subject: The San Diego Padres Tickets : The Team Had One Of The Winning Percentages In The National League [print this page] The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times.
On April 12, 2010, (Padres home opener) the Padres scored 17 runs against the Atlanta Braves as they went on to win 17-2. (Including a 10 run 4th inning making it the most runs in one half inning of baseball in Petco Park's history).In the Padres' 1-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on April 20, San Diego won despite San Francisco's Jonathan Sanchez and Sergio Romo limiting them to just one hit, one of the very rare occasions that a team won with just one hit.
Even though the Padres never had a pitcher who threw a perfect game, Mat Latos threw a one hitter in a 1-0 win over the Giants on May 13.On May 31, the Padres played 51 games and are 2.0 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had one of the highest winning percentages in the National League despite having poor attendance and one of the worst payrolls in the MLB. The Padres had one of the lowest ERA in the National League. On June 11, the Padres had 36 wins and 25 losses. They were tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers in first place.
On June 14, in the Padres' 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, an earthquake shook Petco Park. Many fans and Cito Gaston, the Blue Jays' manager, felt it, but most of the players didn't feel it. Gaston reported that he felt the dugout move side from side a little.On June 23, the Padres have the first two games in the series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They placed 2.5 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants for first place.
On June 25, the Padres won the first game of a three game series against the Florida Marlins. Giving them 43 wins and 30 losses. In contrast, the Padres record after 73 games in 2009 was 32 wins with 41 losses. There have been constant rumors and talks about the possible trade of All Star first baseman and Gold Glove winner Adrian Gonzalez. If the Padres are not a contender, many baseball experts believe that Gonzalez will be dealt by the trade deadline.On August 18, the Padres moved 6 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants giving them their biggest division lead of the season.
On August 25th The Padres started a 10 game losing streak by losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-11. The losing streak went in to the month of September and ended on September 6th when they beat the LA Dodgers 4-2. This losing streak saw the Padres 6 game lead and 96% chance of making the post season shrink to just a 76% chance of making the post season.
On September 26th the Padres, 87W 67L have a .05 game lead over the San Francisco Giants 87W 68L.On September 30th, the Padres fell 3 games behind the San Francisco Giants, putting them on the brink of elimination. With a 3-0 loss on October 3rd, the Padres were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
The team has played its spring training games at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona since 1994. They share the stadium with the Seattle Mariners.From 1969 to 1993, the Padres held Spring Training in Yuma, Arizona at Desert Sun Stadium. Due to the short driving distance and direct highway route (170 miles, all on Interstate 8), Yuma was very popular with Padres fans, and many fans would travel by car from San Diego for Spring Training games.
The move from Yuma to Peoria was very controversial, but was defended by the team as a reflection on the low quality of facilities in Yuma and the long travel necessary to play against other Arizona-based Spring Training teams (whose sites are all in the Phoenix and Tucson areas, both rather far from Yuma).
The "Swinging Friar" is currently the mascot of the team. Some in the past have confused The Famous Chicken as the mascot of the Padres. Although he does make appearances occasionally at San Diego sporting events, he has never been the official mascot of any San Diego sports team.
