Word today on the street, and the beach, is that country music megastar and actor Tim McGraw (left) will appear in concert tonight on Coronado Beach just outside the Hotel del Coronado. The stage is already built, and my sources tell me McGraw, who appeared and sang on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night in Hollywood, is performing, possibly at 9:00 p.m., possibly earlier.
But here's the rub, y'all: you and I are not invited. It's a private and supposedly secret performance held by one of the Hotel Del's clients, presumably a very rich one. This of course begs the question: Did this client really think word wouldn't get out about this show? In this age of social media, phone cameras and instant "news," how in the heck do you hold a secret function on a very popular beach on a crystal-clear San Diego day when temperatures are in the 80s?
People walking by have already seen roadies unloading gear with McGraw's name on it. Do the math, folks. Coronado Beach tonight is gonna look a lot like The San Diego Zoo.
This all puts the Hotel Del's PR and marketing folks, who I know well and who are very capable and ethical people, between a beach boulder and a hard place. Does the hotel upset its obviously wealthy client and go on the record with info about the show? Or does it not comment at all and appear as
if it's not taking any responsibility for holding an event featuring one of America's most popular entertainers adjacent to a public beach?
Sara Harper, the Hotel Del's director of marketing, would neither confirm nor deny the McGraw appearance tonight. I got that confirmation from a local radio station and from Coronado locals who spoke with roadies unpacking McGraw's music equipment. But Harper did acknowledge that there is an event taking place this evening on the section of the beach that is owned by the hotel, and that the hotel's client is keeping the information about it strictly confidential.
"Our client is holding their
private event on Hotel del Coronado property, not on the public beach
area," she said. "We have held many events on Del Beach over the years similar to
this and there have not been any issues. The City of Coronado is aware
of the event as they oversee the public beach."
The Hotel Del would not detail which parts of the beach are private and public. But it looks like one big beautiful beach to me. And even if the stage and immediate
area around it are on Hotel Del property, there's an enormous surrounding beach area still within eyeshot and earshot of the stage that is 100 percent public.
In other words, fans of McGraw, a truly class act and loving husband and father of three daughters, will probably show up tonight on Coronado Beach in droves. Who can blame them? And if and when they do, should they not be given at least a general idea of where
they can and can not hang their hats? I'm sure Tim will love it when he sees his real fans beyond the fences, ropes and cones.
I first found out about McGraw's appearance on Coronado Happenings, the largest social media site about Coronado on Facebook. The site has been talking about the McGraw rumors for a couple days. I made a few calls to confirm the appearance, then subsequently posted on the site and asked people to comment.
It turned into a heated debate about who owns the beach. There are of course no dotted lines on the sand telling us where we can and can
not go. But in the past, the hotel to its credit has been very good about letting folks
traverse and enjoy the parts of the beach it owns.
None of this was meant to antagonize folks at the Hotel Del. It's a lovely hotel and beach and a favorite spot for me and my family, as I've noted in past stories. The folks who work there are cordial and professional. But perhaps the moneyed client who booked a music superstar to appear on a local beach should have realized that, these days, word travels fast about stuff like this.
Neither the hotel's client nor the best security force will be able to stop the potential stampede of country music fans when they make their way come hell or high water to Coronado tonight.
Said Danielle Biggins McCurdy, "I'm sure the hotel will try to block off the walkway to detour people, but yes, the beach is public."
Added Coronado resident Bridget Dillen, "It's going to be crazy down there tonight, and I'm excited."
Maybe A.J.
Preller really is a mad genius. Preller, the preppy,
indefatigable new general manager of the San Diego Padres, spends more
time on his cell phone than my
15-year-old daughter. He never stops. I'm told he only gets a few hours
of
sleep each night. But there’s a method to his sleepless madness. Preller somehow managed
to bring a boatload of talent this off-season to the hapless Padres, whose
pitchers were great last year but whose offensive woes were too painful for
this long-suffering Padre fan to rehash without having a nervous breakdown. A.J.'s work ethic since being named GM has been nothing short of
otherworldly. It is borderline obsessive, maniacal, unbelievable.
But in a good way.
Thanks to A.J. and the players he’s assembled, it’s
fun to be a San Diego Padres fan again. The four-game series against
the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants over the weekend at Petco Park in Downtown San Diego, which the
Pods took three games to one, was electric. It was as exciting and satisfying as any
regular-season series I’ve witnessed in my 30-plus years as a Friars
loyalist.
And here’s the nut graf: it's not just talent that Preller has
collected here. What he has done, and I think deliberately, is pick players with good character but with
undeniable chips on their shoulders and perhaps some unfair marks against them.
The
thing I like most about this Padre team is that it's not just a collection of
hired guns & arms. These are guys that have something to prove but, too, are very easy to root for. Not
sure it’s possible to call a bunch of players who've put up fat stats and played
in All Star games underdogs. But this group is just that. Call them Superstar Underdogs.
