Padres Quotes #2.

It’s been awhile since I did the first segment of “Padres Quotes,” so I decided to do a part two and kick it off with one of my favorite all-time baseball quotes. Rest in peace, Professor. You were one of the good ones…

“If you have baseball in your soul, it doesn’t go away. It’s there forever.”Dick Enberg


“That’s the longest I’ve been on the field in some time.”Kurt Bevacqua after taking part in the infamous 1984 brawl with the Braves


“When I was a kid, man, my dad used to buy me the Ted Williams glove at Sears with the Ted Williams shoes with the eight stripes on them. I used to play little league, and I was Ted Williams-ed out.”Tony Gwynn


“I feel sorry for teams who don’t have what we have.”Jake Peavy on Trevor Hoffman

“Rickey is ok with this as long as Rickey knows when Rickey is going to play”Rickey Henderson on sharing time in left field with Greg Vaughn during the 1996 season

Padres Pics #1.

Much like my blog 90 Feet of Perfection, I often post interesting photos & videos with information and thoughts regarding them. I decided to kickstart the blog by doing something similar here with a series of posts called “Padres Pics.”

BEVACQUA.Kurt Bevacqua dressed as Dick WilliamsAfter the infamous 1984 Braves and Padres brawl, manager Dick Williams was suspended for his involvement in the chaos. During his suspension, infielder Kurt Bevacqua dressed up as Williams prior to a game and brought the lineup card out to the umpire crew. In Bevacqua’s words, the umpires “freaked out” before realizing it wasn’t Williams. The umps proceeded to turn him around so that cameras could document this humorous event. In my opinion, baseball is too serious these days and could use more characters such as Bevacqua. Image Source: Kurt’s facebook page
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.GWYNN.
Any video related to Tony Gwynn makes me happy and this one was no exception. I found this kind of hidden on the Padres official site yesterday and was surprised to see that not many people had shared or viewed it yet. In any case, it’s a video of Alicia Gwynn being interviewed inside the Gwynn household. It features some great shots of Tony’s baseball memorabilia and some heartwarming words from Alicia regarding her late husband. Definitely worth checking out.
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RICHARDS.Gene Richards San Diego Padres
Gene Richards played 7 of his 8 years in the big leagues with the Padres. He broke in with San Diego in 1977 and left after the 1983 season via free agency, where he joined the Giants for one season before wrapping up his playing career. Richards had some really good years in San Diego, where he accumulated a ton of hits and stolen bases, in addition to finishing with a solid batting average. As far as Padres from the past go, I feel Richards often goes under the radar.

I decided to bring up Richards because every Padres fan should know that besides Tony Gwynn, he’s the only player to officially also wear #19 in the history of the organization; which he did so for a period of time during the 1978 season. I’ve looked for ages to find a clear photo of Richards wearing #19, but I’ve had no such luck. If anyone ever comes across this, please share this with me!

The 5.5 Hole Is Born!

1998 Padres Ken Caminiti &Trevor HoffmanIf you’re reading this, you’ve come across this site via social media or a link on a fellow blogger’s site and for this, I thank you and formally welcome you to The 5.5 Hole. As some of you know, I’ve ran 90 Feet of Perfection for years. While I still very much love running that blog, I feel as if it’s time do something new. Essentially, I wanted to take the Padres content I share via 90 Feet of Perfection, my Padres related ideas and opinions from my Twitter account and the historical emphasis from my PCL Padres Instagram account, and throw it all in a blender and see what happens.

Why another team related fan site, you may ask? I answer this by saying “Why not?” What to expect, you may ask? I answer this by saying, “Everything!” The Padres social media and blogging community is somewhat small and intimate and I love what everyone brings to the table with their own sites, (which you can find above in my Fellow Friars section), however I wanted to contribute as well and in a way that 90 Feet of Perfection prohibits me from doing so. Needless to say, I’m excited and think this will be fun.

Padres Sticker and Buttons

To wrap up this inaugural post of The 5.5 Hole, I’d like to offer these FREE goodies to Padres fans checking out the blog: A vinyl sticker featuring the blog’s logo, and 1″ buttons featuring both the classic PCL Padres “Watcher” graphic and Tony Gwynn’s home run from the 1998 World Series. This is not a bribe to check out my site, but just free stuff to Padres fans that I think they’d enjoy. Just shoot me an email with your name and address and with the word “Padres” in the subject and I’ll send them out as soon as they’re ready. The only catch is that I only made 100 of each, so first come, first serve!

So that’s the first post, look for a “real” post in the next day or so though. One more thing, I’d suggest entering your email address in the “Follow The 5.5 Hole” to the right of this screen and you’ll get posts sent right to your inbox, if you’re into that sort of thing. 

Until next time- Keep the Faith, Win for Gwynn, etc etc..