You definitely need a scorecard to tell these guys apart

I spent today's off day transferring files from my old computer to my new one and while doing so I came across the San Diego Union-Tribune's "Meet your 2007 Padres" page and realized that this team is nothing like it was back in April.

Of the 25 players on the opening day roster, seven players are currently not on the roster (two have spent most of the season in the minors but are on the 40-man roster), one has shuttled back and forth all season between the minors and the Padres and two of the starters have lost their jobs.

As fans we all applaud the job Kevin Towers has done as the season goes along, but looking at these changes wholesale, the job he has done seems even better. Replacing guys like Jose Cruz Jr., Rob Bowen, Russell Branyan, David Wells and Scott Linebrink with Milton Bradley, Michael Barrett, Morgan Ensburg, Rob Mackowiak and Justin Germano may not sound like much (and we may be missing Wells as we search for a No. 5 starter) but these moves have kept the Padres within striking distances while the Diamondbacks seem to be having a "team of destiny" type season playing well beyond their talent. Personally I would much rather be battling for the division title to the wire than sitting here trying to determine what happened to the promising season the Padres appeared to be having at the end of May.

No matter how much we want it to happen, not every move made by Towers will work out in our favor but with his track record, chances are the moves will work out more often than not. The same goes for wins - the Pads may not win them all but they need to be winning more games than they lose at this point. And if that happens, we should be enjoying another postseason.

Flashback Friday: Greg Maddux

I'm tired of complaining about the latest losing streak so I thought I would introduce a regular segment that looks back at the beginnings of some of the more "seasoned" veterans on the team (Note: I realize this post finally made it up after the Padres won Friday night but I did start this before the game).

Inspired by Wednesday's matchup between two future Hall-of-Famers, I decided to look back to the first appearance of Greg Maddux back on September 2, 1986 when his Chicago Cubs lost to the Houston Astros 8-7 in 18 innings.

Maddux, a 20-year-old end of season call up, actually entered the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the 17th for catcher Jody Davis - moving to pitcher at the top of the 18th. After getting Craig Reynolds to groundout to second to lead off the inning Maddux gave up the game-winning run to Billy Hatcher on a home run. Maddux settled down and got the last two outs but the damage had been done. Maddux picked up the loss and ended the game with an ERA of 9.00. Quite the forgettable beginning.

By the way, one other player from that game is still active, current Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer, who started for Chicago and faced off against Nolan Ryan. Future MLB manages Davey Lopes, Phil Garner and Terry Francona all were players in that game and current Padres outfield Jose Cruz Jr's father was in the outfield for the Astros.

Maddux finished his shortened '86 season 2-4 with a 5.52 ERA and '87 wasn't much better (6-14, 5.61). But in his second full season he turned things around, going 18-8 with a 3.18 ERA and after 21 seasons (plus seven appearances in 2007), Maddux is 335-205 with a 3.07 lifetime ERA and 3,195 strikeouts in 4,658 innings pitched - future Hall of Fame numbers.

Not bad for a guy who was 8-18 in his first 36 games.

(One final note: Game and career information was obtained from baseball-reference.com.)