Stauffer might be too valuable to start - Padres.com
Nothing beats experience - San Diego Union-Tribune
A fresh start for new reliever Stauffer - North County Times
Kyle Blanks interview with Scott & BR - 1090 AM AUDIO
Bud Black interview with Scott & BR - 1090 AM AUDIO
Tom Garfinkel interview with Scott & BR - 1090 AM AUDIO
Will Venable interview with Darren Smith - 1090 AM AUDIO
Tony Gwynn interview with Hacksaw - 1090 AM AUDIO
Dick Enberg Analysis: and on the Seventh Day we discussed.....well, Dick Enberg, of course - Avenging Jack Murphy
Hey Scan question about rulings on rain delays - Bob Scanlan
Hey Scan comments about our suits - Bob Scanlan
Here’s a Wacky Idea! - Chicken Friars
Early Middle Infield Struggles - Chicken Friars
Early-Season ERAs - Chicken Friars
How’s That For a Blowout? - Chicken Friars
Does This Air Make My Head Look Fat? - Ducksnorts
MLB Power Rankings - Friar Forecast
Padres vs Rockies Series Recap - The Friarhood
It's Been A Minute - Friars on Cardboard
Padres Home Opener 2010: Random Stuff - Gaslamp Ball
Memories - Inside the Padres
Baseball’s Top 10 Outfield Prospects - Mad Friars
Home-opening leftovers - North County Times Blog
Hand Progress - The Official Blog of Matt Antonelli VIDEO
Padres MiLB, April 13, Players of the Day - Padres Rundown
Odds and Ends from the Opener - Padres Trail
17 For The Padres and Top 10 For Me - Unfinished Business
Sky Sox come through in 11th inning to beat Beavers - The Oregonian
Missions Report: Missions 6, Tulsa 4 - San Antonio Express-News
Storm: Home run in 9th extends winning streak - The Californian
TinCaps drop 2 of 3 on 1st road trip - The Journal Gazette
Pitcher returns to form - The Journal Gazette

*SDPads1 Note: In the next couple of days you are going to see quite a few posts that are from weeks past. With the site transfer things kind of got backed up a bit regarding posts, so if you are confused as to why we are writing about something that happened weeks ago....then there's your answer. These were written and just sitting in the queue waiting for the new launch and figured I might as well unleash these a little at a time.*

The Fro was lucky enough to be invited to the Padres Media Opening Night (4/6/10). Along with fellow bloggers Ducksnorts, The Friarhood & Gaslamp Ball we played some ball, ate food & chatted with some of San Diego's real media members while the Padre game was on the scoreboard. Hacksaw, Jim Laslavic, Scan, Johnny Midnight, Jenny Cavnar, Chrissy Russo, Jane Mitchell, among many many others were there that night checking out all the latest and greatest in what the Padres had to offer this season. Upon arrival we recieved a little gift bag that contained a hat, an opening day shirt, a SD flair pin, a pocket schedule and then a list of a whole bunch of things new this season. After traveling on the blue carpet that was laid out for us we entered into the hallways towards the field.

Ahhh yes....the field. People were already warming up, getting ready to take some hacks and shag some balls on the wonderful Park known as Petco. We ran into the Gaslamp Ball guys almost immediately and began laying out our strategy in making all the other media members look like fools on the field that day. I wondered out loud what it would take to get Hacksaw out there, but he was to busy by the food tables the whole night and I don't think his bowling wrist brace would make things easy for him out there. Weisbarth & Cavnar were in full on workout gear and looked prime to shine that night. Unfortunately the Fro never made it into the batters box due to the excitement surrounding everything else going on and the extremely long lines, but Marshall & myself did flash the leather out on the field. I fully expect Marshall to still be at 2nd base on Opening Day because he was entrenched there and refused to give it up all night.

From there we went and sampled some of the fine cuisine that Petco will be unleashing on everyone this season. Some great stuff all around and Beautown seriously got one of everything and consumed every last crumb. I'm glad he drove seperately that day.

Finally we made the trek over to the upcoming promotions. Everyone knew what the Eckstein bobblehead looked like from Fan Fest but they also had the Cabrera & Headley bobbleheads over there as well as the Padres "Soccer Scarf". I unleashed those all to you Twitter followers immediately that night but in case you missed it........

