S1: Hey , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Living in San Diego means rooting for our local sports teams through thick and thin. It's the midpoint of the season for the Padres , San Diego FC and the wave. Our favorite teams are getting a report card.
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S1: That's all ahead on KPBS roundtable. First the news. San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4 to 3 Thursday night behind home runs from all stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. The Padres are now 50 and 43 , but in third place in their division and hovering near a wild card spot for the playoffs. Though a lot more baseball is still to come this season. We thought it'd be a good time to check in on how the team is doing as it enters next week's All Star break. Joining me to do that is Derek Torgerson. He's a sports anchor with NBC seven San Diego. Also , Ryan Finley is here. He is the sports editor with the San Diego Union Tribune. I want to welcome both of you to roundtable. So the Padres , they have one last homestand this weekend before that all star break. They're playing the Phillies here at Petco. But regardless of how that series goes , the team enters the break with a winning record. Not at the top of their division , though. So I want to start by getting each of your thoughts on how the season is going.
S3: Well , thanks for having me on and I always enjoy doing this stuff. I think mine would probably be , uh , uh , Padres overachieve. Um , you look at the number of injuries that they've had to deal with. You look at all the different guys who have been impact players who've had to come up and down , how many bullpen arms I've had to use , and the fact that they are sitting seven games over 500 with three games before the All-Star break , especially when you given the fact that Mike Schultz teams historically have been much better in the second half of the season , they have in the first half. I mean , look no further than last year when they were 50 and 50 and ended up winning from 93 games. I think they're ahead of schedule and given the adversity they've had to deal with , including so many of their stars having prolonged slumps at different times , I'm actually really encouraged by what I've seen so far , because the superstars can't stay this mired in funks for as long as they have been for an entire season , and these teams tend to get better as they go on. I'm very encouraged overachieving Padres in the first half.
S1: So , Ryan , you heard some optimism from Derek there , pointing to , you know , how last year went last season went what's you know.
S2: You know we're so it's so easy to just look at the last two weeks or a month and say , man , this is a middling team. This is a 500 baseball team. But you know how easily and how soon we forget , uh , their first month of the season. You know , it was one of I think it was the best or second best start in the history of the San Diego Padres. Um , their superstars were playing like superstars. They were getting great pitching. Um , they very much looked like , uh , not only a playoff team , but a team that could make a deep run. You know , to me , the question , I guess , and maybe the story of the first half is who are the real San Diego Padres ? Is it the team that we saw in April and early May , or is it the team that we've seen here in the last month , which is talented ? Yes , certainly. Um , you know , plays baseball the right way , is doing a lot of good things , but maybe too flawed to be a truly good to great team in Major League Baseball at this point. You know , who are they ? I can't really tell you. I'm not sure.
S1: You know , one thing that the team has gotten criticized for is just the offensive production , right ? I mean , Derek , what can you tell us about the team's struggles at the plate and what gives you , you know , optimism that they can turn things around in the second half.
S3: The struggles at the plate. I mean , I heard the staff that Jesse Hagler had on the radio last night , and it was something that was incredibly , uh , stark when he said that over the last 50 games , the Padres have failed to score at least three runs in half of them , 25 of those games. And if you had told me in spring training that was the case , I would have said , you're out of your mind. There's no this team is far too deep. They have far too many weapons. Uh , but that's that's the reality of it. And I think the thing that we've seen here is they don't have enough slug. Meaning they don't have that. That guy who can put the ball out of the ballpark at any given moment and get you a few runs on the board , and when they don't have that guy , they have to rely on a lot of hits in a row. They have to have those long , prolonged rallies which they've we've seen this team be able to do , but they have to have that single , single , double double walk , single double walk. They have to have those kinds of rallies to truly start generating , you know , big innings and a lot of high run totals. And that's what's been missing is the consistency. We talk about runners in scoring position. They're getting plenty of guys on base. They're getting plenty of guys in scoring position. But that's when the rally stops. I mean even the superstars. Manny Machado , the active major league leader in career Grand Slams , has had multiple opportunities with runners on base , even with the bases loaded , and has failed to get the job done in those situations. And you can't expect a guy to do it every time , but they're not getting that hit when they need to get that hit. And that was the hallmark of this team last year and even early this season. So if they can find a way to either find a guy at the trade deadline to come in and give them that slug who can , you end a game for you with one swing of the bat. As the old saying goes. Or find a way to get some more consistency up and down the lineup. Then the offense will be okay. What we see right now is simply lack of consistency and lack of slug. They can probably fix those things , and it's good that we can actually identify what the issue is. If you can identify with the issue is then you can go about addressing and fixing the issue.
