Stay Classy San Diego: 245 Pound Wii Playing/ESPN Hatin Closer, Platoonin’ Record Holder, and Grainy Video Star

"The San Diego Padres make America’s pastime interesting don’t they?  When you sit down tonight to check out our beloved Pittsburgh Pirates visit sunny California, be grateful that our 9-6 ballclub doesn’t provide headlines like you will read below, well, unless your a fan of: Former Pirate PlatoonPlayer Opens CitiField with HomerFormer Pirate Hits Girlfriend Several current Pirates are from Southern California.  What a great place, one of the finest on the planet in my opinion.  Most of my career in the military was spent inside the great state of California.  The sunshine of Carmel I do miss.  I still find sand in my garage from Barstow’s The National Training Center. California’s sons have returned to play for the Padres.  A quick update on the California Boys is the basis for today’s post.  Former Met, Heath Bell from Oceanside, Stanford’s own Jody Gerut and Granite High’s favorite alum, Brian Giles all make for great reading.  Enjoy our own sunshine Pittsburgh fans, have a great weekend.  Next week we will begin our giveaways, be sure to stop back.  Thank you for all your support during my first 100 posts."

As you know,  a number of Pirates lost a considerable amount of weight in the offseason.  But I didn’t hear any of them saying it was because they played Wii Fit with their children.  Heh, if the Pirates front office catches hold of the next story, Pedro Alvarez is going to be on one of those wild looking Wii Balance Boards in Lynchburg by Monday.  Check this out…the new Padres closer, Heath ‘Media Darling’ Bell said his Mii avatar looked chubby and he didn’t like it.  So Bell credited losing 25 pounds to playing on his kids Wii.  This guy loves the microphone and apparently is a big fan of the Nintendo Balance Board as well. 

So Nintendo tops his fav list, but  Bell doesn’t care for ESPN. He said so to the San Diego Union-Tribune,  In fact ESPN gives him the ass.  So scratch Disney from future sponsorship opportunities.

"I saw John Kruk on “Baseball Tonight” and he said, ‘They’re playing really well, but I don’t believe in them,’” Bell said before Monday’s game. “And I saw ESPN’s promo for tonight’s game. They mention the Mets are opening Citi Field, they mentioned the starting time, but nowhere did they mention the Padres. That gave me the (expletive).”Bell was just getting warmed up in his pregame commentary.“I truly believe ESPN only cares about promoting the Red Sox and Yankees and Mets – and nobody else,” said the closer, a former Met. “That’s why I like the MLB Network, because they promote everybody. I’m really turned off by ESPN and ‘Baseball Tonight.’ When Jake Peavy threw 8 1/3 innings on Saturday, they showed one pitch in the third inning and that was it. It’s all about the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets.”"

 The center field platoon of Jody Gerut against right handers like Ian Snell and Scott Hairston against the Zach Duke’s of the world is working well for the Padres.  Hairston states that he enjoys the role and communication is much better on the Padres coaching staff than it ever was when he wore the Diamondbacks jersey.  Add up the offensive production, and the Padres have the best CF in the league, eight doubles, three home runs, 14 RBIs and a .371 batting average in 70 at-bats.  Link on Padres.com

Where was all of this ability when you were in a Pirates uniform Jody Jesus?  Ahh the memories of 2005, we gave up Matt Lawton for the Sporting News Player of the Year-our problems were solved.  Two years later, you were gone.  Now Jody Gerut, you are in the Hall of Fame.

"Gerut came to Pittsburgh in mid-2005, but has played just four games since then because of knee problem, and Luis Matos was already expected to make the team over him. “We just came to the decision that he was not part of the 25 best players in this camp,” GM Dave Littlefield said. By releasing Gerut now, the Pirates will owe him only one-sixth of the $850,000 they were due to pay him this year. The outfielder said Thursday that he expects to play this season and is confident that he’ll quickly sign on with another team. Mar. 8 – 10:40 am etSource: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review"

Now you have become the first player in major league history to open a new ballpark with a leadoff homer.  You got your name in the NY Daily News with that homer barely a minute after the ribbon was cut! Congrats kid.

Brian Giles, it is great to see you again!  Crazy off season for you eh?  Did you really hit your pregnant girlfriend?   I tried to see the video on Deadspin, but I am glad that you plea bargained and the $10 million dollar lawsuit was dropped. I read that you completed anger-management counseling as part of a plea agreement, and the case was dropped in February.  It was ‘all about money’ was what I heard you told ESPN.

"Why would 7-8 Deville post this about you? “I’ve heard the Padres were considering a suit against Giles for abusive conduct against the game of baseball.”"

Why are they picking on you out here on the left coast?  I thought this was all about love, green energy, and hot nightspots?  Oh, wowBrian Giles is struggling thats why. Maybe it is all about money, you are getting paid $9 million this year.

Want to quickly catch up on the Padres season on a hilarious West Coast Blog?  I love the following quote from Ducksnorts about the Padres…

"I keep staring at the names on the pitching staff. It’s like I’m at a crime scene: Who are these people, and what are they doing here?Here is the Ducksnorts link, even a ”For Whom the Bell Tolls” reference"