They also were showing off the '78 & '84 Padres jersey's that will be worn this year. I was told that the '84 jersey's will be worn on the first Thursday (with the Braves wearing throwbacks as well) and then the '78 jersey's will be worn every other Thursday.

After the Media event we, along with Geoff of Ducksnorts, headed over to the Friarhood meetup at the Tilted Kilt. Steve did an excellent job setting this up and had an amazing turn out. He had prizes, beer deals & free tacos! We chatted with Peter of Padres Rundown an amazing in depth Padres Minor League blog. Also matthewverygood, charisma & eastbaysd of Gaslampball made appearances. It almost had the same vibe as an actual Padres games because all the people went crazy each time the Padres scored a run.

All in all the Fro had an amazing night. HUGE thanks goes out to the San Diego Padres, Warren Miller and Friarhood Steve for putting on 2 amazing events.

For more pics from Media Day check out our Facebook page!!

Hairston Jr. claims ring on busy off-day - Padres.com
Padres plate 10 in fourth, paste Braves - Padres.com
Hanson, Richard both at home in PETCO tilt - Padres.com
With Young out, Padres' rotation in flux - Padres.com
Thumb aside, Headley feeling fine - Padres.com
Recap: SD 17, ATL 2 - Padres.com VIDEO
Trouncing of Braves sets some records - San Diego Union-Tribune
Blanks' big day is flash of potential - San Diego Union-Tribune
Notebook: Young  not worried about latest setback - San Diego Union-Tribune
Padres ride a Rally Chicken - San Diego Union-Tribune
Baseball has lost some charm - San Diego Union-Tribune
Portland shutout paces affiliates sweep - San Diego Union-Tribune
Young heads to DL with shoulder pain - North County Times
Ramos acing new test in bullpen - North County Times
Padres run at will, rack up runs in blowout of Braves - North County Times
Familiar face at the home opener - North County Times
Ted Leitner interview with Scott & BR - 1090 AM AUDIO
Matt Vasgersian interview with Scott & BR - 1090 AM AUDIO
Bobby Cox interview with Darren Smith - 1090 AM AUDIO
Chase Headley interview with Darren Smith - 1090 AM AUDIO
Padres crush Braves, 17-2 - ESPN VIDEO
The Cheap Seats (featuring Heath Bell) - FOX Sports VIDEO
The Shuffling Act of The San Diego Padres Leadoff Hitters - Bleacher Report
Don’t count on covering any bases with Gonzalez - The Boston Globe
Padres Postgame Video: Kevin Correia and Will Venable - 619Sports.net VIDEO
Padres Postgame Audio: Bud Black and Kyle Blanks - 619Sports.net AUDIO
Padres Home Opener: Chris Young and Tony Gwynn - 619Sports.net AUDIO
Padres Home Opener: 3 Questions For Jed Hoyer - 619Sports.net AUDIO
Game 7: The Running of the Padres - Avenging Jack Murphy
Buschmann Standing Out Early - Chicken Friars
Adam Russell Recalled From Portland - Chicken Friars
Nate Freiman, Jonathan Galvez Making Early-Season Splashes in Low-A - Chicken Friars
A Simulation Adventure - Chicken Friars
Poreda’s Wildness Continues - Chicken Friars
Pelzer Rocked in First Start - Chicken Friars
AA Shortstop Beamer Weems to Minor League DL - Chicken Friars
Padres Destroy Braves, Pythagoras - Ducksnorts
Not Ironic, Really, Just Coincidental - Ducksnorts
The Padres Do Not Need To Steal More Bases - Friar Forecast
Tomahawk Talk Interview - Friar Forecast
Padres Fans Should Relish New Owner and His Commitment to Fans - The Friarhood
Opening Day excitement includes a sellout - Friar John's Blog
Padres bring the thunder, beat the Braves 17-2, show off new home game features - Gaslamp Ball
Open Thread, 4/12: OPENING DAY - Gaslamp Ball
The Funniest Book Review Ever about the Funniest Baseball Book Ever - Gaslamp Ball
CY to the 15-Day - It Might Be Dangerous...You Go First
Padres 2010 extended spring roster - Mad Friars
Old Is New: Dick Enberg Gets Cozy as Voice of San Diego Padres - MLB Fanhouse
Happy birthday to me - The Official Blog of Matt Antonelli
Hi my name is... - The Official Blog of Matt Antonelli
Padres MiLB, April 12, Players of the Day - Padres Rundown
Nick Canepa now a parody of himself - The Sacrifice Bunt
Not What I Expected - Unfinished Business
Padres: A Week in Review, 4/11/10 - Who's your Padre?

