Snapshots and moon shots: Padres' Polaroid tradition continues in NLCS

SAN DIEGO -- Within the hallway that connects Petco Park's location clubhouse to its first-base dugout, a mural has sprung, populated with a postulation of Polaroid pictures that has grown with each passing triumph. The moving tally sits astatine 163 photographs, neatly organized wrong 11 rows, a static item reel for the San Diego Padres' resurgent season.

Two were added successful the aftermath of their melodramatic Game 2 triumph implicit the Philadelphia Phillies connected Wednesday afternoon. One features Brandon Drury and Josh Bell, the 2 men who ignited a melodramatic comeback. The different is headlined by Manny Machado, who utilized some his bat and his mitt to unafraid the 8-5 triumph that evened the National League Championship Series astatine a crippled apiece.

Later that night, Jurickson Profar looked done them each erstwhile more, smiling astatine the memories they triggered. He was asked to prime a favorite.

"Man," Profar said, shaking his head, "all of them."

The conception began with Joe Musgrove, who was partially inspired by Marcell Ozuna's mock selfie solemnisation during location tally trots successful Atlanta. As much and much teams devised elaborate in-game celebrations, Musgrove was looking for a dugout ritual that would separate his Padres. He bought a Polaroid camera, figuring helium mightiness arsenic good nutrient immoderate keepsakes, too.

The Padres person faced their just stock of adversity successful their quest to seizure the archetypal title successful franchise history, from Fernando Tatis Jr.'s suspension to Josh Hader's struggles to the offense's prolonged inconsistency. Through it all, that partition has been a invited reminder of the bully times, marking their increasing camaraderie. Home runs and strikeouts are depicted, but truthful are random gatherings and quirky moments, immoderate of which don't person an explanation.

When this 2022 play ends -- whenever that is -- Musgrove hopes to compile the photos into a coffee-table book, copies of which mightiness beryllium sold for charity.

"We're not conscionable co-workers -- we're friends," chap Padres starter Mike Clevinger said. "We person a batch of amusive being together. We prime each different up, nary 1 stays down connected anybody else. It's conscionable large vigor successful this clubhouse, and we've built connected it. It conscionable keeps getting stronger and stronger."

What follows is simply a communicative of the Padres' season, arsenic told done the players' favourite photos.

The Padres defeated the Atlanta Braves successful other innings connected May 15, and Yu Darvish instantly pulled retired his checkbook. Nabil Crismatt had yet established himself arsenic a reliable large league reliever past season, 4 teams and 1 decennary removed from being signed retired of Colombia. But helium stayed stuck astatine 93 mph. It remained his highest fastball velocity, an encumbrance successful an epoch of triple-digit throwers retired of bullpens.

Darvish had offered Crismatt $1,000 for each tick helium threw supra 93, his mode of challenging him to get better. On this day astatine Truist Park, Crismatt, who pitched 2 scoreless innings and struck retired 4 batters, yet reached 94 mph. It came against his 2nd batter, resulting successful a caught-looking strikeout of Adam Duvall successful the bottommost of the ninth. This, naturally, is his favourite photo.

"Yu told maine if I deed 95 it's a 1000 more," Crismatt said. "I'll support moving astatine it."

Several of the Padres players had a hard clip identifying a singular photograph -- possibly nary much than Musgrove himself.

The Padres starter identified arsenic galore arsenic 5 photos arsenic his favorite, including this one, from June 3, taken soon aft helium completed 8 scoreless innings successful Milwaukee.

Musgrove joined the Padres successful January 2021, during a three-week agelong successful which A.J. Preller besides traded for Musgrove, Darvish and Blake Snell. Musgrove was the slightest accomplished among the 3 starting pitchers, but helium has go the astir celebrated -- arsenic a San Diego merchandise and lifelong Padres instrumentality who threw the archetypal no-hitter successful franchise past successful April 2021 and eschewed forthcoming escaped bureau by signing a five-year, $100 cardinal hold successful August 2022.

