What draws you to baseball?

With the first game of spring training still over a week away, I thought that now I would pose this question to the audience out there - What is it that draws you back to baseball year after year?

For me, no matter how many times I wanted to just kind of forget about it during the mediocre years of the Padres, I still found myself drawn to the team once the end of February rolled around. While I can't quite decide what it is about the game (probably the strategy involved and the battle of wits between managers when making moves), I still remember the exact moment I became a fan.

I believe I mentioned this when Tony Gwynn was inducted into the Hall of Fame but as a really young kid I began collecting football cards. However, one day my best friend brought over his baseball card collection and showed me this card:












While there may be nothing extremely exciting about this card, for some reason I was drawn to it and Gwynn from then on. Whatever effect that card had on me still holds me to this sport this day and even though my wife can't understand why I will watch full Padres games on TV whenever I get the chance, I personally know it goes back to that first card.

So now I open up the floor and ask, What draws you to baseball?

Gossage finally gets his call

The baseball writers managed to do it again - only vote one guy into the Hall of Fame. But the news is good for Padres fans as Goose Gossage was the man voted in by the writers. He will join his former boss Dick Williams in Cooperstown this summer, voted in by the veterans committee.

Gossage, one of the men who redefined the reliever position and was the forerunner to today's closers, waited 9 years to hear his phone ring with good news. It kind of gives patience a whole new meaning.

Congratulations to Gossage on his induction.

Will Gossage be next?

Last year we saw Mr. Padre inducted and a second former Padre fall short. Will this year be the year Goose Gossage finally gets the call?


With a class that doesn't feature any first time locks, this could be the type of year Gossage needs to finally be voted in. And with Dick Williams already earning a spot because of his election by the Veterans Committee, this could be a big year for Padres fans. Granted, neither guy was exclusive to our club but they are still two of our own.

The announcement of the Class of 2008 will be on mlb.com at 1:30 ET.

Does the Hall of Fame live up to its name?

With the hot stove cooling off, it seems the media has turned its attention to the Hall of Fame. And while you will find countless articles debating the Hall of Fame merits of various fan favorites, I have been pondering the importance of the Hall of Fame in general.

Last year's election was great because I saw my childhood hero elected in his first try, looking over the list I know there are those out there hoping their hero will one day get in as well.

Unfortunately, the voting process seems to be bogged down by arbitrarily decided statistical plateaus and many players who had a special role in shaping a particular franchise are left out in the cold and the system is in need of improvement.

While I don't have every single detail of my proposed system completely worked out, I think a change is needed in what the Hall actually represents. In my system, Cooperstown would be the home of and showcase the important moments in baseball history. Whether it is memorabilia from setting a record or some form of plaque for reaching a significant milestone, the Hall of Fame should highlight baseball history, not arbitrarily honor those a group of writers think are worthy to be immortalized in baseball lore.

But before you start firing off mean e-mails saying the players are more important than the milestones they reach, here is my proposal for the players - the honors should be administered by the team. Now many teams already have a team hall of fame or some sort of way to honor special players, but more emphasis should be placed on these honors.

Let it be up to the team to decide how important someone like Andre Dawson was to the Expos or Cubs. If Red Sox Nation feels Jim Rice was one of the most significant players in team history, let the Red Sox dictate so.

The Padres have only retired 5 numbers plus 42 to honor Jackie Robinson, but how many other players that have played for the organization did enough while in SD to merit a special recognition like that?

Is my proposed system perfect? Absolutely not, but would it help a guy like Goose Gossage get the recognition he deserves? Absolutely.

And if worst comes to worst, at least the baseball writers wouldn't have a say anymore.

Welcome to the Hall "Mr. Padre"

When I was 8-years-old, there was only one sport I paid attention too - football. But one day my best friend came over and showed my his baseball card collection (which consisted mostly of Padres since we lived in San Diego).

Going through his collection, he proceeded to tell me about the players and handed me some of the cards he already had. Then he came to the card of a Padres outfielder and proceeded to tell me how good this guy was. He then gave me this card, and I was hooked:


After watching Tony Gwynn play, I became amazed by the way he could put the ball where ever he wanted. He didn't hit the ball the farthest, or even over the fence very often, but there was always something about his approach and the way he always made contact that really resonated with me. When I watched him I knew I was watching someone special and his induction into the Hall of Fame Sunday justifies what I thought all those years ago.

While most kids my age spent their time reading comic books, choose your own adventure books or figuring out how to play Nintendo without the game freezing on them, I woke up every morning to read the Sports page of the San Diego Union so I could see how Gwynn was doing in his pursuit of his latest batting title. Reading the paper even became a game with my dad as I would see if I could wake up and get to the paper before he could, meaning I was a 10-year-old up at 6 a.m. reading baseball stats.

As the years went on I became more engrossed with Gwynn and the fact that he seemed to play a different game than every other player on the field and in 1994 I was sure he was going to be the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400 (Ironically I actually lived off of the newly opened Ted Williams Parkway before I moved from San Diego in 1994).

Upon moving from SD to Colorado, I still managed to follow Gwynn's pursuit of more batting titles and hoped that he would again flirt with batting .400. But as the year's carried on, so did Gwynn's health and it hurt me to see him struggle to stay healthy his last four years. He was never a 162-game player like fellow Hall inductee Cal Ripken Jr. but he never passed 130 games in any of those last four years.

The thing I appreciate the most about Gwynn and his career is the fact he never left SD, even though the Angels would have paid him a lot to come to Anaheim and be their DH. He probably could have prolonged his career as a DH but it was so important to him to finish his career in SD that he hung up his cleats while he could probably still contribute. That to me is the greatest attribute an athlete can have, is a loyalty to his team that he will play for less or retire rather than play for another team.

Upon Gwynn's retirement I found it harder to follow baseball the way I used to, however I did find another "underrated" talent to root for in saves leader Trevor Hoffman. But as Gwynn and Ripken prepare to enter the Hall, I find myself drawn back to the game, thankful that Gwynn's playing style is getting the true recognition it deserves.

It's because of Gwynn that I am a baseball fan. And so to Mr. Padre, I want to say thank you and congratulations. You truly deserve it.