Opening Day 2012

Of all the sports that I have watched, nothing matches the excitement of Opening Day in Baseball.  The smell of hot dogs in the air, fans dressed wearing jerseys of their favorite team, and the renewed optimism that this could be the year your team wins the World Series.  We sat in the parking lot before the game eating breakfast burritos, pancakes and sipping on some almond champagne and talked about the new season. 2PM arrived and it was time to enter inside and see what the ballpark looked like, if there are any changes that have been made and would our friends be there. We walked through the gates of Petco Park and saw many familiar faces we have missed over the last few months.  Luigi, wearing his Bring Back The Brown t-shirt and shaking hands with his friends.  Yolen, our usher, who is kind and sweet and is always there to help us.  Andrew, our in seat service waiter, who loves baseball, loves the fans and always has a smile on his face.  Yes, it was time once again to cheer for our Padres, win or lose.

Ah, yes, the baseball season is back!

Mike Moustakas-3B Kansas City Royals 4/3/2012

A few minutes after Jeff walked off, Mike came over and started signing for a group of kids there wearing Royals shirts.  I walked over and waited and asked Mike if he would please sign my shirt.  He said, "sure," and then I asked him about his favorite player.  His answer was great and really touched my heart.  He said, "Mickey Mantle, because he was my dads favorite player."  I was really NOT expecting to hear a player say that.  As a father, it really touched my heart to hear a grown man say his dad's favorite player was his favorite player.  Even as I typed this, I still feel a lump in my throat and fight back a tear.

Classy, just classy.  The Royals organization is very classy.

Jeff Francoeur-Right Fielder Kansas City Royals 4/3/2012

A couple of days before the start of the 2012 regular season, The Kansas City Royals came to town for an exhibition game against The San Diego Padres.  I decided to wear my Kansas City Royals St. Patrick Day's shirt that I got at spring training and see if I could get any players to sign it.  As I sat in the stands near the left field line, Jeff Francoeur came walking up and started signing for the fans.  I walked over and asked him to sign my shirt and then asked him, "Who is your favorite player was and why."  He wasted no time saying, "Dale Murphy, because I grew up in Atlanta."  I thanked him for his time and then watched as he signed for every kid that was there.

All I can say is Jeff is a class act!

Bud Black-Former pitcher and current manager of The San Diego Padres 2/10/2012

I had decided before going to the event that my #1 priority was to meet Bud Black and ask him who and why.  I have talked to him only one time at spring training for a grand total of 5 seconds!  I had hoped that this time, it would be a longer conversation.  He walked toward where I was sitting and I stood up and introduced myself and asked him who his favorite player was and why.  He said, “Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays.”  “Sandy because he was a pitcher like he was” (Bud pitched for over 10 years with several clubs), but he didn’t give a reason for Willie Mays. 

I was very happy to have accomplished my goal for the night.  

Mark Grant-Former pitcher and current Padres Radio and TV Announcer 2/10/2012

I had the opportunity to attend the San Diego Padres Foundation Dinner on February 10, 2012.  It was an early present from my friend Rebecca Herman.  We arrived early, and were assigned table #31 then proceeded to walked out to the infield area to check out items up for bid in a silent auction.  At 7:30, it was time to head to our table and start the dinner and awards ceremony.  Up to our table walked Mark Grant, former Padres pitcher and current announcer for the team!  He introduced himself and sat down and started to chat with us.  After a few minutes, I finally decided I was going to ask him the question. I looked at Mark and asked, “who is your favorite baseball player and why?”  Without hesitation, Mark said, “Ernie Banks SS-1B for the Chicago Cubs, because he loved his passion for the game and his attitude as a player." I thanked him for answering and was happy to have my first question answered.  

I will never forget Mark Grant and the kindness he showed that night.  He is a class act.

When it's time to change....

Greeting to baseball fans one and all,

It's been a while since I touched my blog.  Since my last post, I took a trip to San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle to catch ballgames and had a blast.  Loved the fan base in Oakland and had the most fun there.  Fans were friendly, staff was great and I felt welcome.  San Francisco is a beautiful ballpark, but the fans were less than friendly and the seat I bought was a restricted view seat (behind the right field foul poll) and I was charged full price and not told it was a restricted view.  Seattle was ok at best.  Sat in the outfield there and saw Red Sox fans get drunk and fight with Mariner fans.  Spent the last 2 months suffering through Padre baseball and lost a desire to write about what I saw from the players.

With the start of the new baseball season, I decided to change the focus of the blog to a more positive one.  While I didn't plan on the other being negative, it sometimes sounded like it.  I understand players want their privacy and that it's a hard life.  Sometimes, they just want to come to work and not be bothered.  So instead of writing about players attitudes, I wanted to pick a subject that was simple and a little fun.  With that said, my idea and theme for 2012 will be.....Who and Why?

Who and why you say?  What does that mean?  Well, I've decided to undertake the task of asking players, managers, coaches, and even the front office who their favorite all time player is and why.  I think this will be a fun project to undertake and I hope to get lots of answers. I hope you will enjoy this too.

The Casual Fan

RIP Dick Williams

Today is a sad day for The Casual Fan.  Dick Williams passed away today at the age of 82 in Las Vegas.  He won the World Series with the A's in 1972-1973 and quit the A's after the World Series due to Charlie Finley's public ridicule of Mike Andrews.  He managed several clubs, but I remember him the most from his tenure here in San Diego.  He taught the Padres to play as a team. Alan Wiggins stole 70 bases and Tony Gwynn stole 51.  With vets like Garvey, Nettles, and Templeton, combined with youth like McReynolds, Martinez and Kennedy, the Padres could hit and play solid defense and fundamentally sound baseball.  They had good pitching, and a closer in Goose Gossage.  He led the Padres to their first World Series against what was one of the greatest teams that ever got to the show in the Detroit Tigers.  Managing the 1985 All-Star team, he led the National League to a 6-1 win and Lamaar Hoyt was the All-Star MVP (the only Padre to ever win the award). He was let go in the spring of 1986 due to differences with Ballard Smith and Jack McKeon.

I tip my hat to my favorite all-time manager.  Baseball has truly lost a legend.