When the Padres astir desperately needed a triumph this postseason, Musgrove, fittingly, has been the 1 who has travel through, pitching 7 one-hit innings successful a winner-take-all wild-card crippled against the New York Mets and pursuing it up with six innings of two-run shot to destruct the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He'll get the shot again successful Game 3 of the NLCS from Philadelphia connected Friday night, with a accidental to plaything the bid successful his team's favour -- and the Padres wouldn't privation it immoderate different way.

Profar deliberated for a portion earlier yet landing connected this one, commemorating his leadoff location tally connected June 7.

The Padres' discourtesy operated arsenic a one-man amusement for astir of the archetypal 4 months, carried mostly by Machado. But immoderate much-needed assistance appeared successful precocious May, erstwhile Profar was moved into the leadoff spot successful an effort to get him going offensively. It would go his home. Profar provided a .745 OPS arsenic a leadoff hitter this season, 60 points higher than what helium produced successful immoderate of the different spots successful the lineup.

"It fits maine truly well," Profar said. "It fits my benignant of hitting."

Drury's Padres tenure got disconnected to a roaring start. On Aug. 3, 1 time aft being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds, Drury deed a expansive slam. It came successful the precise archetypal inning, aft Juan Soto and Josh Bell -- the different caller additions to the lineup -- had reached successful beforehand of him. Drury became the archetypal subordinate to deed a expansive slam successful his archetypal sheet quality aft switching teams wrong a season.

The Padres celebrated with a radical changeable that ran 9 deep.

"That was a beauteous breathtaking photograph close there," seasoned reliever Craig Stammen said.

"Just the moment," Machado added. "It was everybody's archetypal time together, helium does that, we extremity up winning by a batch -- that was awesome."

One problem: the camera malfunctioned, and a representation ne'er sprouted. The Padres person mislaid respective photos passim the season, but this was 1 that needed to beryllium salvaged. So they improvised: Mike Clevinger recovered the nonrecreational photograph online, printed it, framed it and posed with it for the Polaroid.

"It was a storybook moment," Clevinger said.

One subordinate is noticeably much easy spotted connected the partition than immoderate different -- Nick Martinez, the seasoned right-hander who has go an invaluable subordinate of the Padres' pitching unit for his quality to commencement games and, much recently, enactment successful high-leverage roles retired of the bullpen. Martinez has tried to get successful connected arsenic galore Polaroids arsenic possible, often waiting an other inning to locomotion to the bullpen successful hopes that a picture-worthy infinitesimal volition materialize.

The photograph above, though, is his favorite. The day is unknown, but the taxable is evergreen: players sitting unneurotic successful the clubhouse, successful nary unreserved to get home, a communal occurrence this season.

"It's a testament to however adjacent we are," Martinez said. "We similar hanging retired with each different aft games, and that 1 conscionable benignant of shows the camaraderie that we have."

Blake Snell

This is Bob Melvin's lone quality connected the wall. The representation is from Sept. 2, soon aft Yu Darvish pitched 7 scoreless innings from Dodger Stadium. A fistful of players identified this arsenic their favorite, not conscionable due to the fact that Melvin is successful it but due to the fact that helium agreed to beryllium photographed portion a crippled was ongoing.

Snell called it "iconic."

"It was Yu," Melvin said. "He's the lone feline I'd bash that with. After we took it, helium was like, 'I anticipation that didn't marque you uncomfortable.' I told him, 'Yeah, possibly a small bit, but for you I'd bash anything.'"

One of Melvin's top strengths arsenic a manager is his quality to link with players, a byproduct, largely, of genuine spot successful them. Melvin won implicit the starting pitchers earlier this play -- and got them to bargain into the conception of a six-man rotation -- by letting them transportation deeper into games than they usually would. It's existent of his violative players, arsenic well: Earlier successful these playoffs, Trent Grisham credited Melvin's "consistent faith" for his astonishing violative resurgence successful October.

Melvin besides knows however to prime his spots. He saved his archetypal and lone existent postgame blow-up for the nighttime of Sept. 15, successful the visiting clubhouse astatine Chase Field successful Phoenix, aft the Padres were blanked by a rookie pitcher making his large league debut. The Padres had been playing to a losing grounds since the commencement of July, and Melvin chastised them for their deficiency of intensity. It shocked the players, but it besides helped them fastener successful for the agelong run.

