You remember the great year that Bob Gibson had as a starting pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968, their World Series season.

The numbers were so dominant, so phenominal, baseball changed rules the following year about the height of the mound etc.

Throwing heat, bringing gas, he scorched guys in the batters box.  Just reminding you how great he was:

1968…(22-9)…(1.12-ERA)…(304-innings-268K-62BB-12HR)

Very few since that time have come close to those stats over the decades, until this summer.

Amidst the era of big time sluggers, year round workouts, supplements, Latin stars and more, introducing the record-setters, the Dodgers 1-2-combo of Clayton Kershaw-Zack Greinke.

Pity the teams that have to face them back-to-back in the rotation.  New York Mets, tonite, Kershaw, tomorrow Greinke.

The dynamic duo of the Dodgers have been superb, especially over the last 3-months.

Since June 27th, Clayton Kershaw has made 18-starts.  He went (11-2)….In 132-innings he has given up 18-runs…with 169-strikeouts.  Dominant.

Since June 3rd, Zack Greinke’s numbers have stood out in neon lights.  A total of 24-starts, a (14-2) record with a 1.51-ERA, allowing just 25 runs over 149-innings.

Think about that.  Combined the Dodgers aces have pitched 282-innings since early June, and have allowed just 43-earned run.

For the entire season, they have gone (35-10), while the rest of the LA starters hafe a combined mark of (29-34).

Bob Gibson was brilliant over a Hall of Fame career, (251-wins) and a lifetime (2.91-ERA) in Baseball’s so called Golden Era.

But for this season, this summer, this summer of Dodgers pitching has been spectacular.

Just ask National League hitters who spent the last 3-months flailing at their stuff.  New York Mets batters are about to find that out too.

Bob Gibson would be proud.

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Some random thoughts about this NFL thing.

NFL Owners Meetings….They’ve wrapped up their quarterly fall meeting in New York, and the NFL owners have gotten update information from the Committee on LA about the Stadium situations.

Everyone is pushing a different candidate.  The Cowboys Jerry Jones is standing alongside the Rams owner, because they have big business ventures outside of football.  Never mind any type of conflict of interest.

Carolina owner Jerry Richardson is pushing for Dean Spanos to move to LA because he thinks the Chargers owner did everything possible to get a stadium built.  I guess he believes everything that comes out of the mouth of Mark Fabiani without checking the ‘true information is in the details page’.

No one seems to care nor want to help the ailing Raiders and their loopy owner Mark Davis.  Maybe it’s payback still directed at his late father for the history of lawsuits and confrontational business practices.

The NFL can say all it wants about wanting to protect cities from losing their teams, but those are just empty words, unless the Committee on LA orders Stan Kroenke to actually sit and negotiate with the state of Missouri, or they order Spanos to go to the table in ‘good faith’ and negotiate the specifics of a ‘good deal for both sides here.

Poor Mayor Kevin Faulconer, try as hard as he might, his meetings don’t seem to merit much serious consideration.  Unless he goes back to the NFL and gives them his American Express Gold Card, the one without the limit total, and tells them to build it and he’ll pay for it, San Diego won’t get much serious consideration.

You must understand, in this era, the NFL is all about the money in their pocket.  It’s not history, legacy, love of tradition.  It’s all about the bank and how much each of the 32-partners can get from a new stadium in Los Angeles, for the league and their respective teams.

They all get a piece of the pie, even without having to say ‘greed is good’.

I am amazed San Diego fans are not in revolt over the way this has turned out.  Just keep buying tickets, enjoying the games, watching Philip Rivers do his thing.  There are just 5-home games left on the schedule after Monday night.

I fully believe the NFL will vote in January, once the regular season is over, to allow the Rams to move into Los Angeles.  And then we see if the Chargers become the second tenant at Hollywood Park.  I do not believe the Carson project can be completed nor financed, nor cleaned up of toxic waste.

The owners can meet all they want, look at schematics and spread sheets, but in the end, it will be about how much money they can generate in LA, how much profit they split.

New England and Miami, the Seahawks and the Giants don’t give a damn about a crumbling Qualcomm Stadium.  They’re too busy trying to make the playoffs and run their money-making franchises.  They could care less about the profits Spanos makes for his family.  Their team is the only thing that counts.