**NOTE FROM EDITOR** Sorry for no links yesterday.  The staff at The Fro Times decided to take a personal day and attend Opening Day, a 17-2 whopping good use of time off!!!

So after Ax gave me the, how you say, bidness, regarding my breakfast burrito challenge, I decided to change the rules up a bit. No longer will steals be taken away!!! 2 steals equals 1 burrito. DONE and DONE! So let's reassess where we are now...

Game #1 - 0 steals
Game #2 - 3 steals (1.5 burritos)
Game #3 - 0 steals
Game #4 - 0 steals but 1 Caught Stealing
Game #5 - 1 steal & 1 Caught Stealing (.5 burritos)
Game #6 - 0 steals but 1 Caught Stealing
Game #7 - 1 steal (.5 burritos)

Grand Total - 5 steals equaling 2.5 Breakfast Burritos so far. Thanks Ax without your encouragement I'd still be stuck on burrito #1. Which leads me to.........

BURRITO #1

This is a Santee Burrito from Albert's Fresh Mexican Food. I decided to start off my mission with the traditional eggs, ham & cheese burrito. Upon initial inspection the overall size of the burrito was bigger than your average burrito. Tortilla inspection passed with flying colors. Excellent taste and it didn't fall apart once you started eating it. Now onto the burrito. You'd think that a burrito this basic could never get screwed up....but I've had some horrible egg, cheese & ham burritos in my lifetime and thankfully this wasn't one of them. Great taste all around. I give this a solid 7 Fros out of 10 and would actually like to go back and try one of their other 5 breakfast burritos. I highly suggest Albert's Fresh Mexican Food to everyone. Great food and it's not a hole in the wall taco shop either. Think downtown Rockin' Baja Lobster esque decore....but authentic Mexican food.

**EDIT-In case you were wondering what the Breakfast Burrito Challenge was all about...check this out.

The Padres home opener is in the books and what a game it was! I'm glad we made it too, because around 10:00AM yesterday, things were looking bleak for the Fro. All of us weren't quite sure we could get the time off of work, so we held off on buying tickets and then when the time came to get tickets, they were all sold out. Then all of a sudden a savior swooped in and saved the day with 3 tickets. The Fro was saved! A HUGE thanks goes out to that person.

Upon arrival Marshall and myself roamed the 1090 block party for a bit. There were numerous opportunities for a Fro Challenge, but we passed on it this time in exchange for the numerous free food samples given out at various tents. Local reggae favorites Common Sense were performing on the 91X stage so we stopped to listen for a second as they sang a song about legalizing marijuana. This group of people really seemed to like the performance...

We eventually made it to the 1090 radio booth and chatted with RJ & Darren for a bit. After that I went about 2 booths over and sat there and watched random unsuspecting people get pelted in the head by peanuts flying through the air. And no I'm not talking about some punk kids throwing a single peanut at people. I'm talking about an actual booth, throwing out free bags of peanuts at people. Nothing better than seeing grandma walking by harmlessly enough, only to get pelted in the head with a bag of peanuts. Enjoy the game grandma! All of sudden we hear some people yelling and acting all crazy and knew a camera must be around somewhere. Sure enough, Chrissy Russo was walking around interviewing people and just finished interviewing the Padres trio of Owner Jeff Moorad, President Tom Garfinkel & the Head of Branding/Marketing Laura Broderick. No they weren't the ones acting all crazy but they did venture on through the crowd meeting and greeting people after the interview. FINALLY we got a phone call from Beautown letting us know he was there, so we went to meet him over on Tony Gwynn Dr. On our way over we were asked by a wonderful young lady if we would like our picture taken with Uncle Teddy!! So we head over there.....

