Confessions of a No Filtered Padres Blogger

Some of you have tweeted me to ask why I stopped writing mid-season, which was just weird because I didn't think anyone actually read this or gave a shit about it. Either way, the answer is simple, I was no longer having fun with this, Twitter, the Padres and everything in between. You kind of lose any motivation you had when your team plays like shit and people you considered friends go out of their way to be an asshole to you while your world feels like it's falling apart. With that said, I kept trying to convince myself that I would start writing again before the regular season ended and well, it's now the postseason. Oops.

As I said, I was no longer having fun doing this. Part of that was because of all the shit that I'm failing miserably at dealing with in my personal life (no thanks to the aforementioned friends) and the other part was because I was tired of the redundancy. Every post was the Padres suck this or the Padres suck that. Those are the most annoying things to write after the first gazillion times, especially when the Padres went from being so close to first to being in last and eventually tying for third. Another thing that caused me to essentially give up on this was the constant bickering between fans that flooded my Twitter timeline. Arguments from grown ass men about a players nickname, whether or not a player was hurt worse than what the Padres training staff initially said (which they were by the way and yours truly announced it but you know, I was wrong because I'm just a girl that doesn't know shit about injuries because it's not like I studied that stuff and have a weird fascination with it or anything) and how not going to every game doesn't make you a real fan. It was so ridiculous that I couldn't believe it was actually happening. Yes, there were definite troll moments in there but I repeat, GROWN ASS MEN. Mix a difficult year with shitty playing and arguing over trivial things and you get a nonexistent blog... or an extremely negative blog and I had enough with the negativity so I opted out.

I wish I was able to put aside my moods, the idiocy of grown men arguing and everything else in order to focus on the Padres but I couldn't. To put it this way, between all of that I started to really hate my fellow Padres fans. I've joked before that we are bitter assholes because San Diego doesn't win anything ever but it has proved truer than true this year. I couldn't handle the constant bashing of Puig for the sole reason that he got national attention for having a legit season as a Dodger. That was so ridiculous that I wanted to punch people in the throat. Things like that pushed me away from being a Padres fan and to just being a fan of the game. Screw what team a person plays for, if they are talented I'm going to cheer for them. Well, maybe not necessarily cheer for them but I won't hate them and if you hate them solely based off the uniform they're wearing then I will like them that much more... I'm kind of a bitch like that. You know damn well all the praise Puig received was deserved and you would not act that way if he had Padres written across his chest instead. Now that doesn't mean I'll be cheering for the Dodgers in the postseason because well, I'd rather die than ever do that. Another thing that made me hate fellow Padres fans was the constant comments about Sandoval being fat. Yes, we know he's fat but let's see you make the plays he does. If you follow my twitter you know that I have this weird thing with people being overweight. I hate it and think it's disgusting that people let that happen to themselves but stop trying to talk shit about an athlete that can out perform you or your team just because he's fat. It's a little thing called respecting the talent, you should probably try it. I for one am not really a Sandoval fan but I recognize the talent, respect it and wouldn't mind it one bit if he were on our team.

Now that I've sufficiently annoyed myself by doing exactly what made me stop writing to begin with, complaining, I'll try to get back on a Padres track. This season had ups and downs and injuries all around. Chase turned out to be playing with a torn meniscus which just pisses me off to an extreme. Why risk further injury when your team is nowhere near being in the playoffs?! I'd rather you get the surgery and give us a chance at a better draft pick than you fucking up your knee or what have you just because you're a stubborn athlete that wants to play. Same goes with Marquis. I find it extremely hard to believe that he just magically needed Tommy John surgery. Stop playing through the pain when games are meaningless. Not that I condone playing through the pain when they aren't meaningless but at least you don't look like a giant idiot when you do so and the games mean a chance at the World Series... though at that point, I'd rather you be healthy for the WS than fuck yourself up worse and not be of use for the playoffs/WS but who am I kidding, it's the Padres, it will take some time before we get there.

Cory has had more setbacks than we would like and that is heartbreaking. I pray that he is ready for spring training and will be able to be a solid part of the starting rotation next season because like I've said countless times before, you can't win games without pitching. We desperately need a solid pitching staff. Oh yeah, thank you baby Jesus that we let Volquez go. Though between Grandal's suspension and season ending injury, Alonso's injuries and letting Volquez go, it's really proving me right about that stupid trade. Especially since we saw what Medica was able to do when he got called up and Blanks when he was healthy. I still don't think the trade was worth it but what am I going to do?? I'll still go to games and cheer on the players because they are Padres and I'm obligated to. Anyway, Kotsay retired at seasons end which is very disappointing for my sister who just discovered him and couldn't figure out why no one told her how hot he was. True story, I got texts about that. Oh yeah and Quentin had his gazillionth knee surgery too and Maybin had wrist surgery. This damn team is made out of glass.

