San Diego Padres

If I were a less disciplined blogger, I would write something mean about the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, I'd like to praise the San Diego Padres, my hometown club.

I haven't really cared about the Padres since 1998, the year they made it to the World Series (only to be swept by the Yankees, of course). In fact, I didn't really follow them throughout the 1990s, either -- the high point of my fandom was in kindergarten, when Bip Roberts and Steve Garvey came to my school to present me with the first of my many Citizen of the Month awards.

This weekend, however, the Padres have been in town to play the Phillies. They've won twice, in dramatic and controversial fashion, and I can only hope that they prevail again tomorrow. Yesterday, there was nearly a brawl after Carlos Ruiz slid in high on Marcus Giles, and today Milton Bradley -- who's hit three home runs so far this weekend -- called hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park "a joke." Best of all, though, the Padres' home runs off of the vile Brett Myers occasioned the following:

After the game, Myers got into a shouting match with a reporter and had to be restrained by teammate Pat Burrell.

When Myers was asked about the two home runs, he said they were really "just pop ups."

A reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer questioned whether Myers really thought they were pop ups, and Myers got angry.

"You're not even a beat reporter, you're a fill-in, you don't know anything about baseball," said Myers, who then called the reporter "retarded."

The Inquirer reporter asked if Myers could spell retarded, and Myers stood up. Burrell then restrained Myers, and Myers refused to speak any further.

I'll never understand why Phillies fans hate Pat Burrell -- who, though overpaid and indifferent, seems like a decent guy -- but have no problem with Myers.

Fennesz + Sakamoto

I'm not usually thrilled by Christian Fennesz's collaborations. But Cendre, his new album with Ryuichi Sakamoto, is quite a pleasure. Its mournful piano-and-white noise texture reminds me, more than anything, of the soundtrack to the best Final Fantasy game never made.