I just couldn't face the blogosphere yesterday--not after the Padres went down to the Rockies, 9-8, in the wild card playoff.  It was too depressing, too distressing and just plain wrong.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess to being a fair-weather, late-season fan.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm faithful to the Padres and the Chargers.  15 years of living in LA County could not erase a deep dislike of the Dodgers...I went to two games in 15 years and both times rooted for team the Dodgers were playing against.  Some rivalries are bred into the bone.

The only LA team I did support was the Lakers and that's because I didn't even like basketball until after moving to LA.  And, of course, they were easy to love when they were winning championships.  It helps to actually be at the playoffs...ah, those were the days.  It's messier now, harder to love the Lakers.  But hey, I was trained to be a sports fan in San Diego.  Hope springs eternal (and nearly always dies on the vine).

Having disclosed that I'm an end-of-season fan, it's fair for folks to take my opinion on the game with a huge grain of salt (and a margarita for those so inclined).  Still, I do have an opinon on the season ender--it was all down to 3 calls.

The first call, and I'm not just saying this because I'm a Padres (e-o-s) fan, was a good one.  In the seventh inning, Rockies Garret Aktins boomed a ball to left field.  Rockies fans said it was a homer.  The umpires ruled it a double.  And slow motion shots of the ball show its trajectory--it hit the yellow boundary and bounced into the field.  Good call.

After the Padres scored their go-ahead two runs at the top of the 13th inning, Dan turned to me and said, "Why did they pull Thatcher?"  The answer?  A blown call by Coach Bud Black who made the decision to go with Trevor Hoffman as the Padres "closer" despite Hoffman's failure to save a critical game just days before.  Part of being a coach is being "in the moment."  That means understanding that the knee jerk reaction (Trever Hoffman equals sure thing) isn't necessarily the right one.  Thatcher was throwing incredible stuff.  Clearly, as evidenced by the way the Rockies lit him up, Hoffman was not.

Then the final blown call of the night--Home Plate Umpire Tim McClelland's delayed decision that Matt Holliday safe.  Replays clearly show that Holliday didn't touch the plate...Catcher Michael Barrett blocked his access and should have been allowed to tag him out.  But instead, McClelland put his hands out wide, indicating Holliday safe and the ball trickled from Barrett's hand like a whisper of what might have been.

Do I think the Padres would have won if McClelland had called things differently at home?  Probably not.  The Rockies had Hoffman's number and Black seemed married to his decision at that point.  The bottom line is the Padres left too many men on base (29 by one blogger's count) and the Rockies were better with the bat.

It's just too bad that the season ended (for us) on a controversial call.  But hey...I'm a San Diego fan.  There's always next year, right? 

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