Saying Goodbye to the Friar

7/28/2019 Saying Goodbye to the Friar

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Saying Goodbye to The FriarWhy Im giving up on the San Diego Padres

By Jeremiah Smith

I have been a San Diego Padres fan my whole life. I was born and raised in San Diegoand have been have been watching baseball games since I can remember. Myearliest memory of the team is of watching games on TV with my dad. Hed holdboth my hands inside his, position them as if I were holding a bat, and then swingthem at imaginary baseballs as the pitcher on TV threw to the plate. As I grew older,I developed into a real baseball fan. I idolized Tony Gwyn, I collected baseball cards,I watched the Pads on TV any chance I got, and listened on the radio if I was out. Icursed when the 1994 season ended in a player strike ruining Tony Gwyns chances

of batting .400. I cheered when the Padres won the NL West in 1996 and cried whenthey got swept by the Cardinals in the NLDS. I celebrated in the streets when thePadres went to the World Series in 1998, then cried again when they got swept bythe Yankees.

In 2001 I moved to Los Angeles to start my Junior year of college at UCLA. Eventhough I was no longer living in San Diego I still rooted for my beloved Padres. I wasthrilled to discover I could get the Padres AM Radio station, Mighty 1090 in my car,and Id listen to games driving home from work. Id go down to Qualcomm wheremy friends and I would always sit in rightfield so we could heckle the visiting teamsoutfield. When Petco opened I went the first chance I got, and I felt proud to have a

team with what I thought to be the best stadium in baseball. My other San Diegotransplant friends and I would go to what I called Padres games at Dodger

Stadium a few times per year. Id wear my SD hat and cheer obnoxiously anytime

the Padres got a hit. Sometimes Dodgers fans would throw peanuts at us or threatento shut us up with their fists, but I didnt care. I was just happy to root for my team.

Despite being a loyal fan for years, something has happened in the last 4-5 yearsthat has led me to a decision to stop following, caring about, and rooting for this


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baseball team that has been a part of my life since I was a kid. It started in 2009when the Padres traded Cy Young Award winning pitcher Jake Peavy to the ChicagoWhite Sox for a bunch of players Id never heard of. Here was a guy that came upthrough the San Diego organization and developed into one of the best pitchers inbaseball at the time. I couldnt understand why the Padres were unwilling to make a

deal with him.

After the 2010 season in which they had one of the best records in baseball (90-72),the team again traded their best player, All-Star 1stBaseman Adrian Gonzalez forsome more players I hadnt heard of and a supposedly great Red Sox prospect in

Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo didnt stick, and the team finished the 2011 season with thesecond worst record in baseball (71-91).

2012 was another dismal year with the only bright spot being Chase Headleydeveloping into a top tier 3rd Baseman. Headley led the National League in RBIs andwon the Gold Glove, but as early as July there were already rumors that Chase was

on the trade block. Now, starting the 2013 season pretty much common knowledgethat Headley will be traded.

Meanwhile around the rest of the baseball world teams are locking up theirhomegrown talent to long term deals before they enter free agency. The Giantssigned Buster Posey to a 9-year $167 Million contract, Texas signed Elvis Andrus for8 years and $120 Million, the Mariners locked up Felix Hernandez for 7 years at$175 Million. Another team with a ridiculously low payroll, The Pirates, made a dealfor their star outfielder Andrew McCutchen for 6 years at $51.5 Million. These aremid to small market teams with modest salary budgets that are making acommitment to the players that come up through their organization and succeed, as

well as a commitment to their fans that they are willing to spend money in order tobuild teams around players that can help them win games. Not only do the Padresrefuse to sign their homegrown talent, they also refuse to spend on free agents. Thislack of spending has turned the Padres into nothing more than a farm team for thebig market teams in baseball that are willing to give money to the players the Padreslet go.

Ultimately this pattern of letting talent leave the organization and not signing freeagents is what has caused me to lose my patience with my hometown team. Im notgiving up on the Padres because they dont win, That would make me a fair weatherfan and Im not.Im giving up on them because THEY DONT TRY TO WIN. The

organization very clearly doesntcare about winning. They deal away their bestplayers under the false banner of that front office buzzword, rebuilding whenreally they are just refusing to spend real money on real baseball players so theowners can stuff their pockets with more cash. The ownership seems perfectlycontent to keep fielding mediocre squads, and I feel that I deserve better from ateam I support. Why should I be loyal to the Padres, if the Padres arent going to beloyal to me as a fan? Why should I make an effort to follow them through the season,if they arent going to make an effort to win?