.....and then she pulls out this. He's looking a lot skinnier these days.....and a lot less alive. Hmmm....strange. She wanted us to get in the pic but I told her it would just ruin things so I snapped this one of her with him. As we approached T Gwynn Dr we noticed quite possibly the longest American flag in the history of American Flags. Very cool sight to see and unfortunately because of the rain the flag was not used.

Once inside we were handed one of the new FREE Padres "Blue Print" programs. Nice job Moorad and Co! The minor league teams do the same thing and I always thought it was better than having a big full sized program to lug around with you in case you wanted to look up an opposing players number or something. Oh yeah and it's free. We then headed over and met with Friarhood Steve at the Tony Gwynn statue. Dex of Gaslampball was there and even David "Boomer" Wells was there (j/k Scott). We chatted for a bit about very important top secret Padres blog stuff and then headed to our seats. Just as we were heading down to our seats the sky opened and it started to rain for about 1-2 minutes and then cleared up for the rest of the game....disaster averted. Colbie Caillat did an awesome job with the National Anthem (best I've ever heard at Petco) and the fly over was cool as always for America's "military city". Unfortunately because of the rains though the enormous flag did not make an appearance.

17 runs is a lot of game to recap so I'll just say that Will Venable, Kyle Blanks & Kevin Correia shined yesterday and everyone else had a great game too......unless you were a Brave. I'll let the pro's give you a game recap and just post about the random ballpark stuff now.

The Chicken made a surprise appearance during the game and I actually did not see the Friar once (although some people posted on Twitter that they did). Look at these crazy new owners....all listening to the fans. Sandy must be rolling over in his grave right now. I wanted to post stuff on Twitter but had absolutely no reception from my seat except for the few random times it decided to work for about a minute or so. I got me a 5 dollar beer and it will probably be my last.....very small & the selection isn't the best. The Park View Little League banners are STILL up. Great story, great kids but seriously this a major league team and you need to start marketing those major league players. Finally what is it with the ballpark clearing out in the 7th inning? The Padres were up by 15 & 2 players were a hit short of the cycle, this doesn't happen very often Padres fans...stick around and enjoy it. All in all great game by the Pads and I'm impressed with all the changes the new regime has established. In fact I even saw a doughnut & cofee vendor walking around....ahhhh Breakfast...I just cannot escape you.

Now onto the good, the bad & the meh.....

THE GOOD
The Fro's Savior!!
Loved the Block Party. I would like to see this happen more often....but will the fans show up like that any other time besides Opening Day?
The new "Blue Print" program
Colbie Caillat's National Anthem performance. I thought she did a great job with it.....I wonder what Bill Center thought?
The fans sell out Petco!
17 RUNS!?!?!?! Before this game they scored 19 runs............ in 6 games!!
Will Venable & Kyle Blanks.....almost hitting for the cycle
Kevin Correia straight up dealing for most of the day & even got himself a hit
The weather....with the exception of about 1-2 minutes before the game the day was beautiful as always in San Diego
THE CHICKEN!!!

THE BAD
Uhhh.....no phone reception?? How am I supposed to get on Twitter?
Fans leaving wayyyy to early
Lines for the GUYS bathroom....really??
Phillip Rivers wild pitch...everyone says he was the reason for the 17 runs....I think it was Colbie Caillat
The magical blue box on the big scoreboard that kept popping up during EVERY highlight...hopefully it gets fixed soon
Park View LL Banners still outside Petco.....really? Aren't those kids shaving and working day jobs now?
Not a fan of the new mid-inning hype man. Weisbarth did a fine job in previous years....I'll go easy on the new guy though...it was his first day.
*Beautown wants to add that the city needs to hurry up and finish the bridge already*

THE MEH....
$5 dollar beers....yes they are 5 bucks but they are also the size of a children's sippy cup. I give it a meh because at least they are trying.

This past week Rick and I went down to Petco Park for a quick tour of the facilities and to get some season ticket information. We met up with Jason Green, from the Padres Season Ticket Office and he gave us a great tour of the ballpark and let us in on the new advantages to being a Season Ticket Holder. We found out more about the reworked pricing for the season ticket program and also a few new added perks.

