A recent business trip took me to San Diego for a few days, and I was able to squeeze in several baseball experiences.
First, we got a look at the site of old Lane Field, which is on the waterfront west of downtown. There’s nothing left of the old ballpark, which was home to the Pacific Coast League’s San Diego Padres from 1936 to 1957. There’s a marker where home plate once stood, as well as markings where the batter’s boxes were. The old ballfield is now a city park, and there are some hotels and other
business buildings situated in what used to be right field. Lane was an oddly shaped park, 329 to left, 330 to right and 426 to dead center. It’s also the park where Ted Williams got his start, and in October of 1945, Jackie Robinson worked out for scouts from the Brooklyn Dodgers. You must use your imagination to picture the old park wedged into this space, back in a time when San Diego was a much smaller city.
The second baseball item was hearing a motivational talk by Jesse Cole, the founder of the Savannah Bananas. It was an energetic and moving speech as Cole talked about the sacrifices and risks he took to establish the Bananas. To call Cole energetic is a disservice. The guy has enough juice to power a couple of city blocks. Cole knows how to work a crowd as well as any entertainer or politician I’ve ever seen. His story about his relationship with former player Reggie Smith is one of the most heartwarming stories I’ve heard, and just another reason why we love this game so much.
In short, when Cole was a youngster, his parents divorced, which caused the already shy kid to become even more withdrawn. In an effort to pull him out of his shell, Cole’s father arranged for him to try out for a Red Sox bat boy job for a game. A withdrawn Cole sat in the Red Sox dugout, too afraid to move, when Smith noticed the youngster and spent over 20 minutes chatting with him. Cole showed a picture of the two together taken that day, then another taken recently. When Cole received an award from the Baseball Hall of Fame, who introduced him? Reggie Smith, of course. Very heartwarming stuff.
This made me think more about Smith, an outstanding player known as “the other Reggie.” More about Smith in a future story. It was the interaction with Smith that convinced Cole he wanted to become a major league ballplayer. His first stop was T-ball, where he could hear his father shouting, “Swing hard in case you hit it!”
That has become Cole’s business mantra: Swing hard in case you hit it. A few days later, Cardinal rookie Joshua Baez hit home runs in his first three at-bats, including one on the first pitch he saw. That brings up another story I once heard. I may have some of the characters wrong, so forgive me. A rookie’s father said the same thing to his son: “You only see one first pitch in the majors. Swing hard at it.”
The rookie did and also hit a home run.
Cole ended the speech by talking about Bananas Foster, the foundation that provides financial and educational support for foster children. If you’re looking for places to donate this year, take a look at Bananas Foster.
The third leg of this baseball journey was my wife and I taking in an excellent game between the Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers, two teams the Royals would be wise to emulate. I used to be a critic of Padres GM A.J. Preller, but no more. Love him or hate him, he works his tail off to keep the Padres competitive with the Dodgers, no easy task.
Over 40,000 Padres and Brewers fans packed the ballpark for a Monday night game. As I watched it unfold — two playoff teams, downtown stadium, high-energy scene — I thought, “Kansas City could have this if they play their cards right.”
The game gave me a chance to see one future Hall of Famer, Manny Machado, and another who is probably on the outside looking in: Christian Yelich. Both players are showing their age, though Machado is still stroking some home runs and his glove work remains as good as ever. Machado is currently at about 63 WAR and closing in on 400 career home runs. And Padre fans love the guy.
Casey Mize, a trade deadline acquisition, got the start for San Diego and did his job, only giving up two runs in six efficient innings of work.
Those two runs came off the bat of former MVP Yelich, who cranked an opposite-field home run in the second. People have talked about Mize being an offseason target for the Royals. He’d be an excellent addition, but I’d be surprised if San Diego lets him get away.
Down 2-0, the Padres answered back in the bottom of the inning when the Royals’ daddy, Ty France, smoked one into the left-field seats. France’s ball never got more than 15 feet off the ground. There’s something impressive about seeing a line-drive home run that’s absolutely ripped.
The score stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when France hit a one-out single. Jackson Merrill, who has been blistering the ball since the All-Star break, blasted one 435 feet to dead center to put the Pads up 3-2 and send the locals into fits of hysteria.
One thing about San Diego fans: They dig their baseball.
Same for Brewer fans. I saw dozens of fans sporting Brewer garb and spoke to a couple that was spending their summer following the Brewers around the country, Grateful Dead groupie style. You gotta love baseball, right?
Once San Diego had the lead, they channeled the 2015 Kansas City Royals blueprint. First out of the pen was Yuki Matsui, a diminutive lefty who retired the side on 15 pitches.
The eighth belonged to Adrian Morejon, and wow, this guy was impressive. He hit 100 on the radar and rolled through the Brewers with just eight pitches.
The ninth, of course, went to Mason Miller. With Korn’s song “Blind” blaring, the stadium lights flashing and “The Reaper” on the scoreboard, Miller walks to the mound. Padre fans are absolutely losing their minds, and Miller didn’t disappoint, hitting 102 on the gun. He struggled a bit with his control, needing 19 pitches to get just two outs. You read that right, a two-out save.
Miller walked William Contreras with two outs, bringing the dangerous Yelich to the plate. Brandon Lockridge ran for Contreras, and with the count 1-1 on Yelich, broke for second.
Former friend Freddie Fermin gunned down Lockridge to end the game.
It was great to see Freddie playing again. He’s had a bit of a tough year, hitting in the .190s for most of the season, but on this night, he had a double and threw out two would-be base stealers. And the locals love him.
The game was clean, with neither team recording an error, and the only miscues were the Brew Crew running themselves out of two innings (and the game) with caught stealing. I had to check my scorecard to make sure it wasn’t the Royals on the field.
Royals brass would be well served by spending a week in San Diego taking notes on how the Padres do it. The concourses were packed prior to the game, but foot traffic before and after the game flowed easily. San Diego’s train system is as good as any in the nation, and that’s one area of concern for the Royals’ new stadium. Will Kansas City’s cutesy tourist rail system be able to handle game traffic without snarling pedestrian or motorist flow? I have my doubts.
Petco opened for business in 2004, and that blew me away. I would have never guessed the park was 22 years old. I spent one morning walking around the construction site in the summer of 2002. The stadium was just a hole in the ground with some beams being erected at the time. There was a chain-link fence surrounding the construction site. That part of town, just south of the Gaslamp Quarter, was kind of rough in those days. It’s since been transformed, with shops, bars, restaurants and multiple condo buildings taking root around the ballpark.
The visit got me excited for downtown baseball in Kansas City. I will miss the K. We all will. The K is a very special place and holds some great memories for most of us.
Downtown baseball is a different animal, and Kansas City needs to do this right. It won’t be an easy job for John Sherman and company. There will be community and political classes to satisfy. They must build a memorable stadium, one that’s better than the one we already have.
The city must get the infrastructure to work. And the biggest thing is the Royals must put a good product on the field. Nothing will kill downtown momentum like watching a rudderless team on its way to 100 losses. It’ll be an interesting few years as this develops.
