Electric San Diego Padres Are Making Locals Forget About The Chargers

San Diego’s sports scene is electrified and it has nothing to do with the Chargers.

Instead it’s the local nine which has San Diego on Cloud 9.

The Padres have escaped the vast wasteland of losing baseball to be one win shy from advancing to the National League Division Series against the city where the one-time San Diego Chargers relocated: Los Angeles.

If the Padres can defeat the St. Louis Cardinals today they’ll punch their ticket to face the Dodgers in the next round. But only after a revitalized fan base across this region shot its fist into the air after Thursday’s thrilling victory.

The Padres rallied twice from four-run deficits to stiff-arm elimination, and the Cardinals, 11-9, in Game 2 of the NL wild-card series.

It’s unlikely a set of contests were ever more aptly named with San Diego climbing off the mat and delivering a haymaker to the Cardinals in a wild affair featuring countless ups-and-downs.

With budding young superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. slugging two homers, with right fielder Wil Myers following suit and third baseman Manny Machado, who like Tatis is a candidate for the NL MVP Award, adding another blast, the Padres turned Petco Park into the Pacific Sock Exchange.

San Diego not only won its first playoff game ever at Petco Park but it wowed a city still showing a wound from the Chargers fleeing after the 2016 season. San Diego struggled with being rebuffed as few turn their back on a locale with epic weather, stunning sunsets and tasty margaritas.

But that Chargers hangover decreased significantly with the Padres qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 14 years behind “Slam Diego,” after hitting grand slams in four straight games and five in six contests this season, to set major-league records.

It’s an energetic and charismatic team with plenty of firepower which snapped the franchise’s string of nine losing seasons and delivered a shocking triumph over the storied Cardinals to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Too bad rookie Padres manager Jayce Tingler was dead serious when asked about today’s starter to face Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty with everything at stake.

“I have no idea,’’ Tingler said.

For once a skipper wasn’t fiddling with the truth. If the Petco Park statue of Padres Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman wasn’t set in stone, the right-hander might be sitting in the San Diego bullpen.

Neither of the starters supplied Tingler with any length in the first two games. Tingler leaned on his relievers to a degree that instead of having a bullpen gate that opens, the grounds crew constructed a swinging door.

That’s a stretch, but not by much.

What compounds the Padres’ call to arms is that their two best ones can’t lift a hand to contribute.

Right-hander Mike Clevinger, the ace acquire from the Cleveland Indians at the trading deadline, isn’t on the roster with a barking elbow. Dinelson Lamet, another righty who had a breakout season, has broken down with compromised biceps and is inactive.

Both could return if the Padres can win and advance.

Both could also have thrown their last pitch of the season.

We’ll hear about that later.

The sounds and sights which are impossible to ignore command the center stage for a baseball-mad region hungry for success.

Hundreds of cars filled what was once the media parking lot outside the stadium for games, turning it into a fan-driven spectacle where social distancing and social celebration are in a constant tug-a-war.

Like a drive-in movie, automobiles all point to the big screen to see which Padre will become the latest star. The scene is sprinkled with massive tailgate parties, which Chargers games were known for as much as their contests.

Neighboring restaurants and watering holes in the Gaslamp Quarter devastated by closures and restricted hours because of the pandemic, have shown increased revenues from fans eager to be near the action.

It’s a different sort of existence, though, with patrons spread out inside and the majority of customers nestled outside, basking in the balmy San Diego weather and its sizzling baseball team.

When closer Trevor Rosenthal finished off the Cardinals on Thursday, the city’s East Village quickly turned into a Saturday night party.

Or maybe New Year’s Eve is more appropriate.

Car horns boomed with vengeance. Padres honks ran up and down the streets surrounding the team’s downtown digs waving oversized SD flags. Everywhere, it seemed, someone was wearing something which featured the team’s new, throw-back color scheme of brown-and-yellow.

It’s the green that the Padres are missing with no spectators allowed at the games.

But the momentum which this year’s Padres are generating — the team store had a steady stream of folks parting with their money — can’t be ignored.

This success from 2020 will be a check which is cashed for years to come, thanks to a focused squad which led the majors with 22 come-from-behind victories.

That doesn’t include Thursday’s head-shaker which won’t soon be forgotten.

While the Chargers (1-2), which turned their back on the city after 56 years, are limping through yet another dismal season, San Diego shrugs its shoulders and shoulders on.

It’s game-on this afternoon in America’s Finest City and some of America’s most patient baseball boosters will raise a locally-brewed IPA to celebrate.

Although the Chargers are gone sports in San Diego, thanks to the spirited Padres, is A-OK.