i hate the Padres

when i was a kid, i hated the Cincinnati Reds. for an obvious reason: they were always beating my Dodgers. i hadn't learned about Bobby Thompson yet, and Joe Morgan hadn't hit that home run. but Joe was helping the Reds beat the Dodgers far too often. after the A's beat the Dodgers in the Series in 1974, the Reds then won twice. it would not be until 1981 that the Dodgers would overcome the Reds and the Yankees to win a Series.

later i loathed the St Louis Cardinals, but not very passionately. Jack Clark; grrr. but it was Tom Niedenfuer's crappy pitching (and Lasorda's rotten decision) that was the real culprit. but a West Coast boy has no reason to care much for anything that far inland; it's just not right to leave so far from the sea. you almost pity them.

but now it's the frikkin' Padres i hate. yes, it's for the same damn reason: they beat the Dodgers. a lot. they can play like crap against the entire league, but let the Dodgers show up and suddenly the Pads act like real baseball players. i suppose it's good the Dodgers bring that out in teams, especially their little cousin to the south. but what i can't stand (besides the losing) is the arrogance of San Diego. it's not a New York arrogance: we're better than you so fuck you. it's a negative arrogance: we're not L.A. so fuck you. that's just pathetic.

so tonight their rookie beats our rookie, and we're still in first place, and i hope to god we kick the shit out of them the next two days. they can then go back to their slide to oblivion — no one said they had to have cheap ass owners — and we'll keep moving to a championship.

and maybe whup on the Reds, Cardinals and Yankees along the way.