya padre fans man!!! and thats the beauty of hope for the next season…

1. Anything from The Lonley Island (“D**k In A Box”, "J**z In My Pants, “Like A Boss”)
2. The Natalie Portman Rap. Uncensored. You’ll love it, because it’s completely out of her character.
3. (optional) listening to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

all the pundits had us written off from the start, and guess what? We showed the everyone accross the nation that you dont have to spend a billion bicks to have a good ball club. I love this team, from the start of the season i knew they would be better than anyone wanted them to be. What a team! Thanks for playing your hearts out for us guys, we love you for the experience you gave us.

Now we have to wait at least 162 more games before we experience the playoffs again. Its been 649 games since we were in the playoffs and that number will turn into 811 by the end of the next regular season.

I have a sour taste in my mouth and am not interested in the playoffs at all. If it’s not the Twins or Rays winning it, I will be even more upset.

Oh well, I had a great time with you guys this year, and I’m glad I stumbled across the site. I’ll definitely be around next year, and in the offseason. Hope to talk to you then.

-ATSD

Even compared to the ‘98 team these guys played the game beautifully. Great pitching and defense is more fun to watch than most people know. The team definitely confounded the experts this season and finished way over my own expectations after seeing them at spring training. It’s a shame that they didn’t go farther so we could have 2010 throwback nights twenty years from now, but I will always remember this as a great season. I am now anxious to see what changes Hoyer makes in the off season. Should any of these players leave town I will give them a standing O when they play at Petco.

I will happily trade you a DVD of historic Padres highlights.

And where I worked had a TV. I convinced the room to change the channel to the Padres playing. I gotta say it would’ve been for more fun following an OT with you guys even though I post once; reading what everyone says made even the most crappiest Padres games fun. Fighting off a room of fairweathers is pretty tough work, but I enjoyed defending us friar faithful. Even after the loss and after the “i told you so!” shots, I just smiled and thought that if there was a group of people that cared so much about the Padres, it’s you guys.

This is more of a shout out to you gaslamp ballers.This has been one hell of a season, but it’s also been one hell of a time getting to know you folks on here. Thank you guys for making the BEST.SEASON.EVAR. the BEST.SEASON.EVAR.

Thanks for giving me the initiative for reading the gaslamp wiki, for without it I wouldn’t understand anything in the OTs.

Sure, the ending wasn’t what we wanted it to be. But to even be in that position, given our salary limitations and lack of name-recognizable stars, was amazing. I’m glad that I was able to experience this; the Padres were at the top of the standings every day I read the LA Times for what felt like forever. It was great. The fans were great. The players were great. The story was great. Somehow, I think this was just a preview of the final product for this team. I can’t wait to see Blanks out there, and hope that Everth finds a bat at some point…

Great Season. Let’s make 2011 even better!

moved to SD in ‘99 and the Pads have been my team since, I have NEVER had so much fun as this season [which could be due to me finally getting season tix]. Yeah it sucks we don’t play tomorrow…but HOLY CRAP what a season! My girl is a [red] sox fan…she grew up there but now is with me here. She has now been converted [kinda – she now likes the Pads AND the sox…believe me, it was a hard thing to pull off] because of how freaking unbelievably awesome the Pads were. Thank you Padres. What a ride.

and thanks Padres for a hell of a ride.
I kind of had a feeling it would go down to the final game, just hoped it would turn out different.

I am over it now and
pitchers and catchers report Feb 13th…

It was a grand year, so much fun and such a rollercoaster, the team definitely performed at a high level and I’m proud of them.

BUT, its so hard to make it to the playoffs in baseball, even a loaded team is not garaunteed to make it, lots of things can go wrong, that’s why it feels like such a waste to get so close and not get there. It takes a bit of magic (and a little luck) to make it to the postseason and I really thought we had it.

But I love the young team, I hope they stay with it, keep building, and add the couple modest but valuable pieces they need to make 2011 even better.

Thank you SDP and thank you GLB.

Was really hoping to see you guys get to the WS this season but it wasn’t meant to be ,but great season nonetheless.Hopefully Latos and Richard and co. come into 2011 stronger,wiser and determined to make everyone pay especially the dirty doyers please ;).
Best luck and much success in the NL West in 2011.

for the great work. Wonderful outlet for Padres junkies. Great season and the future is bright. Look forward to the Hot Stove League. Let’s see what Hoyer does with a season under his belt !

It’s hard to imagine a season like this happening again. It was truly incredible, but the last month was such an extreme emotional hell-ride, that the off-season will actually feel like a well-needed break.

I really like to think that this phenomenal year has established a new identity for the future of the Padres organization. It’s exciting to think of the teams Hoyer will be building in the future years based around speed, defense, pitching, team sacrifice and baseball intelligence, all of which this club excelled in. I really really like this team identity, and it makes me excited for the seasons to come.

In regards to offensive help, it would be really refreshing to not focus on obtaining/keeping home run threats, but instead go after highly-athletic players who are double & triple threats. With a small-ball team, we really need to avoid contact hitters who strike out too much also, but that’s common sense. I’d love to see a team of high batting-average, contact hitting speedsters on the Pads in the future.

Once again, that season was utterly incredible. Thank you Padres and thank you Gaslamp Ball. It’s going to be a fascinating off-season. Hoyer & Moorad have some really tough decisions to make.

All the way from Chris Young shaking my hand and asking me how I was doing at FriarFest until game 162, these San Diego Padres had me by the heart. Even though they fell just short, it gives me the utmost confidence that they can keep this going next year. Thank you for such an incredible season and you WILL see me next season.

This was the most exciting year of Padres baseball that I have witnessed since I became a diehard fan in 2002. This season will leave me an empty feeling for all winter wondering “what if?” but I am looking forward to an even more fun 2011. This team put it all out on the field every day and they just kept winning despite everyone foul mouthing them.

I agree that every game is a MWG. I know it is baseball and every team has their fair share of losses. The most frustrating series was the series in Washington in July where we lost two out of three to the Gnats. Those were all winnable games and if we had just two out of three against them, we would be in a different position now. Oh well, I will try not to dwell on the negative and I will celebrate the most exciting 6 months of Padres baseball I have witnessed so far.

where they are actually being sportsmanlike and gracious in victory. Makes me feel a little less hatred towards their team. :-)

I will probably still semi-root for the Braves, but I appreciate it when rivals don’t act like complete “in your face” douchebags when things turn out their way instead of ours. Like back when we were kids playing Little League baseball and would high-five the OTHER team afterwards and say “good game” to them, even as tears streamed down our faces if we happened to be on the losing end.

Safeway Select Peanut Butter and Butterfinger ice cream

The Padres’ final home game (which I watched up here in Spokane on MLB Network) showed a 1/3 empty ballpark. I realized there was some rain, but c’mon, it’s not like it was in the 40s. The three that followed in SF showed standing-room-only crowds waving 45,000 orange rally flags for the entire games. I rooted hard for the Padres, but the stark difference in support was embarrassing and disheartening.