It Feels Like The First Time

San Diego erupts after toppling the Dodgers

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I’ve got to be honest. I’m still expecting the Dodgers to win in seven games.

Did the Padres really do it?

Yes, they did!

And after the home team ousted their 111-win nemesis on Saturday night, the good people of San Diego basked in the glory of a monumental NLDS win.

As much as I’ve wanted to cry out that there are two more rounds remaining — eight more games to win — Padres fans deserved to release some pent-up energy.

Act like you’ve been there before, I am tempted to say, but really, they haven’t.

It’s been 24 years since the team’s last NLCS appearance. A lot has changed since then, including the ballpark, ownership (a couple times), and all of the on-field personnel.

These aren’t Bruce Bochy’s Padres. Nor are they Tony Gwynn’s, Trevor Hoffman’s, Jake Peavy’s, Adrián Gonzalez’s, or Chase Headley’s. These aren’t even Fernando Tatis Jr’s Padres.

This 2022 vintage — imperfect, inconsistent and unintimidated — didn’t allow itself to be defined by a safety squeeze attempt in Game 3 that was neither safe nor effective.

A Trea Turner bunt in Game 4 that caused both members of the Padres battery to occupy the same space at the same time didn’t preclude a Champagne and Budweiser celebration in the home clubhouse later that night.

Imperfect but not undone.

Why should this team act like it’s been here before? For all the references to “postseason experience” thrown around this time of year, let’s hear it for the team that’s learning on the job.

The Padres are the fresh-out-of-college kids applying for an entry level job that also requires three years of experience. Sometimes you fake it ’til you make it!

I imagine that some of the partying over the weekend helped soothe not only baseball disappointments of the 21st century but the loss of a beloved football team that ruthlessly became property of Los Angeles.

It’s one thing to dominate a team. But taking the fan base’s football franchise?

San Diego needed this one.

Philly needed a win, too.

I’m happy that we have a new take on the East Coast/West Coast battle. New York vs. LA — where’s the fun in that?

San Diego vs. Philadelphia is the matchup that usually only happens when the big brothers leave the house and the younger siblings finally claim authority — by default.

But the 2022 NLCS? This matchup was achieved by force.

I felt the energy changing over the past week. During the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the last two times the Padres won the NL West, I can remember being frustrated that the home team’s road games weren’t even shown at many local bars.

Employee ticket banks — troves of free tickets — were rarely maxed out. Acquaintances reached out to me for tickets only when the Cubs were in town; they weren’t coming to see the Pads.

This year, Padres fans are much more visible. I see a lot more gear — the pastels of City Connect, the unmistakable brown and gold, the Swingin’ Friar.

I knew they were out there. We all did.

Machado, Soto, Darvish, Snell, Musgrove, Hader and many more have helped to wash away local cynicism that, in the fans’ defense, was earned through years of broken promises, unrealized prospects, and even a brief dalliance with a grifter owner.

On Saturday morning, about 12 hours before Josh Hader struck out Freddie Freeman and slayed the Dodgers, I left a San Diego breakfast spot with my parents and kids.

We passed a family of five waiting to be seated. A few of them wore Padres clothing.

“Go Padres!” my mom said to them.

“Go Padres!” they replied.

For a moment, I felt like I was on the set of Major League. Remember that scene at the bar, where fictitious Indians fans unlikely to otherwise socialize peacefully cheered together and embraced over their team’s success? It was a group that grew in numbers and in hope as the season progressed.

Belief has galvanized a city. I’ve had the feeling lately that any two people in Padres t-shirts are friends, brothers, family.

Are these Padres Mr. Right? Probably not.

Are they Mr. Right Now? We’re about to find out.

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