S1: I think you mentioned injuries earlier. Uh , Ryan , I'm wondering if you can kind of dig into some of the injury stories. We saw you. Darvish an important piece to the pitching rotation of the Padres return recently. What's your take on the state of injuries ? And will the second half hopefully bring better things to come for the team ? Yeah.
S2: You know , I think the first half of the season has been marked by injuries to three key players. Right. Yu Darvish um did not pitch in mid-March. Uh said hey there's something up with my elbow. Um , really took it slow getting back and then made his debut on Monday. his first appearance as Padre in 2025. He's due to start again Friday night. Uh , you know , you Darvish appears to be back. His velocity looks pretty good. He threw , you know , 7 or 8 different pitches in his first game back. Uh , I think that it's it's fair to say that you Darvish you can pencil him into the rotation uh , going forward which is good. You know , Michael King um , had a nerve issue. Has a nerve issue , um , in his shoulder and , uh , something that's kept him out nearly two months and will keep him out at least another 3 or 4 weeks , probably. Um , if things are trending in the right direction , they're , you know , when he's healthy. Michael King is , at least in my opinion , their best starting pitcher. Uh , so the Padres would add him back , which is great. You know , one of the things , and when we talk about injuries , it's nothing we've really dwelled on too much. But , you know , Jackson Merrill's had a rough first half of this season. He was , you know , their best player through the first week or two of the 2025 season. Then he suffered a hamstring injury. Then he got a concussion stealing second base in Phoenix. I got tagged sort of up around the head and missed a week there. You know , he's come back and he has really struggled since his return from that concussion list. You know if you Darvish Michael King and Jackson Merrill can return to sort of the numbers on the backs of their baseball cards. I think the Padres should be in really good shape. You know , the question is can they all come back and start producing in time for the Padres , really , to make a surge ? Uh , we saw last year , you know , the second half of the season was when the Padres really turned it on. Put together one of the best halves they've ever had as an organization. I think that there's some hope internally that that's that they have that in them again , that they can make that run again. But I think it's going to require their superstars playing like superstars. They're injured players coming back and being just as good as they were beforehand , and probably adding a bat and a pitcher here at the trade deadline. This team and they show it night in and night out. Uh has a just a shocking lack of depth. There bench is not , uh , particularly accomplished. And , uh , they're going to need more hitters , more big league hitters on this team if they're going to make a push to not only make the playoffs but go deep.
S1: Derek Ryan there , you know , talked about some of the challenges that Jackson Merrill has faced this year after just , you know , the breakout season last season. But he's not the only Padre that's , you know , been disappointing for Padre fans so far this season right.
S3: No definitely not. And I actually talked to Mike just yesterday and we taped this on Friday morning. But I talked to Dee yesterday about , uh , about Jackson Merrill , who , by the way , Jackson now three for 32 in the month of July. And the point that was made was this is the first time he's ever struggled on a baseball field in his life , not his career in his life. He never had to have struggles in the minor leagues , never had to have struggles in high school. Never had to have struggles , obviously , in Little League all the way back to T-ball , he's had success. So he called it quote , a birthright. Every baseball player at some point in their life , in their career , goes through a part , a point where the game says , all right , I'm going to test you. And this is the test for Jackson Merrill. The thing is , he's just turned 22 years old this April , so he's going through that test in front of everyone after having a year where he probably should have been named the rookie of the year in the National League. So we're seeing him go through this in real time and everyone in that organization , I mean , I've talked to players around Jackson , I've talked to Jackson himself. They all believe that this is temporary. So he's going to come back and be fine. I think the bigger concern is probably with a guy like Xander Bogaerts , who has run into a lot of bad luck. I mean , he hit a ball on Sunday. I was at the game. It went 102 miles an hour off the bat at a 31 degree launch angle. The bases were loaded. That ball , according to Baseball Savant , is a home run 64% of the time , and it's a base hit over 80% of the time. And it was a flyout to the warning track. so Zander has just run into a gust from the Gods at Petco Park. Whatever it is , he's run into some really bad luck. But the fact the ball is not flying out of the ballpark nearly as consistently for him , I think , is still concerning. Manny , I'm not worried about Todd is is , thank God , healthy. He's got to get out of his own head. I still think the production for him , he's going to come in. And Greg Garcia , former Padres , said he believes home run comes and home runs come in bunches. So Totti again , he hit one on Thursday night. That was an absolute missile out to center field. If he can start finding one of those grooves , like the first month of the year , he hit eight home runs. He's had six since then. If he can have another one those eight home run months and bam , they're right back and they're doing what they're doing. And you know the talents in there. The guy's 26 years old. So I think the bigger concern is with a guy like , uh , Xander Bogaerts or um , the the lack of consistency from Fernando Tatis Jr , even a guy like Luis or he's not swinging like the three time batting champion that we've seen. Thank God for Gavin Sheets giving some kind of pop to this lineup. So it's not so much a concern from a guy like Meryl who is going to figure it out eventually. I think you're talking about a guy like Bogart's who are 32 years old or going , man , maybe , maybe Father Time got with him early , which is weird because the guy's built like an NFL safety. You'd figure the ball would fly off his back consistently , but he's been dinged up. He's played a lot of baseball games. Maybe he's just worn down. You just don't know.
