Now that the Chargers' Super Bowl hopes have been dashed, I guess we can talk about the Padres who were officially eliminated from the Playoffs last night.  Unofficially the Padres were eliminated in the middle of May.  That's about the time that everyone rolled over and played dead.

I've been having a tough time keeping up with the number of roster moves that have happened in the last week.  Not because there was that many, but mostly because these are guys I've never heard of before and also because I have trouble caring.  Okay, I care a little bit, but I like to pretend I don't in hopes that they'll try to impress me.

• Luke Carlin was recalled and Chip Ambres was brought up from Portland.  Luke has been up and down three times this season.  I think we all remember him, he's pretty good behind the dish and pretty bad standing next to it with a bat.  Chip Ambres was up July 8th and DFA'd on July 29th.  I swear I don't remember him at all.  It says here that he went 2-17 with the Padres.
• Chad Reineke is done for the season.  He's got a stress reaction in his right shoulder blade.  We got Reineke from Houston in the Randy Wolf deal, if you've forgotten.  He made 4 appearances in August with a record of (2-1).  Don't remember ever seeing him.
• Outfielder Macias and RHP Ekstrom were called up. Macias was up for a short time at the end of last season and for Ekstrom it's his first time in the majors.  Neither of them will be lonely because there are 10 of their teammates from Double A San Antonio in the clubhouse.  Never heard of them.
• Meredith is back in the bigs after a short stint in Portland.  Meredith kept his pride but took a good look at himself after his demotion.  No idea who he is.

The Cubs must be hating the fact that the Brewers get to play the Padres for 4 games, which makes me happy.

Go Padres!!

I'm sitting here in the Brewers press box, watching the Padres in Milwaukee and wondering how I, a Native San Diegan got  to the point where I would be living in Milwaukee.  I was thinking of the differences between the two cities.

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I was just thinking about the old Baseball Stars game for the NES. You could have girls on your team. I'd always try to have at least one girl on my team and have her be a pitcher. I figured that every fifth day, it would be nice to have some eye candy on the mound and maybe confuse the batters a little bit with her funky arm motion.

Back before all the fancy ass graphics kids got now with their PlayStation 360s, we would have to use our imaginations even while we played video games. Now the girl baseball players in video games are all boobies and artificial intelligence and kids don't have to imagine anything because they can see it in 1080i.

GO PADRES!!!

What super powers would you want to have if you could only use them while playing baseball? I think a lot of people would say Superman's powers because then you could crush the ball and move really fast. Maybe use X-Ray vision to see if the pitcher's wearing a cup.

Me? I'd want the Invisible Girl's powers from the Fantastic Four. I wouldn't tell anybody that I had the powers though. It would be tons more fun to pull off the old Hidden Ball Trick by turning invisible. And if a throw's coming into home and I'm looking to take out the catcher, I might project an invisible barrier just before the ball reaches the infield to by myself a little more time.

INVISIBLE HIGH FIVE! GO PADRES!

I keep seeing the advertisement on the front of Padres.com where they are promoting Country Night at the ballpark featuring a concert by Pat Green.

Howdy Padres Fans! Put on your cowboy hat and boots and come out to Country Night at PETCO Park. Stay after the game and enjoy a Park at the Park concert featuring Pat Green presented by Bud Light and brought to you by KSON. You may even see a Padres player on stage. See ya'll there!

I just did a google search to see who the hell Pat Green is.  Get this, he's the guy who sings "Wave on Wave", that's the song that Linebrink covered for the baseball album Oh Say Can You Sing.  I really like that song.  I wish Linebrink was still a Padre so they could do a duet.  Pat Green featuring Scott Linebrink and a computer correcting his singing pitch.  That would have been a good nickname for Linebrink "The pitchshifter". That'd be awesome.

Which Padres do you think are going to go up on stage?  Just Peavy?  I'll bet you Kouzmanoff line dances. 

Here's some live video of Pat Green singing Wave on Wave with a bit of U2 mixed in.

You can tell a lot about someone by their handshake.  Let's take a closer look at one Harry Ralston Black Jr. or as his friends call him "Buddy".

via media.signonsandiego.com

Look how proud Buddy is in this picture.  Examine his body language if you will.  Good eye contact, lips tight, unable to hide the smile that will soon burst forth.  He extends his right hand to greet rookie Venable.  Hand open, fingers slightly spaced but rigid, palm completely exposed and facing toward the heavens on a slight tilt. Left hand hanging loose from a tight shoulder, slightly off his hip, legs spread to his shoulder's width. Pants tight on his upper thighs causing a bunching around his pelvic region.

You might have expected Buddy to present his palm vertically but he did one better.

Better Tilt your hand slightly so that your palm is pointing to the sky. This subtle body language message is humility and that you are there to help and to serve.

Bud Black is a class act, a teacher and a mentor.  Every time Dex and I meet Kev's dad, he'll display his hand vertically though slightly cupped.  Then as soon as contact is made he'll roll our hand over with his, dominating us.  It is all done very naturally and without any other body language or message.  We've even told each other before our eventual meeting with him that we would not allow our hands to be turned.  Though it always happens.  His handshake simply tells us that we are his b*tches.

What's all this mean?  Not really sure, except that if Kev's dad was a manager we'd probably have a winning record.

What if baseball were a contact sport? So like if a runner's on first base and trying to take a lead, the first baseman could either play for the ball or physically hold the guy in place. Maybe he wouldn't be allowed to grab, but it might be more like basketball where you were allowed to try to box somebody out and pivot on one foot or something.

A rival baseball league should make that a rule to differentiate themselves from the competition. That's what I learned in business school. You want to differentiate yourself from the competition. Like if your competition is making lemonade, you make ecofriendly habitats for turtles.

GO PADRES!!