The Padres got smoked Friday night, 14-5, by the Seattle Mariners. It was ugly any way you look at it.

On the bright side, Xavier Nady made his first big-league start at first base, filling in for the injured Phil Nevin. Nady tripled and homered in four at-bats. The home run landed in the Padres bullpen, some 420 feet from home plate.

Also, Paul McAnulty notched his first career hit, singling to left off lefty Ron Villone with one out in the ninth. The few folks who remained in the stands went nuts. Welcome to San Diego, kid.

The other good news, if you want to call it that, is that the Friars managed to burn only three arms despite giving up 14 runs. And there is no chance that Darrell May, Tim Redding, or Dennys Reyes will appear in Saturday afternoon’s contest.

But it was just a game. The real highlight came much earlier, when a few dozen rabid baseball fans got together to mingle and to hear Kevin Towers speak. Towers confirmed what I’d heard, which is that he is very gracious and very candid. I’m still pretty blown away that he took time out of his busy schedule to come talk to us before a big-league game. This is what we call outstanding customer service. Big thanks to KT.

Also thanks to David Pease, Paul Swydan, and the folks at Baseball Prospectus who set up the event. Great job, guys!

Finally, it was awesome to meet so many Ducksnorts readers and fellow bloggers: Rich and Peter from San Diego Spotlight, Richard and Lance from Friar Faithful, David from davidlizerblog, LynchMob, Funkinstein, Joseph, and others (if you fall into this last category and I’ve neglected to mention you by name, I apologize; it was kind of a whirlwind).

So. Highlights from the event:

• Towers indicated that the Padres were becoming more comfortable at home in their second season at Petco Park, learning how to use it to their advantage.
• He also praised Bruce Bochy and the coaching staff for their handling of the bullpen to ensure that arms stay fresh throughout the season.
• We complain a lot around here about Xavier Nady’s lack of playing time. Rest assured that we’re not the only ones in town who like Nady.
• Despite the early returns, the Padres still are happy with last year’s #1 overall pick, Matt Bush.

Anyway, thanks again to all my readers, fellow bloggers, Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Towers, and the San Diego Padres organization. This is one of the coolest experiences I’ve had in over 25 years of following baseball. Outstanding stuff.

Somebody get me a tissue; I promised myself I wouldn’t cry…