Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Chad Paronto of the Atlanta Braves is stupid.

Make that stupid, stupid, stupid!

With two outs and nobody on base in the sixth inning Monday night, Paronto decided to (seemingly) hit Padres pitcher Chris Young on purpose. Young then went on to score and give San Diego a 4-2 lead, its final margin of victory.

Paronto hit Young in the back of the knee as apparent retaliation for Young throwing a fastball near the head of Andruw Jones, then later hitting Jeff Francoeur. It marked the first time Young has hit a batter this year.

Here’s a clue for Paronto: Don’t hit the pitcher! Not to name names; but get the point across by throwing a pitch behind such players as Adrian Gonzalez or Brian Giles, who are probably going to reach base anyway.

Paronto may or may not have cost his team a potential win. But he did wake up the Padres ... not to mention the fact he fell asleep when it came to the best method of retaliation.

Atlanta's Cox a loser?

Bobby Cox is a loser.

The Atlanta Braves’ manager, who leads his team into a four-game series tonight against the Padres, simply can’t win in the postseason.

He’s been to the playoffs 14 times. He has just one World Series title and has lost four times in the Series.

Want me to take my tongue out of my cheek now?
Calling Cox a loser is similar to all the San Diego fans who referred to Marty Schottenheimer as a loser when he coached the Chargers.

Schottenheimer has never won ... or been to ... the Super Bowl in 13 postseason appearances. His history is to turn around rotten teams and lose in the playoffs; which is exactly what he did with the Chargers.

Schottenheimer has a .613 career winning percentage, compared to Cox’s .563 mark. Cox has been cited for spousal abuse before; Schottenheimer hasn’t.

The next time anyone in San Diego talks about Schottenheimer being a loser, then just think of the loser the Atlanta Braves have in Cox.

Wells needs to produce

With Clay Hensley on the disabled list, the Padres need to add a new starting pitcher.
Or is that two?

David Wells has not exactly been looking like Sandy Koufax lately … or David Wells, for that matter.

In his last two starts combined, Wells has surrendered nine runs on 17 hits and three home runs in 10 innings. He gave up just two runs in seven innings three starts ago, but was touched before that start for five runs on eight hits in 2 1/3 innings by the Dodgers.

Either this is just a blip on the radar, or a trend is starting to develop. If it’s a bump in the road, fine. If it’s a pattern, the Padres must reconsider their investment in a 43-year-old pitcher making $3 million in base salary this year.

Wells, making his sixth start of the season tonight at Florida, is to be paid bonuses for his 11th through 27th starts this year. If all is met, he’ll make an extra $3 million.

This is the same Wells that the Padres let pitch on short rest the final day of 2004 to make a $250,000 bonus. It’s also the same Wells who walked away to the Boston Red Sox in 2005.

David Wells: Worth the investment? Let the next few starts unfold.

Padres aren't exactly a steal

While Mike Piazza was the primary catcher for the Padres in 2006, they allowed opponents to be successful on stolen bases an alarming 85 percent of the time.

Piazza has moved on to Oakland … but the percentage is even worse in San Diego this year. Through the first month of the season, the Padres have allowed an unbelievable 91 percent (31-of-34) of opponents to be safe on stolen base tries.

Ouch!

In comparison, the Padres aren’t exactly wearing out the basepaths, stealing 10 bases in 12 attempts.

Juan Pierre of the Dodgers has 12 steals by himself thus far. And these are the same Dodgers who were 6-for-6 in steal opportunities against San Diego last weekend.

The Padres probably aren’t going to run away in the NL West this season … and foot speed certainly has something to do with it!

Turner worth the risk to Chargers?

If the Chargers win the Super Bowl this year, keeping running back Michael Turner as back up to LaDainian Tomlinson was worth it.

If not, General Manager A.J. Smith might actually not be hailed as a genius on this one.

Heading into this weekend’s minicamp, the Chargers are delighted to have Turner on their premises. Whether keeping him is a genius move, we’ll let you know in January (or on Dec. 30, if the Chargers don’t make the playoffs.)

During the NFL draft last weekend, ESPN listed key additions and losses for each team. The Chargers were listed as “none” under key additions, because they believe keeping Turner and guard Kris Dielman made them a better team (even though those players were already on the roster.)

New England has certainly strengthened itself during the offseason. And these are the same Patriots who eliminated the Chargers in last year’s playoffs.

Is keeping Turner and Dielman around – without signing any free agents – enough to make the Chargers better than New England?

Good thing the games aren’t played on paper!

Bill Goldberg: Who's (What's) Next?

So where does Bill Goldberg hang out these days?

Try Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

If you have followed pro wrestling at all, you’ll certainly remember Goldberg. After all, who can forget him starting his career with a 173-0 record (please don’t tell me it was pre-determined!)

Goldberg, a San Diego resident, was spotted at Petco Park earlier this week talking with several members of the USS Ronald Reagan. He looked very casual in jeans, a T-shirt and sunglasses on a cloudy evening.

He doesn’t appear to be nearly as “buff” as he was during his wrestling days … draw your own conclusion on that one.

Who can ever forget Goldberg during that 173-win streak? You could count on numerous signs in the audience proclaiming, “Who’s next?”

The question now concerns what’s next for Goldberg. He’s been dabbling in some acting, and there are rumors he could return to wrestling in either TNA (most likely) or the WWE (unlikely.)

Let’s hope Goldberg makes a comeback. Few wrestlers can ignite a crowd like him.

Who’s next?

USD baseball looking beautiful

When it comes to college baseball, people often wonder why San Diego can’t have a Top 10 team nationally.

After all, the weather is perfect for year-round baseball, and the talent is certainly in the area.

It hasn’t happened with coach Tony Gwynn at San Diego State, but the honor is being celebrated across town.

Congratulations go out to the University of San Diego Toreros for being ranked No. 9 in the latest Baseball America top-25 poll, and at No. 10 in the latest Collegiate Baseball top-30 poll. This is the second time in history the Toreros have been ranked in the Top 10.

“We look at these things kind of like a beauty pageant,” USD coach Rich Hill said on CSTV.

To top off the honor, the Toreros completed a three-game sweep of Pepperdine for the first time in 22 years Monday with a 7-3 win.

Even with Gwynn (who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer) at SDSU; local high school baseball players continue to flock to USD, where Hill has built the best collegiate baseball team by far in a hotbed of baseball prospects.

The Toreros are setting a standard that can only be envied by SDSU, a school that has not even been invited to the NCAA playoffs in 16 years.