Starting the tour, we went up in to the press box. But on the way up there we noticed the "city built" bridge. Being that it's "city built" it means that it will most likely be finished in about 5 seasons from now....but at least they are working on it now. Now onto the press box.....what a difference between the box in Peoria and the box at Petco Park. So this is what regular season baseball is like? Maybe someday in the future, bloggers will be a regular part of the Petco Press Box. We can hope, right?

Next, we went downstairs and walked through the tunnels, saw an awesome Randy Jones painting and then checked out Sony Home Plate Club. These are the seats that everybody wants, directly behind home plate. These seats are actually closer to home plate then the pitcher’s mound! They are so close to the action that the Padres had to get Major League Baseball’s approval. (If you’re interested, they had 2 seats available. It’ll only cost you $20,000 for the rights to the seat…then another $26,000 for the full season package…that is a PER SEAT cost!) Needless to say that is a little out of our price range.

Some of the changes that the Padres have enlisted this year include price reductions and pre-purchased $10 per game parking passes. Last year season ticket holders paid $18/game for pre-purchased parking tickets. This year they have also introduced a “$ for $” exchange program for season ticket holders. So, if your seat cost $30 a game and you can’t make three games, you can exchange them for a $90 seat at another game. Or if you have 2 season tickets and have an additional 2 people who want to join you at a game, you can trade in 2 more tickets from another game and all sit together tht night.  The Padres are also offering payment plans, which they haven’t done before. That makes ticket packages much more affordable. Plus let's not forget early entry so you can FINALLY watch the Padres take BP!

As everyone knows this year the Padres have also changed the focus of their logo. The past few years Padres gear has donned an uninspiring blue and sand colored wave logo that never seemed to catch on with fans. This year they are changing to the much more traditional SD. Rick and I noticed that there was no signage up with the new logo like we assumed would happen. We were told that the new logo would be slowly implemented throughout the year. Unsure about some future deals, the new logo may find it’s way onto spaces around the park that are currently taken up by uncertain sponsors.

RJ’s Fro had a great experience walking around the ballpark and checking out the scenes. We’ve seen first hand that the Padres have done a lot of work to try and rebuild their season ticket base after a couple years of declining numbers. With a good, young team on the field, the future is looking good for the Padres and fans alike.

If you are looking for season tickets or have any questions then Jason is the man! Contact him at 619-795-5148 for all your season ticket needs!

Padres' Young to miss home opener - Padres.com
Inside scoop is little help to Padres catcher - San Diego Union-Tribune
Chris Young to miss Monday start - San Diego Union-Tribune
Latos on track for first start Saturday - San Diego Union-Tribune
Fort Wayne opens title defense with win - San Diego Union-Tribune
Latos' spring secured his spot - North County Times
PADRES ON DECK: at Colorado Rockies - North County Times
For Pads Small Ball Will Beat Wall Ball - 619Sports.net
The Dick Enberg Analysis: "Touch 'em all" - Avenging Jack Murphy
Losing Chad Huffman Is No Big Deal - Friar Forecast
Chris Young Scratched from home opener- always fighting to stay healthy! - The Friarhood
Chris Young scratched from Padres Home Opener - Gaslamp Ball
Padres' Fan Cost Index for 2010 paints an affordable (imaginary) picture - Gaslamp Ball
Female Pitcher to Play Pro Baseball! - Gaslamp Ball
An Intimate Dinner with Sensual Moments: Tom Garfinkel and ThePadfather, and 25 other people - Gaslamp Ball
Brain teaser - Inside The Padres
Padres MiLP, April 8, Players of the Day - Padres Rundown
I Remember Nick Adenhart - Perpetual Padres Saga
PETCO concessions see change for the better - Planet Padres
Errors doom Missions in opener - San Antonio Express-News
Decker, Cumberland drive Storm to opening day win - The Californian
’Caps bowl over opener foe - The Journal Gazette
TinCaps debut for Season 2 - The Journal Gazette

