30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, November 14, 2011

Call me the Soothsayer...

1989 Topps #59

Yesterday, I posted about how there's not much to cheer for when it comes to my favorite football team... the Seattle Seahawks. I also "jokingly" predicted that the Hawks would beat the Ravens.

What happened later that day? They end up beating the Baltimore Ravens, who came into the game leading one of the NFL's toughest divisions... the AFC North.

Which in some magical way means that either I can predict the future or I'm some kind of good luck charm... right?

So today, I figured I'd target another one of my favorite teams (in hopes of bring them some good fortune in the near future)... who have also struggled in recent years: The San Diego Padres.

Fact #1: The Padres have missed the playoffs five years in a row.

Fact #2: Ryan Ludwick led the team with 11 home runs last season.

Fact #3: The Padres hit 91 home runs, which is only 14 more than Matt Kemp (led the NL with 39) and Prince Fielder (2nd in NL with 38) hit combined this past season.

Fact #4: Only two players hit over .300 on the team: 1B Jesus Guzman (.312 w/271 plate appearances) & SP Wade LeBlanc (.364 w/26 plate appearances).

Fact #5: As a team, the Padres ranked in the bottom three in these categories: runs, hits, doubles, home runs, rbi's, and total bases.

Thankfully... their pitching staff kept them in games. They were in the top 4 in each of these pitching categories: ERA, runs allowed, and home runs allowed.

Speaking of pitching... let's flashback twenty-two years. On November 14th, 1989... Mark Davis won the 2nd Cy Young Award in franchise history (Gaylord Perry was the first... and since then Jake Peavy has also won it while sporting a Padres uniform).

That season, Davis led the MLB in saves and finished with an amazing 1.85 ERA. At the time, he was only the fourth closer to take home the prestigious award. So here's a "hip, hip, hooray" for Mr. Davis and his memorable accomplishment.

Okay... I've done my end of the deal. Now it's time for some serious MOJO (damn, I really dislike that word... but in this case, I need to use it).

Oh, c'mon... I'm not expecting much. How about signing Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Jose Reyes, Roy Oswalt, and Mark Buehrle?

Alright... I won't be that greedy. Just give me Pujols, Reyes, and Fielder. So do we have a deal? If so... I promise, I'll post about the A's tomorrow night.

What? It's 10 o'clock already? Time for sleepy time. Goodnight everyone. Sayonara!

NaBlo WriMo Daily Total: 412 Words
November Total: 3,659 Words

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