1969: Padres Return Home, Fall to Braves
Sat, Apr 21, 2007
by Geoff Young
April 21, 1969, San Diego: Braves 5, Padres 2 (box score)
Back home in San Diego, the Padres welcomed the Atlanta Braves to town for a brief two-game series. The Braves were led by Hank Aaron, whose 512 career home runs placed him fifth on the all-time leaderboard behind Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Willie Mays, and of course, Babe Ruth.
Johnny Podres started for the home team, while right-hander Ron Reed got the call for Atlanta. Reed had been named to the National League All-Star team as a rookie in 1968, but he’d gotten off to a rough start in his sophomore season.
Today, however, it was Podres’ (and the Padres’) turn to be treated rudely. Already down 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Podres served up a solo homer to Clete Boyer to extend the visitors’ lead. Two innings later, with Leon Everitt now on the mound, the Braves added two more runs on an Orlando Cepeda home run and a Bob Aspromonte double.
The Padres responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Tony Gonzalez and Ed Spiezio knocked RBI singles in the inning. With runners at first and second, though, Reed fanned Chris Cannizzaro to keep San Diego from narrowing the gap further.
After the Braves added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, the Padres had one last chance against closer Cecil Upshaw. The right-hander out of Centenary proceeded to retire San Diego in order, striking out pinch hitters Nate Colbert and Chris Krug to put the finishing touches on an Atlanta victory.
The Padres fell to 4-9 on the young season, 6 games back of the Braves and just ahead of Houston. No team in the big leagues had scored fewer runs (23) than the Padres, and only one (Cleveland) had a run differential worse than San Diego’s -38.
Trivia: Before embarking on a baseball career that spanned parts of 19 seasons, Reed spent two seasons as a forward for the NBA Detroit Pistons.
Elsewhere in the world: The Mothers of Invention released the double LP Uncle Meat; the final episode of The Avengers aired in the United States (some would say that the show ended when the delectable Diana Rigg left a year earlier, but that’s a debate for another forum).
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
April 21, 2007 at 11:23 am
Before the Padres trade for or sign Torii Hunter, they should make sure he won’t be ruled ineligible for 3 years … http://www.zumsteg.net/cheater.....rupt-past/ … ouch!
April 21, 2007 at 11:35 am
Some thoughts on MCamy’s situation … http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/....._reac.html
April 21, 2007 at 12:49 pm
From yesterday’s post-game notes at mlb.com …
San Diego has seven stolen bases but has yet to have a runner caught stealing. The Padres are the only team in the NL to hold that distinction.
April 21, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Re: 1, I assume this is jest. I don’t know what Byrnes’ defense in center is like, but AZ seems to be getting a lot of value out of the guy, though he kind of bugs me.
April 21, 2007 at 3:44 pm
The PECOTA cards over at BP have some really interesting comments from previous years for Mike Cameron (especially considering the eyesight concerns this year). Here are a couple of them:
2003:
“Why aren’t teams more active in getting their players medical care? Cameron complained at the start of the year that he was having trouble picking up the spin and movement on pitches, and it took months for the team to get him help. It turned out that his right eye was badly messed up, having become a different shape than the left from an injury that might go back to a ball he took to the orbital bone years ago in the minors. Cameron’s vision in that eye had deteriorated dramatically. He was fitted for a right-eye-only contact, but how long does it take to adjust to that kind of thing, mid-season, to really get to the point where you’re seeing well? The difference between being a great hitter and a bad one is so very fine, and a player’s sight so important, that it’s hard to believe, months later, that it took as long as it did for the team to get him to a good optometrist.”
“Having hit four home runs in the game, already tying the major league record, in his fifth at-bat, Cameron was up with a 3–0 count, and took a strike right down the middle. Faced with the choice between hacking at the pitch, which no one would have blamed him for, and playing the game, forsaking the record to get on base again, Cameron watched the pitch go by. You want an unselfish, giving player? Here he is.”