Sports at Lunch, Bud Black

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

Bud Black, a San Diego State pitcher in the late 1970s, never really left San Diego, other than playing for 17 years in the Major Leagues. Throughout the past seven seasons he served as the pitching coach for the Angels in Anaheim, he maintained a home in Rancho Santa Fe.

But more and more, the Padres’ new manager says he feels like he’s back home now that’s been on the job for a month. He makes the drive from his Rancho Santa Fe home south on I-5 to Petco Park as opposed to fighting traffic traveling north.

He also said appearing Tuesday at the Hall of Champions for Sports at Lunch gave him a “back home” feeling.

“This is where the foundation of my learning began,” Black told an audience of about 200 people of his college days. “I came down from Washington, where it rains a lot and we don’t get a lot of innings, and was thrown in with a lot of talent in Southern California. I learned a lot of fundamental baseball from (former SDSU) Coach (Jim) Dietz. I learned right away what it was going to take to be a professional player.”

Black never stopped learning as a player, working in the front office for the Cleveland Indians upon retiring as a player and then and then coaching alongside Angels manager Mike Scioscia. He won a World Series as a pitcher with the Kansas City Royals in 1985 and and as a pitching coach with the Angels in 2002.

With the Padres having won back-to-back National League West titles in 2005 and 2006, Black expects the franchise to continue to win. His goals is winning a World Series championship.

"We are poised to make another run at the championship," said Black. "I will tell the players in spring training that what we have done the last two years has set the foundation for what we want to do in the future. We want to win, and I want to let the guys know that when we put the uniform on, we are set on one thing and that's winning the World Series. And we think we can do that in San Diego.

"We have the pitching, we have the defense. I believe we're going to hit. I believe we have the character on the club to do it. I'm very positive this organization year-in and year-out will be in the playoffs with a chance to win the World Series.

"I believe that over 162 games, starting pitching wins," continued Black, "and we have a staff that led the league in ERA last year. Obviously, you need a good bullpen. We have that anchored by our guy at the end, Trevor [Hoffman], who hasn't slowed down a bit. And with [Scott] Linebrink and Cla Meredith, we have those last three innings covered well."

Black also answered questions about the loss of Dave Roberts and his speed on the base paths, identifying a No. 5 starter and his baseball philosophies.

What else did he say? You should have been at Sports at Lunch.

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