I can honestly say that of all the 260 hats that I own, this
is my least favorite. I feel like kind of a scumbag saying that considering the
fact that the San Diego Padres have been wearing this hat every Sunday since
the 2011 season as part of their “support the military” days. I really have
nothing against the military, nor do I have anything against supporting the
troops… I just really hate the color of this hat. Which is also why of all the
regular game worn on-field caps from 2012, this was the last one I scooped up.
Over the years teams have reconstructed and introduced a
variety of caps which have made me question how certain people are able to keep
their jobs. While I completely understand the desert sand color on this hat
matches with the color combination of the camouflage jerseys the Padres wear, I
just feel that there are many ways the Padres could have been supportive of the
military presence in San Diego
with a bit more flair and style. Because honestly, it looks like somebody
spilled a jar of butternut squash baby food all over it and called it a day.
*It’s at this moment I would like to point out that not
every one of these blog posts are winners.
**I should also point out that sometimes when one critiques
something on a daily basis, whether it be food, films, music, etc. some of the
final products aren’t up to snuff.
Anyway, the concept behind why the Padres opted to roll with
this is truly noble. San Diego houses a large portion of the United States
military, primarily the Navy and Marines on account of the more than perfect
weather conditions, but most importantly because of the location it provides
for deployment, training and first line of defense for an east to westward
attack (Yes, I know a lot more about the world than just baseball). From
2006-2010 the Padres had done a different color variation on this tribute, but
I’ll get to that post later this year. The biggest difference between this
uniform style, other than color, and the '06-'10 set is the use of the digital
camouflage style similar to what was used in the Stars and Stripes hat released
by all the teams for Memorial Day. Like this…
Since this hat was introduced in 2011 I figured it would be
best to stick with that year when marking up my hat. Keeping with the Sunday
theme I decided to roll with only key numbers from those “Military Day” games…
and somehow, even as meticulous as I am, I still managed to screw it up. I
blame the color of the hat.
#21- This part is accurate. In 2011 Heath Bell was probably
the most redeeming quality of the Padres’ 71-91 season. The most home runs any
one player had was 11 by Ryan Ludwick who also led the team in RBI with 64.
Clearly things were not going well. Bell saved 43 games that season on top of a
3-4 record with a team leading 2.44 ERA for all pitchers who threw 60 or more
innings; which means that Bell contributed to 65% of their wins. For his
service Bell
made his third straight All-Star appearance as the lone member of the Padres.
You might remember his sprint out of the bullpen and slide into the pitchers
mound. Classic!
16-10(7-5)- I totally blew it on this, but at the same time
not really. If you couldn’t tell by the season record I posted above, the
Padres had a less than optimal season in 2011. How bad you say? Well, they won
the first game of the season on March 31, which meant that March was the only
month in which the Padres finished with a win percentage for a month greater
than .500. In May the Padres went 14-14 which was the only full month they
finished with a .500 or better record; however, based on the season splits,
Sunday proved to be a very successful day for them. Now, here is where I
screwed up: when breaking down the day-by-day numbers I accounted for ALL of
the Sunday matchups, in which they finished with a 16-10 record with a win
percentage of .615; pretty good. I thought that was their Home record; you
know, the days in which they wore this cap. Without double checking my numbers,
which is not something that happens often, I pulled out my black Sharpie and
marked it up. After about 25 minutes of shaking the stupid out of my brain, I
finally realized my mistake and went back threw the numbers; hence the (7-5),
their actual Home Sunday record. A .538 win percentage on that day is still
pretty solid; however, Bell only accounted for two saves, one win and one loss
in that stretch. What gives bro!?
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