The Cult Of The 1-Run Ballgame

David,

Nice bases-loaded walk-off single yesterday to help the Padres beat the D-knacks 4-3 and thus bring an ignominious end to Bob Melvin's managing career (at least for now). You've been around a while, and you're a clutch guy, so this is probably old hat to you, but I'm sure you still get a few goosebumps stepping to the plate in these situations, even if the Petco crowd is a paltry 18,921.

You never played before so few in Anaheim or St. Louis, I'd venture.

On a related point, Dave, how are you taking to these Petco Park ballgames? In other words, very close ballgames that, in order to win, depend on clutch hitting and near-perfect work by the guys out of the bullpen. They're exciting, right? Stressful? Annoying? All of the above?

I'm sure you've noted that of the Padres 13 wins this season, eight were decided by 1-run, and three of those on walk-off hits at Petco (two by Brian and one, as noted above, by you). Granted, not all these 1-run wins were at Petco (two were in New York, one was in Philly and one was in Denver), but I think you'll find that as the season progresses, a lot of Padre home games will be tight contests heading into the later innings. I figure with a guy like you around the Padres have a better chance to come out ahead in those games than they would otherwise.

I'm sure you agree.

But let me also make a quick observation about this Padres team whether it is playing at Petco or on the road. And the observation is this: I like this team. They've shown mettle in a few sweet comeback wins (April 9 against the Dadgers, April 16 against the Mets and April 17 against the Phils come immediately to mind), and have been competitive in a number of their losses (four of which have come by 1-run, including two dagger losses at the hated Dadgers last weekend). If the middle relief and the clutch hitting improves even just a little bit, this Padres team will play better than .500 ball. I know that's not necessarily something to scream from the rooftops, but it could make for a season full of tight, 1-run ballgames, that the Padres win more than half the time.

Think about that sentence for a second. It actually does make sense if you read it enough times.

The bottom line is that the Padres might end up with 75 - 85 wins, and Heath Bell might have 6o-plus saves.

Not that you care much about all this, David. You just want to win ballgames.

Good luck tonight in Houston.

Best,
Bevormo

ps - That's a pretty nice photo by K.C. Alfred I posted above, don't you think? K.C. recently took a sweet photo of Kevin Ellison during the Chargers minicamp. I have no idea who K.C. is, or even if it is a guy or a girl, but he/she can take one heck of a photo.