A Look At The San Diego Padres

A Look At The San Diego Padres

A Look At The San Diego Padres

Looking At The San Diego Padres

Major League Baseball expanded in 1969 with the introduction of four new teams. Two were added to the American League and two to the National League. To the AL went the Seattle Pilots (later the Milwaukee Brewers) and the Kansas City Royals. The NL saw the addition of the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) and the San Diego Padres. Success for these new teams would be far in the distance. This is especially true for the Padres.

The coming of the Padres filled the city with excitement. Fans were full of hope when it came to their new ball club. They had good reason to be. There was a brand new stadium, an experienced front office and a young team to look forward to. Their enthusiasm would turn out to be short lived. Frankly, the team was terrible. They came in last on their division for the first six years of play. In four of those last place finishes, they amassed 100 or more losses.

There were a few highlights along the way. First was Nate Colbert. This first baseman proved to be a power hitter who once hit five homeruns during a double header. Hall of Fame player Stan Musial was the only other player to have this accomplishment. During that double header, he also drove in thirteen runs, a record he still holds today.

The next glimmer was the new ownership of Ray Kroc. Kroc, owner of the world's largest fast food chain, wanted to win. He took many steps to achieve this, including a PA announcement during a game. He spoke directly to Padre fans, introducing himself and promising team improvement. He also apologized for the team's "stupid ball play." His speech may have been less impactful than it might have been, had his audience not been distracted by a streaker running across the field.

The club did begin to improve slowly but surely. They finished over . 500 (5 games over to be exact) for the first time ever in 1978. This accomplishment owes a lot to some of their better players like Gaylord Perry, Dave Winfield and Rollie Fingers. Sadly for the Pads, Winfield and Fingers both left as free agents.

The Pads did see success with two pennants and appearances in the World Series in 1984 and 1998. As luck would have it, both times they were facing juggernaut teams. First was the Detroit Tigers who began their season 35-5 and went on to win the whole thing in 5 games.

In 1998, they were up against another fierce foe from the American League: the New York Yankees. The 98 Yankees had won 114 games that season and are still considered among the best MLB teams in history. Even though the Yanks won the series in four games, the Padres played with fervor. Three of the games were close and quite exciting.

The 2000s have seen unevenness of play. They were the division champs in 2005 and 2006 but other years turned out to be disappointments. Today, they remain decent, but not terrific. Time will tell what is in store for them.

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