San Diego Padres executive chairman rips into players after huge loss, dire start to MLB season

SAN Diego Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler let everyone knows where he apportions the majority of the blame for their dire start to the MLB season.

Padres pitcher James Shields was the blasted for his performance.

IT hasn’t been a good season for the San Diego Padres.

And executive chairman Ron Fowler certainly let everyone knows where he apportions the majority of the blame in an incredible radio interview on Wednesday (EST).

The struggling Major League Baseball franchise are sitting at the bottom of the National League West with just 20 wins from 53 games and had just been badly beaten by the Seattle Mariners when Fowler took to the airwaves.

“It’s been embarrassing. I don’t know how else to put it,” Fowler said.

“Our performance on the road trip, 1-7, was pathetic.

“I’m a very competitive individual. I think I’ve won a lot more than lost in my life. This baseball experience has been very frustrating, very embarrassing.”

“The performance by our team (against the Mariners), I can understand how (former owner Ray) Kroc would have grabbed the microphone. It’s that frustrating.

Fowler singled out right-hander James Shields, who allowed 10 runs against the Mariners. Shields has been the subject of trade talks of late.

“To have a starter like (James) Shields perform as poorly as he did yesterday is an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him,” Fowler said.

James Shields came under fire from the Padres chief executive.

“It’s about as frustrating as it can get. In a normal environment, if you had performed as well as we have over the last three years, you’d probably be unemployed. But it’s baseball, with guaranteed contracts. We’ve got to get through it.

“It’s on the player, but the organisation has to accept responsibility for probably having the wrong players.

“We don’t have a team out there right now that is competing effectively. We’re doing everything we can going into the draft and looking at international signings to get some guys who can get us there.”

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Originally published as San Diego Padres executive chairman rips into players after huge loss, dire start to MLB season