Well the Padres finally got rid of Phil Nevin. I can't help but think that he made a big mistake by not going to the Orioles. He would have been in a pennant race and been able to play first base as well. The Padres must have told him that they were going to get rid of him one way or another. What was he holding out for? Did he really believe that he would stay a Padre? Or did he want to hold out hope for another West Coast team?
It seems that the Padres were trying to do right by him. Alderson even said that they tried to find a good place for him. Alderson kinda sounded like he thought Phil was ungrateful for the opportunity. I wish him the best, but I think he would have been better suited to play in Baltimore.
The good news for the Pads is that Phil is gone. No more temper tantrums. No more booing... hopefully. No more watching Phil pop up the catcher every other at bat. Chan Ho Park won't be the distraction that Ponson might have been. I'm also glad that Phil didn't leave the Padres showing off his temper. He seems genuine with his love for the Pads, but there is no doubt that it was time for him to go.
Nevin said his only disappointment, besides being booed this week, was not winning a division title. But he said he expects the Padres to hold onto their lead in the weak NL West. Despite losing 32 of their last 50 games, they still led Arizona by two games.
"Hopefully, this team will start winning and they don't have anybody else to boo and it'll be smooth sailing in San Diego for a while," Nevin said.
A few other things:
- I saw Mike from BochyforMayor.com last night at Street Scene.
- Jon has a huge crush on Ichiro. ESPN has a big article on him.
- You like my title of this post? I'm real proud of it for some reason. Never say Never Again was a good James Bond movie.
- I'm suprised as hell that Vasgersian is beating out Leitner in the Poll.