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Sunday is the day of rest, as it has been since, well, the literal creation of the earth.
In baseball, however, that isn’t the case. The vibes that are given off for a Sunday afternoon baseball game are simply immaculate, which is why 99.9% of the time, every MLB team is on the schedule every Sunday during the season.
However, this Sunday is a bit different for the Padres, who are not taking the field today. The team completed a two-game interleague split with the Los Angeles Angels last night in a 10-2 loss.
The last time the Padres did not play baseball during the season on a Sunday is actually more recent than you may think. It came on April 1, 2018, as the team took off for you guessed it, April Fools’ Day.
April Fools’ Day also happened to overlap with Easter Sunday that year, but that’s definitely, absolutely 110% not the reason why the Padres requested to not play that day to the league.
Before that, you’d have to go back to 1995 to look at the last time the Padres were off on a Sunday before the season.
August 13, 1995 was the last time a day like today happened. The number one song in the country was TLC’s “Waterfalls.”
Fast forward to 2021, and the Padres are not chasing waterfalls, but rather, a playoff spot.
After a 53-40 first half, the team has struggled since the All-Star Break, churning out a 16-22 skid that has them on the outside looking in with five weeks to go in the regular season.
A glitch in the schedule and the team’s routine could be exactly what this team needs heading into the home stretch of the season.
The team needs more than a glitch to get back on track though. The bats are incredibly cold, the pitching staff’s health is in flux and manager Jayce Tingler continues to make moves that aren’t helping the cause. Something has to change or the team will continue getting the same results.
If the team continues to get the same results, the team is going to be resting on more than just a rare Sunday in August chasing waterfalls instead of a championship.