Huston Street Looks Back At Time With Padres

Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, their quest for the franchise’s second World Series title came crashing down Sunday night in Kansas City, as the Halos were swept out of the American League Division Series by the upstart Royals. Although it’s devastating to have your season come to such an abrupt ending, former Padres and current closer of the Angels, Huston Street still reminisces about his time in San Diego. While he was contending, he was still pretending to be with his old fellow teammates down the I-5.

“When you leave someplace, you want to miss it as much as I miss San Diego,” says Street, who spent 2 1/2 seasons there before a July trade to Anaheim, “just because that means the time you spent there was meaningful. It was a time in my career that really set me on a very successful path.”                                                                                                    (h/t, Dennis Lin of the U-T San Diego)

Street benefited from a spacious outfield at Petco Park after spending time previously in high-altitude Coors Field in Denver and O.com Coliseum in Oakland. Sure, Petco was great, and he benefited from having Padres’ greats like Trevor Hoffman and longtime pitching coach Darren Balsley, but everyone knew once the Padres weren’t contending in 2014, the clock was running out and he needed to pitch for a winner.

Amid the blunders the Padres have made over the years, they at least treated Street with class and dignity. The Padres made the right decision, and dealt him to the Angels. “I kept telling them, ‘I’ll stay here. I’d love to stay here. But if you’re going to trade me, trade me someplace where I have a chance to win, a chance to close.’ And they did all those things for me.”