"Let's fucking go, San Diego"
The San Diego Padres have found their catcher, and their catchphrase, to lead them through the next few months of the baseball season.
Sometimes, during the long baseball season, you stumble into something special. For Jorge Alfaro and the San Diego Padres, it just might be “Let’s fucking go, San Diego!”
Alfaro famously said those words after his 2nd walk-off hit of the season a few weeks back. It was immediately popular with fans and teammates. Every Padres player has been seen wearing a LFGSD shirt since, and I think they’re sold in the team store as well.
The mural above, which is in Chula Vista for anyone who wants to visit it (I believe it’s on the side of Bar Sin Nombre or behind Thr3e Punk Ales), seemed to go up the very next day. Coincidentally, as a part of the Padres’ City Connect, the team is throwing a block party in Chula Vista tonight.
The Padres need, or needed, something to get them through this tough part of the season. I believe the phrase appeared right as Manny Machado had injured his ankle and there were concerns that the team would be unable to win without him. Last night, Alfaro said the words but only after a Manny Machado home run that showed why he’s still in the lineup every day.
Point being, something needs to resonate throughout the team to bring them all together and fighting for something bigger than themselves. For some reason, that might just be Jorge Alfaro saying bad words on TV. Just watch his teammates waiting for him to say it last night after his walk-off hit against the Giants:
Oh yeah, this is a thing. This is a catchphrase. This is the type of thing that can bring out the immature boy in a group of highly paid men and remind them of the fun that they have when they win games and break rules.
This is not really the time to go into my whole thing about the Padres’ catching situation (although, whew, the difference in fWAR between Alfaro and Nola will blow your hair back), this is more about Alfaro coming up with something that fires the guys up and makes them forget about how frustrating a path it was to get to that point.
Jorge Alfaro isn’t just the team’s best catcher, he’s one of their best leaders, too. And just like Manny Machado brought out the swag chain to get everyone focused on fun (and not pressing about baseball) last year, Alfaro has brought out the curse words on live TV. I’m here for it.
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