Five Lessons for the Padres From Ohio St and Oregon Football

Bud Black Looking for the Right Formula to Lead the Friars in 2015. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

5) Execute the Game Plan

Well, the Padres don’t have a final roster yet, but at the end of the day you can have the right players, great coaching, depth for days, but you just need to get it done.

For the Buckeyes and Ducks they have executed when needed to get to this point. Next Monday the Buckeyes will have a game plan to stop “Super” Mario just as the Ducks will have a plan to stop Jones and star running back Ezekiel Elliot. Who will get it done? Who will step into the pressure and national spotlight and not get distracted. For some players they will look back and measure this game as their life highlight.

The fun of the baseball off season is trying to not only put a team together but arguing about what that team’s strengths and weaknesses will be. There has been talk about the Padres losing defensive prowess because of the outfielder changes. Pitch framing will cost us x amount of strikes this season. Left-handed bats, bullpen depth, etc.. You know what though? Games are not won or lost on paper.

If Wil Myers smacks a three run home run and allows a two out single that is erased on the next play, did we really lose anything? If Tyson Ross gets squeezed on a strike call by Angel Hernandez but then gets the strikeout on a swing and a miss, did we really lose that much? No!

Of course those things do matter, but with baseball some things can be forgiven because of the longer season and all the games that do get played. The Padres must have someone that steps forward as a leader.

Oregon has Marcus Mariota, Ohio State has Urban Meyer and a 2nd string quarterback, then a 3rd string quarterback, and a running back who turned out to be the Sugar Bowl MVP. Who will step up for the Padres? Who is the hero waiting in the wings that all teams need to get over that hump? My guess is – like Cardale Jones – we may not even know his name yet.

As for the game itself, who am I going for? My wife is going for the Buckeyes despite her employment at Oregon. As for myself, let’s go Ducks and WIN THE DAY!