Padres could use mustard-and-brown bat

10-03-2006

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

Anyone making their way Tuesday afternoon to Petco Park for the opener of the National League Division Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres found themselves meandering through a crowd that was spotted with mustard-and-brown jerseys and caps.

Funny thing about those mustard-and-brown softball-styled uniforms: The better the Padres are in their contemporary navy uniforms -- and this was their fourth National League West championship team since 1996 under John Moores‘ ownership, including back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006 -- the more nostalgic we’re becoming for the Padres’ bad, old days.

Outside Petco could about 30 minutes before the first pitch could be spotted a fan with a No. 35 Randy Jones jersey in mustard-and-brown. Inside Petco was No. 31 for Dave Winfield. Tony Gwynn’s No. 19 was seen in mustard and brown as well as other shades from his career.

It’s seems as if San Diego baseball fans are starting to get into the habit of this post-season atmosphere as 43,107 fans turned out to the downtown ballpark.

But less than an hour into the Padres’ 5-1 loss to the Cardinals, Albert Pujols stepped to the plate and launched a home run deep into left field for a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals had limped into the series as National League Central Division champions that nearly gave away the lead to the Houston Astros, but Pujols’ big bat and starting pitcher Chris Carpenter -- a candidate to repeat as the Cy Young Award winner -- tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball that provided the initial momentum to the Cardinals’ dugout.

A game-changing player such as Pujols, who hit .331 with 49 home runs and 137 RBIs in the regular season, served as another reason to fondly remember the Padres’ mustard-and-brown days. Where was the big bat of Steve Garvey, Dave Winfield or, dare we include him in illustrious company, Nate Colbert?

The Padres needed one from their mustard-and-brown era moreso than from the 1996 and 1998 teams when the late Ken Caminiti's bat was fueled by steriods.

Against the Cardinals, the Padres were down 5-0 by the time San Diego scored its only run in the sixth inning. Dave Roberts, the Rancho Buena Vista High alumnus who had three hits on the day, tripled with one out and came home on a sacrifice fly by Brian Giles, the Granite Hills High product.

"We have to regroup," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We've been resilient all year. That's the way we have to be now. I mean, this is one game and we got beat. I mean, it's the bottom line today, and we gotta put this behind us and come out and keep grinding. That's all you can do at this point."

While the Padres missed opportunities, the Cardinals took advantage of a chance at second life in the fourth inning. In the fourth inning, Pujols’ pop foul behind home plate escaped the reach of catcher Mike Piazza. Two pitches later on a 3-2 count Pujols launched his home run.

“I’ve got to make a better pitcher than I did on 3-2,” Padres ace Jake Peavy said of Pujols‘ home run. “You can’t give him second chances or he’s going to hurt you. I made good pitches to him later in the game, but he obviously changed the game in the fourth.”

Pujols said he was told his foul ball hit the net and might not have been ruled an out even if Piazza had made the catch up against the backstop, but the umpires later said the ball was in play.

“It gave me another chance,” Pujols said. “I was hoping to put a good swing on the ball and help the tam out.”

The Cardinals have now won seven straight playoff games against the Padres. It includes three-game sweeps in 1996 and 2005.

“The Cardinals are a good team, but we know we can play with them as well and win this series,” Peavy said. “We believe we can still win three of four. That starts on Thursday. We’ve got the pitching to play well here and play well there and win the series.”

David Wells, the Point Loma High alumnus brought home in a trade with the Boston Red Sox as much for the September stretch run as his post-season success, will take the mound Thursday for the Padres against Jeff Weaver.

Petco Park saw only one playoff game last year when the Padres lost the first two in St. Louis and then Cardinals traveled west to complete the sweep. This year Petco is host to a second playoff game of this series before the series switches to St. Louis for two games with a fifth game, if necessary, scheduled for Monday in San Diego.

“This team has been down and out before,“ Peavy said. “We’ve had our ups and downs and the boys will come out Thursday ready to play. We have the big boy on the mound and hopefully we’ll get a split.”

There are times when it’s OK to feel fond nostalgia for those mustard-and-brown uniforms the Padres used to wear. One of those years Steve Garvey changed a game and a series with a 1984 home run that rallied the Padres from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs and advance to their first World Series.

Tom Shanahan can be contacted at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.