S1: So , you know , talking about some of the challenges this season , I want to turn to some of the , you know , favorite moments from the year. I think probably near the top of most Padre fans. Favorite moments came pretty recently. And that was Manny Machado with his 2,000th career hit. Uh , Ryan , what can you tell us about Manny Machado and what he's meant to the Padres since he came after kind of , you know , a complicated career with with some other clubs , including the Dodgers. Right ? Yeah.
S2: Yes. And , you know , Manny Machado was sort of the first. You know , people are going to talk about Eric Hosmer signing with the Padres years ago and how that sort of legitimized them. Right. But Manny Machado was a superstar who chose San Diego. And , you know , I think for all of the drama that that surrounded him early in his career , you know , the fact that Manny chose San Diego , I think , is why there's this bond here between him and fans and and , you know , Manny Machado is a bona fide star. I think he's a future Hall of Famer. I'm not sure it's even much of a conversation. Uh , and he's a guy who , if he keeps hitting anywhere near the clip he's been hitting at , you know , he'll get his 3,000th hit and he'll likely get it as a San Diego padre. Uh , him getting his 2,000th hit. You know , on Monday. I was there Monday night. Um , as somebody who grew up in San Diego was in the stands the night Tony Gwynn got 2000 was watching on TV the night Tony Gwynn got 3000. You know , I think that maybe San Diego fans are a little bit more appreciative of just how hard it is to get those sort of milestones , like Manny Machado is 28 and , you know , kind of like Tony Gwynn. The night he got 3000. It wasn't just that he got 3000. That said , I think he then got three more hits that day. Manny Machado gets 2000 early in Monday night's game , then turns around and belts a home run later in the game , and has been on a little bit of a heater ever since. Uh , Manny Machado , I would argue at this point , is the second greatest Padre of all time. And as much as sort of the , um , the Tony Gwynn fans in San Diego would probably blanch at this. I think if Manny Machado continues playing at this level through the end of his contract with the Padres , we could talk about him being one or maybe one be in terms of the greatest padres of all time. Um , he's that special of a player.
S1: We've seen Manny Machado really kind of embed himself in the culture of San Diego. We're going to talk a little in just a couple of minutes about San Diego FC , of which he's quite been involved. You've seen him at games and he's involved with that franchise as well. So finishing up on the Padres here. You know , I think , as you mentioned. Baseball's trade deadline comes at the end of this month.
S2: Um , I don't know if that person necessarily has to be a left fielder. Uh , one of the things that we've seen with Gavin Sheets , who has been one of the great stories of the first half of this season , you know , they sort of signed him off the street just ahead of spring training. He looks the part. Big , strong kid. But somebody who hasn't really developed into a power hitter during his career has really taken off this season. And then they say , hey , go play left field. And you know , after a really rough month or so , it seems like he's settling in there. So maybe they don't need necessarily a left fielder , but I think they need a right handed bat somewhere. Somebody who can hit home runs , somebody who scares people. So that's number one. Number two , I think they need a catcher. Um , I'm not sure what they're willing to give up to acquire a catcher. Um , but the Martin Maldonado. Elias Diaz combination. I don't think that that's a winning combination for a team that plans to go deep into October. And then I think pitching , you know , we look at what the Padres did last year at the trade deadline. Nobody talks about how important it was that they had Martin Perez there the last couple months of the season to eat innings. He was really good during the regular season for them , too. It doesn't have to be a superstar pitcher , but getting another veteran arm , either into that rotation or as a swingman I think will go a long way and guard against you know what ? If you Darvish struggles , or what if you Darvish aggravate something ? What if Michael King is too slow coming back. You know you need a little insurance there. And I think a veteran pitcher would provide some of that.
