"Hi, I was part of a starting Padres double-play combo. Nice to meet you."

With the recent improved play of Jeudy Valdez and Jonathan Galvez - the primary double-play combo this season for the Padres High-A affiliate Lake Elsinore Storm - it got me thinking about Padres double-play combos of the past.

So, without further ado, I present to you a list of Padres starting double-play combos from 1969 to present day. Note: this list has not been edited or manipulated in any way. Special effects have not been used to pretty up this list. These actually were the primary double-play combos (in terms of games played at 2B and SS) for each Padres team.

1969: Jose Arcia and Tommy Dean
1970: Dave Campbell and Tommy Dean
1971: Don Mason and Enzo Hernandez
1972: Derrel Thomas and Enzo Hernandez
1973: Rich Morales and Derrel Thomas
1974: Derrel Thomas and Enzo Hernandez
1975: Tito Fuentes and Enzo Hernandez
1976: Tito Fuentes and Enzo Hernandez
1977: Mike Champion and Bill Almon
1978: Fernando Gonzalez and Ozzie Smith
1979: Fernando Gonzalez and Ozzie Smith
1980: Dave Cash and Ozzie Smith
1981: Juan Bonilla and Ozzie Smith
1982: Tim Flannery and Garry Templeton
1983: Juan Bonilla and Garry Templeton
1984: Alan Wiggins and Garry Templeton
1985: Tim Flannery and Garry Templeton
1986: Tim Flannery and Garry Templeton
1987: Tim Flannery and Garry Templeton
1988: Roberto Alomar and Garry Templeton
1989: Roberto Alomar and Garry Templeton
1990: Roberto Alomar and Garry Templeton
1991: Bip Roberts and Tony Fernandez
1992: Kurt Stillwell and Tony Fernandez
1993: Jeff Gardner and Ricky Gutierrez
1994: Bip Roberts and Ricky Gutierrez
1995: Jody Reed and Andujar Cedeno
1996: Jody Reed and Chris Gomez
1997: Quilvio Veras and Chris Gomez
1998: Quilvio Veras and Chris Gomez
1999: Quilvio Veras and Damian Jackson
2000: Bret Boone and Damian Jackson
2001: Damian Jackson and D'Angelo Jimenez
2002: Ramon Vazquez and Deivi Cruz
2003: Mark Loretta and Ramon Vazquez
2004: Mark Loretta and Khalil Greene
2005: Mark Loretta and Khalil Greene
2006: Josh Barfield and Khalil Greene
2007: Marcus Giles and Khalil Greene
2008: Tadahito Iguchi and Khalil Greene
2009: David Eckstein and Everth Cabrera
2010: David Eckstein and Miguel Tejada
2011: Orlando Hudson and Jason Bartlett

Now, if you were to say, "Hey Ryan, that's a nice list, but what are your top five?" Well, I'd answer like this:

1. Wiggins and Templeton '84 - you can't top the first World Series in team history
2. Loretta and Khalil '04 - the promise of a young Khalil teamed with Loretta's career year
3. Veras and Gomez '98 - bootstrapped because they were part of a World Series team, but still a sneaky solid tandem
4. Gonzalez and Smith '78 - the dp combo on the first winning team in franchise history, one of whom might be the best defensive SS of all time
5. Eckstein and Cabrera '09 - mostly because I wanted to get Eck on this list; if you build a team with a few studs and then toss in Eck at 2B you've got a good chance at a winner

And my five least favorites?

5. Ramon Vazquez and Deivi Cruz '02 - nothing against these guys but I just don't remember them at all
4. Iguchi and Greene '98 - such a disappointing season that spiraled out of control after Trevor blew some early-season saves; also, Iguchi and Khalil were useless
3. Reed and Cedeno '95 - this one is personal; when the Padres acquired Cedeno everyone told me how good he was going to be; thanks, guys
2. Hudson and Bartlett '11 - I'm well past tired of these guys; not that they aren't okay players, but I'd like to see Forsythe and Everth get some ABs immediately
1. Any combo with Enzo Hernandez '71-'71, '74-'76 - I know it's not fair, but when I imagine Enzo's time in San Diego in the 1970s, I picture him cruising around the city, speaking a lot of Spanish, not caring about his peformance on the field, surrounded at all times by a cloud of marijuana smoke; basically I imagine a Cheech and Chong film

Opening Day For The Drinos: Eckstein

Hey David Eckstein,

You hard-charging, not-that-good, veteran second baseman ... how about having a year, huh?

