Nineteen
years ago today, I donned the Pad Squad jersey for my first Opening Day. I went
on to work a dozen more and during that time my life was defined, redefined,
taken to a very dark place and brought to the highest of natural highs. So many
changes; loved ones passed on, my personal roster expanded and I maybe even
gained a bit of knowledge. As James Earl Jones said, the one constant has been
baseball. Yesterday marked my seventeenth Opening Day overall and as they say,
the more things change, the more they stay the same. I think that’s one of the
most beautiful parts of the game and of the gameday experience itself.
So without
further ado, here are few observations from what would have been my 20th
Pad Squad Opening Day:
As full as
my heart was, there will always be a void left by Press Gate Bruce…
Old
Moment: “Kids” who used to follow the Pad Squad around the Murph are now
bringing their own kids to the ol’ ballgame…
Old
Moment, Part Deux: I have hats older than some of the current Pad Squad
members…
As good as
Phil’s may be, I've never had it. I refuse to eat ANY barbecue at the Ballpark that doesn’t have
Randy Jones name on it…
Randy
Jones didn’t pay me for that ringing endorsement…
Bud Selig
still didn’t save baseball in San Diego…I miss Shawn Rossi’s smile…
There is no group of fans on this planet more loyal than the Madres…
Ken and
Karen Kawachi make some beautiful babies…
I can’t
walk more than ten feet without running into a good friend…
The Padres
fired two guys named Mike last year. I still think they should have only fired
one…
Closer
Brandon Maurer needs some coaching in the entrance music department…
I’m
convinced that entry to the Right Field Deck area requires a vape and handlebar
mustache…
The only
thing the Hoffman family is better at than baseball is raising sons…
If all the
restaurants in the Gaslamp were free and the food at Tailgate Park was
outrageously priced, I would still choose Tailgate Park. You can’t buy that
type of friendship…
Longtime
season ticket holder Joe Donegan was spotted in the upper deck. Joe is the
lovable curmudgeon; lovable to some, ornery S.O.B. to others…
My
home-within-a-home in the right field bleachers is eerily similar to the day
room in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. My presence fits nicely with the
insanity…
Saw more
fans in Miami Marlins gear than in San Diego-Los Angeles- El Segundo- Who Gives
a F*** Chargers gear. Marlins: 2 Chargers: 0Even some of the first-year Pad Squad members have taken to referring to me as “Mr. Pad Squad”. Can’t say I’m comfortable with it, but who am I to argue against it?...
On that
note, in the unlikely event Padres brass reads this, I am available for
consulting services. You can pay me with a parking pass, tickets for my family
and a bag of peanuts or two…
No honest
work about the ballpark would be complete without these three little words:
Thank you, Larry…
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