S1: When roundtable returns from the baseball diamond to the soccer pitch , we check in on the state of San Diego's soccer teams , San Diego FC and San Diego Wave. Stay tuned. Roundtable's back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today we're taking a closer look at San Diego sports. And we shift now from baseball to soccer to talk about San Diego FC and the wave. Again , I'm joined by the Union Tribune's Ryan Finley , along with Derek Torgerson from NBC seven San Diego. We're also joined now by Tony Sanchez. He's the co-founder of San Diego Football. So , Tony , I want to start with you. Like the Padres San Diego FC , they're just about their midpoint this season.
S4: And I can say for San Diego FC and everybody who's paying attention to what they've been doing in this inaugural season , it's nothing more than just spectacular and really just fulfilling the ambitions that were inlaid before they began the season. And for San Diego FC. See on all marks and all standards across what's been established , as what an expansion team should have as their expectation. They've been able to really just , uh , exceed those expectations and just bring a new , uh , ceiling to what it can be possible , uh , for a new team in this league to be and honestly has potential to revolutionize the sport of soccer in the nation.
S1: Ryan San Diego FC is tops of their conference. How surprising is that to you at this point ? I think we talked , you know , right as the season kicked off and there was just a lot of questions of what the team again , expansion team first season , what it would look like.
S2: You know , the last time we talked , I think we discussed , you know , what would be important in year one wasn't necessarily wins and losses , but it was more playing , entertaining soccer , um , engaging the fan base , growing the fan base. Right. Well , they've managed to do all of that while also winning. They're now atop the 15 team Western Conference standings in Major League Soccer. They've done it with an attacking , exciting style of play. They've done it with contributions from all over. Um , you know , there are so many great storylines on this team through the first half of their season. It's better than I'm sure even they would have hoped for. Um , they're playing great. Uh , they're getting production from all over. And , you know , they're they're this close guys to , you know , smashing records for most successful expansion team in Major League Soccer history. Uh , this is a club that can make a deep run into the playoffs. And this is a club that has been , uh , just a ringing success. Um , in the , you know , in terms of at the gate , in the stands , um , in the community and then , of course , on the soccer field and in the standings. Um , it's just been amazing to see Derek.
S1: What about you ? You know , this is the first time obviously , covering MLS in in San Diego. There's been talk for years about it.
S3: I was actually out of practice yesterday before they flew out to Chicago to face a fire this weekend. I think what you've seen in Major League Soccer is over the last few years , expansion teams have found a way to be really good , really fast. Just two years ago , Saint Louis City FC one or C one , the Western Conference , they have the number one seed and then they flamed out with a first round playoff loss. You've seen Lafc in their first year went to the playoffs. So a lot of teams recently have joined the league and had some level of success. But only one playoff team has actually won a playoff game. Forgetting about the Chicago Fire back in 1998 when they were an expansion team and won the MLS Cup. That was a third year of Major League Soccer. I think 3 or 4 teams folded that year. It was a Wild West. It was a very funky time for Major League Soccer , so I think we got to throw that one out and kind of go with maybe like the modern era.
S1: A lot less teams than two. Right now it's like 30 teams.
S3: I think there were 12 teams in the league , something along those lines. And now you're talking about 30 plus. Much more difficult nowadays. What gives me hope about. About San Diego FC is what they've been able to do in building an identity. And Ryan , you said it perfectly. You said building , you know , playing exciting soccer. And Tony , I know you're out of practice. I see you there quite a bit as well. So you can speak to this as well. But they've got an identity. And when you take a team that got together literally in February and they still added pieces here and there as they've gone to put them all into a system with a coach in Mikey Barros , who has never been a coach at a professional level , ever at any professional level. I've never been a head coach to get all these guys on the same page and show you week in and week out. This is the team we are. This is the kind of soccer we're going to play. As Mikey says , we're going to be bold on the ball to instill that and make sure the team Is what they are. On a week in , week out basis. It has been truly remarkable because to get so many guys from different systems , I know Right to Dream has something to do with this , but from different places. Different because they got guys from 13 or 14 different countries speaking multiple different languages to get them all on the same page so quickly and assimilate into the style of soccer they want to play. That's been the remarkable thing. So I mean , sporting director Tyler Heaps , I think deserves a massive amount of credit , although he's kind of sticking behind the scenes , or he's more comfortable for the kind of guys that he got to come in here that fit not only from a system standpoint , but a personality standpoint has been truly incredible.
