If you're just joining us, read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

If you've ever been to a live studio audience for anything, there's always a few people that they send out beforehand to get the crowd riled up. They throw out t-shirts. Do a lot of hootin'. A fair amount of hollerin'. Etcetera. Here's a photo of one of those guys at the Town Hall Meeting

Ignore the bored looking dude on the cell phone, scanning the crowd for his friends. I know this isn't that great of a photo, but it's the last one I have on my camera from the evening, therefore, up it goes.

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Time to flip the page on the ol' Padres calendar.  Let's see who is Miss February, shall we?  In the upper left hand corner we have a handsome picture of Buddy Black, with a wry grin.  On the right side a mother showing her daughter how rude it is to point.  Finally in the bottom left hand corner, an awkwardly staged high five.  Hmm, guess I'll have to wait until March for some good pictures.

• Bud Black and Pitchouts – Ducksnorts
  "Black led National League managers with 55 pitchouts in 2009 (he paced the NL in 2007 as well). That’s more than the next two NL skippers combined "

• Revenge of the RLYW: Extremely Early 2010 MLB Projected Standings - CAIRO Edition
  Predicted Padres record 71.8 - 90.2

• Baseball Prospectus | Depth Charts
  Predicted Padres record 71-91

• friarhood.com - Interview with top Padres prospect Mat Latos
  "I’m really not to familiar with nicknames from the fans... but Hundley always calls me the kid so I guess that’s kinda the nickname I’m getting right now. It fits, I’m one of the youngest guys in the league and the youngest of my teammates."

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Turn on the MLB Network and let's watch some Padres post season.  Here's game one of the 1998 NLCS.

Andy Ashby vs. John Smoltz

via media.wetv.com

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Don't forget to set your DVR for the Gwynn wedding on 1/31 at 9pm on Cox Channel 337.  I'll probably have a recap ready on Monday.

• Platinum Weddings - WEtv.com
  It's a baseball-inspired wedding of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn’s daughter ... the celebration is bound to be a home run!

• Padres open PETCO Park for fans | padres.com: News
  The Padres opened their house on Thursday and opened the microphones to some 3,500 fans who attended an open house at PETCO Park.

• Winter unique time for each player, coach | padres.com: News
  It's a normal winter day throughout the baseball world, and away from the Hot Stove reports, buzzing Internet rumors, TV talking points and front-office plotting, there are other things going on.

• Hacksaw: Padres pass on flash, stick with solid offseason moves
  "Hopeful that Young holds up without injury; that Correia adds to his win total; that Garland can give them tons of innings; that Headley and Blanks can hit early and with some power at new positions; and that the streaky Hairston finds lots of at bats and consistency."

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If you've never stood next to Tom Garfinkel, he can be an imposing figure, if you yourself are 5' 7.5". That being said, it was 6'1" jbox who was nervous about walking over and saying hello.

"He looks busy eating that hot dog," jbox said quietly as we tried working our way through the crowd.

"What? He's just eating a hot dog. Let's go."

"Shhhhh! What if he hears you?"

We made our way, shyly, meekly and said hello to Mr. Garfinkel. He was surveying the crowd while munching on a hot dog.

Reintroducing yourself to somebody is always a tricky thing. Do I say my name? Do I shake his hand? Do I give him a hug? He's awfully tall. Where would a hug put my face? Where would a hug put his crotch area?

I opted for the handshake, making careful note of whether he attempted to turn my wrist or not. He did not. Instead, he gave me a firm handshake and a nice little shoulder pat while introducing himself to Jonny Dub.

He seemed genuinely happy to see us and offered hot dogs from the tables while admitting that he was having a bit of dinner himself. He went so far as to get me a hot dog himself. Here's photographic evidence:

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Petco Park in the gloaming

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These Town Hall Meetings are great. That's the short review.

The Long Review: You get together with all kinds of Padres fans. You listen to good questions being delivered by interviewers more amateur than your friendly neighborhood Gaslamp Balloggers. You listen to answers delivered by men (and they're all men) who know how to sell to, persuade and reason with people much more savvy than you or me, dear reader. The answers are not usually anything more than sound bites and circle-speak designed to hypnotize with their vagueness. And yet, we delight. Oh how we delight.

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The cute one on the left is not such a good driver. The cute one on the right is Matt Antonelli. via his blog

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• Padres brass faces fan questions - SignOnSanDiego.com
  “Our goal is to support the name on the front of the uniform.”

