I'm not too surprised that neither Dex or Mr. box (or, for that matter, Kev) put up a game thread. I figured that at least 'tec would have put up one of his "blah blah blah" pieces or perhaps jodes would have created a coherent one. Oh, well, I guess ol' TTG has to do everything for you people...

It's the top of the second; Adrian hit a two run blast and Garrett Jones responded in the bottom of the first with a solo shot, his twentieth of the year.

Oh, look... the one time I decide to show up for a game thread, there isn't one. I've been missing in action for the past couple of weeks since I've been compromising all that is holy to me and letting a beautiful young gal monopolize my time that I ordinarily devote to the Padres- what an effin' sellout!

So, it's pretty retarded that Latos is back out there, huh? That's what I thought, too.

Enough words yet?

Mr. box and Dexter are slackin'. Me, I've been awake since the seventh inning of yesterday's game and am hoping my "new" hat is lucky for us... Wooo! Go Padres! Do mean things to snakes!

Peavy is done with his half of the first now...

Jeez, I still need twenty six words... roster changes, huh? What do you guys think about that? Am I done now? Nope? Here are five more.

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Man, I am still so amped up about our latest W and it's been over an hour since it went in the books. I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't too optimistic about our chances against the Reds after our dead week in Houston and Chicago; I just figured the Pads would stay at home dead- the last time I was anywhere near this happy to be wrong was probably ten years ago when it turned out that the head cheerleader did want to waste her time with some mohawked loser... This is the part where I say "but I digress" and get back to my original streak-related shpiel so anyway, I can't even narrow down my list of adjectives that describe this stretch; there are so many! These past four games have been- among other things- astounding, rad, killer, swell, nifty, badass... well, you get the idea. Every piece has been falling in place; guys who have been struggling have stepped it up, Bud has somehow avoided sabotaging us, our arms have shined both starting and relieving, and even luck has been on our side- it seems like we'd been getting jobbed by the umps and bad hops all year but the past few games we have caught every wicked break. I don't know how long this will last but I do know that I'm gonna enjoy every second of it!

It's been about a year since I told you guys about the San Diego tattoos I got that day and the GLB piece I'd be getting the next day. I got all three from a close friend who had been shadowing/ apprenticing under me. He's a tremendous artist but unfortunately when it comes to tattooing he- well, did I mention he's a really nice guy? Turns out that some people are just incapable of finding their touch with a tattoo machine in their hands and my boy Sheezy happens to be one of those who are way too timid and nerve-addled which resulted in me living a year of my life with three dubious tattoos that I finally got around to getting fixed today.

The first two are on my left hand:

but I'm sure you already saw those in the (victorious!) game thread and are interested in one thing and one thing only. So, with no further ado, here it is:

The pic looks kinda crummy due to both the freshness of the ink and my ineptitude at photography. The piece itself will look better once it heals; the redness of blood and swelling will dissipate and the graywashed areas that look way darker than they should be (banner, smoke) will fade out to subtle accents as opposed to how dark and distracting they are now. A couple of weeks from now when they're all healed up I'll have my homeboy Vinny bust out his lights, shades and cameras that cost more than my car- I'll put those up then but for now I figured I'd go ahead and post the shots I have since you guys have already waited long enough too long already...

This has been addressed before (and that was recycled, too) but it's perpetually pertinant since nobody has really stepped up to claim the role since T decided to give his knees a rest. It's especially valid now that previous favorites like Trevor, Cameron, Bard and Dave Roberts have moved on and yet another was found to be fond of flogging and flinging the fairer sex.

Heat "The Cartographer" Bell's stock has risen recently; he was apparently led to believe that the closer job entailed being the team spokesman as well and hasn't disappointed in either role. He speaks as a confident leader, whereas Gerut's comments are the musings of a neurotic dissident- equal parts Bouton and Khalil with a twist of Che Guevara. Adrian's the star but he doesn't strike me as much of a take charge guy; I suppose he could be one of the "lead by example" types. If this were three years from now, Nick Hundley might very well be top candidate...

What says you?

As a few of you know for sure and everyone else guessed, I've been a busy guy lately. I have enough time between my two corporate whore jobs, my constant down-time tattooing, and the everyday blackout liver-killing that inevitably happens even when I don't want it to to where I only get to see about one Padres game per week.  Luckily for me I got to see the conclusion of the Chi-town series on WGN (at the dive bar that my as well be my address) with my friend Shizzle who is a lifelong Cubs fan... it's the first time we've watched our teams face off and we made a series of bets that garnered me no currency but yet made me wasted to no end because he doubted both Gregory The Bladder and the all-time saves leader...  I mean I've got punchlines but who doesn't?!??...

(In another by the way, I have no picture of it yet, but the other day I got two tattoos;  a switchblade running down the side of my pinkie and hand and the one that you guys actually care about, the Chargers bolt on my thumb. Today my apprentice is going to do his first actual piece- I'm having him put the fighting unicorn with a banner saying "Gaslamp Ball" on my upper leg. Yeah, I know I'm way rad; you don't have to tell me.)

And in case I happen to DIACF, I'd like to say I love you one and all... yes, even you, sdsuaztec4.

All day yesterday, the only thing I heard on both ESPN and Fox Sports was the same tired shid about Trevor needing to retire or be demoted. Today he tosses a perfect fuggin' inning and not a word is to be heard. I don't understand the rabid minds that demand this sort of knee-jerk sensationalism. In today's media the only triumphs that are documented are the ones that have a nice, even number attached... or happen in New York or even farther north. It's the same old bitchfest that we have all been crying for years but I just needed to vent on the unadulterated absurdity of a time-old quandry.

[Note by Dex, 04/01/08 9:17 AM EDT ] Just confirmed on ESPN this morning. They were slightly more optimistic, but it looks like we won't see him again till the All-Star Break at best. Mark Prior better get his butt in gear!

According to Fox Sports, the reason Jake got pulled had nothing to do with either his commanding lead or pitch count; apparently he tore his rotator cuff. At best, he'll be back for the stretch run although that is somewhat doubtful. I'm pretty much thinkin' we might be screwed. This just completely makes me sick to my stomach. If anyone needs me, I'll be wandering the earth like Kane in Kung-Fu.

The last diary is still getting commented and is about to fall off the front page; besides, all of the information was getting annoying to sort through so I thought I'd start a fresh diary with what we know now. Sheesh, that was a long sentence!

Anyway, as things stand now, five teams (including Phantom and sdsuaztec4) are registered, one of which is Cal Penal's team and he said he'd have a rookie co-manager. Rob also said he'd take a teammate and Demoira wants to know if she can get in on the action. At this point, there's been enough buildup to make it first-come, first served basis. If you haven't already, get those e-mails in to CaliforniaPenal (raistrick@gmail.com) so we can all know who our enemies are...

I suck at fantasy baseball. However, I keep stepping back into the ring (like some sort of Barroom Hero) and I figured if I'm gonna get my ass kicked, why not lets it be at the hands (well, feet, I guess) of you guys? That and it doesn't look like the book/movie/blog club thing is going to pan out so... does anybody else think this is a good idea? I figure there's at least a dozen of you who'll be up for it; of course we'll probably all end up hating each other before the season (maybe even the draft!) is over...