We're seeing a fast
but real bond forming here, on and off the field. And it’s
also happily infected the players who were here last year and remain.
This is a very tight-knit group. And that's dangerous in the best of
ways.
Leadership Wins Games
There are some clear new leaders already emerging. Some of them, like starting
pitcher James Shields, were expected to play that role. Shields, a likable old-school
workhorse who arrived from Kansas City, where he led the Royals to an unlikely
World Series appearance last fall, is a force of nature, a positive influence
on everyone in the clubhouse, not just his fellow hurlers.
The somewhat less likely team leader who has very much established
himself as such by his aggressive and smart play is Derek Norris, a solid,
scrappy catcher from the Oakland A’s who doesn't take any crap and rarely lets a ball get by him. He can
hit, too, and run. He has wheels and is not afraid to use them, and
that's a rarity for a catcher. And did I mention that he doesn’t take any crap?
Then there are the two new offensive studs: Justin Upton and Matt Kemp. So
far, both of these heavy hitters have lived up to expectations between the
lines and exceeded them off the diamond.
Upton, the relatively quiet but intense left fielder who crushed his second
home run last night in San Diego's convincing 5-1 win over the Arizona
Diamondbacks, has a commanding presence but is personable and has exhibited a surprising
dry sense of humor.
Right fielder Kemp, the physically gifted superstar on this team and longtime former Los Angeles Dodger, is the
prototype -- or whatever you want to call him. And he's the so-called Hollywood guy. But
as we are quickly learning, that's a bum rap.
Don't be fooled by Kemp's stint in Hollyweird or the fact that he
dated superstar singer Rihanna. Yeah, Kemp is flashy, but he also happens to be
the hardest worker on this new offense. He desperately wants to win a world
championship and is ready and willing to work his ass off for it and persuade
his teammates to do the same.
The guy is 30 and is running the bases early this season like a rookie
pinch runner. I mean, WTF?
In Sunday's comeback win against the Giants, Kemp stretched a
double into a triple by slowing down just slightly as he rounded second, which
gave the defense the impression that he wasn't going to keep running. Then he
turned on the afterburners and made it to third ahead of the throw. The crowd
went wild. It was too cool.
In the game last night, Kemp did it again. Slowly rounding second,
he turned it up several notches and beat the throw to third with a head-first
slide for another triple. So much for him being Mr. Hollywood. The guy’s a gamer. A
winner. Don’t stop pushing, Matt. But please stay healthy.
Kemp and the rest of the Padres made a very loud and joyful noise
by winning three games in a row against the Giants in the opening home
series. Sunday's finale, which the Padres won 6-4 after trailing 2-0, was
immeasurably important for this franchise. It was far more significant than the
previous night's 10-run, 20-hit blowout.
Why?
Because it showed that the previous night’s
offensive explosion was not an aberration. It showed that this team,
unlike Padre teams of recent history, has the
offense and the heart to come back from a deficit. It showed that these
guys aren't complacent and don't have any desire to settle a series at
.500. They want to dominate and win as many games
as they can, especially against division opponents.
The
2015 Padres Will Make the Playoffs
Yes, yes, it's very early. But this club showed me
something over the weekend and again last night that makes me think – no, know
-- that this team is a contender. San Diego has had dismal Aprils for
as long as I can remember. This one is looking much different.
Admittedly,
after watching the first game against the Giants,
which the Padres lost 1-0 in 12 innings, it was hard for me to keep the
baseball demons out of my head. Like many Padre fans, I'm sure, I
wondered to
myself, "Will this be just like last year? Good pitching, but no
hitting,
in spite of all the new guys? Was there too much hype? Is A.J.Preller an
agent of goodness or pure evil?"
But Saturday's blowout, and the impressive offensive showings on
Sunday and again on Tuesday, assuaged my fears. I'm all in.
The grand slam on Sunday by 37-year-old backup catcher Wil Nieves,
which erased a two-run deficit and gave the Padres a lead they never
vanquished, was off the charts. Watching that ball sail over the left field
wall, I could barely contain myself. The crowd joined me. We all went
absolutely nuts.
It just felt symbolic. Meaningful. It felt as if that one homer meant that
this team can and will win a lot of games this year. And yes, for the record, I
sit in the stands, not the press box. I'm a fan and make no apologies.
Nieves' blast was arguably the biggest regular-season home run by
a San Diego Padre since Steve Finley's game-ending salami back in April,
1998. I know that sounds like hyperbole.
But think about it. Finley's slam was a huge boost to that legendary ’98 Padre team.
It set the tone for a magical season that saw the Padres cruise to a National
League West title, then beat Houston in the NL Division Series then Atlanta in
the NL Championship Series.
We won't dwell on what happened next against the
New York Yankees. But hey, at least Tony Gwynn hit a homer in Yankee Stadium.
