Maybe Ian Kinsler knew all about how many Padres fans felt about his start to the 2019 season. Maybe his post-home-run antics a year ago on this date — May 16 — had nothing to do with the fans that had been riding him. Maybe nobody believed his explanation.
Either way, rightly or wrongly, the moments after Kinsler’s go-ahead home run in a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates defined the final chapter of a 36-year-old veteran who’d once been the highest-paid second baseman in the game.
In San Diego, of course, Kinsler was in the first leg of a two-year, $8 million deal and sitting on a .