All in all, I'm glad this season is over with but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for next season to start. I need a significant improvement in my mood and a thorough cleansing of my Twitter feed before I can even think about next season. As for now, I'll try to enjoy the postseason. If we're lucky, I might pay attention to off season news and write about that or just grace you with the presence of a random post about how I'm going through baseball withdrawals. Baseball withdrawals are a real and serious matter, folks. Seek medical attention, or your nearest baseball fan, immediately if you're experiencing baseball withdrawals. Side effects may include; complaining that your football team only plays once a week or has a bye, watching hockey or basketball to get your daily sports fix, staring out the window waiting for spring to come and making deals with the baseball gods just so you can have the smell of freshly cut grass fill the air again.

Padres Pitching Hits Another Bump

As if the Padres weren't suffering enough with pitching, word has it, Casey Kelly may need Tommy John surgery. Oh and apparently Cory Luebke has hit a bump in his recovery. These not so fun facts combined with the not so fun facts of the whole not doing much in the off-season thing makes me one pissy little girl and yes, I'm about to bring up the Latos trade again and yes, I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. Deal with it... like I should be doing with that trade but won't anytime soon.

Given the fact that we are possibly down yet another pitcher while another's return might be pushed back and the fact that Grandal is suspended for 50 games really makes me question what the Padres were thinking when they made the trade. We NEED pitching, kinda can't win games without it.

I know that trading Latos had little to nothing to do with pitching and more about filling "holes" but the fact that we seem to be hemorrhaging pitchers, is like pouring salt into the wound. Trade: 0, Ashley: 1.

I've probably said it before how we didn't necessarily need a 1B or another catcher and we wouldn't have needed a starting pitcher had we not traded a starting pitcher and well our bullpen, yeah, I'm going to ignore that. Sure they didn't know that Hundley was going to get hurt last season/suck and we were going to need to rely on Grandal but they lucked out with that... at first. Trade: 1, Ashley: 1.

Then the numerous injuries screwing with out pitching during the season and the freak Cashner incident of the  off-season happened. PLUS Grandal's fantastic off-season news came about. I have to believe they didn't know Grandal was using PED's... or maybe they did and overlooked it, who knows but it doesn't help make them look good for making the trade. Trade: 1, Ashley: 2.

I don't follow our minor leagues close enough to know who we have in the system that would be close enough to starting at first or any other positions we claimed the traded filled but we did have Blanks who could have played first, though he was probably hurt too. So I can see the Alonso part of the deal making sense but that's about it since we know I hate Volquez and forgot who the reliever was we got. Trade: 2, Ashley: 2.

Yes, we need guys that are going to do more than just play small ball but what good is that going to do for us if we don't have solid pitching?? To me, the game revolves around pitching. We don't necessarily need the big bats or super fancy defensive skills to win games, though the super fancy Brandon Phillips like plays would be fantastical  and the David Wright, WBC type AB's would be just as fantastical. We have seen it before that we can win games with pitching. Ya know, back in the day when we had one of the best, if not the best, pitching staff. A whole, what, three years ago??

Despite my want for pitchers that can carry the team on days where we can't hit to save our lives, I pretty much hate pitchers duels and would rather have high scoring games than 1-0 shutouts or 2-1 team wins with the starting pitching getting a no decision in both incidences. Though sometimes those no decisions mean a lot more than the pitcher recording the win. Sometimes, they mean the pitcher worked his ass off and did everything possible to give us the best chance of winning with the least amount of power hitting. Of course, at other times, they mean the pitcher completely blew it and our bats magically showed up. But in the case of the Padres, as we all know, we rely heavily on the first example. As you can tell, I can't make up my mind about pitching. I very strongly acknowledge the need for dominant pitching and desperately want that but my attention span seems to be more than okay with high scoring games which completely goes against the logical want.

In my nonscientific or probably even really logical opinion, the trade evens out with me, though I should dock points for the suspension and therefore my logic or lack there of wins. Let's just face it, I'm a mess of a blogger and counteract my own points at times but that's what happens when I'm too emotionally involved in the team and can't separate wants from needs.