Even Dean Spanos does not care about San Diego.  His actions (non-actions) speak volumes, even if the only people he talks to might be an occasional  comment to an LA Times writer or someone from the Orange County Register.

The only ones who care about the team are the fans, who buy the tickets, jerseys, hot dogs, and will be there loud and proud against the Steelers on Monday night.

And soon as the season ends, the only sound you will hear will be the cash registers ringing, and the other owners counting their money from an LA deal.

It could involve the Chargers, Dean Spanos wants it to involve the Chargers, and the NFL’s league office inertia makes it seem like they think it should be the Chargers too.

It is what the NFL has become, not just touchdown passes and sacks, big runs and big hits, but the biggest financial haul possible.  And now even the Committee on LA says they expect the Chargers to file the application to move in January.

Agree or disagree with me.  Everyone outside this area code, including the team owner, seems to have the sentiment, ‘ San Diego be damned.’

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I love the electricity of postseason baseball.  It is like a jolt of adrenalin to the grand old game, especially after you live through the grind of a 162-game schedule.

But it does seem cruel for a team to fight its way to the wild card game, have virtually no rest, and then have to play so quickly, where it is truly one and done.

Baseball added an additional wildcard team a couple of years ago, creating the play-in concept.  The extra wildcard slots in the two leagues, refueled baseball interest in late August and into September, times when the NFL would take over the sports calendar.

Not recently though.  A year ago, we had 8-teams fighting for postseason spots the final week of the season.  This summer, we finished off with a battle for wildcard spots, and also homefield advantage in the divisional series too.  The final Sunday of the season, game 162, had direct impact on 8-different clubs.

But it does seem unfair that one and done seems so acceptable.  Would it might not be better to have the wildcard be a best of three?  Make the divisional series, a best of five.  The AL-NL-CS become best of seven, and then onto the Fall Classic?

The Cubs play the Pirates tonight.  Excitement in Pittsburgh is everwhere,  more recently they went 20-years without a postseason appearance.  And of course, all things Wrigley Field are wrapped around the Curse of the Billy Goat, and the Cubs hope to win tonight to take a step forward in erasing that memory.

The Buccos however have gone to the wildcard game two years in a row, only to get knocked out.  Fatigue seems to have overtaken them.

Last night, it all caught up to the Yankees, when the Astros went into New York-hit a couple of homers early, and shutout the Pinstripes.  The Yankees stopped hitting and their wafer-thin pitching staff fell apart.

Baseball has done lots of creative things to hype up the game.  Attendance and revenues are at an all-time high.  Interest is everywhere.  The wildcard race on top of the pennant race is really fun to watch.

But it sure seems to come up short when you realize ‘Drama-then-Defeat’ is the end result of a ‘1-and-Done’ playoff format.  Maybe MLB should address that as the next thing to make post season even more interesting.

The decisions they made did not work out.  The decisions have claimed two managers already.

No one in the front office has lost their job.  Praise those protected.

None of the big money divas, who infected that clubhouse, are gone either.

You’re not going to fire management.  You surely cannot fire the 25-man roster.  So the scapegoat is the manager.

Such is the fate of San Diego Padres baseball  this day, the first day of the off season after a lousy in-season.

Out with the former manager Bud Black; be done with the interim manager Pat Murphy.  The General Manager, AJ Preller gets a ‘do-over’.

Nothing seemed to fit this season with this team.  Yes they won the Winter Baseball Meetings, with all those transactions.  The taking on of big salaries.  The acquisitions of big names.  The struggles, the failures, the injuries.

That shiny new Petco Park scoreboard in left field is dark right now.  There is no baseball in October, no playoff games, and uncertainty looking forward to 2016.

Lucky the scoreboard lights are off, so they the Padres don’t have to tell you about their more recent failures.  Five straight losing seasons; 7-losing-campaigns in the last 8-seasons.  One playoff run , and a (1-10) record in postseason games since their World Series appearance in 1998.

The Padres will have a new manager, and possibly lose some significant cache amongst a popular coaching staff.

Preller stood in the line of fire and answered all the tough questions as his Monday press conference grinded on.

