Padres Are Worth About 60 Victories
You won’t read about it in the sports pages, so let me give one opinion from the perspective of a fan who saw the 1988 Padres in 14 of the team’s first 23 exhibition games.
Take the game of Saturday, March 26, against the Giants. We saw a third baseman catch a line drive and fail to throw to second to double a runner. We saw a first baseman drop a routine throw from the pitcher and miss a sure out. We saw a shortstop back up the cutoff man and leave second base--with a runner stranded--untended. We saw a catcher tag up at second base when there were two outs. We saw triple-A pitching and a lack of clutch hitting.
The Padres started out spring training sharp and sassy, and they’re ending it as the zombie patrol.
Prediction? Sixty wins and sixth place.
DAVID LEE
San Diego
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