The Padres won 8 of their adjacent 10 and person played a overmuch much crisp marque of shot ever since. "It was the close clip and the close spot to benignant of airy a occurrence nether everybody," Padres 2nd baseman Jake Cronenworth said, "and it seemed to work."

Until this postseason, the Padres had been dominated by the Dodgers, losing their last 9 games against them successful 2021 and 14 of 19 during the regular play successful 2022. But they navigated their NLDS triumph implicit Los Angeles with noticeable swagger -- and possibly the roots of that were planted connected Sept. 2 (moments earlier Melvin's inaugural Polaroid appearance).

The Padres faced the famously demonstrative Dustin May that night, and 1 series successful peculiar irked them. It was the 3rd inning. May got Soto to plaything done a 100 mph fastball to determination up successful the count, 1-2, and fto retired a primal outcry to celebrate. Soto took the adjacent 3 pitches for balls to enactment a walk, past flicked his bat and glared astatine May earlier opening his jog to archetypal base. Two pitches later, Machado launched a 410-foot location run.

The 2 returned to the dugout and prepared to onslaught a airs -- and Soto's improvisation rapidly turned mocking.

"He's screaming successful the photo," Musgrove said. "That was beauteous funny."

Musgrove got the photography bug done his girlfriend. The 2 person taken to scrapbooking their offseason camping trips, and Musgrove has learned to admit a bully photograph done it. This 1 -- of Sean Manaea playfully blowing a buss to a adjacent Padres instrumentality successful Pittsburgh, moments aft an on-field interrogation -- stood retired for the aesthetics.

"Just the sky, however it came unneurotic down him," Musgrove said. "That was a chill shot."

Wil Myers represents a antithetic epoch successful Padres baseball. He was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays successful a three-team, 11-player commercialized successful December 2014, 1 of the headliners successful a dizzying five-month agelong that besides saw Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, James Shields and Craig Kimbrel caput to San Diego. The radical lasted little than 2 years unneurotic earlier Preller traded distant the veterans to kickstart the rebuild that produced the existent nucleus.

Myers is the lone subordinate remaining from that trade, and his remaining clip successful San Diego mightiness beryllium short, fixed the $20 cardinal nine enactment that is definite to beryllium declined this offseason. As his Padres tenure nears the end, though, helium has recovered a mode to contribute. After the Soto acquisition made him the unusual antheral retired successful a abruptly crowded outfield mix, Myers re-learned archetypal basal and became a antiaircraft stalwart astatine the position.

In the mediate of the eighth inning of the regular-season finale connected Oct. 5, the Padres removed Myers truthful that the location assemblage could salute him 1 last time. As helium came into the dugout, Musgrove, camera successful hand, twirled his close scale digit successful the air, signaling for teammates to gather. The Padres were headed into the postseason, but it would statesman with a best-of-three wild-card bid played exclusively successful New York City. Nobody knew if Myers would get different location crippled arsenic a Padre.

It's nary astonishment that photograph is the 1 helium identified arsenic his favorite.

Machado has a signature look -- arms crossed, shoulders back, caput somewhat tilted. It ne'er wavers.

"That's my pose," helium said.

Usually that airs is surrounded by boisterous teammates. But successful this photograph helium is distinctly alone, successful the backmost country of the visiting dugout astatine Citi Field. It was the 5th inning of the Padres' postseason opener connected Oct. 7, and Machado was caller disconnected clobbering a location tally that ended Max Scherzer's outing prematurely.

Twelve days later, arsenic Musgrove and Manaea looked done their swelling mural, that photograph kept popping up successful speech -- possibly due to the fact that of what it signified. That night, the Padres had announced themselves arsenic morganatic threats successful these playoffs, stunning the 101-win New York Mets to instrumentality Game 1 successful emphatic fashion. Over the adjacent 2 weeks, they would spell connected to play their champion shot of the season, redeeming their precise champion erstwhile it mattered most.

Suddenly they were carrying themselves similar morganatic title contenders.

That infinitesimal -- that photograph -- embodied their attitude.