He mentioned things like wanting the ‘right fit’ from a new manager.  Wanting someone who would grasp the statistical system the organization presents for game plans.  Wanted some fire, to lead the clubhouse, and strength of personality, to likely change the culture of the clubhouse.

Preller defended his deals, saying he was not one to jump to conclusions that transactions failed just because a Matt Kemp had a bad first half, or a pitching staff faltered after so many good years.

He didn’t demean the hiring of Murphy to serve out the season, though the manager seemed to spend more time re-linking with friends in the other dugout, rather than dealing with his own team.

Somewhere in the use of the word ‘culture’, Preller must have been referencing things like ‘divas’ and players, who acted more like independent contractors, than team leaders.

There’s not a doubt there is talent still on the roster, but there’s no doubt too that there is some toxicity amongst that clubhouse than needs to be addressed.

This new breed of GMs, from Preller to the 30-year old just hired in Milwaukee, are surely different than leaders we have seen before.  I don’t see any John Scheurholz’s amongst that Padres front office right now.

Where do they go from here?

Managers come in all shapes and sizes and backgrounds.  Success stories like Mike Matheny in St. Louis, former player turned instant manager.  History writes about long time bench boss assistants like Joe Maddon, who get the chance and won.  And of course longtime minor league managers can make successful steps up, a-la a Jim Leyland.

This will be fun to watch, to see who gets interviewed.  Dusty Baker wants back in, but there are 200,000 miles on that model.

Ron Washington is familiar with Preller, but there is baggage that can scare you away with him.

Ron Gardenhire is a vested respected veteran, just a year removed from his last job.

Phil Nevin has plied his trade from Toledo-to-Reno, but has been bypassed before by his own organizations.

In house, loyalty should count for something for a Dave Roberts.  Popular Mark Kotsay has been on the job just a year.

If you sent out an Email, you’d get a thousand replies from anywhere to everyone.

This is a critical hire for the Padres.  They were a business success off the field, drawing 2.4M, but a miserable failure on the field (74-88) with a payroll that chokes you.

Preller has lots to do to impress ownership, and more to do now to save the community from walking away.

His roster is ill-fitted.  The contracts he has taken on are bloated and spike up.  His farm system is now barren of trade bait.  And his first managerial move failed,  leading now to a second one he has to make.

Better get it right, and quickly, for the next press conference we attend next October might be to replace him.

Adversity is part of the NFL.  Overcoming adversity is what separates a win from a loss.

Example-the San Diego Chargers.

What could go wrong did go wrong.  And then it got worse.

End result-the Chargers (30-27) win over the troubled Cleveland Browns.

Philip Rivers overcame it all, and Cleveland quarterback Josh McCown almost did too.

Rivers, playing behind 3-backup lineman, survived 6-horrible plays, sacks, and an offense of (-9) yards to start the game.

The coaching staff changed everything, and saved the quarterback, and his beatup offensive line by going no-huddle, then no-huddle spread.  It was the beginning of the end for the Browns.

But Cleveland’s quarterback stood equally as tough.  The Chargers blitzed McCown 29-times in the game, sacking him four times, knocking him down 10-more times.  It was a show of courage and leadership from the Browns.

Everytime you thought the Browns were about to take control of the game, someone stepped up and made a play.  Danny Woodhead bailed Rivers out of a jam, by running an underneath route off a blitz, catching a pass, and gaining 62-yards.  Moments later a TD.

Later on, in trouble, Donnie Inman hauled in 69-yard catch and run, and a TD came shortly thereafter.

Keenan Allen caught a perfectly placed 37-yard TD pass that dropped out of the sky on the sideline in the endzone.

Josh Lambo kicked two long field goals, then given a chance after a Cleveland penalty, hit the game winner with no time left on the clock.

It was a war of attrition too.  The Chargers were down to 2-wide receivers in the second half, when concussions took out Malcom Floyd and Stevie Johnson.  And Brandon Flowers went down with a head injury too.

It was not pretty, but it was a win.  Maybe it saved the season, for San Diego might not have recovered had they lost and fallen to (1-3).

The Browns had chances, but kept taking penalties, and their defense wilted too.  They did not survive this one, and it could be devastating for a team trying to find itself.

On this day, they were hurt and heroes surfaced for San Diego.