Taking it easy
Todd Walker at voluntary workouts Wednesday at PETCO Park.
It was a day of rest for most of us after a long grind, playing all through September with every game having a lot of meaning. We were told we could take Wednesday off, with a voluntary workout for guys who wanted to get some swings or throw some pitches, and we appreciated it.
I welcomed the time with my family. It isn’t easy this time of year to get a free day, and it really can be rejuvenating. It probably was even restful for Geoff Blum. Blummer has those four little girls, and I’m sure he had a great time with them, as we all do with our kids when we get a little break.
I feel good physically. I’ve been healthy all season, missing only 14 games from June 18 to July 5 with a knee contusion after I crashed into the wall at Anaheim going after a ball.
I feel like I’ve been more durable over my career than some people seem to think, and this has been my most productive season in most respects. I’ve set personal bests for runs scored (80), average (.293), triples (13) and steals (49) — and not making an error in 129 games, I’m pretty proud of that. I was part of what I think was a great outfield with Mike Cameron and Brian Giles.
Josh Barfield, they tell me, was at the workout, which doesn’t surprise me. When you’re young like that, with all that energy, it’s good to work it off. That kid never gets tired. But neither did I when I was his age.
Speaking of Josh, I’d like to point out how much respect I developed for him — and also for Adrian Gonzalez — over the course of the season. It’s never easy to be the new guy on a team, and here you had two guys who were basically rookies, even though Adrian played some for Texas last year. And the job those two guys did was phenomenal, all year long.
Josh is very attentive. He’ll come sit with me on the bench and pick my brain, and I love that. I remember one game, when he wasn’t playing against San Francisco, and he was asking me all these questions about how to hit with two outs, how you change your approach, inside stuff like that. He absorbs everything and puts it to good use. I have no doubt he’s going to be a great player for a long time. I especially like the way he focuses and performs under pressure.
Adrian is like that, too, extremely serious about the game. He’s so smart, so advanced, it amazes me sometimes the things he does. Like that play in Arizona the other day, when he came up firing and got the out at second base to end the game -? the season, really. That was a play a 10-year veteran makes, knowing the situation, having a feel for what’s happening and reacting instantaneously. Just a great play. And he’s the same way with the bat, always studying, trying to improve.
We have a lot of veterans on this club, guys who have been around and know how to play the game right. I think that’s helped Josh and Adrian both. But you still have to go out and do it on the field, and they’ve been tremendous all season long. There’s no way we’d be here without them.
How do I feel about Game 2? Confident. I like our starting pitching every time out there, and this is no exception with David Wells. I look for a big game from Boomer — and the rest of us.
Dave Roberts' Playoff Blog 
Dave, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with all of us. And, thank you for your effort all season long. We appreciate you, and wish you and the team the best of luck. Win, dammit!
Doc,
Hope you and the boys enjoyed the day off Well Deserved. I, think i speak for all Padres fans Please tell your teammates Give Em **** and take back control of the series.
Go Pads…
Dave, it’s been a lot of fun and an honor to watch you in San Diego these past few seasons. To a die hard Padre fan, it’s great to see a veteran, such as yourself, become a leader and mentor to the young players such as Josh Barfield and Adrian Gonzalez. I wish you great success the rest of the year and I hope to see you end your career as a member of the San Diego Padres.
Dave, I’ll be there cheering for you tomorrow. I’ve been given permission to leave work for a few hours to see the game! I’m sooo exicted I can hardly stand it. I know you are jazzed too. I hope you can continue to set personal bests THIS YEAR!
I’ll be at school, though I’ll be thinking about the game all day. Let’s hope this is the year that we go all the way. Good luck!
Dave – Thanks for taking the time to write these blogs for your loyal fans. This year’s team is special because of it’s resilience after the most unfortunate but non-trivial things like Chan Ho’s health issues. I was in Anaheim when you crashed into the wall and commend you for coming back and leading the team with such stellar numbers and inspiration. Please let Khalil know we really missed his magic while he was out and hope he gets plenty of chances to show us again his wizardry which helped the team get into the post-season. 6-4-3 with Barfield and Gonzalez never gets old! And to all the rest of the Padres, let them know we really do have faith. It has been a true team effort all season long because not just one man carries the team. If that isn’t World Series caliber, I don’t know what is. Take it all the way!
Dave:
Well said. This team has shown fantastic resilency all year, and I can’t believe that is going to stop. It’s important that everyone realize that baseball is a game of consistency. The emotion can carry you on a given day, but you can’t live and die with every at bat, not even in the shortened second season. A lot of balls were hit right at people and that’s baseball. You can’t change you’re approach based on that.
Go get ’em tomorrow gang…I’ll be there with you. ~Rich Campbell, San Diego Spotlight
Dave,
This is TheRevRun from gaslampball dot com. Man you are a great ballplayer. Thank you for being in San Diego this season and for everything. Everything like playing stellar defense in CF to start the season to playing flawless defense in LF all season long. I went to 55 home games this year, lucky since I live in Crown Bay. Every time you got on base to start the bottom of the first, I knew it would be a fun game and Padres victory. You are the best leadoff hitter in the league and you handle yourself with easy poise and grace, an inspiration to all of us in our dilbert jobs. Thanks for the good swings against Carpenter, I could tell that you were well prepared for the game on Tuesday. Go get ’em tomorrow.
“Got my mind on the road and yo it’s time to go!”
Peace,
The Rev
Dave, as you could probably tell from my email, I’m a Red Sox fan. I think I speak for every last Red Sox fan in thanking you for everything you did for us in 2004. The fact that there isnt a statue of you out on Yawkey way is a travesty.
Enough about the past, though, go out there and kick some ***. Give my regards to the rest of the former Sox on the team. Even Todd Walker.
C’mon Padres, Where is the heart? Show the rest of the Nation why we are two time NL West Champs. Answer this blog with a win on Saturday. You can do it I believe in you, San Diego believes in you!
From
Tony Fantano
The pitching was great from David Wells. Sad to say the padres bats were stone cold. I really thought this team could do it, with Peavy in game 1, and Wells in game 2. But typical Padres find ways to lose. The padres should get rid of the mentality of “we will get’em next time”. These are the playoffs!! Every game counts. Now the Padres find themselves a loss away from getting swept from the playoffs, again.