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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podecast..1:30pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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“BRING ON THE NFL”
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The first full weekend of preseason games are upon us.  Some very interesting storylines to follow starting this evening.

RAMS..This Matthew Stafford back issue is not solved.  Now we find out he was given epidural shots after sitting out 3-weeks of practice.  And we have 3-weeks of preseason camp left before we get into game mode.  He seems far away from being ready to play and he will have to take hits when he gets on the field.

CHARGERS…Keenan Allen comes home, his resume dotted with so much success for the Bolts.  Only question worth asking, he is a route runner, Ladd McConkey is a route runner, they will throw to their tight ends.  Where is there room in the offense for explosive down the field plays and who will do those routes and will they be done consistently?  Make or break season for Quentin Johnston headed for his 3rd year.

BRONCOS..Guess who is their starting running back and do you think he can stay on the field for an entire season?   JK Dobbins, the ex Charger, has taken the Broncos job, with his power run ability, his second level speed and his pass catching ability.  Bo Nix has another weapon in his arsenal.

CHIEFS..KC thinks they will be different this year on offense, more explosive down the field.  And that’s because they will protect Patrick Mahomes better with new bookend OTs, the first round pick Josh Simmons and free agent Jaylon Moore.  Add in power bull-like running back Elijah Mitchell, who came from the 49ers, and you have the ingredients to be more dangerous than the most recent seasons.

RAIDERS..Fun night ahead, a homecoming game with the Silver & Black going into Seattle to meet the Seahawks.  Pete Carroll returns to the Pacific Northwest.  So does ex-QB-Geno Smith.  And they debut Boise State rookie RB-Ashton Jeanty, who was beloved in the Northwest.  Should be an interesting weekend for sure.

BEARS..Huge question, new coach Ben Johnson struggling with 2nd year QB-Caleb Williams, who is not handling playing under center very well.

BROWNS…What’s that old phrase, if you have 5-QBs in camp, you don’t have any?  Cleveland will start Shedeur Sanders because of injuries to Kenny Pickett and rookie Dillon Gabriel.  Sanders  has had 1-day to practice with the first unit.  Talk about being behind the power curve.

ATLANTA..2nd year QB-Michael Penix is the starter, and the unhappy Kirk Cousins is the backup, big paycheck and all.  Pretty good, but expensive insurance policy QB isn’t it?

TENNESSEE…It’s Cam Ward’s show at QB with the surgery to last year’s starter Will Levis.  Ward was brilliant with the Miami Hurricanes, but he does not have great talent around him.  Might be a painful learning curve season.

JETS..Still waiting for Justin Fields to become a complete QB.  He had flashes last year but the Steelers still let him go.

GIANTS..The QB of the future is 3rd on the depth chart, Jaxson Dart, the rookie from Ole Miss.  It’s Russell Wilson’s team till it’s not.

VIKINGS..JJ McCarthy, guided and groomed for the job, gets his chance after sitting all last year with knee surgery.  Is he ready?  Who knows.  But he is the chosen guy.

COLTS…He starts for a 3rd year in a row, but Anthony Richardson’s career has been marred by injuries, inconsistency, and concern he is not dedicated enough.  He better not be a bust.  Would be catastrophic for the Colts.

So here we are.  First weekend of preseason and a load of stories to follow.
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“PADRES & MONEY”
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PADRES TICKETS…The letter arrived in Email form to season ticket holders.

Your 2026-season tickets are going up on an average of 7%-for the coming season.  It’s the fifth year in a row the tickets have gone up, coinciding with 5-years of pretty good baseball.  But do you know, since the first letter came in the mail in 2022, Padres tickets have gone up a combined (57%) in this five year window.

And that does not include exploding prices in the Padres gift store, the food stands and the ever increasing annual parking fees.

Last I checked, the Friars have not won a divisional title, have not won a NLCS series, and have yet to host a World Series game either.

The club is enroute to a record (3.3M) club attendance,which would be the 3rd year in a row the season record has been surpassed. The payroll is at (212M) and there will be a luxury tax bill due in October.  But if the Padres can go deep in the playoffs, the franchise will likely take in 1M revenue for each post season series they play.

It’s amazing, the team on the field, the town response, and the (57%) pay hikes over the last five summers of baseball.

