Back in April, I wrote a piece (linked below) about my experience attending Padres FanFest at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. My father encouraged me to forward it to his physician, who has been a season ticket holder there for many years. In response, I received kind emails from both the good doctor and his assistant. Shortly after the Padres made a blockbuster trade to acquire outfielder Juan Soto from the Nationals, my dad and I were invited to join him at the ballpark on August 21. It was a generous offer and I was perfectly willing to accept.
On this particular Sunday I drove to my parents’ home rather early. My father and I wanted to ensure that we made it down the 5 freeway with time to spare. Finding parking downtown was a minor hurdle, but soon afterward I found myself face to face with the home plate gate. A few minutes later, I was introduced to our host and his son Ben which kicked off a lengthy discussion about baseball. Ben’s favorite player is Wil Myers and his least favorite was Jedd Gyorko, mostly because of how they treated him at Spring Training in past years. I will admit that I have formulated opinions on hockey players based on the same kind of reasoning.
As far as careers go, Ben is planning to follow in his father’s footsteps. Being a Pre-Med major hasn’t stopped him from following his favorite team as they try to secure a postseason spot via the Wild Card. San Diego third baseman Manny Machado has enjoyed an excellent season and his OPS of .894 is 8th best in the league. Machado has done his best to make up for the absence of talented shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. Here is a thing Machado did in the first game of the series against the Nats.
In case you have missed all of the drama, the talented shortstop suffered an offseason injury due to a motorcycle accident. Even before being suspended for use of a banned substance in August, Doctor B reacted to my prior piece on the Padres with the following: “We're crossing our fingers on Tatis. He needs a maturity neuron to click.”
We entered the club area for lunch where I ordered a BLT with avocado. The digs were so comfortable that we stayed there for several innings. Prior to the Padres and Nationals getting underway, I watched the Yankees face the Blue Jays on a television across the room. Once the Yanks sealed a 4-2 victory, I felt relaxed and ready to see some live action from our seats located not far from home plate. It was time to watch Soto face his former team while former Padres prospect CJ Abrams manned shortstop for Washington.
Sean Manaea took this hill for the Padres and fired seven innings. He surrendered five hits and just a single run off the bat of veteran Nelson Cruz. Young Washington first baseman Joey Meneses, who is hitting .323 as I write this, went 1-for-4 while César Hernández was the only Nationals player with two hits in the contest.
In addition to getting Soto, Padres General Manager A.J. Preller made a splash by acquiring first baseman Josh Bell, infielder Brandon Drury, and relief pitcher Josh Hader. Among the secondary additions, Doctor B was most excited about Bell during our pregame discussions. That brief conversation would end up being a neat bit of foreshadowing. Of course, Bell had homered the night before against Josiah Gray in a 2-1 victory for the home squad.
Patrick Corbin is having a dreadful season for the 2019 champions. Regardless, he managed to shut out the Padres for the first five innings despite surrendering seven hits in that span. In the bottom of the sixth, Drury led off with a double and Bell strode to the plate having already homered the night before. In the words of Conan O’Brien, here’s what happened:
In the end, the Padres split the series with another 2-1 triumph despite dropping games on Thursday and Friday. With every contest potentially meaning the difference between San Diego or Milwaukee reaching a Wild Card game, winning ugly has to be considered acceptable even if fans of the Padres would like to see more commanding performances.
The good news for San Diegans: the Padres find themselves just ahead of the Brewers in the standings. Drury has 27 homers this campaign, Ha-Seong Kim looks promising at times, and rookie outfielder José Azocar owns the third best batting average in Bob Melvin’s preferred lineup of late. Nevertheless, the front office has gone all in with mixed results thus far.
Time will tell whether San Diego can advance to the postseason or even make a deep run, but it’s good to see heightened fan interest. This is a team that, aside from the shortened 2020 season when the field was expanded, hasn’t sniffed a playoff berth since 2006. Trading so many prospects for immediate returns is risky, but it’s also frustrating to see franchises refuse to compete in the near term. When it comes to baseball operations, acting bold can also be quite beautiful.
Nevertheless, my biggest takeaway from the afternoon was the topic of father-son bonding. Baseball is a time-tested method for dads to connect with their children, and my upbringing was no different. I turned 39 just days earlier but still relish chances to enjoy a game with my father. After Nick Martinez recorded the final out, I looked forward to having a delicious dinner and telling my mother about the afternoon. It’s also obvious that Ben enjoys hanging out with his father when it’s their turn to use the seats that they share with friends. I love live baseball even solo, but having my dad with me made the experience extra special.
Special thanks to Dorina for editing my first draft.