I hope and expect that Nieves' homer is the first of many unsubtle, unambiguous
statements by this team this season. Again, it’s early. But this team has the
talent and the intangibles: clubhouse leadership, a wise and low-key player’s
coach in Bud Black, a chip on its collective shoulders, something to prove, etc.
It's a cliche' but this is
a group of guys that seem to genuinely like each other and love coming to the
ballpark. They know they’re good. They know what A.J. has done here. They don’t
want to let the mad genius down.
Camaraderie Isn't Something
You Can Buy
The 2015 Padres have the kind of energy, resolve
and camaraderie that teams like the Dodgers simply lack, despite
efforts by ownership up there to purchase it. Sure, L.A.’s loaded with
high-priced stars. But generally speaking and with some exceptions, those
players don’t enjoy a demonstrable sense of unity or focused desire to win at
all costs.
The Dodgers win a lot of games, but they choke on
the big stage. They've not been to a World Series since 1988. It’s a drought
that's lasted a decade longer than the Padres' dry spell, and the Dodgers have spent so
many more millions trying to get back to the Promised Land.
The Dodgers have a preposterous payroll. It’s the
highest in Major League Baseball history at around $270 million. Are you
kidding me? Meanwhile, the Padres’ payroll, even after the team's so-called
spending spree this off-season, is just over a third of that at $109 million.
So unless you were born and raised in Chavez Ravine, you tell me which team is easier to root for: the
overpaid, underachieving Dodgers or the underpaid, overachieving Padres?
San Diego got off to an inauspicious start up at Dodger Stadium
last week. The pitching was solid. But the offense was a case of "new
players, same old lack of offense." The Dodgers took two of three. It was
painful to watch. I was worried. But all that has changed in the last week. I
can't wait for the teams' next showdown at Petco Park later this month.
The opening home series against the Giants attracted
the most fans for a four-game series in Petco Park history: some 170,000 showed
up, and refreshingly unlike previous years, most were Padre fans. I was hoarse
after that series.
Each of the four games was exciting, for
different reasons. The first two were pitching duels that ended with identical
scores, 1-0. One was maddening (the one the Padres lost, of course). San Diego
went 20 innings without a hit, then came back on Saturday and got 20 knocks.
Then the denouement: Sunday's comeback win, which included a sighting of that
very rare beast: The Petco Grand Slam.
Petco Park Is Your
Friend
Oh, yes, the enigmatic Petco Park. It's been a bit of an albatross for some. It
has psyched out many a Padre player over the last decade. But I love the place.
And clearly you can hit here if you don't let it get in your head that you
can't.
I wrote
about the ballpark in Newsweek when Petco Park opened in 2004. No
one had seen it yet, let alone hit in it. After I took the media tour, I was
eager to see the Padres organization take advantage of this stunning new
ballpark to attract great players.
Despite the fact that it was clearly a pitcher's park and that I
knew we probably weren't going to see too many homers, I believed that the
future for the Padres was so bright you had to wear shades.
Then the
darkness came. And when I say darkness, I mean the controversy surrounding
then-owner John Moores. Everything kinda went downhill from there. The next regime
tightened its purse strings and let future Hall-of-Famers like Adrian Gonzales
walk.
Enter Ron Fowler and his ownership group, who smarly hired Preller,
the soft-spoken, benevolent insomniac who looks like a cross between a
Princeton undergrad and an Encinitas surfer dude.
Preller is the best and brightest thing to happen to the San Diego
Padres since Larry Lucchino, the former GM in San Diego who is now CEO of the
Boston Red Sox. Larry is another genius,as well as a persona hero and friend of
mine.
Larry, who I profile in Hope Begins in the Dark, my book on cancer
survivors, is largely responsible for Petco being built, and for the Red Sox'
return to glory after so many disappointing decades. The guy is a gem.
And so is Preller, who with the support of the new ownership has mercifully
decided to field a real winner in this town the way Larry did. What a
difference a year makes. What a difference a new GM makes.
I’ve said it before:
San Diego is an underrated baseball town. San Diegans do love these Padres. But
they haven’t had a whole to cheer about since the Moores era ended in scandal
and the subsequent owners got miserly.
There's something special happening at Petco Park this season
and it appears this is not a one-off. This team will be good for the long haul.
And not only are the high-profile acquisitions (Kemp, Upton, Shields, Wil
Myers, Craig Kimbrel) contributing, so are the guys who played here last year
and are gladly still here (Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner, Yangervis Solarte,
Yonder Alonso, Wil Venable).
When all the rosin powder settles, I believe this team will be in
the middle of the postseason mix. Yes, you can quote me. These guys are having
fun out there, and that is what baseball is still all about.
And these players have a city that is behind them and hungry to
forget all the past Padre problems as well as all the current San Diego
Chargers drama. Downtown San Diego is rocking. The Gaslamp District, the East
Village, you name it. It has never been more alive. It’s the place to be right
now.
In
other words, if you have trouble reaching me in my office anytime
between now and early November, you know where to find me.