They say paying the bills-probably so.  They say funding the high payroll-probably so.

I say raking in the profits too.  And hoping they are not squeezing every penny out of the fans to recoup all the money GM-AJ Preller burned thru in the first 7-years on the job when the Padres overpaid on everyone-everything, and won nothing.

Not sure the fans should be footing the big bill for all the past mistakes.

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast
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“NL WEST–A NEW #1 ?”
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There, I have said it.
Despite a World Series ring, despite winning the NL West 10-times in 11-years.
There is a new top team in the NL West.
There I have said it.

All of baseball is talking about what GM-AJ Preller did at the trade deadline, acquiring impact players to fix a flawed team we have seen since opening game.

All of Los Angeles is talking about the Evil Empire’s decision not to spend money at the trade deadline, dealing for a setup reliever and a minor league outfielder.

The Dodgers have been a disaster in the bullpen, and it is a bit of a reach to think ex-Twins setup guy Brock Stewart will be a difference maker.

And LA subtracted from the rotation in dealing once big time starter Dustin May for Red Sox minor league OF-James Tibbs.

Yes, the Dodgers have the big hitting Shohei Ohtani, the veteran All Star Freddie Freeman, top hitting catcher Will Smith and Japanese ace pitcher Yosh Yamamoto.

But Mookie Betts is hitting a lifetime worst (.233).. Teo Hernandez is not the big bat he was last year. Super sub Tommy Edman is back on the DL.  Max Muncy-hot and cold-is just off the DL.

Outside of young rookie Andy Pages, no one else scares you.

The Dodgers have starting pitchers to run out there, especially if Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell can be vintage Glasnow-Snell.  After that is a roll of a dice.  And do you really think you can trust anyone in a bullpen with an ERA of (4.53)?

As for the Padres, some in baseball view AJ Preller as a lunatic.  Others say a genius.  This after he dealt away 14-players and prospects in making 5-trades in a 7-hour span last Thursday.

But he has a veteran talent laden team-now hitting.  He has filled the flaws on his roster with proven major league rentals.

The Padres believe Yu Darvish and Michael King will return to trustworthy starters this month.  Dylan Cease has been dominant in stretches, and they retained him as their own final 2-month rental.

And then there is the bullpen, the Four Horseman, or maybe now the Fab 5, or possibly the ‘Six Pack’.  No one in baseball has that talent, that depth, that firepower.

So you tell me who has the better roster on paper right now, based on production and potential?

You cannot invoke baseball history now.  Last year is last year.  The last decade under Dave Roberts means nothing going forward.  All that counts will be what’s on the field, starting August 15th when the Blue and the Brown-Gold meet 6-times at the end of the month.

I know alot of screeching about Dodger-Dollars, best team money can buy.  Yes screaming in San Diego that this GM has traded the farm system away for the 4th time in 11-years.  and yes the Friars have yet to win the division, much less play in the Fall Classic

Be real about all this.  The Dodgers Dollar is their currency, signing stars.  The Padres currency is their farm system.  Very different way of doing business.  Now we see what happens next.

Not cheerleading, not rooting, just dealing with the reality of what I see.

A new #1 in the NL-West.  It’s the Padres now, not the Dodgers from back then!.

Play ball !

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast…1:30pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table-Stay for Fans Forum
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“NFL HALL OF FAME–A SAN DIEGO CHARGERS DAY”
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The sun shone brightly in Canton, Ohio, on the steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and inside the old Fawcett Stadium.

It was Hall of Fame Day, and it was a San Diego Charger Day.

Even Chris Berman emphatically mentioned ‘San Diego Chargers’ 4-times in his speech.

It was a day to honor, enshrine, salute and remember Antonio Gates.  Big and tough and athletic, he paused often to wipe tears from his eyes, while talking about the career that took him off the streets of Detroit, to a college basketball life at Kent State, thru the San Diego Chargers onto the steps at the Hall in Canton where he stood proudly next to his bronze bust.

And his brothers in arms were there, QB-Philip Rivers, RB-LaDainian Tomlinson, and Chargers legend Kellen Winslow representing yesteryear was on the stage too.

Gates was forceful in his thank you speech, just like he was forceful coming off the line of scrimmage, forcing mismatches, making big plays, chunk yards and all of those 166-TDs on his 955-receptions wearing the Lightning Bolts.