S4: So , so with that , the success that San Diego FC has been able to really just have initially here is because they've had a blueprint almost for everything in this inaugural season. You're talking about the system that's been inlaid , the dream system , which right to dream being the project that is unilateral , unilaterally connecting every aspect of this club , whether it's on the field development for the future , whether it's playstyle , whether it's the players themselves , the captain of this team. Yet this first cup is in the 99th percentile for a lot of , um , a lot of stats in the MLS and leading in MLS. But you don't see him as that household name like Minnelli or Chucky Lozano honors Dreyer. If you're looking at the game , it's really just being able to imprint the DNA of other teams already established through the Right to Dream model , that being FC Northland , uh , over in Norway. So this is some of the things that San Diego has been able to already have a head start in , where they have the players , they put the pieces together. And like Derek was saying , it's just incredible how fast these players were able to assimilate to that. It they were three weeks into meeting each other when they had their first victory up in LA against the reigning defending champions , and really just kind of had that cohesiveness , uh , right out the gate. So in soccer , that's incredibly important , where sometimes talent , individual talented players get superseded by good team play. And that's what San Diego FC has and they have the fight. So once again , that ambition that San Diego FC and company with Tyler Heaps , Mike Ybarra and Tom Penn wanted to have a competitive team. Uh , initially they're having that and more. Now they're the talk of the entire league.
S1: And Ryan amongst the players , you know , kind of leading the way here. Yes , there's a couple stars. Anders Dreier , Irving Chucky Lozano was kind of the big signing. Um , but also a local product from Escondido. Milan Elavsky.
S2: Um , after high school , went and played at UCLA , where he was very good , left UCLA early to turned pro and really struggled early on in the MLS system. Played mostly , um , you know , at their high minors , um , affiliates and then , uh , got released and ended up in Orange County playing for a USL Championship club and just tore it up there. Uh , played really well and , you know , became their franchise's all time leading scorer. Uh was able to play alongside his brother , which I think was cool for him. Uh , and then went overseas and ended up signing with uh , San Diego FC sister club um early in San Diego FC season. Marcus Vashon gets hurt. They need a forward. They need some scoring punch. They go , they contact their sister club and Melanie Lasky gets loaned to his hometown team , San Diego FC , and has just taken off. Um , somebody who , again , probably wasn't on anybody's radar , um , at the start of the season , is now one of their most exciting offensive players. And the fact that he's local , it probably shouldn't matter. Um , but , you know , San Diegans love cheering for San Diegans , and , uh , he's become a fan favorite early on here. You know , it will be interesting to me to see how much he plays and what his production is like with Egberts and fully healthy and with this team. You know , pushing for a playoff spot. I'm very curious to see sort of where he fits in going forward , but that is what we call a good problem to have. If you have too many talented players , you're probably doing it right.
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S4: And every one of the thirds of this team has somebody there. Even going back to goalkeeper C.J. dos Santos , who was an unproven , uh , MLS backup keeper with Miami , who had a lot of questions coming in , and now is one of the leaders in MLS with clean sheets. Uh , and moving forward , you have , uh , players who really you don't you didn't expect much like , uh , Ryan was talking about Milan. Nobody expected , uh , Chris McVeigh to come over and become a stalwart defender for this team and be granted an extension already into 2028. You go into the midfield , you have Anibal Godoy , who is a grizzly veteran of MLS who brings that presence , who is going to be a rotation player , has cemented and established himself and found new life , the Fountain of Youth , alongside , uh , the captain center mid um first Gulf. And then you have other great talents throughout just sparse with Luka also being a local product in under similar conditions with Milani. They're loaned. Essentially they're being borrowed for the season. At some point they have to go back to their parent club. However , both of them have an option to stay here in San Diego and be purchased , uh , in their contract. And then again , you go up , up , up , up through the final third and attack , and you have this , uh , this revelation of MLS , somebody who is touted right now , number one , to be MVP of the entire league in honor striker who , uh , talk about a bargain. Honest Dreier was , uh , purchased Purchase here for $5 million. He was , um , he was one of those players that Tyler Heaps couldn't believe that he had got for such a bargain. And not only that , he got for such a bargain that he agreed to come in his prime here to MLS. That is traditionally seen as a retirement league or something that Europeans come over after just to collect a paycheck. And dryers came in and is in his prime and is definitely , uh , taking this league by storm.
S1: So , Tony , I think if there's been criticism around CFC , it hasn't been about the team or the product , the players , but more about just how soccer culture has been , you know , becoming part of the San Diego sports scene. Uh , I think you've kind of referred to them as growing pains that this club has gone through this season. I'm wondering if you can dig more into that. Um , you know , started off the season , there were these homophobic chants that happened the the opening home match of their first home match. Then there was a pretty , um , there was , uh , fights that happened at Snapdragon Stadium between a couple supporter groups. Um , you know , break that down for us. Where do you think that is now , and how has the team responded to those controversies ? Yeah.
