The Cycle: A Mystical Unicorn Becomes Reality

I still can't believe it actually happened. Matt Kemp hit for the cycle last night. Excuse me while I pinch myself. Yep, that happened, the Padres FINALLY hit for the cycle. The cycle was just one of the mystical unicorns the Padres have chased their entire existence AND IT FINALLY APPEARED!! It wasn't just a mystical unicorn for the Padres, it was also one for Kemp himself. I saw a quote on twitter of Glenn Hoffman talking to Kemp, as he stood there on third, about it being the first cycle. Kemp thought Hoffman meant his first cycle. How adorable. I do kind of really love that his entire career as a Dodger he never hit for a cycle and his first season here, he checks it off his list like it was nothing. Of course some Padres fans choose to look at the "negative" side of this historical moment. Yes, Kemp had been a Dodger his entire career prior to joining the Padres but guess what, that blue that he's wearing now, not Dodgers blue. And the deep hatred we used to have towards him vanished when Preller traded for him. I don't care that he was a a Dodger in his past, he's a Padre now and that number of his NEEDS to be retired. When you're the first to do something in a teams history, you deserve to be immortalized on top of the batters eye.

As a Padres fan, I was doubtful that we'd get the cycle last night. We have been so close so many times. We even had multiple players earlier this season in one game who were both one hit away. As I'm sure you have heard, the triple is often the most difficult hit to get. So many things had to go right for Kemp to get the triple to solidify his place in Padres history. And as one who likes to play into superstitions, I was beyond annoyed at how many times I heard or read that he was one hit away during the game. I transformed into the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys and pretended like no one was talking about it. I like to believe that me pretending like people weren't talking about it is why it happened. Don't shit on my parade if you don't believe in superstitions or that my pretending it wasn't being talked about is why it happened. Just keep your mouths shut and enjoy the history that was made.

In freaky coincidence news, I got these fun facts off the Twitter last night, if you add up 7444 (the number of games it took to get a cycle) and break up the numbers in the date (8-14-15) individually, they both equal 19. How freaky and awesome is that?! Tony might not be alive anymore but he sure as hell is still with us. For all we know, maybe he went all Angels in the Outfield on us last night and that's why Kemp got the cycle.

Long story short, retire Kemp's number, build him a statue, rename the stadium after him. I don't care what you do, just immortalize that moment somehow. Also, pretty sure Preller deserves something too for pulling off the trade that allowed this happen. Best GM EVER.

This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius... I Mean A.J. Preller

I said it on twitter the other day and I'll say it again here, if Preller got to have a walk-up song I'd want it to be the Pinky and the Brain theme song. That man is doing his best to take over the baseball world and he's doing it all with us. Thanks to him, I have never been more in love with this team than I am right now and we've only completed game two less than an hour from the time I began writing this.

There is so much excitement with these games that I feel like I have ADHD. I can't sit still. I find myself sitting at the edge of my seat bouncing up and down with every hit we get and everyone we take away. It feels beyond amazing to have legitimate talent on this team and I don't mean only one or two good pitchers either. I mean All-Star caliber talent at multiple positions. Award winning talent. Talent the Padres haven't seen in years. The last time I remember even being close to this level of excitement, I was 10 and was surprised with a championship shirt on my way to gymnastics. Even at that it was a different kind of excitement. The Padres were already World Series bound at that point and I was a dumb 10 year old who didn't know half as much about baseball as I do now. Now, I'm so excited for every at bat. Well, almost every at bat. The 2014 part of the lineup kind of lowers my excitement levels. It feels like a sugar high and then the resulting crash. But holy hell, this team now, excuse me while I turn into a basic bitch, I can't even. This time around the excitement is a childlike excitement mixed with adult level knowledge. At one point, right before Kimbrel came in, I was channeling the little girl from Despicable Me.

Tonight's game just proved to me that I will be the most irresponsible parent because I will be letting my future kids stay up to watch games and if they have already gone to bed and the game gets good I will pull an Alan Matthews. If you didn't get the reference go to the 4:30 mark to see what I'm talking about. Homeschooling will need to be done. I have never once thought of homeschooling but if the Padres become one of those teams who compete on a regular basis, I'll do it. My future kids will just have to make friends at little league or Padres games. I mean seriously, who wants to have friends who don't like baseball anyway?!

The fact that there's this much excitement on game 2 out of 162 would be unthinkable in the past but AJ Preller is a God send. I like to think that this is Tony Gwynn's doing. He's definitely look out for us.  

A Final Farewell to Tony Gwynn

I'm going to keep this short. I had been looking forward to this night since it was first announced. I couldn't wait to get down to the stadium and see the statue and celebrate the legend that is Tony Gwynn. In all of the chaos of trying to get a seat I forgot all about wanting to go to the statue. As my mom and I found seats I was desperately trying to hear the music that was being played over the PA. I questioned a few song choices as I sat there trying not to start crying. I mean, I was there two hours before the memorial even started and already fighting back tears. I found it odd that the Padres chose to use John Legend's All of Me which is very clearly a love song to his wife. Obviously they used it for the "All of me loves all of you" line but I still found it odd. The Padres ended the pre-ceremony with what is possibly the best song that I could think of to play at that moment, Jamie Foxx's Wish You Were Here. Every time I hear that song I choke up. Tonight, I lost it. Not just because of the song but because Tony's family was walking to their seats during it. You can't do this to me, Padres!

