Ramon Hernandez And His Right Arm Beat The Padres

I remember when I liked Ramon Hernandez. I remember when he was the best-hitting catcher the Padres had since Benny Santiago. I remember when he hit five clutch bombs in the stretch playoff run of September 2005, including a walk-off 12th inning jack against the Nattys and a go-ahead grand slam against Los Gigantes de San Francisco. I remember when Sandy Alderson criticized his toughness behind the plate and my first thought was, "Geez, Sandy, stop being a dick. Ramon can rake. No one else on the team can hit other than Giles so stop annoying Ramon and just let him swing the bat."

But all that seems like eons ago now. Last night Ramon threw out three Padres baserunners to help preserve a taut 3-2 Reds victory over the Padres. On a night when ESPN televised a poorly played contest between the last place Rays and the last place Red Sox, the Padres and Reds - two of the top teams in the NL a year ago and both off to good starts this season - played the day's best game out in the Diago.

Tonight should be more of the same with the Deacon Clay Richard taking the hill for the Drinos. Let's hope Ramon's arm is sore.