Few inches away from finish line

Since I have no special topic to write today, I'll have to do some reviews of the season.

It's almost end of the season and I can't believe there are only four games left. It seems like yesterday that the Padres hosted the Dodgers at San Diego on Opening Day. This season has gone really fast.

Last year was a disaster for the Padres. They looked lost and injuries hurted the team badly. With a record of 63-99, I was very close to lift my television and throw it on the ground. I never gave up on them but it was so frustarting just to watch them play miserabley. I only went to one game at Petco last season which was back in June against the Mets. As a die-hard fan like me, I wasn't very happy about going to a ballpark once out of 162 games. I would pay attention to games on television or radio but things were very rough. Padres had plenty of time to fix their mistakes but they just could not get it done. When they lost on the last game of 2008, I wasn't yelling infront of my television. Rather, I was cracking up. It was so pathetic yet funny they lost game 162. I expected the Padres to at least win that game but they failed to do so.

With low expectations from beginning of off season, fans started to turn their backs away from the Padres. Well, that's what I thought. That was when I started blogging. Thanks to Kaybee, I was "introduced" to MLBlogs. Finally, spring training arrived. I was very excitied to see what my Padres could do especially with an arrival of David Eckstein.

The long training came to an end and I was pumped for opening game of 2009. We lost to the Dodgers so it was not a good way to start off. Things were going along great until injuries haunted the Padres. Not one, but four vetrans were sent to the DL and the team looked like a Triple-A club instead. Padres had major slumps during June and July but started to bounce back in early August. Speaking of August, the 22nd was so special to me. Thanks to the Ecksteins, I was able to go to a Padres game. For free. If you want more of that story, everything is in this entry.

We are not going to the playoffs. Padres are still under .500 but they have done some really nice jobs throughout the season. I'm not disappointed at all. Looking at what young guys can do like, they brightend up my face. My team is very young and I see a sign of youth all over. If you mix that with few vetrans, the combination makes a very good organization. We were not able to make a good team that wins 15 games in a row or first place in the division. This season, it was not about that. We are a good team in a different way. 2009 San Diego Padres is a team with the youth and the vetrans that always tries their best on the fields.

This baseball season was completely different from previous years. I didn't have my blog back then so I couldn't write my thoughts and opinions about the Padres. I also got plenty of autographs this year. Right now, I have a collection of 10 autographs from my boys and learned how to get some before games. Not only that, I had a huge oppertunity to talk with a baseball player. In this case, it was David Eckstein. He was so friendly and I had no trouble talking with him. What a gentleman. 

I'm going to Friday's game at Petco against the Giants. I'm 1-1 this season. One win meaning the game against the Rockies back in July. The loss meaning the game against the Cardinals in August. When it's Friday, I'm hoping my final record will be 2-1. That day, Kevin Correia will pitch. It's so cool how he is the only starting pitcher I have seen. Since he's going to start, I'm going to end up seeing Kevin Correia three times. I don't mind because he is a great pitcher and has done very nice job for the Padres.

I'm hoping for a win today against the Dodgers and definitly another one when I go see my Padres for one last time this season!