The TV people would call this rivalry week, and while we'd get sick of the promos, we'd have to agree with the concept.
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| Longtime S.D. closer Trevor Hoffman on Padres-M's series: 'It's not Yankees-Mets. That's for sure.' (Getty Images) |
Yeah, Padres-Mariners. For whatever reason, baseball demands these two teams meet in two series every season. Padres-Mariners gets the same respect as Yankees-Mets.
"It's a little different," said ex-Yankee, ex-Met and current Padre Tony Clark, stifling a laugh. "The only connection here is that we share a spring training complex."
What, you mean kids in San Diego don't grow up hating the Mariners?
"I can honestly tell you that the word 'Mariners' wasn't in my vocabulary when I was a kid," said Clark, who grew up in San Diego as a Padre fan.
This is a rivalry?
"It's not Yankees-Mets," Padres closer Trevor Hoffman said. "That's for sure."
It's not even Royals-Cardinals, another of baseball's protected rivalries (two series a season, every season).
"People care," said Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena, who once managed the Royals. "People really care."
Leaving out the single-city rivals, here's how the "other" rivalries rank on the care-meter:
1. Royals-Cardinals. They care more in Kansas City than in St. Louis, but that's fine, because they really do care in Kansas City.