S4: Much like I said , there was a blueprint with a style of play and everything. There's a blueprint for this , too , uh , for the , uh , homophobic chant. Uh , they took exactly what Tom Penn did when in his time in Lafc. Um , and so essentially what ended up happening in Lafc , which happened in San Diego FC , is right immediately after the match. Um , the manager , uh , Mikey , came into the press conference post-match before any questions were asked , he addressed and made sure that it was understood that this is not what the team stands for , and it's not what , uh , they're going to go ahead and be known for. And also the fact that it was not the official supporter group initiating those chants. Uh , and then again , it's that , uh , accountability factor that Mikey and the club are definitely , uh , definitely ushering in , as well as similar steps in order to face future times in need of contingencies. They took the Lafc model to do that now with when it comes to the altercations and the fights. That's something that , again , potentially could have been a little bit more proactive by the club , but unless it happens , then you're not necessarily prepared with the full extent of what you needed. And so I think now the growing pains are exactly that. There are situations where you're finding yourself , uh , just discovering throughout where , um , it's a matter of conversation. It's a matter of identifying and weeding those things out. Um , because , again , there's not necessarily a space for violence in , in anywhere , but let alone , uh , in the stands in the , in the third level of , uh , of a Snapdragon stadium. But here is where this is where , um , San Diego FC could have been a little bit more proactive about things. Uh , there was obviously this , uh , energy , uh , that's filling. And it's definitely something that the club is embracing by allowing , hey , we're going to go ahead and allow every sort of supporter , we're going to allow every sort of in the that's the Supporter Ultra style from South America and try to mix it with the US. There's growing pains with that. And with that. The union supporters union from San Diego , made up of seven individual supporter groups , all have different ways of supporting. And so at the end of the day , they all need to come together and coalesce under what the MLS guidelines are. And conversations have been happening , being positive. But there's a clear delineation of where CFC , the club is and the independent supporters union are , and there's going to be different times those crossover and we've had certain uh , instances of that. But uh , so far I think this family that they've created , uh , is , is connected enough and is strong enough to now continue forward. And um , have they've been weathering the storm through.
S1: After the break. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the San Diego Wave FC. How they're finding success and surprising a lot of folks this season. That's ahead on roundtable. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Andrew Bracken. Today on the show , we're checking in on some of San Diego's most popular sports teams. We've been talking about the Padres , talked about San Diego FC. Now it's time to talk about the wave. Again , I'm joined by Derek Torgerson from NBC seven San Diego , along with the Union Tribune's Ryan Finley and Tony Sanchez , co-founder of San Diego Football. So , you know , moving on to the wave now , I guess the headline for their season might be something like The New Wave.
S3: I mean , it was a whole musical thing. It was a whole style thing. And it certainly applies to the soccer thing because how do you go from having arguably the most recognizable women's soccer player on earth and Alex Morgan retiring , sending away the consensus best defensive player center back on Earth and Naomi Girma sending her overseas and trading away another U.S. Women's National Team member in Jaden Shaw , who was one of your more dynamic frontline scoring options starting at 1.3. 17 year olds in the same lineup , which no National Women's Soccer League team had ever done , and get better. They have jumped up to third fourth in the National Women's Soccer League standings. They have become an absolutely joy , an absolute joy to watch. So we thought it was going to be a rebuild. Well , I don't know which Home Depot they went to to find all these products because this rebuild did not last. It lasted about 25 minutes. This is a really , really good soccer club. And Jonas , out of all the head coach , again , the same kind of thing that Mikey has done. He took all these pieces and maybe we don't know much about , but we're learning are pretty good soccer players gave them an identity and it turned them loose. And they are getting better week in and week out. It's just remarkable what they've been able to do as well and playing a really quality , high energy , attacking style of soccer that we love down here in San Diego.
S1: Tony , I mean , I don't have , you know , a lot of absolutes when following sports teams. One of them is when you lose your best players , when you know when they lost Naomi Girma , when you lose your most legendary player. Alex Morgan retired.
