It was freezing cold, blustery and rainy, and I was as sick as I've ever been. Ty France could have cared less. Nor should he have cared. He had a job to do, and so did I. Mine was to broadcast the San Diego State baseball team's games in the Mountain West Conference tournament. His was to help the Aztecs win that tournament and advance to the NCAA playoffs.
Never mind the torn tarp I was sitting under, atop the Aztec dugout, and never mind the rain that was blowing sideways into my face and all over my game notes. Never mind that Reno, Nev., that particular weekend, was better suited to be hosting an NFL playoff game in late December. And never mind that the Aztecs were torn apart themselves in the first game of the double-elimination tournament.
This was going to come down to a battle of survival. And Ty France and his fellow teammates were not about to let me return home, to a cozy, warm sick bed to that I could begin my recovery. (I ate only one banana a day for the entire weekend, and those who know me can confirm for you that I indeed must have really been sick.)
But so was France. That's what the younger generation calls it these days, isn't it? When you're performing at an out-of-this-world level, everyone refers to your effort as "sick." And so it was that France and the Aztecs starting lining shots down the lines and into the corners for hits. And bashing drives to the power alleys that seemed as if they were going to simply knock down the fences. And, of course, hitting several balls over those fences. They won one game, then another.
They didn't stop until Sunday afternoon when they won their fifth in a row for the championship and celebrated with a dog-pile in the middle of the playing field. An Aztec for life myself, a couple of tears of joy slipped through the sneezing and wheezing. What a performance!
France, who led the way, was easily named to the All-Tournament team, and SDSU was off to the NCAA's.
Fast foward now to Padres spring training 2019, in Peoria, Ariz. France, a Padres' farmhand had worked his way into a possible starting spot at third base for the big club when the Friars made their biggest splash in team history, signing their new $300,000-million third baseman Manny Machado to a 10-year contract. France was back in the loser's bracket. But undettered again.
When Tony Gwynn and I caught with him in Peoria and asked him about the unfortunate events surrounding his new situation, he simply said, "I'll just have to bash my way back up here. My plan is to make it impossible for them not to find a spot for me."
And so France went to Triple-A El Paso and started bashing. Then phenom shortstop Fernando Tatis, Jr., got injured in late May and the Padres had no choice but to call upon the former Aztec. Machado was moved to shortstop, and France took over at third, doing a solid enough job to prove that he belonged at the big league level. (I could have told them that beforehand).
Still there was the problem of France's future with the organization. Tatis would soon returtn, and Machado would move back to third base. The only opening, it appeared, was going to be at second base, a position that was being reserved for top prospect Luis Urias. On top of that, France had never really played second base, especially as a big leaguer. So back to the minors he went, intent on bashing his was back to San Diego once again. He made the All-Star team, and hit a home run in the All-Star game. He batted an amazing .399 and was named league MVP.
Just like that weekend many years before at the University of Nevada, France -- against all odds -- was not going to be denied.
What eventually will happen with the Padres' second base position is no better than up in the air right now. Urias has the credentials, but France seems to have something more important. And that's results. Just recently he hit three home runs in a two-game span to catch the attention of everbody again. This kid simply rakes baseballs all over the field, and doesn't apologize for making the team's job far more difficult when it comes to deciding what to do with him as the Friars hopefully continue a journey back toward the postseason in the next couple of years.
Come hell or high water, and he already has come through all of it, Ty France plans on making it with the Padres. Urias and the rest be damned. If he continues hitting like he can, they'll have to find a spot for him.
They'd be sick not to.