Today you start showing the naysaysers and nonbelievers that you do have a bit left in the tank and will stroke some clutch singles and doubles this season. Even if every Padres fan hopes you are supplanted by Matt Antonelli, Jerry Hairston, Jr. or Logan Forsythe by season's end.

Now go out there and out-hustle somebody.

Best,
Bevormo

Numbers Of A Contender

Take a look at these numbers:

.190 2 19 .285
.239 0 14 .318
.326 5 20 .386
.285 18 34 .385
.234 4 19 .290
.237 4 19 .310
.219 1 4 .286
.182 3 6 .262
.095 0 0 .136

What is this list of numbers? It's the batting average, bombs, ribeyes and on-base percentage of the Padres starting lineup in yesterday's 8-5 win over the D'Slacks.

In order:

Giles
Eckstein
Hairston
Adrian
Kouz
Headley
Burke
Blanco
Peavy

What a pack o' beasts.

I smell Wild Card.

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.

Sneaky Reason Why The Padres Could Win The World Series

What's that sneaky reason, you ask? It's that the Padres might have the two best players in any short series they play against any other team in baseball.

Those two players of course are David Eckstein and Kevin Correia.

. . .

I kid you.

Of course those two players are Adrian Gonzalez and Jake Peavy.

All I'm saying is watch them play. If those two players are on their games they might be the best in baseball. Sure, Johan Santana could stake a claim to being the best pitcher in the NL, but does anyone really think the Mets have a better hitter than AGon when push comes to shove?

Of course not.

What about in the AL? Josh Beckett may have a better postseason record than Peavy, but who in the Red Sox lineup can honestly stake a claim to being a better hitter than Adrian? I know who. The ghost of Manny Ramirez.

Exactly.

And what about Manny and the hated Dadgers. Well, sure, Manny is a beast, but those Dadger pitchers are smoke and mirrors my friends.

Smoke. And. Mirrors.

Peavy could put Billingsley, Kershaw, Kuroda and the rest in his back pocket.

So that's all I'm saying. The Padres are probably going to win the World Series because they have Peavy and AGon.

What a coupla beasts.

The Wee David Eckstein

David,

Listen, right now I kind of think of you as a little punk. Can you blame me? I mean remember the 2005 NLDS against the Drinos? Game 3 on that Saturday night at Petco? Ring any bells?

It should.

I flew out from NYC for the game and met my mom and stepdad. I gave them my two good seats (no one will ever accuse me of being a bad kid) and scalped a seat in far far upper right field. You could not get farther away from the field. Your Cardinal team had a 2-0 series lead over the Drinos but I was optimistic the Drinos could snake at least one game before fading away like the 82-80 team they were.

But you had other ideas you little pipsqueak. You singled to lead off the game and promptly scored on a Phat Albert double (incidentally, he looked huge even from where I sat, on Jupiter). Then, in the bottom of the second, you hit a 2-out, 2-run bomb into the left field seats off Woody Williams. You and your 8 bomb season effectively ended the Padre season with a homerun.

How dare you, sir? Have you no decency?

But listen, that was the past. I remember that you seemed locked in during that series (you batted .385 with 4 ribeyes and 3 runs scored) and I always respected that. You seemed like a winner. True, you're an older guy now and maybe not so quick with the bat, but I know you'll bring a competitive, winning attitude with you to the Padres.

So let's let bygones be bygones. I'm happy you are joining the Drinos. And as far as this blog goes, you can join Darren Sproles as the only 5'6" athletes in the Diego area.

Best,
Bevormo