Right now, there's someone who owns a Ken Caminiti jersey, and he's complaining about Major League Baseball and Melky Cabrera. That should be enough to annoy you into caring about a Giants/Padres series. If not, there's always this:
Yeah, yeah, feel it in yer bones. Let the hate flow through you.
Aaaaaah.
Laugh it up now, because the Padres are well set for the future. You might remember this sentiment from the days of Tagg Bozied and Josh Barfield. But I really mean it this time. The Padres have a loaded farm. They have decent players in the majors, especially if you include the pitchers on the shelf. And they have new owners.
The price of the club is $800 million, Moores said, including a 21 percent stake in a new FOX regional sports network, which began broadcasting this season.
Fowler has emerged as the club's new control person and will represent the organization at all league meetings. The new ownership group would also include the nephews and children of former Dodgers owner Peter O'Malley -- son Kevin and nephew Tom Seidler will represent the family in a group that also includes pro golfer Phil Mickelson, a San Diego native.
That's $800 million. About twice the Forbes estimate. That's about 40 million panda hats. Uh, wait, Headley, come here! You're the Porcupine. Shut up and put your hair like this. That's right. Here's some gel. You're the Porcu … shut up, you're the Porcupine.
They have everything in place for a run of NL West domination. Except once a year, I like to remind everyone about this:
2004 Padres
Ben Davis catching. D'Angelo Jimenez can probably stick at short. Tagg Bozied should be a keeper. Sean Burroughs is probably going to win a few batting titles. Wascar Serrano is a total ace. Oh, man, we're screwed.
2007 Dodgers
Dang. Andy LaRoche and Chin-lung Hu. With Loney at first? That infield is stacked. Stacked for the future. And if they can lock one of their aces up long-term, like Brad Penny? Boy, oh, boy.
2008 Diamondbacks
Oh, this is some bull right here. They get Conor Jackson and Carlos Quentin, and now they're good? Same draft. Cal and Stanford. That's an omen. Stephen Drew is probably the best shortstop prospect of his generation, if not ever. Mark Reynolds is … man, he's like Adam Dunn without the walks, but more power. And Chris Young? Basically Willie Mays, everybody. Same thing.
Let's not start wearing garlic around our necks to keep the Padres away just yet. But they're still scary. Loaded farm and new owners. I don't like that.
For now, they're still six pitchers down. Think about what the Giants' rotation would look like if they were six pitchers down. Brad Penny every fifth day. Eric Hacker. Travis Blackley? Sure. Derek Lowe would probably be here by now. Every fifth day. The Padres should have been better -- they might have had the worst luck of any team in baseball this season.
The Giants, if they fancy themselves a contending team, should still beat the Padres. At home, in Petco, wherever. They're the better team as currently constructed, even without that one guy who did the things with the hits who got busted for that thing. That's not how baseball works, of course. Every team is a dangerous team. Remember the Astros last year. Remember the Astros, who play relatively close to the Alamo.
What do Padres fans root for, with a lost season, broken pitchers, and another wait-'til-next-year ahead of them? They're rooting to annoy the hell out of the Giants and their fans. They're rooting for the obnoxious transplants and tourists who take over San Diego to stop cheering by the second inning, disgusted with every last scrap of on-field action.
That's a pretty sweet thing to root for, as far as sports go.
So don't take this series for granted. The Padres have a good chance to be annoying for the next few years, but they have a great chance to be really annoying for this weekend.
Also of note: The Giants play the Padres 49 more times this season.
Hitter to Watch
Not Kyle Blanks. I miss that guy. As a balance between "scary-ass, hulking opponent" and "not that good", he was fun to watch. The Logan Forsythes these days don't have that je ne sais blanks.
Pitcher to Watch
The last time the Giants faced Ross Ohlendorf, they won the game in the top of the ninth when Juan Uribe doubled off Javier Lopez. That has to mean something, right? And it means something good, of course.
Prediction
Such much Padres.