Inbox: Why take Eckstein out of lineup? - Padres.com
Padres victimized by long balls in loss - Padres.com
Rockies host Padres in home opener - Padres.com
Cabrera flexes muscle at the plate - Padres.com
Recap: SD 3, ARI 5 - Padres.com  VIDEO
Home runs catch up with Correia - San Diego Union-Tribune
Gonzalez doesn’t need spring in step - San Diego Union-Tribune
Drive set Cabrera apart from his Padres’ start - San Diego Union-Tribune
Rancho Bernardo grad Dykstra seeks progress with Storm - North County Times
San Diego can't use speed with bats this cold - North County Times
Padres games have gotten cheaper - North County Times
Jed Hoyer interview with Darren Smith - 1090 AM AUDIO
Diamondbacks beat Padres, 5-3 - ESPN VIDEO
Game 3: Padres Drop Series to D-backs...Hey it's early! - Avenging Jack Murphy
Dick Analysis: A new segment tracking Padres announcer Dick Enberg - Avenging Jack Murphy
Looking at the Minor League Rosters - Chicken Friars
Mujica Loves His Fastball and So Does Upton - Ducksnorts
Scouting Chris Young With Pitch F/X - Friar Forecast
GM Hoyer says it will be rare instance when Hairston brothers don't start against left handed pitchers - Gaslamp Ball
Pics from #influenceSD and the speech that should've been - Gaslamp Ball
Padres lose to Diamondbacks, San Diego looks forward to football season - Gaslamp Ball
"I Only Kiss Padres Fans" - Gaslamp Ball
Gaslamp Ball is a finalist for a 2010 InfluenceSD award - Gaslamp Ball
Taking Batting Practice at Petco Park - Gaslamp Ball VIDEO
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Waiver Claims - It Might Be Dangerous...You Go First
Padres Lose 2 of 3 in Arizona. Also, the Sun Continues to Set In the West - Padres Trail
Friarhood Interview: Mat Latos - The Friarhood AUDIO
Friarhood on Fox 5 with the #influenceSD crew - The Friarhood VIDEO
I'm Back...Almost - The Official Blog of Matt Antonelli
David Eckstein: Man of the people - The Sacrifice Bunt
That's More Like It - Unfinished Business
New Logo and Layout coming to Websoulsurfer - WebSoulSurfer
Portland Beavers infielder Josh Barfield in search of another shot with the San Diego Padres - The Oregonian
Missions season preview - MySA.com
City tipping its Cap again - The Journal Gazette
Top pitching prospect finds his comfort zone - The Journal Gazette
TinCaps exude youth, energy - The Journal Gazette
TinCaps welcome hot prospects - The Journal Gazette

**NOTE** Thanks to Darren Smith of XX Sports Radio for the heads up regarding the awesome John Moores photo!!!

After weeks of voting, and weeks of waiting, the time finally came last night for the first ever #influencesd awards show honoring various members of the San Diego community who use Social Networking to take their business/site to a new level. RJ's Fro just so happened to be nominated in the "Best Use of New Media in Sports" category. We went up against fellow Padres bloggers Gaslamp Ball, as well as The Chargers, The Football Girl & The San Diego Flash.

Not really expecting to win (I mean really? The Chargers had over 300 votes in the 1st round) I went there for the experience more than anything. It was held at Anthology in Little Italy last night and let me say if you've never been there you are truly missing out. I've had the chance to go there 3 times in the past for shows and each time it was an amazing experience. Upon arrival they had a VIP red carpet thing where I showed off the new RJ's Fro Hat complete with Fro and all, and was even interviewed. Once inside I met up with fellow Padres bloggers matthewverygood of Gaslamp Ball & Steve of The Friarhood.

Krys Justice, who was a nominee for Best Entertainer, performed for a while complete with backup dancers and crotch grabs. Not my cup of tea but Steve was jumping up and down singing all the lyrics to the songs. Another highlight of the night had to be Sam the Cooking Guy presenting a few awards. I'm a HUGE Sam fan and honestly he was one of the main reasons I attended the event in the first place. Finally when the sports category came up the winner was.......The Football Girl. I was razzed for losing to a girl on twitter for a while but I was OK with it because their site is awesome. It was a very fun night, even though the Padres blogger table went 0-4 on the night and we actually missed almost the whole Padre game. Congrats to the Football Girl and all the other winners on the night and a BIG THANKS to all the organizers, sponsors & everyone involved with #influencesd. In honor of the social networking awards I will now link to the pictures on our Facebook page.

RJ's Fro at the #influencesd Awards Show: Anthology 4/7/10