While the 2024 version of the San Diego Padres continues to oscillate between looking good or bad at any given moment with things trending positive after their 5-2 win on Wednesday and then completely awful after their meltdown on Thursday, one of the more fun developments this season has been a blast from the past as former Padre Eric Hosmer has been lifting the veil from his time in the big leagues in hilarious fashion.
Just to be clear, Hosmer's actual career with the Padres was obviously a disappointment. He signed a $144 million deal with San Diego only to be the definition of "meh" for the vast majority of his time with the team.
However, since Hosmer retired back in February, he has been making the rounds telling stories from his career, including a not-so-flattering portrayal of Jayce Tingler and his time as Padres manager.
This time, Hosmer did a pivot when he sat down for a chat with current and former big leaguers and decided to tell a truly hilarious story about Ha-Seong Kim and how he deals with the stress of being a big league baseball player.
Ha-Seong Kim's smoking habit was/is comedy gold for Padres fans
First thing's first, smoking is bad for you and no one should do it, including Kim. That said, if you can't laugh at Kim chain smoking during his first year in the big leagues, then proclaiming that he was not going to smoke anymore only to completely abandon the idea after a couple games, there is no hope for you.
Obviously tobacco has been a big part of baseball for a long, long time. However, it is very much in decline in the US, whether smoking or dipping, even in baseball where it used to be everywhere. It's kind of fascinating that players from Japan and Korea still smoke as much as they apparently do, according to Hosmer.
If it works for Kim, so be it, and again, the story is really funny and shows the human side of a guy that fans love. We do wish he would find a healthier way to manage his gameday anxiety, though. We don't need him gasping for air rounding third or anything like that.
As for Hosmer, we just want to see what he talks about next.