SAN DIEGO — Had Bob Cluck chosen the fight game over baseball, he would have been Aaron Pryor.
A windmill. Pulling no punches. Unafraid. Smart.
I've known Bob since our days at San Diego High, when he was a star pitcher/early adult and I was more stargazer, and followed his career from San Diego State through his 52 years in professional ball, from minor league pitcher, to MLB pitching coach, Padres director of player development and farm director, to scout, author, and founder for the San Diego School of Baseball.
I can't think of anyone who knows more about baseball — certainly one who will talk to me without fear of reprisal (or talk to me, period). Bob's been retired for two years, but he still religiously follows the game he loves, and because he lives here, the Padres.
His thoughts are not always benign.
So, when I called him to talk about our reeling little baseball team, I was expecting him to go off, and with good reason. The Padres have been stinking out most every facility they've been in lately, a remarkable fall in a very short time, in which so much talent has joined arms and do-si-doed in a botched square dance.
But I got the opposite.
"I'm probably more optimistic than most right now," he said. "People are piling on. But the Padres' goal remains a realistic goal — to win the wild-card game and do damage in the playoffs. Cincinnati's not great by any means. I think the playoffs are realistic for them.
"This is all premature. I'm looking at it objectively. I think this isn't bad; it's a nice program that's hit a bad streak. The goal should be 90 wins, all the time. That's how it was when I was in Tampa for 10 years, and we won a World Series with a manager (Joe Maddon) who had little managerial experience."
Cluck is bullish on the organization, its owner, Peter Seidler, and General Manager A.J. Preller.
"A.J. Preller is a scout first, and scouts know things analysts don't." Bob continued. "He's put together a team that can win 90 games. Analysts had nothing to do with getting Fernando Tatis. It was scouting, and Preller has good scouts and what looks like a patient owner. The pieces were there if everything went right. It still might.
"I didn't like the Larry Rothschild deal, though. You stop hitting and fire the pitching coach?"
I don't think they're making the playoffs. But it is baseball, and I'm not Bob Cluck, who has me at: What the hell do you know?
