Gloating Time

The San Diego Padres have refound their patience, their power, and their swagger. Just in the nick of time, too.

I’m not one to typically say “I told you so,” but I’m feeling pretty arrogant after watching the Padres for the last week and I wanted to get some gloating in.

Remember when I said this?

So, despite going 4-10 in their last 14 games, the Padres are about to catch fire. And they need it now, trailing the NL West division lead by 3 games.

Here come the Padres (June 14)

Well, San Diego has now won six straight games and are probably causing some real panic amongst the Dodgers and Giants, despite being 4.5 games back of the division lead.

The Padres have proven that, when they’re not going through the most brutal stretch of schedule they’ll face all season, they are a very dangerous team.

How about when I said this?

There are 29 Padres games between right now and the all-star break, and all but 6 of them are against teams with losing records. Or, a more fun way to put it, the Padres should be heavily favored in 23 of their next 29 games. That’s how winning streaks happen.

Good news about the Padres schedule (June 11)

Don’t let the fact that the Padres got the party started a little later than expected (against the Reds at home instead of against the Rockies in Colorado) hide the fact that the Padres have escaped the difficult part of their schedule and, as expected, are now white-hot.

Oh, and about that late return to winning ways. I eventually called that too.

We, as fans, can pack those seats and cheer loudly. It’s about the only thing we can do and it’s about the only option that’s left for the team. They need to rely on us, the fans, to give them energy (or adrenaline) for the next few games.

A big, loud cheering crowd can make tired legs feel fresh and sore bodies feel healthy. And that’s what the Padres need now. As the token optimist of the June portion of this season, I believe the baseball team will look different over the next few days as these guys get carried by the screaming fans of Petco Park.

Power Outage (June 17)

That was in an article where I explained that the Padres needed to get back to being patient at the plate and needed to find their power strokes again to make a run. They did both! And, in doing so, they also started hitting left-handed pitching, which had been an issue for them.

Big moments

Even going back to last year’s team and last season’s playoffs, the San Diego Padres haven’t shied away from big moments. Just the opposite, they sometimes have a hard time keeping up the same energy for the smaller moments.

They seem to relish having their backs against the wall, or playing other championship contenders, and they definitely enjoy the national stage.

In that sense, none of what I wrote above should be held up as evidence of my intelligence. Anyone could’ve realized that the Padres would play better once they needed to, once their schedule got easier (they played five 1st place teams consecutively without a single day off in between series), and especially when they could do so in front of 40,000 screaming fans. And we knew they would save their best for the Dodgers.

Win of lose tonight, I am proud of this team and still think they have a real shot of ending up World Series champions in a few months. Now maybe this is something I can quote-and-gloat about when that happens.