S4: And one thing that this San Diego Wave squad has is that they are a united front. And they bought into the side of all of this new style of play and taking everything with deliberate intention. And that goes down to training. You don't just train conditioning , you don't just train set pieces. You have to take it , step back. Sometimes you need to go ahead and train a throw in and what the strategy is in those moments and you don't decide. The ball came in with that mentality , and there was a buy in for players who were out here under under Landon Donovan , under Casey Stoney , under the turbulence of last year , that they needed that leaf to be turned. And so Jonas was able to provide that alongside what is called and called it the new wave. We actually call it the French , the New French Connection. Uh , because that's exactly what it's been. Pearl Moroney , Kenza Dali and uh , Cascarino. The French players , uh , have legitimately taken this team and elevated it to a different level. When I say if you want to have a player to just watch , if you're watching San Diego Wave game , watch the way number ten plays. The French player candidly is the closest thing that I've seen in NWSL to a Zinedine Zidane. Just the presence that that she carries upon herself. Everybody looks to where that that that player is. And having those trusting moments with 17 year olds that you're mentioning is , again , something that takes years to form. but it took a couple of weeks , a couple of months under this basic style for Fiona said of all that , he said , hey , I'm going to go with the pillars of we need to be fit. We need to make sure we're detail oriented and we need to make sure that we are aggressive and have a winning mentality. And each of these is exactly why San Diego Wave is in third place. And honestly , I don't think we've seen the best of San Diego Wave. So much so that it took they were able to let go one of their superstars in Maria Sanchez to Tigres over a Mexican team in Liga mX and say , we don't need her right now because the team is so strong , she just doesn't fit this. And instead of having somebody just have them rotting on the bench , that's not going to be part of the system. Let's go ahead and give them the opportunity. We're going to be fine. So San Diego Wave is in an excellent , excellent position. Many parallels to their season with San Diego FC.
S1: And Ryan. You know younger players here are a key component of this team. A couple teenagers including another San Diegan , Melanie.
S2: I mean , she has been fantastic. She's somebody who , you know , if you go on Instagram or if you just even go on YouTube. Googler , watch some of her highlights. Melanie is what she's able to do with the ball is incredible. Um , she's still very young , right ? 17. Um , then you've got , um , Trinity Armstrong , who they just signed , um , last offseason after one year of college. She's been fantastic. And then Kimmy Toscano , who I think , you know , maybe not enough , gets talked about her and what she's been able to do. Um , on on on the field. Uh , all three. It's just it's a nice court. I want to really emphasize how rare it is to do what they've done and be as successful as they've been. Like , let's compare it to this , let's say tomorrow. Manny Machado said , hey , I'm retiring. And then during the offseason , the Padres traded Fernando Tatis Jr and Joe Musgrove and decided that they were going to replace them with 18 year olds , right ? Then midway through this season , they went , you know , Xander Bogaerts , we really don't need you. So why don't you go play over there ? And they just sold Xander Bogaerts to somebody else. And they were much better after the fact. To me , that's what's so amazing. It's that they've managed to get rid of their most recognizable players , and yet the sum of their parts is so much better than what we watched last year. I mean , last year's wave team , let's be honest , they were boring and they were bad. This year's team is exciting number one , successful number two. And given sort of their relative youth and given their style of play , I think there's every reason to believe that this is something that can be sustainable year to year. I don't think a whole lot of wave players are going to , you know , get transferred to England the way Naomi Girma did. I think this is a team that can stay together , a core that can stay together for years and try to get that first ever championship that we thought was coming , you know , two years ago and three years ago and never materialized.
S1: So the wave , they're on an international break again. They're third place in the league. They're on a break until early August. And their next home match will be Saturday , August 9th. So more to follow there. You know , as we kind of wrap up here , each of the teams we've been talking about have really connected , I think , with San Diego sports fans. You know , each in their own unique ways. But I mean , the Padres , as of last night , they have the second highest total home attendance in Major League Baseball. You can guess who's number one there. Um , the Dodgers , we've talked about the popularity of San Diego FC and how they've really connected to to the community here and San Diego Wave. I mean , I think they've I think , Derek , you can talk more about this , but I think they've seen a little bit of a dip in attendance so far this season. But they're still amongst , you know , higher attendance levels in the NWSL. So I'm just I wanted to get your thoughts as we close out here. What ingredients do you think you know are involved in getting San Diego fans bought in here Derek.
S3: Man to get them bonded. You know this is this is the thing that I've learned in 20 years of being in San Diego. And this is something that and I hate to , you know , bring up the name of the nasty. But the Dean Spanos never truly understood was if you show San Diego sports fans that you are trying. San Diego sports fans will buy into you. That's why when Peter Seidler showed up and said , you know what ? We're not going to operate like a small market team. We are going to invest in this club. When you invest in the club and show everyone in San Diego , yes , we might not win a championship , but darn it , we are emptying our barrel trying to do it. We're going to leave no stone unturned. We are. We are trying to give you something that you will be proud of. San Diego sports fans will come out in mass and support you if you show that you are doing that. So when you do that , you are going to have fans and that's what San Diego FC has done. They have said , listen , we are going to build a brand new state of the art practice facility here in the East County. We are going to go out and spend money on players. We are going to give you a good game day experience. San Diego Wave FC says , listen. This collection of players wasn't working. We're going to tear it down to the studs and start trying something different , but we're not going to stop spending maybe as much money. We're going to show you that we're going to put it into different places and try to get you something that you can be proud of. So that's what I've seen with all of these clubs , is they have shown that they're invested in bringing a title to San Diego , and San Diego has in turn said , thank you , we got your back. We're going to show up and give you everything we have.
