I’m a baseball fan, plain and simple. That should be obvious given the nature of my job. If I loved about writing about city hall or real estate, well, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. As the saying goes, you write what you know. I think you write what you’re passionate about as well.

One of the best aspects of my job is I get to hear some great old baseball stories on occasion, not so much from the players — as most of them are all younger than me, meaning that their “old” stories date back to, say, 2002.

Manager Bud Black has good stories and since I grew up a Mariners fan, I’m a little partial to his old stories about his brief stint coming up with the Mariners. Bud, like myself, spent time growing up in the Pacific Northwest, so that opens itself to more stories, none that any of the other reporters care hearing about.

Anyway, we were talking about the Padres’ 22-inning game the other night at PETCO and Bud mentions that his Major League debut in 1981 nearly game in the continuation of such a long game. Here’s the setup:

It was Sept. 3 and the Mariners were in Boston. I assume that Black, 24, was added to the Mariners roster after the rosters expanded on Sept. 1. Of course, the Mariners were pretty awful that season, which was, oddly enough, cut short by a work stoppage. Not even a split-season format could save the Mariners from an ugly season that saw them fire Maury Wills and replace him with Rene Lachemann.

So the Mariners are playing the Red Sox team that wasn’t very special, as they finished fifth in their division with the likes of a young Rich Gedman, Carney Lansford and 41-year-old Carl Yastrzemski. Oddly enough, Padres third base coach Glenn Hoffman was on that team.

So the Mariners and Red Sox, in what was an otherwise meaningless game, decide to play extra innings, after Boston scored three time in the ninth inning off relievers Shane Rawley, Dick Drago and Bryan Clark.

So the game goes to extra innings and is eventually suspended at 2 a.m. after the end of the 19th inning. That’s where things get interesting for Black. Before leaving that night for the team hotel, Lachemann tells Black he’s starting when the game resumes the next day.

That’s right: Black’s Major League debut would be at Fenway Park. So Black goes back to the team hotel, likely makes a few phone calls to family and such to inform them of the good news. He doesn’t sleep much, though, as he recalled.

So Black gets to Fenway the next day only to be told by Lachemann that “I changed my mind … you’re not pitching.”

The Mariners score a run in the top of the 20th inning on an RBI triple by Joe Simpson. In the bottom of the inning, Mariners reliever Jerry Don Gleaton and Jim Beattie combine to keep the Red Sox scoreless and the Mariners win, 8-7.

As for Black, he would make his Major League debut a few days later, oddly enough, against the same Red Sox in the Kingdome. He uncorked a wild pitch before allowing a RBI single to Rick Miller. He was then replaced.

Anyway, fun story. And had the Mariners not traded Black to the Royals in 1982 for infielder Manny Castillo — yep, that worked out really well — we might have even more stories to kick around. Yes, it’s a real shame.

Cheers, Corey

Easy. The Dodgers do, and they do it every Friday night. The thinking, so I’ve been told, is that by starting the game later, it will give those fans an extra 35 minutes or so to drive the, well, 12 or so additional feet in traffic.

Seriously, maybe it’s the old newspaper writer in me that detests anything later than a 7:05 p.m. start time. I don’t have the old hard-and-fast deadlines I did when I worked at the paper. Anyway, just a random observation from Dodger Stadium, where the Padres open a three-game series on Friday.

Is this a big series? It’s a point worth debating. It’s April, early April at that. But these games are against NL West teams which makes them important than for no other reason than we saw last season how important one game is. Give one away in April and it could come back to bite you in September. So in that sense, yes, they’re big, though I have trouble getting too excited this early.

After all, the Padres are leading the NL in batting average while the bullpen has five losses and two blown saves. Does anyone really expect those trends to hold up over a 162-game season? I won’t go as far as to say, ‘Call me in September’ but at least call me in May.

Cheers, Corey

Hey, remember me? Sort of nice to be back on the road again after a week at home. I have to admit that traveling is one of the best parts of this job, though I might retract that statement in September.

For now, however, it’s nice. San Francisco is a great city and my wife is along for a few days while I cover the Padres against the Giants, who as I sit here in the fourth inning on Monday, can’t help but wonder how many games these guys are going to win this season.

Of course, opposing batters just have a way of looking bad against Padres’ starting pitching. Such was the case in 2007 and, thus far, it looks to be much of the same. Jake Peavy has looked Cy Young-like in his first two victories, Chris Young’s last start was better than his first and Greg Maddux is spinning a gem after a slow start today.

And the two guys who had the most questions entering the season — Randy Wolf and Justin Germano — each looked good in their first starts. Yes, it’s early, I realize that. But for a team that figures to be in a dogfight of a division, victories in April should be valued as much in, say, those in August and September.

Cheers, Corey

Well, it certainly looks as though Josh Bard has no intention of ever coming out from behind the plate, especially with the way he has looked both offensively (four hits in the first two games) and defensively (his release has been quicker on throws, though good leads/jumps by baserunners certainly hasn’t made it easy on him).

At any rate, if you’re wondering when Michael Barrett might get some playing time, well, it could come as soon as tonight, Wednesday, especially with a day game Thursday. Either way, Bard won’t start both games, as starting catchers almost always get a day game off following a night game.

Also, don’t be surprised to see Justin Huber get the start in left field tonight with a left-hander on the mound for the Astros (Wandy … what a great name … Rodriguez). Huber, who has no Minor League options, doesn’t figure to be going anywhere and this is a chance to get him a few at-bats.

Hey, on a totally random note, and just for fun, since Triple-A Portland is starting its season Thursday in what I consider one of the best cities in America — Note: If Portland had a Major League team, I’d be there in a heartbeat, leaving you to kick around another blogger.

How about a projected starting lineup for the Beavers? Sure Corey, go right ahead:

2B Matt Antonelli
SS Luis Rodriguez
1B Brian Myrow
LF Chase Headley
CF Will Venable
RF Chip Ambres
DH Edgar Gonzalez
3B Craig Stansberry
C Nick Hundley
SP Wade LeBlanc

Cheers, Corey