Ah, Opening Day. Full of new hope and life, a blessed reemergence from a long, hard, baseball-less winter. Every player starts on the same level, each hoping to extend their season into October. The downside of all that sunny optimism is, of course, that reality can come crashing back so hard that you get emotional whiplash. That’s what the Padres provided fans this afternoon as they fell to the Brewers in extra innings.
It was hardly all bad, of course. Clayton Richard reminded San Diego why he still belongs on a big league roster, tossing a fantastic seven innings while allowing just one run on six hits and a walk.