S2: And I think that they play well together. All three organizations seem to do a pretty good job of supporting each other. You know , whether it's Alex , Alex Morgan out at Padre games , right ? I mean , we've seen her a bunch , um , since she retired. Whether it's Manny Machado , who's a part owner of San Diego FC , bringing almost all of his teammates to their first ever home game , right , and having them sit in the box , um , whether it , you know , these these teams seem to all kind of be pulling together in the right direction. And that's something that never happened with the Padres and Chargers , something that , you know , they were competing , it seemed , for entertainment dollars. And I think that all three of these teams have sort of not only their own fan bases , but their own niches in that they're really not fighting with each other for this stuff. They're all working together. And the fact that they're all having success this year , I think helps , too. You know , it's , uh , it's been a pretty memorable four months or so for San Diego sports and , uh , very excited to see what the rest of the summer in the fall brings.
S3: Like the saying goes , a rising tide raises all ships. Everybody can play off of one another. Absolutely.
S1: Absolutely. Yeah. And it's also kind of cool that their their seasons are all kind of around the same time. Playoff time is going to kind of hit for each of these these teams should they make it hopefully um around the same time this fall. Tony , you know , you and your co-host Alejandro , you kind of have a real unique pulse into San Diego's soccer culture.
S4: Just melting pot of everybody together. But the fan base is between San Diego Wave and San Diego. Uh , FC are actually rather mutually exclusive , and I think that's where San Diego Wave has found their consistent fan base. That's going to be loyal , that's going to go ahead and be there after the worst season that they can possibly have on and off the field. They're going to go ahead and still garner that attention for San Diego FC as well. Uh , they've been able to maintain and they've been able to tap into something that other soccer teams here and not in MLS weren't able to do , which is tap into the Latino market and something in general too , as well as the community of San Diego , likes to be reflected , especially when it's being told that San Diego is this fantastic place for talent and soccer. It's one of the best cities in the country for it. FIFA ratings are always the highest in this city , and so when the the San Diego soccer community has that in mind and now it's reflected on the professional level , that's when they'll give you that respect. And in the community work that , uh , Alejandro and I do , uh , here in the South Bay community is we work with kids , and you're starting to see kids start to form their heroes when they're playing soccer , when they're playing , much like when they would play baseball. And they'd say , okay , well , I'm Trevor Hoffman. Okay , well , I'm Tony Gwynn and I'm not bad. That's what I'm going to go ahead and do. Now you're starting to see , oh , I'm going to take this penalty. I'm Anders Dreyer , I'm Milla. And on the other side , conversely for San Diego Wave , you see little girls with books and binders of baseball , of soccer , baseball cards , and they know the back of the card stats. They'll come up to you and tell you , oh , actually , Ken Doll came over from this team and had this many assistants. So this level of fandom is there , and it's just really cool to be able to see this now , be able to manifest and have a direction to go. And the direction is an outside of San Diego. It's coming inwards to San Diego. And now it's time for them to go ahead and grow it together with the clubs and the community.
S1: Well , that's great to hear. And hopefully , you know , we'll talk more about these teams as we get into fall hopefully. I've been speaking with Tony Sanchez. He's the co-founder of San Diego Football. You can find them on on YouTube. Along with Derek Torgerson. He's a sports anchor with NBC seven San Diego. And Ryan Finley has also been joining us. He's the sports editor for the San Diego Union Tribune. I want to thank you all for joining us on roundtable this week. It's been great.
S4: Thank you. Appreciate it.
S3: Hey , thanks. Appreciate it. Always good to join you guys.
S2: Thank you. Any time.
S1: That'll do it for KPBS roundtable this week. Thanks so much for listening. If you missed any of today's show , you can listen to our show anytime as a podcast. KPBS roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can always email us at roundtable at KPBS. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables. Technical producers this week were Brandon Tufa and Ben Redlich. Show was produced by Ashley Rush. Brooke Ruth is roundtable senior producer. I'm your host , Andrew Bracken. Thanks again for listening and have a great weekend.
