=======

Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast..1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on Table-Stay for Fans Forum
=======
“THE OLD LEFTHANDER…LEAVES”
=======
It was quite an era.
He was quite a pitcher

San Diego Padres fans are mourning the passing of Randy Jones.
Tony Gwynne was Mr Padre.
Randy Jones, the crafty lefty, was the first star Padre.

In an era that covered a decade of dominance on the mound, Randy Jones was so good on the mound for the Padres, in an era of bad baseball in San Diego.

The list of 1970’s greatness on the mound encompassed the likes of Steve Carlton, Tommy John, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Don Sutton, Vida Blue, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer.

Think about each of them and what they were known for, whom they pitched for, and the fact Randy Jones was likely on the mound when the Padres faced those legendary starters.

Jones went from (8-22) one year, to super stardom the next.  He was a workhorse over his years in the rotation in San Diego; an All Star in San Diego, a free spirit in that clubhouse too.

From that dreadful season in 1974, he went (20-12) and then (22-14), marking maybe the two greatest years any Padres pitcher has had in its history.

The numbers are staggering.  He made 34-36-40 starts in a 3-year window.  He was an All Star.  He threw 285-315 innings in back to back seasons.  One season he went (16-3) in the first half of the season.  He pitched in a game vs Jim Kaat, in which the two fast workers, finished the game in 1-hour-29 minutes.

Arm problems ended the run.  He moved onto the Mets and within 3-years he retired.  He finished with a (100-123) record…most of it in the Brown & Gold.

But Randy Jones stayed in San Diego.  Became a broadcaster.  Became a businessman.  Became a Padres ambassador within the community.

He was beloved, he smiled, he laughed, he loved to talk old time baseball and modern day baseball.  He was a friend to the fans, a confidante to the players.

And off the field, he was like he was on the mound.  He scrapped and fought.

Whether it was failing health and his battle with throat cancer or business investments, he stood out there, challenging and pitching around the issues of life.

I close my eyes and hear him yack at me in the Press Box or the Dugout..’Hacksaw get over here’.  Everyone listened to him, talked to him, wanted his autograph.  I remember his smile.  His radio-type voice.  His knowledge.

I thought all day about him yesterday with an ache in my heart.

Randy Jones.  Peter Seidler.  Kevin Towers.  Tony Gwynn.  Jerry Coleman.  We have lost some of the fabric of Friar baseball.

The crafty lefty I would call him.  Good stuff and guile got it done on the mound and in his life.  What a Padre pitcher.  What a special person.

We think fondly of Randy Jones.  The ‘ole lefthander’ rounding third, heading to home…to heaven.

===================
 

=======

“NFL–TROUBLED TEAMS”
=======

A fascinating start to the season with what the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts have done so far.

Is this the LA Rams year?  Does someone like Detroit topple the trophy from the Eagles?

Is Chicago the real deal?  Can the Chargers get out from beneath the black cloud of injuries?

An interesting finish is coming to see if the Chiefs or 49ers or Ravens can rally themselves and be a player in January?

But if you look at the standings at this hour, there is alot of bad football being played out there.  How do they fix their problems?

TITANS…Woefully short on talent around last year’s number 1-pick Cam Ward-who competes like hell but does not have alot around him.

JETS..Ever think you’d see a team, this late in the season, have just 8-TD passes from its quarterbacks?  You can have all these draft picks stockpiled, but if next year’s draft has few quality QBs-how long will it take to fix things in New York.

RAIDERS..Never thought it would be this bad in Pete Carroll’s first year, but they are so wafer thin in talent, on the offensive line, at wide out, in the back seven on defense, and maybe even with Geno Smith at quarterback.  Losing has become commonplace there.

BROWNS…Have never survived the entire Deshaun Watson crisis at quarterback.  If Shedeur Sanders starts this weekend, he will be the 42nd different starting QB they have had since 1999.  Getting some OL would help too.

BENGALS…Just awful, to have the QB-WR package they have and be so blighted at virtually every other position on the roster.  Am I the only one who blames Mike Brown for this mess?

GIANTS…This shortcoming may be more about poor leadership than the makeup of the roster.  They have a QB-RB-WR-DE in place.  They need a coach and a proven GM to add to the roster.

SAINTS…Only time tells if Tyler Shough can be the solution at QB, but there are alot of holes around the roster, and some age too.

ARIZONA..They gave Kyler Murray alot of money and now the rumblings are they made a mistake, might want to trade him, and rebuild this franchise.  Hard to tell if this is a player problem or an organizational problem?

