Let the Kids Talk!
No offense to you and your adult takes on Padres baseball, but I thought we should turn the floor over to the next generation of fans for a change.
Meet the kids
I recruited a full lineup of nine children.
- Levi Smith, who previously signed a one-day Padres contract in 2018 in partnership with Make A Wish San Diego (Levi was born with a congenital heart condition that requires a pacemaker).
- Garrison kids (Jack, Emmitt, London, and Hannah), children of East Village Times writer Paul Garrison.
- Kaylani, daughter of season ticket holders Kristina and Rob Perez.
- Brummer brothers (Kyson and Kameron), Sonja Kloppenburg Brummer‘s sons who were chosen to be the faces of the Compadres Kids program in 2017.
- Bella, sister of card collector and Padres fan Danny.
Here they are introducing themselves and setting their expectations for the 2021 season.
Hot takes!
As expected, all of the kids are huge fans of Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. But I also wanted to hear their takes on other players along with their ideas for areas of improvement needed next year.
They did not hold back!
As for Chris Paddack, I thought I’d found a diehard fan of his when I was told by Danny that his kid sister Bella would never let him say that Paddack had a bad outing when they watched games together at home.
But by the time of my interview (and perhaps reflecting on Paddack’s 2020 season), Bella had changed her tune.
Let’s go!
My thanks to all of the kids spotlighted here and their families.
It’s crazy to think that they’ll grow up watching Tatis as their shortstop as the team moves towards bringing a championship to San Diego. Hopefully, this new generation of fans will never know the dull ache of futility that’s been so much a part of this franchise’s history.
Here’s to a brand new day! These kids are here, all in, and ready for it.