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Over the last several years as I became more and more disillusioned with the PadresI became less and less interested in baseball in general. I stopped watching gameson TV, and I rarely went to the stadium. My only connection to the sport wasthrough my fantasy baseball team. Fantasy is great, but rooting for individual

players as scores update on a website is not as emotionally satisfying as rooting fora whole team to win. I was giving up on baseball altogether because I didnt careabout my team anymore, and as this 2013 season is starting I realize that I miss it.So now, after 32 years as a Padres fan, Ive made a choice. Instead of forgettingabout baseball, Im goingto change team allegiances. Ive decided that my love of thegame is greater than my nostalgia for the team I grew up with, and ifIm going tokeep loving this game I need a team I can feel good about being behind.

Ive lived in LA for the last 12 years, and it has become my home. As a Padres fan Iwas never supposed to care about the Dodgers, but I always paid attention to thembecause they fell conveniently within my line of sight. Just as a result of being here

Ive been exposed to the Dodgers on TV, in the newspaper, and in advertising. Thehandful of live games Ive been to in the last 5 years have mostly been at ChavezRavine.

Starting this baseball season I found myself being very interested in how theDodgers would do this year. They have the highest payroll in baseball history. Theyhave fantastic pitching in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Theyve made big

deals and have signed a lot of solid players (including one of my favorite ex-PadresAdrian Gonzalez). They have a new ownership group that seems dedicated towinning over the fan, not with cheesy fleece blanket giveaways (although Im sure

those will still happen), but by going out and putting together a team that will be

competitive. The Dodgers are doing everything right now that the Padres haventdone in all the years Ive followed them.

After I admitted to myself that I was interestedin the Dodgers, that thought planteda seed, which caused some realizations to sprout. I realized thatIve been watchingthe Dodgers on TV since I moved to LA, and for several years now Ive known morenames from their lineup than from the Padres. I realized that Dodger Stadium is justa few miles from my house and I actually like going to games there whether thePadres are playing or not. I realized that Im going to be more upset when Vin Scullyretires than when Jerry Coleman or Ted Leitner do (I love Vin Scully and think heshould be our countrys Poet Laureate). And now the team has owners that are

signing players with the hopes of winning.

People will inevitably tell me that if Im going to pick an LA team to root for, go for

the Angels. They are in the American League so I could still technically be a Padresfan AND an Angels without stepping on any toes. Ive tried to care about the Angelsbefore and it just never felt right. I dont have a connection to the team and any

attempt at being an Anaheim fan for me felt empty and forced. On the other hand,the Dodgers are the Padres closest division rival so to follow them would be a


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display ofspite towards the Padresand I like that. Like a spurned lover who seeksrevenge on her betrayer by sleeping with his closest friend or brother. It stings moreif your ex ends up with someone you are close to rather than a total stranger.

So, for these reasons, Ive decided to be a Dodgers fan. I even went out and bought a

Dodgers hat. It still looks a little funny when I see it in the mirror. On Saturday4/6/13 I took my 9-month-old son to his first baseball game. The Dodgers took onthe Pittsburgh Pirates at home and won 1-0 behind a strong performance by ClaytonKershaw. My wife, son, my dad, and I sat in the right field bleachers and for the firsttime in my life I cheered for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have to say, it felt good tocare again.

The San Diego Padres should ask themselves, if someone like me who was a fan forlife, with a strong loyalty to the team can be pushed away by their patheticmanagement, how many other fans are giving up not just on the Padres but on thesport in general. In this competitive sports marketplace it cant be acceptable to

simply exist and think that the fans are going to keep showing up. The fans are yourcustomers and the team is your product. You need to try to make that product shineor people are either going to stop caring or take their allegiance (and dollars) toanother team like I have. The San Diego Padres are damaging baseball by causingpeople to lose interest in the sport, and I dont want to be a part of it anymore.

SoGo Dodgers!

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Saying Goodbye to the Friar