WASHINGTON…Keeping the QB-Jayden Daniels on the field is huge, protecting him is big too.  A really bad mid season skid leads to questions about the roster’s  dedication.  Maybe it is injuries more than anything else.  But they are losing.

MIAMI..They have Tua at quarterback but they have injuries, a poor defense, and now have a vacancy in the GM chair.  Looks like they need an overhaul top to bottom in South Florida.

That’s 10-really bad teams, nearly a third of the whole league.  Lots of work to be done.

======================

=======

Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

========
“AZTECS FOOTBALL–STATEMENT GAMES”
========

There should be no more doubts about the direction of SDSU football.
An (8-2) record, and wins over teams they had to beat, they have beaten.
From (3-9) last year to the potential of (10-2) and a Mountain West Championship game.
Impressive, so very impressive.

And they are doing it without much from the so-called ‘Aztec Fast’ offense, sidetracked because of two years of new quarterbacks learning on the job.

But State is doing it oil school, pounding the football and playing star studded defense.

An easy schedule, for the most part-injury free, and the continuity of a load of talent returning on defense.  And then when they needed it, they got it done against Fresno State and Boise State.

Yes the bad setback in Hawaii and the early season blowout loss at Washington State, but this team is tough, athletic, and relentless.

Coach Sean Lewis:
===========
Great program win..cultural win

We had the run package in playbook all year
It’s not single wing football
We needed those run packages, and goal line plays in the rain
We have not had that in the last 3-weeks
Our offensive line has really come together

Lucky Sutton getting to 1,000-yards is an award

San Jose..dynamic passing attack
Find alot of ways to score
They are super dangerous with QB-Walker Egat
They spread you out…front is dynamic
They beat Hawaii
They had 5-turnovers in loss to Nevada
Eget is really accurate-stresses you..moves pocket..spread you out

Expectations since day one when we got here
Nice to be in conversation of being in Group of 5-playoff race

We have had high scores games, but we are fast-smart-tough
Sometimes you win with no style points but we win

Unsung hero-OL coach Mike Schmidt
His career-was a walkon and became a captain
I knew of him from his time at Syracuse
His expertise is really something
He finds right character fits..he rebuilt the OL room
He built a cohesive unit that has become strong

Play well at Snapdragon..won early at home..great pride
We are creating a great environment at home
We continue to win…build it the fans will come

Senior night..we are not talking about being here without these guys
These kids believed in the vision
We have such a small window to play this game at this level
They entrust us to reach their dreams
I want this experience to be the best time of their life

Mountain West-learned what a great challenge
Level of head coaches..level of talent
Excited about going forward to the Pac 12 Conference
People fight in the phone booth with us

Continue to tell our kids how good these kids could be
Hope it sell the kids to stay here
What we said we could do-we are doing..the kids now see this
We embrace ‘we over me’ and they see it now
Ross, our center, Chris our safety are prime examples of what they could become
We coach our highest guys-the hardest…kids know the culture

Jordan Napier…MRI on knee-waiting results
Jayden Denegal has not hit a wall…played in tough weather two games in a row
Alot of ways to play the game…we will use all our people in lots of ways
==========
 

=======

Hacksaw’s Monday-Bonus Podcast..1:30pm
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics-Stay for Fans Forum
=======
“CHARGERS–WHO ARE THESE GUYS”
=======

It was awful-but we have seen that before.
It was predictable and I told you it was coming.
It is baffling for all they’ve accomplished they are still troubled.
It is a team with question marks.

The Chargers..nowhere where they could be-should be-probably won’t be.

It was an awful pounding they took at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
it was terrible, the beating Justin Herbert had to take on Sunday.
It was miserable, the play of whomever they dragged off the street to play in OL.

It was a (35-6) battering that nearly cost them their quarterback.
it was so horrific, that the Chargers had to bench both their starting LT-RG.
The heavy duty running back, Kimani Vidal, got nicked up.
There were no big plays to any of the big play receivers we have seen this year

The defense, which has been prone to getting gashed in the run, got maimed.

Jim Harbaugh constantly harps about toughness, tough men, big time plays, and yet we see this keep happening again, the Bolts get mugged.

They lost to a highly erratic quarterback Trevor Lawrence, playing without his top 3-wide receivers.  A team that has underachieved on offense, ran up a (149-to-5Y) advantage in the 3rd quarter alone.

When they were done, the Jaguars had scoring drives of 11-14 and 16 plays and the Chargers were outgained (345-135).  Think about that, a Justin Herbert offense had (135-yards) in offense.

And Herbert was plastered with a pancake sack that I thought led him to a concussion tent meeting.  He hardly played after that hit.  As I have said for weeks in a row, an injury waiting to happen.

