I’m going to tell you a story.

I think it’s going to be entertaining. That isn’t entirely up to me, though I will do my best to make it so in any event.

I think it’s going to be the biggest story in town sooner than later.

I’m going to tell the story of the Padres. Day after day, night after night.


Yes, the Union-Tribune has a new Padres beat writer.

Our staff lost a good one when Dennis Lin left this week for another gig.

His replacement is a 47-year-old who has gotten a little crusty but has never grown up and never stopped loving baseball and never stopped thinking a return to the beat of his youth wouldn’t be about the coolest thing to happen in quite some time.

People have been surprised by this, me going from being a columnist to being a beat writer.


Those who know me best didn’t even blink.

My wife declared lovingly in 1999, in the middle of my third season on the baseball beat, with its 140-plus nights a year on the road and two toddlers trying to burn down the house when I was away, that I had a choice to make.

It was baseball or family, she said.

How much do I love baseball? How much did I love the baseball beat? How dumb am I?


Well, I had to think about her ultimatum.

My eyes hurt and start to fill every time I recall my stupidity in almost making a horrible mistake for my own selfishness.

But as I texted this week to my oldest, now 22 and married, in telling him of my new adventure, the baseball beat “wasn’t great for a young family. We’re an old family now.”

This won’t be easy.


Good thing I’m in shape and love airports and hotels and think one of life’s great pleasures is sitting in an empty ballpark trying to beat deadline while the grounds crew manicures the diamond and sprinklers wet the outfield grass and birds pick at the discarded popcorn, peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

I don’t do a beat cautiously. Some say I don’t do it healthily.

It’s a fine line. I have learned some balance. Some.

While my quarter-century in this business has admittedly created a slightly cynical edge, it has not dampened my enthusiasm for telling stories and learning. And baseball.


I will do my best for Padres fans.

When I started covering football in 2003, it was as someone who had never played the sport. Worried I wouldn’t be expert enough to do the job I felt necessary, I asked all the questions I could and coerced numerous players and coaches into watching film with me and explaining what was happening.

The incomparable Hank Bauer was my main professor. For more than a few seasons, he spent hours of every Monday breaking down film and quizzing me on what I saw. Before that, Tom Craft and Thom Kaumeyer at San Diego State had allowed me to sit in on tutorials. I count Philip Rivers and Eric Weddle not only as friends but football mentors.

My re-immersion into the world of daily baseball, with the charge of being an expert on a team and sport, will not come with that sort of stark education. But the game has changed a bit. There are metrics commonplace now that only a handful of people were talking about last time I was on the beat.


I have some work to do.

To be sure, this is an odd move to make. To most in my business, this would be considered going backward.

I have received quizzical — even incredulous — looks from the few colleagues I have told.

They see my smile and offer a tentative, “Congratulations?”


Attaining a column is considered the pinnacle for a sportswriter, at least for most and certainly for almost all who reach that level.

I’ve appreciated the opportunity. I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve been humbled by it.

But I didn’t ask for it. Truth be told, I never really wanted it. My only desire has been to be a beat writer.

I just want to tell people the story of a team.


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kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com