Expect to see changes

When the new ownership group of the Padres receives approval from Major League Baseball, I expect that we will see some changes immediately, and more over the years to come.  At the heart of most of these changes will be an attempt to return to "The Dodger Way," retrofitted to San Diego's Padres.  Although Branch Rickey is credited with shaping the Dodgers into one of the most stable and well-run franchises in any sport, the O'Malley family clearly espoused his methods.  Even after Sports Illustrated published a eulogy for the Dodgers in 1987, the team won a World Series the following year.  They then proved they could still develop talent over the following decade, as Dodger players won five consecutive rookie-of-the-year awards from 1992-1996.

The O'Malleys were known more as businessmen than baseball men, but I still expect that they will place a heavy emphasis on "The Dodger Way" - doing things the right way.

Here in San Diego many of us hate the Dodgers.  I really don't.  I respect the franchise for what it used to represent.  They have a history, an aura, that can't be purchased or created through marketing.  From the uniforms (among the best and most recognizable in any sport) to the on-field success (6 World Series titles, 21 NL Penants), they simply knew how baseball was supposed to be played on the field, and knew how baseball franchises were supposed to be operated at the top.   They had three general managers, and three on-field managers, from 1958 to 1998 when Peter O'Malley sold the team.  Clearly, the Padres haven't been "in the know," and that is why I expect we will see significant changes over the coming years.

They will try to build a franchise that does everything the right way from the top down.  In every aspect of the organization they will try to hire top-notch people and have the organization represented the right way.  There is no stone that will not be overturned in this process.  Here are some of the things I would anticipate would be looked at:

The Ballpark

Right Field in Petco Park makes mincemeat out of lefties.

Right field in Petco Park is an absolute joke.  People will say "the ball doesn't carry except to left and center field" and bring up atmospherics claiming that the ball simply doesn't go as far here as elsewehere, because we're right next to the ocean.  That is about 99% hogwash.  It is the size, and shape, of right field that makes Petco Park the most extreme pitchers park in the majors.  I have done a lot of research on the dimensions and comparisons with other ballparks.  An upcoming blog will have detailed information on why right field is a complete abomination and why it has to be, and will be, dealt with by bringing in the fences.  Look for that coming shortly.

The Broadcast Teams

I really hate it when people start speculating about other people's jobs purely out of dislike.  Or like the long-departed Philly-Billy Werndl, just because they like talking about people losing their jobs.  I do (wholeheartedly) dislike Ted Leitner as a broadcaster - let's get that right out in the open.  But I believe there are serious issues to be looked at with Leitner.  He is just young enough that there's no way you can convince him to retire.  He's ensconced in San Diego, pitching everything from labor unions to weight-loss clinic advertisements on the radio, and appears to be a workaholic as well, as there simply isn't a gig he won't take.  He loves the spotlight.  He's not going away.

Ted Leitner, Play-by-Play 

In my opinion, the broadcast team, Leitner especially, has contributed to an inferiority complex that we have in town about our sports.  It started with him calling the team "My Padres" when they were doing well and "Your Padres" when they weren't doing well.  At least in some VERY small way, we can credit our ho-hum support for this team to things like that.  To be clear, he is not doing this anymore, at least not that I've heard lately.  And I do feel that reason #1 we are such a ho-hum sports town is because so few of us are from here.  However, his tendency to brag about anything decent the team has done, and then bash or downplay other teams whenever possible just seems unprofessional and again contributes to our inferiority complex.  What's the difference between Ken Caminiti and Barry Bonds?  Obviously, talent.  Both were clear-cut cheaters.  But you don't hear Leitner harping on Caminiti every time the Padres play the Giants.

I feel that a truly great broadcaster such as Vin Scully (there's that Dodger Blue again) really contributes to the overall appeal and perception of a team.  Fans may not even know much about him personally.  In fact, the great ones purposefully maintain a distance between themselves and their listeners.  They tell the story about the game, not a story about themselves.  Until my favorite broadcaster Dave Niehaus passed away, I didn't know the first thing about him.  He never talked about himself!  I believe they will take a long, hard look at this and that you might see a change happen.  And on the TV side, I feel that Dick Enberg has simply lost it.  I'm not going to even cite examples; anyone who watches games can't help but notice as he makes up details about the play that he didn't see clearly; then nobody bothers to correct him because he's Dick Freaking Enberg.  I feel confident with everybody else on the broadcast team.  I feel that Andy Masur is perfectly suited to be the full-time television man with Mud and T. Gwynn alongside him.  Meanwhile, Bob Scanlan is doing a phenomenal job as the color man on the radio.  He is simply awesome.


Spring Training Facility

Part of Dodger Lore was "Dodgertown," in Vero Beach, Florida.  Dodgertown was unique to spring training facilities and was the epitome of the way that their philosophy impacted everything they did.  It was a huge, park-like facility with a family atmosphere in which fans could get just about any player's autograph.  They were the only spring training site that had their own cafeteria facility.  And they certainly didn't share Dodger Town with another team.

Last year the Padres re-signed in Peoria, AZ on a 20-year lease. I believe this wouldn't have happened if the O'Malleys were in charge or had a significant say at the time.  At a minimum I think they would have negotiated with another city in the Phoenix suburbs for a new facility to call their own, but it's possible they would have tried to move the team to the Grapefruit League and back to the old Vero Beach Facility.  Just last year, Peter O'Malley was involved in helping the old Very Beach baseball facility even though he had nothing to do with the Dodgers anymore.  It's that love and interest in the smaller things about baseball that gives me hope for the Padres under new ownership.  Although they recently signed this lease, don't be surprised if they try to get out of it or at the least put a lot of investment into the Padre side of the Peoria complex so that it suits their needs better.

The Uniforms


Last but not least, I had to bring up the uniforms.  Great teams have great and recognizable uniforms.  From Alabama in college football and the Yankees (and yes, the Dodgers) in baseball.

Pick one, already! Not necessarily this one....

To this day it still baffles me why the Chargers won't just go with the Powder Blues and stick with them.  Commonly cited as one of the top 5-10 uniforms in any sport, they are a tremendous asset to the team that is being underutilized.  Nobody gets tired of greatness; that's why they should go to those uniforms permanently.  On to the Padres, they simply aren't sure what their uniforms should look like, are they?  And frankly I'm not a fashionista and don't want to get into that here.  They have to choose a uniform that they and the fans feel is a timeless representation of the team, and stick with it for the next 50 years.  Because that is what a classy baseball team does.


No really, it's almost over

There are other items I thought about while writing this but it's gotten long enough.  The Fox Sports San Diego situation is a sad state of affairs, but I'm not sure how they will rectify that right away.  Clearly, Time-Warner doesn't give a hoot about their customers, and that's about where it begins and ends.  I don't think that the signings of Huston Street and Carlos Quentin were indicative of how this team will operate in the future (signing extremely injury-prone players will not be a strategy), but were instead a necessary gesture of goodwill approved by the owners given what appeared to be an especially tough trading market.  Seeing what Chase Headley can do with reasonable right-field dimensions, I bet the Yankees are questioning their decision not to pay the piper and get him right about now.