So bad, the Chargers benched left tackle Trevor Penning and right guard Mekhi Becton.  Add in another poor game by RT-Trey Pipkens;.

And the Chargers seemed to have no answers for a wide variety of motion formations and misdirection plays that Liam Coen kept callling all day.  That had to be on tape and yet the Jess Minter defense could not stop it-handle it.  Beat every which way.

A team in trouble for sure.

For all the Shakespearean quotes from Harbaugh, he never has answers or words worth listening to when they lose this bad.

And just remember, last year, they lost 7-games to the more physical teams on the schedule.  And this Jacksonville game, and this end result, sure looked and felt like early season losses to Washington, the Giants and what should have been a loss to a bad Miami team.

The Jaguars game should not have been a trap game.  it turned into a crap game.  The Bolts crawl to the bye week in need of rest-health and in search of toughness.  Oh by the way, still to come, they have road games at Denver-at Kansas City, plus the Eagles and vs the Dak Prescott led Cowboys offense in Dallas.  How do they survive all this?.

Who are the Chargers?  Not what we thought they were.  Not healthy, not tough enough, and surely still not able to help their battered star quarterback.

Awful Sunday.  Awful set of problems.  Don’t know who they really are, even if their coach wants to quote Chaucer, Churchill or JFK.

=============

=======

Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast
You Tube-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Look-Listen-Share-Subscribe

=======
“PADRES–CHANGING OF THE GUARD”
=======
What a week of news with the Padres.
What a reaction in the community.

First the hiring of Criag Stammen as manager.
Now the stunning farewell, with the Seidler Family announcing the franchise is ‘4-Sale’

An ever-changing landscape of activity from the front office at Petco Park.

The announcement comes 48-hours after USA-Today reported the team has money issues.
The decide to sell came months after President Erik Greupner said ownership was here to stay.

Alot of diverse reaction within the first hours after the announcement was confirmed.

The emotion of the fans was everywhere.

MONEY GRAB…The Seidler’s have hiked up ticket prices 57% in 5-years, many believe to recoup all the money that legendary owner Peter Seidler allowed GM-AJ Preller to burn thru.  The 3.43M-fans, a record season, did not seem against paying the prices for the wins  and good times at Petco Park.

FINANCES..I find it hard to fathom they have cash flow problems, but they are facing big pay bumps and long guarantees for 8-veterans.  Not going deep in the playoffs cost them additional revenue the group of years.  The high payroll and the luxury tax adds up.  The big issue, the erosion of the 60M a year TV rights fee years ago, and despite going to MLB, they are getting 50% of those fees in recents years.  That’s alot of money gone missing-yet to be remade.

BETRAYAL..Why the turn-around?  Reality probably.  A non baseball family has decided to exit the sport they have no experience running.  Peter Seidler’s vision of greatness has pretty much arrived, just short of getting to the World Series.  The franchise could bring a massive payoff, in excess of 2B-which is quite a haul compared to the 800M-purchase price when Peter took over control of the team.

FANS & MEDIA…The pushback has been strong and that is understandable, because it is a surprise.  But the Seidler accomplishments have been superb considering what San Diego has experienced in the past decades.

WHAT’S NEXT..Set aside the rumblings of labor trouble in 2027.  Record revenue, attendance, TV ratings, this is now a viable franchise.  This ownership group should call Stan Kroenke, sports empire owner of the Rams-Nuggets-Avalanche-Soccer-So Fi Stadium, to see if he is interested.  Joseph Tsai, owner of the Brooklyn Nets, has expressed interest in baseball.  So has Jeff Bezos.  Anybody want to talk to young phenom Theo Espstien about becoming part of ownership.  You’re not buying Miami-Tampa-Pittsburgh.  This is a red-hot commodity under the Seidler banner.

HISTORY…It should write nothing but favorable reviews of this ownership group.  What they did on the field.  What they did in the community.  It is San Diego’s team.  San Diego’s heart.  The Padres own the town emotionally and financially now.  It is because of Peter’s vision.  History should remember Ray and Joan Kroc, saved the franchise from moving to Washington, DC.  John Moores and Larry Lucchino rallied the team from the terrible Tom Werner era, and the Moores’ money and the Lucchino brilliance brought us Petco Park.  And the Seidler family created an aura linked to big time baseball, big time stars, big money contracts, and big crowds at the corner of Tony and Trevor in the Gaslamp district.

TOMORROW…There is always hope.  There is always next year.  There should be a special thank you for what the Seidler stewardship meant to Padres baseball. The measure of a man is not just what he accomplished but whom he touched, influenced and changed.  Peter Seidler checked off all the boxes.   View him, and them. as ‘Forever Friar Friends’.

================