SAN DIEGO — Within the hallway that connects Petco Park’s home clubhouse to its first-base dugout, a mural has sprung, populated with a collection of Polaroid pictures that has grown with each passing triumph. The running tally sits at 163 photographs, neatly organized within 11 rows, a static highlight reel for the San Diego Padres’ resurgent season.
Two were added in the wake of their dramatic Game 2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon. One features Brandon Drury and Josh Bell, the two men who ignited a dramatic comeback. The other is headlined by Manny Machado, who used both his bat and his glove to secure the 8-5 win that evened the National League Championship Series at a game apiece.
Later that night, Jurickson Profar looked through them all once more, smiling at the memories they triggered. He was asked to pick a favorite.
“Man,” Profar said, shaking his head, “all of them.”
The concept began with Joe Musgrove, who was partly inspired by Marcell Ozuna’s mock selfie celebration during home run trots in Atlanta. As more and more teams devised elaborate in-game celebrations, Musgrove was looking for a dugout ritual that would distinguish his Padres. He bought a Polaroid camera, figuring he might as well produce some keepsakes, too.
The Padres have faced their fair share of adversity in their quest to capture the first championship in franchise history, from Fernando Tatis Jr.’s suspension to Josh Hader’s struggles to the offense’s prolonged inconsistency. Through it all, that wall has been a welcome reminder of the good times, marking their growing camaraderie. Home runs and strikeouts are depicted, but so are random gatherings and quirky moments, some of which don’t have an explanation.
When this 2022 season ends — whenever that is — Musgrove hopes to compile the photos into a coffee-table book, copies of which might be sold for charity.
“We’re not just co-workers — we’re friends,” fellow Padres starter
Source : espn