• XX Sports Radio: Adrian Gonzalez Interview (MP3)
  We're working our way to baseball season. Gonzo discussed the opening of the Gonzalez Sports Academy, the off-season moves & the fresh acquisition of Jon Garland. 
• Gonzalez Family Building Better Athletes
  "Good Athletes Are Born, Great Athletes Are Made."
• D12: Bacsik responds to Redding, denies that he's ever grooved - Big League Stew - MLB Blog - Yahoo! Sports
  But even if Bacsik was in a charitable mood that night, it's not as if he'd be the first one to serve up a pitch or profit from it afterward. As our pals at @gaslampball point out, Jake Peavy admitted to throwing a fat one to Barry Bonds in his last at-bat. (Bonds missed.) Clay Hensley also sells balls with "I Gave Up 755" autographs. MLB.com

• John Weisbarth (JohnnyQuickFix) on Twitter
  Sportscaster, TV Host, Event MC, Heart Throb

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XX Sports Radio: Jed Hoyer Interview (MP3) with Coach John Kentera

• Hoyer says Garland is a young veteran.  They needed someone that could throw 200+ innings. "We really added something to the rotation that we lacked."
• All winter they thought Jerry Hairston Jr. was the best utility player that could play short stop. It's great when you get a guy at this age that views himself as a super utility guy.  The bench wasn't very strong last year.
• Aaron Cunningham has performed at every level.  "He's a big league ready guy".  He's probably best suited as a corner outfielder.
• Padres thought it was important to get Chase Headley back to his natural position and getting Kyle Blanks every day at bats. 
  
• Blanks has lost 25 pounds and looks fantastic.
• Sean Gallagher is a good young pitcher.  Inevitably a team is going to use 8 or 9 starters, so there are going to be plenty of innings for the young pitchers.
• Padres are looking for a veteran catcher but Hoyer feels good about Dusty Ryan, he's performed in AAA.  Chris Stewart is one of the best defensive catchers in the minor leagues.
• "We'll probably sign some minor league free agents to fill out the roster."  The roster will probably be the same as it is today as it is when pitchers and catchers report.
• Matt Stairs can be dangerous left handed bat off the bench.  "Stairs is one of the best at that."
• In the AL you can go a week without pinch hitting.

Tom Garfinkel

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XX Sports Radio: Tom Garfinkel Interview (MP3) with Scott and BR

• Garfinkel has lost some weight, he sure looks great.  He's eating less.
• Signing Garland was a great move.  They made offers to other players that wanted more money.  Garland knows how to win.
• Garfinkel sat next Chris Young at dinner. Young says this is the best team he's ever played on.
• The division is up in the air this year.  It's going to come down to who can stay healthy.
• Garfinkel would be proud if his 3 boys grow up to be like the young players on the Padres team.  "They are the type of guys you want to have over to your house."
• Eckstein is a gamer and knows how to win. Cabrera has a great work ethic. He made the media wait after he hit a grand slam so that he could work out after the game.
  
• Garfinkel sat with Ricky Henderson at a game and Henderson called every pitch.
• Clayton Richard is the only guy on the team that uses the heaviest bar bells in the gym.  He was also a back up quarterback at Michigan.

via www.fox5sandiego.com

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• Relaxed Towers ready to get back to work | MLB.com: News
  Let go by the Padres in October after 14 years as general manager, Kevin Towers will head to the Winter Meetings -- on his own dime -- next week to meet with clubs to try to find a fit.

• Decker cracks Top 50 Prospects list | padres.com: News
  Padres outfielder Jaff Decker has been named one of MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects for the 2010 season, coming in at No. 50.

• Spending Money on a Losing Team Sometimes Makes Sense :: Friar Forecast
  "However, without adequate evidence to the contrary, I like to give the team the benefit of the doubt when it makes decisions on what areas of the organization it chooses to allocate funds."

• Onward, Friar Soldiers!: A Complete Guide To the 2010 San Diego Padres | Bleacher Report
  Prediction—79-83

• Kouzmanoff hones his swing in Evergreen - The Denver Post
  Before we get to the miracle, let's get to the message. Memo to the youth of the Rocky Mountain region: Put down your shoulder pads or skates for a minute so Kevin Kouzmanoff can talk some baseball with you.

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