Padres Editorial: An Alternative Future for the End of 2015

The Padres saw their season go sideways early and could not recover. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

I Admit: The Dream Is Over

With the Padres losing 3 of 4 to the Dodgers this past weekend – I at last concede that the Padres will not make a late season run for the playoffs. I know most made this conclusion months ago but the Padres had been showing flashes of solid baseball in recent months that left me still clinging against the odds.  I looked at the favorable remaining schedule against opponents above them – including a good portion against the division leader Dodgers and saw a glimmer of hope. Now, while I still think they can finish at .500 for the first time since 2010 that will be it. Hopefully they can finish above the Diamondbacks.

All that to say – what if the Padres had been able to make a late season run? The collapse of the Dodgers would not be the biggest or even most dramatic in history – though likely the Padres making a run like that would be one of the bigger runs.

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The beauty of baseball and it’s 162 game season is that it allows teams to change course and make runs like the Padres could have made this season. After all, if you don’t believe in your team to do the impossible, why believe at all? Look at Ohio State in college football winning 3 playoff games with a third string quarterback. Look at the New York Football Giants getting hot at the right time for their two Super Bowl runs and defeating the perfect New England Patriots once!

Yes, I’ll take my irrational logic and believe more than the players themselves. As proof, I’ll take a look at a few hot runs and big collapses in recent memory, including the 2007 Rockies, 2007 Phillies(Mets Collapse), the Cardinals in 2011(Braves collapse), and the Rays of 2011(Red Sox collapse). I was hoping the Padres could add another chapter – but now I finally admit it won’t happen…until next year that is.

Next: 2007 Rockies Recap

The Rockies made a late season surge last all the way to the World Series

2007 Rockies

This one Padres fans remember quite well as the Padres were on the short end of the one game playoff stick. That doesn’t tell the whole story to that season though. Yes, the Rockies had to win 13 of 14 to force the wild card game playoff with the Padres, but they also had the best record in the National League since late May at 72-46 as reported by Patrick Saunders.

That Rockies squad was built largely on Todd Helton who hit .320 with 17 HR and 91 RBI, Troy Tulowitzki (in his first full season he hit .291 with 24 HR and 99 RBI), and the pitching was led by Jeff Francis, who was hoping to turn around 15 years of poor pitching in Colorado and shed the memories of contracts to Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle considered to be some of the worst in history. Francis went 17-8 with 164 strike-outs while Josh Fogg went 10-9 and earned the nickname “Dragon Slayer” for consistently defeating aces along the way to the World Series.

They were able to shed the fact that they could only win at home, as in September they finished the month with a 20-8 record. They went into San Diego the weekend of September 21st and swept the Padres, outscoring them 15-6. They took that momentum INTO Los Angeles and outscored them 21-11. They started the final regular season with a rare loss in Arizona before rebounding before an 11-1 pasting on Saturday and finishing things out with a must-win Sunday by doing so 4-3 to force Game 163.

Game 163 was played between the Padres and Rockies and in Colorado because the Rockies owned the season series. It was a back-and-forth battle and the Padres gained an advantage in the 13th inning. Unfortunately, Trevor Hoffman got completely blown apart in the inning and Matt Holliday slid in under the tag of Michael Barrett. As reported by Jeffrey Marcus, Holliday put it best when asked if he touched home plate, “Yea, the umpire called me safe.”

The Rockies swept their way into the World Series before getting swept themselves by the Boston Red Sox.

Next: 2011 Red Sox Collapse

2011 Red Sox

As the 2011 season began winding down, it seemed as if the Red Sox would be a threat again in the playoffs. After winning their first World Series in 86 years in 2004, they had gone right back at it and won another in 2007. As of September 3rd in 2011, the Red Sox had a 9 game lead in the wild card. Remember – this was the final year of just 1 wild card. Tampa Bay was battling for that final spot with them. The Red Sox went just 7-19 down the stretch leaving them tied with the Rays with one game to go. By the time the games were over and rain delays and events up in New York were complete, the Red Sox were out of the post-season.

The revelations that came out of the clubhouse after the fact proved to be just as damning to this collapse. Fried Chicken and Beer became a mantra to end the Terry Francona era, a sign of how bad the clubhouse culture had become.

What made this collapse just as riveting was the timing of it all, as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays battled the New York Yankees in New York. A Red Sox rain delay nearly synced up the ballgames as the night wore on. Early on, the Rays went down 7-0 and it appeared they would be a moot point. Leaving the Red Sox simply the job of beating the Baltimore Orioles. The Red Sox had a rain delay for a hour and a half late in their game. When it started-  the Rays were down 7-0. When it ended – the Rays were tied in the 10th inning. You know every eye was watching the scoreboard that night.

Reliable Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon got the first two outs in the 9th with his team leading 3-2, but was unable to finish the job and blew the game. At nearly the same time the Rays wrapped up their dramatic 8-7 victory in 12 following an Evan Longoria home run.

Next: 2011 Atlanta Braves Collapse

The Braves blew a large wild card lead in September in 2011. Padres couldn’t force the Dodgers to do the same with the division this year.

2011 Atlanta Braves

The happiest group of players about the 2011 Red Sox collapse besides the Tampa Bay players who made the playoffs directly is probably the 2011 Atlanta Braves. They too lost 18 of their final 25 games, squandered a 8.5 game lead to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In this one, the Braves too needed to win just one of three of their final games to secure a wild card spot – and they could not do it. In the final game of the season, they played Philadelphia and BLEW a lead in the ninth with stud Rookie of the Year closer Craig Kimbrel on the mound. St. Louis of course had won earlier in the day because you just expect St. Louis to win.

This year’s Braves were supposed to be different though. Bobby Cox had gone in 2010 with one more playoff exit with the Braves in a tough fought series with the Giants. 2011 though was supposed to be even better. Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman were ready to lead this team. Chipper Jones – who did not play in the 2010 playoffs due to injury – played all season. Brian McCann, who had debuted the last of the 14 straight division titles in 2005 now was the veteran with the Braves mantle-in-waiting from Chipper.

Yet, the pitching wore out. All Star starters Jair Jurrgens and Tommy Hanson got hurt and did not pitch in September. The relieving triumvirate of Eric O’Flaherty, Johnny Venters, and Kimbrel faltered – and it should be pointed out – 2 of those 3 have never been the same since. The Braves fell and this one hurt. They made (and lost) the one game playoff in 2012, lost a tough division series after winning the NL East in 2013, and then reverted. 2014 they played well but swooned in September, and this year they might end up yet with the worst season in baseball.

Next: 2007 New York Mets Collapse