Friar Watch

Another great night for the Padres offense and I give Milton “The Regulator Guy” Bradley all the credit for the recent fighting spirit we’ve seen. After a somewhat dirty slide into second by Carlos Ruiz the Padre left fielder came up with men on in the top of the fifth. After the game Milton told Ted Leitner that after the aggressive play he had to come in and regulate, and he regulated the ball right out of the park. I love Milton Bradley, can you imagine any other Padre saying something like that? Bradley took it personal that the Phillies tried to take out M. Giles and he wanted to make a statement. With Bradley it’s always personal. That’s gotten him into trouble in the past but I really like the guy (as long as he’s on my team). He has a burning desire to win and I really think his return has lit a fire under the offense. Let’s face it, we have a pretty laid back bunch of guys. Hell, I’m a pretty laid back guy myself. Sometimes it takes a hothead to get us laid back guys to wake up.

EDIT: I just saw the Ruiz play on the Channel 4 replay and it was a blatantly dirty play. No attempt to slide, he just ran right into Giles and even stuck his leg out to kick him. Kudos to Maddux for not getting carried away and drilling someone. Blowing the other team out is a much more satisfying revenge.