Kudos to losers who play hard in competitions

Monday, October 26, 1998

Kudos to losers who play hard in competitions

COLUMN: Everyone lauds game winners but never the stalwartly
defeated

In America, "to the victors go the spoils." Winners get all the
glory, the losers fall back into a San Franciscan fog.

Who lost the 1989 World Series?

Who lost the 1995 NCAA Final Four?

Who lost in last year’s Sugar Bowl?

If you can answer one of those questions off the top of your
head, then kudos to you.

But it’s time to change all of that.

Who lost the 1998 World Series?

That would be no one.

There were two teams in the World Series: the New York Yankees
(the so-called winners) and the San Diego Padres (the so-called
losers).

The Yankees swept in four games, but the Padres showed that the
losers never really lose.

The Yankees may be called the best team ever, but the Padres
were the classiest team this year. No Chuck Knoblauch complaints.
No George Steinbrenner. No high salaries.

The San Diego Padres are the class of 1998.

Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti, Kevin Brown, Trevor Hoffman, Dave
Stewart, Greg Vaughn … the A-list goes on and on.

The city that is dogged on by L.A. and San Francisco fans showed
why everyone wins when a team is victorious. But why this year?

Why weren’t the games sold out last year when the Padres were in
last place?

Because a losing ball is a boring ball.

But that is not what sports is all about. It’s about putting it
on the line and hustling on every play.

Admittedly, the Padres were blown out by the Yankees, but I have
so much love toward the Pads for keeping the faith. I have love for
the fans who showed up to cheer on the Padres even though they had
blown two leads.

The Padres did not boo Chris Gomez for making an error … they
cheered him on. They encouraged him. They showed what being a true
baseball fan is all about.

The season may have ended for this magical Padres team, but no
one should ever forget their feats. It is a team built on grit and
hard work.

Gwynn played through injury after injury. Wally Joyner played
hurt throughout the play-offs. Vaughn came back to smash 50 home
runs.

This is a team that was not hitting all cylinders in the
playoffs or in the regular season but managed to defeat two highly
regarded teams from Houston and Atlanta.

Imagine Gwynn batting .365. Caminiti blasting 40 homers and
driving in over 100 RBIs. Steve Finley hitting 20 homers with a
.300 batting average. This is an offensively explosive team that
ended up getting to the World Series the old-fashioned way.

With heart and soul.

Against Houston every game was decided by one run except for the
clincher. Against Atlanta the Padres took three games from Braves
in their own stadium.

This was a team that was supposed to finish third in the
division, maybe even fourth. But this team would not die. This team
showed the world what baseball was all about.

But did anyone care? Did anyone see?

The games were televised at one in the afternoon on the West
Coast, which is not exactly the greatest time slot. The Yankees vs.
the Indians was given prime time while Padres vs. Atlanta was
preceded by "Pinky and the Brain."

The Cinderella season has ended, but the aura should never die.
The only thing to keep it running is to keep San Diego a winning
team. The Padres need to sign a high-caliber free agent like Mo
Vaughn and re-sign Kevin Brown.

This is a team poised on the brink of greatness, and San Diegans
need to realize that.

It is time for all baseball teams to get their just desserts and
get their own baseball stadiums. A new stadium would make the
Padres a contender for years to come and would make them front
runners in a loaded National League West division.

In a world where winning means everything, the Padres need a new
stadium to fund a winning team.

So, Padres fans, throw on that Swinging Friar hat and throughout
the year just remember to keep the faith and come back out when the
Padres take the field in the spring, because the classiest team in
baseball needs to be cheered on by the classiest fans.

Salmon is a football beat writer who is voting Tony Gwynn for
governor. E-mail slow your roll responses to [email protected]
Salmon

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