Padres begin real baseball season tonight

Now it’s time to get on to the real baseball season, when real baseball fans are watching.

It all goes back to Tony Gwynn’s comments about opening night. He always looked forward to the second night, because that’s when the real fans come out.

So, if you’re a true fan, we’ll see you at Petco Park tonight when the Padres face the Houston Astros.

The season opener? Fans were all dressed up. Petco Park was all decked out, as if it were a playoff game.

From an appearance standpoint, it was the best of times. From other aspects, it was the worst of times. Or did you not notice all the local TV stations yesterday at Petco Park, who were tripping over themselves as if they are going to be there for games in mid-season?

Those news anchors who were wearing Padres uniforms now won’t know the difference between Brian Giles and Brian Prilaman, who also works for the Padres and is the best traveling director in the league.

Many of these people who “have” to be there on opening day won’t “have” to be at another game until next year’s home opener. Of course, they’ll also be the first ones wondering why they can’t get playoff tickets if the Padres make the postseason.

They're called front-runners and they make up a large percentage of San Diego fans.

We hope you enjoyed opening night, since it only comes once a year.

Jake Peavy was great in a 4-0 win vs. Houston; the pregame festivities honoring first responders to last October’s wildfires in San Diego County were awesome.

Just remember, the Astros are here through Thursday before the Dodgers come in for the weekend.

If you’re a real baseball fan, you’ll be around.