Friar Freestyle: A Trip Down Padres’ Memory Lane
Credit: AP Photo
All this talk about uniforms and bringing back the brown. Me? I’d rather bring some former San Diego Padres back to town.
When we mention players in Padres’ history, we speak of Tony Gwynn, Dave Winfield, or Ken Caminiti.
But when is the last time you seen Craig Shipley, Woody Williams or Alan Embree?
Those are names we don’t hear mentioned often. Another one is Rod Beck (RIP), who won comeback player of the year in 2003, after bouncing back from the Tommy John surgery he had while pitching in Boston.
With Hoffman hurt, Beck came here and filled a big void. It makes me really wish we could have had more than 16 at bats in the Padres’ career of Cliff Floyd.
That was 2009, and we didn’t really get to see the vet shine, but that year we did get to see Kevin Kouzmanoff and David Eckstein.
To me, those were some of the best times, but as far a Padres uniforms? Those sand uniforms definitely weren’t the best kind.
Since brown changed to blue, its like the Padres have always pardoned style. Question: Why do we seem to always mention having Brian, but never mention the fact that at one point, we also had his brother Marcus Giles?
As far less mentioned set of brothers that played for the Padres, I have another gem. Remember Chris?, I’m not talking Gomez, I’m talking about our other Gwynn.
Sticking to the theme of brothers, one last pair of them, is Scott and Jerry Hairston.
Tim Flannery used to be the man in Padre land. But unfortunately based on his tweets, he no longer seems to be a Padres fan.
I can’t lie, it bugs me seeing the difference in success, when comparing the Giants’ Boch to the Padres’ Boch. Speaking of bugs, when is the last time you ever heard a Padres’ fan mention the name Donn Roach?
Jim Edmonds, Greg Maddux, Reggie Sanders, are kind of one and the same. Meaning they were MLB All-Stars on other teams, but as Padres’ players, their numbers just weren’t the same.
Do you remember Shawn Estes, Eric Owens or Aaron Harang? Even more of a rarity is hearing the names John Vander Wal or even John Flaherty.
Petco Park is cool, but I would choose the Murph if I had a call. My childhood memories, that’s where I had them all (and also that’s where I got Brad Ausmus to autograph a ball). See, I grew up in an era when the Padres wore blue, orange and white — before they wore the Sunday camo and brown on some nights.
Back when I used to play Triple Play Baseball on Playstation, and used players Brian Lawrence and Bubba Trammell. I’m talking before there was a Channel 4SD or a Fox Sports SD, when if you wanted to watch a Padres game KUSI was the channel!
After a loss at the Murph, that feeling we had as we left did suck, but it was always cool eating ice cream out of those Padres mini plastic batting helmet cups!
Speaking of the Murph, I know some of you might not remember this much. But who else has memories of waiting around in the parking lot after the game just to see the players as they got on the bus?
I often reminisce on the Padres players I miss, and I can go on for days. And one more thing on Brian Giles, his numbers were cool, but admit it, we would have been better off having Jason Bay‘s.
I know over time the human memory wanes, so thanks for joining me on another trip down Padres’ memory lane.
Just a San Diego Padres fan continuing to “keep the faith”. Firm believer that baseball is the best sport ever created. Catch me here at East Village Times for Padres related news, opinions and information.