And while ex Viking DE-Jared Allen wore his Cowboy hat and was dazzling and funny.
And while Sterling Sharpe of the Packers gave his Gold Jacket to his brother Shannon.
And while a beloved Eric Allen talks about family-football and all things Fly Eagles Fly.
It really was Gates who stole the show with a 23-minute speech of love-respect-thanks.
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Antonio Gates-Quotes:
..Thank God for my gifts
..Honored by my journey
..Family-Faith-Football shaped my life
..I proved anything is possible
..Dream big-work hard-walk the journey
..Detroit built this Hall of Famer
..I am living proof if you stay on your path
..Kent State took a a raw talent made it a finished product
..I turned potential into purpose
..My coaches protected me from predators
..Chargers redirected my life
..TE legends of the past gave me a path
..Norv Turner-so gracious
..Marty Schottenhiemer-such a leader
..Team I battled with pushed-challenged-won with collective toughness
..We Bolts created a bond
..Rivers was the heartbeat and IQ of this team
..Tomlinson was poetry in motion and a Hall of Fame teammate
..San Diego Chargers will always be home in my heart
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it was a great day for the history of the SAN DIEGO CHARGERS on Hall of Fame Day.

Was too bad they had to show the reviled owner Dean Spanos as part of the festivities.

Great for the fans to cheer SAN DIEGO CHARGERS everytime the name was invoked.

Gone but never forgotten.  The Bolts were remembered and saluted at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Our Bolts.
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Hacksaw’s Trading Deadline Day Show
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“PADRES-WIN TRADING DEADLINE DAY”
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AJ Preller at the poker table has no-fear.
No hesitation either at the trade table.
You sense he lives for days like Thursday.

There were a record 70-trades made at the Trading Deadline.

The Padres stole the thunder, cleaning out their farm system for the 4th time in Preller’s 10-years, this time to fill out the holes on his Padres roster.

The new look Friars will have lots of new faces in the lineup returning to the field for Friday night’s game as they continue their pursuit of the 1st place Dodgers.

When he was done with cell phone calls, with texts, with zoom meetings, Preller had engineered 5-more trades.

He dealt away 11-prospects including 9-of his top 30-rated players.  Among those who exited were their #1 prospect, the 18-year old shortstop Leonardo DeVries and top rated Class A-pitcher Boston Bateman.

The shopping spree cost him some depth, with two of his finds, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert, plus utilityman OF-Brandon Lockridge used as bargaining chips.  There were 4-for-2 and 6-for-2 deals.

When he finished at the deadline, the Padres GM had added another closer Mason Miller from the A’s, who could be a starter next year.  He added a back of the rotation starter JP Sears.

In need of a catcher, here comes ex-Royal Felix Fermin.

The holes in the batting order will be filled by power hitting Ryan O’Hearn and OF-Ramon Laureno, who hit for average and popped some homers in Baltimore.

And he added an insurance policy starter in former Yankees lefthander Nestor Cortes, once he comes off the DL.

He finished with a minor league prospect infielder Will Wagner via Toronto

The wheeling and dealing comes at a price, beyond trading away alot of the future.  The Padres take on another (4.7M) in salaries this year, meaning a higher luxury tax bill coming in October.

If Preller’s shocking day of trades were one thing, the fact he still has Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez on the roster is equally stunning.  Maybe he could not find the right buyer.  Maybe no one wanted to over pay for 2-months of rentals for the two pitchers before they hit free agency in November.

Maybe this team, now loaded top to bottom, will try and get a World Series ring for Peter Seidler’s memory.  Maybe they let Cease and Suarez leave, thereby clearing (24M) payroll space in the off season.  Maybe too, the game plan is Mason Miller goes back to being a starting pitcher to replace Cease in the rotation next year.

But first things first.  Enjoy what the hot-lava GM did.  Let’s see if they can make Dodger Blue really blue in the postseason.  Let’s see if there are World Series games at Petco Park.

Preller is different.  Preller is unorthodox.  Preller is relentless.  Let’s see if Preller can do what has never been done before.  He’s won the Trading Deadline before.  He’s won the Winter Baseball meetings.  Let’s see now if he can deliver a World Series ring to cap off what’s going on at the corner of Tony and Trevor-Petco Park.
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