In the season when hearts grow tender and hopes seem brighter, there is always room for a miracle, even one wrapped in fur and tucked beneath the fragrant boughs of a Christmas tree. Such a miracle came to light in the rolling hills of Valley Center, where December breezes carried the mingling scents of pine needles and chimney smoke. Amid this tableau of holiday cheer,…
The Padres checked the first box on their offseason to-do list when they hired Craig Stammen as their next manager. The second box is larger, louder and unavoidable: finding enough starting pitching for Stammen to employ. Every club at the Las Vegas General Managers’ Meetings this week claimed pitching as priority No. 1. A.J. Preller has said the same before. But this autumn the need…
If you’re the type who likes the smell of hay, the sound of hooves, and the faint taste of risk on the ocean breeze, you’ll find Del Mar’s gates wide open for the next 30 days. The sunshine is plentiful, the odds are long, and the stories are worth retelling. Because, as one old tout by the paddock rail tells me between drags on his…