It’s tough to pinpoint exactly when it all went pear-shaped for the San Diego Padres. The most logical opinion is on Monday night, when Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader in major league baseball history, blew his second consecutive save opportunity (and seventh on the season), giving the Colorado Rockies a 9-8 win in a tiebreaker game to determine the National League wild card team.
Some might say it was earlier in that game, when Padres staff ace Jake Peavy, who once again struggled to come through in a do-or-die game, gave up three quick runs in the first two innings and six through six innings, his second worst outing of the season.
Some might say it was two days prior, when Hoffman blew yet another save against the Milwaukee Brewers, in a game that if the Padres had won would have clinched a playoff berth.
Still others might say it was Sunday, Sept. 23, when the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Friars in a bizarre game at Petco Park. In that contest, centerfielder Mike Cameron broke a bone in his hand when it was stepped on by fellow outfielder Milton Bradley while chasing down a fly ball.
But that game had more lasting repercussions than just Cameron’s injury. In an incident that has garnered much ridicule and sparked lengthy debates, Bradley tore ligaments in his knee when he was wrestled to the ground by manager Bud Black after Black was trying to restrain Bradley from going after umpire Mike Winters.
Winters reportedly accused Bradley of throwing his bat at the home plate umpire following his previous at-bat. When Bradley asked Winters about it, Winters began verbally abusing Bradley and cursing at him, seemingly antagonizing the volatile outfielder to react, which is exactly the way things played out.
Padres first base coach Bobby Meacham, who was a witness to the entire scene, later said that in his 26 years in baseball, it was “the most disconcerting conversation I have heard from an umpire to a player. There’s no possible way a man is going to stand there and take what he said to Milton.”
Subsequently, Winters was suspended for his part in the altercation. But to some the damage was already done. Provoked or not, Bradley’s outburst had cost him his season and left the Padres without their best source of offensive firepower. In addition, after cruising toward a wild card berth, the Rockies’ sweep of that series cut San Diego’s lead from 4.5 to 1.5 games.
A general malaise formed following the circumstances of that series, and even the most optimistic of fans, coaches and players realized a place in baseball’s postseason was no longer a formality.
Colorado would eventually win 14 of their last 15 games to close out the regular season, tying the Padres with a record of 89-73, and setting up the one-game, winner-take-all showdown.
Even still, it looked as if the Padres might pull out a dramatic win, when Scott Hairston hit a two-run homerun off Colorado relief pitcher Jorge Julio in the top of the 13th inning, to push the Friars ahead 8-6. But a game this stressful and dramatic deserved an ending equally, albeit unexpectedly, stressful and dramatic.
After Kaz Matsui doubled to leadoff the bottom of the inning, Troy Tulowitzki doubled, to bring Matsui home. The next hitter was Holliday, who smoked a triple over the outstretched reach of Brian Giles in right field, scoring Tulowitzki and tying the game.
Jamey Carroll then hit a sacrifice fly to left, and Holliday raced home to score the winning run. Despite being called safe, replays showed that Holliday never touched home plate, as his face-first slide attempt was blocked by Padres’ catcher Michael Barrett.
Hoffman faced the music like the professional that he is, after the game telling reporters that it was the worst baseball moment of his life.
“I’m having a hard time expressing myself right now,” he said. “I wish I could, but I can’t after what happened tonight.”
In any event, the Rockies now move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies, who themselves made a dramatic surge into the postseason.
And for San Diego, it’s another year of “almosts.”