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.

I said goodbye to a hero this weekend in upstate New York.

I awoke in the middle of the night to learn a close radio friend in San Diego passed away.

And I was disappointed to find a guy I really like, was out of a play-by-play job too.

It was a lousy week.

He came from an Italian family of 9-kids.  He dropped out of school to go work in the knitting Mills.  He decided to come back to school and graduate.  He went off to World War II, and earned a Bronze Star-Valor in the tank command in the horrendous fights at Kasserine Pass and the victorious battle at El Alamein.

He came home a hero, went back to school, and became very successful in business, polictics and in family.  He lived to be 99, and he went out this week fighting Alzehimers and Dementia, just like he fought the Desert Fox across North Africa.

Vito, my uncle,  was my hero and they gave him a Military Funeral.  I wept when they played “Taps” at the end.  We lost a good man, my family lost a patriarch.  To me, he was the Prime Example of Tom Brokaw’s ‘Greatest Generation’.

When the phone rings in the middle of the night, it seldom is good news, and it wasn’t for me.

You didn’t know him, but those us in radio, newspaper, and around the Chargers-Padres-Aztecs knew him.

His name was Rick Hill, as nice a man as you’d ever want to meet.  Trustworthy, hard-working, with a hello for everyone, and the ability to do whatever was needed to set up broadcasts, cover press conferences, and be around.

He had no family, was a San Diego native, and he lived thru the horrors of the deaths of a mother-father-and grandmother who cared for him.

He became very ill, and a bunch of in the media pooled money together to help support him, and get him on his feet.  We put him touch with doctors, who helped line up dialysis treatment, and with lawyers, who helped with all the confusing paperwork of disability.

Like a bunch of us in radio, he got laid off, but never once was there a complaint about how he was treated at KOGO, KFMB or XTRA.

Early this week, after a wait of a good two years, Rick  was told a donor had been found for a critical kidney transplant.  A day later, he was in the hospital when blood clots arose.  Hours later, after tests, he was told he had non-curable cancer.  He passed that night.

The adversity he dealt with, none of which he brought on, was overcome thru his efforts and those he befreineded, whom in turn stepped up in his time of need.  A bunch of media guys were in the hospital when word came he had passes.

We called him ‘Red Dog’ and he was a friend to so many.

I am so disappointed the Padres cut loose pitcher-turned-broadcaster Bob Scanlan.

Good man, who made himself into a good broadcaster.  Of course someone had to go, with the hiring of another Mike Dee friend, Red Sox broadcaster Dan Orsillo.  Why Scanlan rather than somebody else in that booth is stunning.

He provided player insight, stories, opinions from a decent baseball career.  He came so quickly as a broadcaster, you’d think ownership would understand what a good talent he was.  I would hope Fox Sports San Diego would consider making him the host of their Social Hour pregame show.

It’s just a lousy week.  Not the Charger offensive line woes, or the finish to a 5th straight Padres losing season, or the Aztecs struggles.

Something more important, the loss of heroes and friends and good guys.

It’s why I was off-line for a couple of days, and why getting back to work is so hard today.

 

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It’s just three weeks into the NFL season.  Sometimes he tells the truth, sometimes he fibs, most times he paints a positive picture.

That’s what NFL coaches are supposed to do, motivate, fix, lead.  And so Chargers coach Mike McCoy put on his ‘best face’ on Monday, after the Vikings gave his tream a black eye..

Despite the pounding in Minnesota, he spoke volumes about heart, desire, effort.  Yes he admitted areas of concern about his (1-2) football team.

Reality shows we are just 3-weeks into a 16-week marathon run.  And though run over by Cincinnati, and smashed and mashed by Minnesota, there is still lots of football to play.

Luckily for San Diego, here comes a very poor Clevelande team, with issues at quarterback, even with Johnny Manziel, erratic play at running back, suspensions at wide receiver, and injury issues on defense.

Fans may not be pleased with the deficiencies in San Diego, but if you compare them to the wide variety of awful stats from the Browns, the Bolts are a much better team.

But that does not mean things are fine and dandy.  A chewed up offensive line.  Concussion issues to key players.  A secondary now very thin by nagging injuries.  A non-existent pass rush in a throwing league.

Of bigger concern, how to patch the leaky dike, when you have no way of going out to get other players.

Well, the Chargers could have had a shot at a pass rusher, if they were willing to spend a 6th round pick to take on Jared Allen, whom the Bears dealt away last night.

There are no offensive lineman out there to be had.  Defensive backs available now, are available for one and only one reason, they cannot play.

So Mike McCoy can preach positive, eventhough the videos, the telecasts, the columns all deal with negatives.

The media aren’t dummies.  Some of the season ticket buyers know and love the game.  There are lots of problems on this roster right now, despite glowing praise by the coach about the character of his troops..

And if Mike McCoy follows thru on his statement of a brutally honest evaluation by the coaches about his roster after these back to back beatdowns, then maybe they will change the scheme.  You surely can’t change the players.

And McCoy right now isn’t willing to change his sales pitch to the public nor his players.

Will only say this.  Glad the Browns, and the Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers are on the schedule the next couple of weeks.

Maybe they post a win over Johnny Football and Cleveland, and then Michael Vick and the Steelers.

Hope.  It’s about the only truthful thing you’ll find being said around the Fortress these days.

 

 

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