As Ted Leitner took the stage to begin the memorial he looked as if he was seconds away from bursting into tears which then caused me to be seconds away from bursting into tears. I can't believe how a man I've never met and never thought had much of an impact on me actually did. It was so nice to hear fun little stories of Tony and have video clips of his laugh and smile. There's only one thing I would have changed about the night. I would have loved to have more of his teammates there telling some behind the scenes stories and some from the family as well. Thanks to the lack of teammate and family stories I was able to hold it together through most of the ceremony until Trevor and Tony's daughter spoke. It was amazing to see how many fans were there showing their love for Tony and his family. The "Tony" chant was incredible to hear. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't participate because every time it started up, so did my tears. I couldn't speak and when I tried, nothing more than a whisper came out. It was one of the weirdest feelings being at Petco for something other than a baseball game. There was an odd sort of calm to it, letting us know everything is okay. Even though there was that calm it still didn't feel like Tony was gone. In fact I kept expecting him to take the stage. I don't know when or if it will ever hit me that we lost him but I was hoping it would have been tonight. I don't know if my body can continue to produce anymore tears.

Tony, you are missed and greatly loved by this entire city and there is no doubt every Padres fan will continue to share your legacy. Now you are truly a baseball god.

Saying Goodbye to a Legend

I told myself that I wasn't going to do this because I don't have any fun memories or stories to tell of Tony Gwynn and I couldn't stop crying long enough to form coherent thoughts but here I am just after midnight writing this. Just a few days ago I put away all of my Padres blueprints, magazines, calendars, etc. except for one, my 1999-2000 Padres calendar with Tony Gwynn's 3,000th hit as the centerfold. There was no rhyme or reason for me to have left that out. I simply forgot I had it. After hearing about Tony's passing I realized it was still hanging up on my wall, 14 years later. I guess I wasn't meant to put that away just yet.

As far as I'm concerned we lost the most loved and respected player by every fan base. Cancer clearly didn't get my memo that Mr. Padre was not allowed to die. I can not think of one player who was genuinely loved and respected nearly as much as Tony was. If you got to witness him play and he wasn't one of your favorite players, I seriously question your baseball fandom. It goes without saying that he was and always will be a Padres fans favorite if not all time favorite. Even though I was little for the chunk of his career that I was alive to see I never fully understood the greatness that was him until now. Yes, I cheered for him and everything but what I failed to understand was the impact he would have on so many people. I liked him as a Padre and wanted to be his friend. He seemed like such a down to earth guy and someone who would be so fun to be around yet I never thought or really cared to go to his number retirement ceremony. I just didn't feel like it was something for me since I was getting myself fully back into baseball around that time. I felt like that ceremony was for people who truly appreciated him more than I ever could. I feel the same way now as I debate whether or not I should drive down to Petco and pay my respects. Part of me wants to go down since I've been crying so much throughout the day that you would think I knew him personally but the other part of me wants to let those same people who appreciated him more than I ever could, have their time there.

I found out the news the moment I woke up. I had a tweet from a Giants fan I know sending his condolences for Tony's passing. My heart sank. I didn't and still don't want to believe it's true. Even though I'm having a difficult time accepting this I wasn't shocked. We all knew he hadn't been doing well lately and everyone had been sending thoughts and prayers for his recovery. Every time his name got brought up in a broadcast Mark Grant would never fail to let him know they were thinking of him. Twitter didn't let him down today. As I said, I've cried a lot today and social media is to blame. Seeing all the status updates and tweets about him from everybody across the country made me fully understand his impact on everyone. Some were saying their favorite baseball moments and others were sharing about the time they met him. I never had the opportunity to meet him and it kills me to know there are people who have met him and couldn't care less that they did. So to everyone who met him, I hope you truly appreciated what an amazing baseball player and man he was because there are people, like me, who would do anything to have that chance that you took for granted.

I remember wanting to go to Aztecs games in hopes of getting to meet him. In 2011 I finally went to a game but to my disappointment he wasn't there. If I remember correctly he was recovering from surgery and I was extremely bummed to miss out on seeing him live and in person without being forever away in the stands at The Q. I also remember how excited I would be when I'd be at a game and I'd look over into the broadcast booth and see him in there. The funny thing is, I'd also get really sad that I'm not at home getting to hear him. Even though the Padres have been struggling these past years, to put it nicely, having Tony randomly in the booth made watching games so much better. I could listen to him talk forever. There was just something about him that was so mesmerizing and that smile. I am so thankful and incredibly creeped out that Tony Gwynn Jr. sounds and looks just like him. That should make things a little easier for Padres fans.

While waiting for the tribute I couldn't help but wonder how the Padres or MLB in general plan to honor Tony now. I mean that man already had everything you could think of to honor him. In the Hall of Fame, check. Street named after him, check. Retired number, check. Stadium named after him, check. A statue, check. What else is left for them to do?? Considering the magnitude of each honor he has received, a patch or that black bar they had tonight doesn't seem like enough. Nothing seems like enough.

I know I said I didn't have a fun story or memories of Tony but I do remember my dad telling me how Coach Smelko, Monte Vista's baseball coach in the 90's, knew Tony from their SDSU days and how Tony would sign a bunch of stuff to sell in order to help the team raise money. Now, I don't know how much truth there is to that story but that just seems so awesomely odd to me. Not the fact that Tony did that but the fact that it was for my brothers and eventually my high school.

I know this is all over the place but I tried to get it to flow as much as possible. So let me end this before I make a mess out of it...

To say that Tony will be missed has to be the understatement of the millennium. I think when he died a tiny piece of all of us died with him. San Diego and the Padres will never be the same. I can't even begin to imagine how his family feels if we as fans are feeling this bad. I hope in whatever way the Padres and MLB do to honor him they do it in a way that will set a precedent for honoring future legends. Actually, no, I hope they do it in a way that will never be topped. With that said, I hope you rest in peace, Tony. We miss you already. Just know that you will forever be loved and cherished and your memory will be passed on for generations to come.