Before I launch into the "Welcome Brian Giles" portion of this entry, I’d just like to say that I’m sorry to see Ollie Perez and Rondell White go. In my excitement about picking up Giles, I’m not sure I made that clear. I’ve been following Perez for a long time, and I think he’s got a lot of promise. I’m still not convinced the Pads did the right thing by rushing him through the minors so quickly, but maybe it won’t make a difference in the long run. He’s a good kid and I wish him well. Supposedly he offered to start Tuesday night’s game even after word came down that he’d been traded. Gotta like that.

As for White, I was very critical of the deal that brought him here this spring. I didn’t think he’d be much better than Bubba Trammell, and I really hated the idea of giving up Mark Phillips. Well, Trammell did absolutely nothing for the Yankees before leaving the team and Phillips has regressed, unable to make his way out of A-ball. White, meantime, stayed healthy and made the All-Star team. And by all accounts he exuded nothing but class in the clubhouse. He was a positive influence on the kids, and even though that can be overblown by some media types, it can’t be dismissed entirely. White reminded me a bit of Greg Vaughn in his stay here. Not a lot of flash, just a guy who goes out there and gets it done. I hope White does well with the Royals and gets a chance to play in the postseason. (Starting in left field and batting sixth, he singled and tripled in four at-bats in his first game with Kansas City.)

And hey, Jason Bay singled, doubled, and walked in his Pirate debut, as Pittsburgh downed the Marlins. Anyone that helps keep Jeff Loria’s team out of the playoffs can’t be all bad. Like White, Bay started in left and batted sixth. Oddly, both the Royals and the Bucs won via shutout.

A few more thoughts about Brian Giles, and what his acquisition means to the Padres. First off, you may have noticed that Xavier Nady wasn’t included in yesterday’s projected 2004 lineup. That’s not an error; I just don’t see any place for him on next year’s version of the club. Not unless they move one of Ryan Klesko or Phil Nevin, which doesn’t strike me as very likely. Another thing to bear in mind is that apparently the Jason Kendall talks aren’t dead. If something happens on that front this winter, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Nady involved.

Meantime, the Padre lineup suddenly features a bunch of really good left-handed hitters. How much will that affect them next year? Let’s take a look at the splits of each of the lefties slated to be in the starting lineup:

2003
                vs LHP              vs RHP
           AB   BA  OBP  SLG   AB   BA  OBP  SLG
Burroughs  97 .309 .387 .485  309 .288 .352 .401
Giles     119 .277 .407 .471  269 .309 .440 .453
Klesko     97 .186 .269 .340  285 .270 .383 .491
Kotsay    108 .222 .311 .324  275 .273 .351 .378

2000-2002
                vs LHP              vs RHP
           AB   BA  OBP  SLG   AB   BA  OBP  SLG
Burroughs  55 .218 .246 .218  137 .292 .345 .365
Giles     428 .264 .368 .449 1204 .323 .449 .655
Klesko    442 .267 .354 .430 1130 .299 .401 .571
Kotsay    399 .291 .345 .429 1115 .295 .361 .452

Well, among other things, that justifies the presence of Brian Buchanan and Gary Matthews Jr. on the bench to spell Klesko and Kotsay against tough lefties. It also makes you think about the left-handed starters in the NL West. Who all is out there?

• Arizona: Randy Johnson (39)
• Colorado: Denny Neagle (34)
• Los Angeles: Odalis Perez (26)
• San Francisco: Kirk Rueter (32)

Johnson is one of the all-time greats, but with the way he’s pitching this year, who knows how much he’s got left in the tank? Perez is good at times. The other two aren’t much to write home about. Tell ya what, if I’m the Diamondbacks or the Giants, I’m shopping for a southpaw this winter. I wouldn’t want to go up against the Pads next year with a bunch of right-handers.

The Game

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t merit such a lofty title. But Wednesday night marked the beginning of the Brian Giles era. And it began with a bang. Brian Lawrence surrendered two first-inning runs, but the Padres, with their new lineup, scored 10 unanswered runs to win a laugher. In the process, they took their third straight series. Oh yeah, and they did it against Curt Schilling. Nice.

Here are Giles’ at-bats in the game:

Top 1st, Burroughs on 1st, one out
Pitch 1: 90 mph low and away, ball 1
Pitch 2: 87 mph up, ball 2
Pitch 3: 85 mph backdoor breaking ball out over the plate; single to left-center, Burroughs to third

Top 3rd, Loretta on 1st, Burroughs on 3rd, one out
Pitch 1: breaking ball down and in; ground single between first and second, Burroughs scores

Top 5th, nobody on, none out
Pitch 1: high fly out to center

Top 7th, nobody on, none out
Pitch 1: fastball up fouled straight back, strike 1
Pitch 2: 74 mph curve, called strike 2
Pitch 3: splitter; strikeout swinging

Top 8th, Loretta on 1st, Lawrence on 3rd, Randolph pitching
Pitch 1: breaking ball low and away, ball 1
Pitch 2: 84 mph upbreaking ball low and away, ball 2
Pitch 3: 92 mph fastball up, ball 3
Pitch 4: 91 mph fastball up fouled back, strike 1
Pitch 5: 90 mph fastball up; walk

It’s hard to draw much from one game, but the Pads appeared to play with a lot of confidence Wednesday night. Sometimes that can become contagious.

Other observations from the game:

• Ugly sight: Gary Bennett swinging 3-0 against Schilling with a runner on first and one out in the sixth. Padres were up 4-2 at the time.
• Eighth inning, one on, one out: Brian Lawrence bunts with Bennett on first. Oscar Villareal pounces on it, whirls, and fires to Alex Cintron, who ducks away from the ball. Everyone is safe. Back in the fourth, Lawrence had dropped down a bunt that Schilling fielded. The Diamondbacks nailed the lead runner (Bennett), but he came in very hard on Cintron, and it was clear that the diminutive infielder wanted no part of the Padre catcher in the eighth.
• Eighth inning, two on, one out: Very next batter is Sean Burroughs. At this point, Burroughs has four hits under his belt and ducks on the pond. Naturally he sacrifices to move the runners up. Bennett swings 3-0, and Burroughs bunts with a runner in scoring position? I know the Pads won big, and it may seem like nitpicking, but WTF?
• Mark Kotsay had a nice hustle double to lead off the sixth. Line drive to right-center. Raul Mondesi assumed Kotsay wouldn’t test his arm and didn’t come up throwing. Kotsay ran, Mondesi still managed to make a terrific throw. Kotsay slid past the bag and avoided Cintron’s tag. Unfortunately, Kotsay slid well past the bag and his hand actually came off. Fortunately, Cintron was busy showing second base umpire Paul Schrieber that he had the ball rather than keeping the ball on Kotsay.
• After a shaky start, Lawrence finished strong and worked into the eighth. He wasn’t brilliant, but he was pretty darned good.
• Phil Nevin’s grand slam in the eighth was fun. Hit it to dead center against Steven Randolph. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Nevin took a ball, then fouled three off, then took another ball, then hammered a pitch at his knees and drove it just above the yellow line in deepest center field.
• Giles’ willingness to dive headlong into the stands in pursuit of a foul ball with an eight-run lead in the ninth inning may have been endearing, but I’d just as soon never see him do that again. Unless it’s a playoff game.

Padres off today. Three in Houston, then back home with Giles, Trevor Hoffman, and Khalil Greene. Yeah, baby! Our team may be 28 games under .500, but now is a great time to be a Padre fan. And for those of you waiting, there’s still plenty of room on the bandwagon. Next year is gonna be real fun…