Getting back on track

It seems that I always start off by mentioning my life outside of MLBlogs. School is always keeping me busy and on top of that, pre-season lacrosse kicked off not too long ago. Yes, I play lacrosse. Yes, I know there is a baseball and lacrosse controversy. I love playing lacrosse as much as anything that deals with baseball. Because I know that most of my readers are older than me, I want to know your sophomore year in high school. I am in school right now trying to conquer all my classes (especially AP World History and my worst subject, chemistry honors). So how was your sophomore year?   

The Latest Leaders list is out and this blog stands at #37 for the month of October. I wrote only two entries last month so being on the latest leaders list is a great honor. Thank you guys so much for coming back. I would love to keep this “momentum” going and hopefully reach the top 20 or even the top 10 someday. Because I’m #37 and haven’t updated my blog in days, I want to get back on track with this “fun” entry.

I like to call this, “Reflecting the 2010 Padres season in 37 ways”.

 

1. Before (and during) the beginning of the season, there were many doubters who thought the Padres will not have a spectacular season, play baseball under .500, and received more negative criticisms than positive comments.

2. Padres signed Jon Garland, Yorvit Torrealba, Matt Stairs, Scott and Jerry Hairston on January.

3. Padres Fan Fest was held on February and the Padres showed strong potential to play solid baseball even back then. Some of the players really believed that this regular season will be a great one.

4. Spring Training was filled with new and old faces and the players were very determined to have a strong 2010 season.

5. Game 1 began on April 5th at Arizona. Padres got their first loss of the season.

6. Starting pitcher Chris Young was placed on the disable list after his first start in 2010, also known as game number 2 of the regular season.

7. The Padres returned to San Diego for a home opener on April 12th and hosted the Atlanta Braves. Final score at Petco Park was 17-2, Padres with a dynamic win. 

8. Padres had two heroic walk off home runs from Chase Headley and David Eckstein. Chase was able to finish the game on the 16th while David did his role on the 19th.

9. Padres’ memorable eight game winning streak began on April 16th.

10. Padres finished the month of April strong with a 15-8 record.

11. Mat Latos threw a gem on May 13th against the San Francisco Giants. Mat took the spotlight by throwing a complete game one-hit shutout.

12. Padres got a wild 18-6 win against the New York Mets on Memorial Day at Petco.

13. Padres’ record for May was 16-12 and remained on top of the NL West.

14. Padres won 7 games out of 12 during interleague series in June. Padres are not very good when it comes to interleague series so above .500 against American League was impressive.

15. 15-12 was the record for the Padres in June and played very solid baseball.

16. Padres finished the first half of the season with 51-37 and deserved the title of “First Place Padres” for couple of months into the regular season.

17. July was also filled with great moments because the Padres had two sweeps (D-Backs and Pirates). 

18. Padres acquired Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick in late July. Both of the players showed contribution in some way as they spent time in Padres uniforms.

19. Padres finished July with a 14-9 record and continued to remain in first place.

20. Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez showed off his big mouth and predicted that the Giants will sweep the Padres.

21. Padres made Sanchez a liar and he took the loss on August 13th, the day he pitched after his prediction.

22. Having two sweeps (Pirates and Cubs) in August, the mighty Padres played pretty consistent solid baseball.

23. The horrible 10 game losing streak began on August 26th and the team looked very shaky and played sloppy baseball.

24. Rookie pitcher made his major league debut on September 3rd. Although he got the loss, he was very memorable on the mound with his consistent pitching as a young pitcher

25. Padres snapped the horrible losing streak on September 7th.

26. Padres had ups and downs during the month of September; Some games were unforgettable while some games were forgetful. 

27.  After his major league debut, Cory Luebke got his first big league win on the 8th.

28. Starting pitcher Chris Young returned to the mound from the sholder surgery he had. His second game of the regular season was on the 18th and got a no decision against the St. Louis Cardinals.

29. Chris Denorfia hit a game winning double against Reds’ young phenom Aroldis Chapman on the 25th. Chapman is a type of pitcher who can throw 100 to 105 MPH so Chris’ walk-off hit was very exhilarating to watch. 

30. Pitcher Tim Stauffer proved that he should earn a spot in the starting pitching rotation. He filled in the spot for Kevin Correia nicely and threw solid innings of baseball.

31.  Losing three games out of four against the Cubs at the last home stand for the Padres questioned the team whether they were still eligible to play postseason baseball.

32. The last three games of the 2010 regular season was do or die series for the Padres. One loss could have sent the Padres home early.

33.  The San Francisco Giants kicked the Padres out of the playoffs in game 162 and broke the Padres and the fans’ dreams of reaching to postseason.

34. Although game 162 was absolutely disheartening, I’m really proud of the Padres for giving their all throughout the season. Padres finished the 2010 season with an impressive 90-72 record.

35.  I learned a very important word as a Padres fan during the regular season: Believe.

36. 2010 season was incredibly un, I mean, believable. (get it?) I miss my Padres already but definitely looking forward to 2011!

37. The force is strong with the San Diego Padres.

 

So I hope you guys enjoyed this “fun” entry. It was a great way for me to get back on track and update my blog in an unique way. I won’t go anywhere and I will try my best to keep my blog updated.