San Diego Padres

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1969
• Home ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego, California
• Owner: Eric Kutsenda
• Team colors: Brown, gold, and white

Overview

The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team playing in the National League West division. San Diego received a National League (NL) team in the late 1960s as part of a wave of expansion by MLB. Prior to that, the city was the home of a minor league franchise featuring some of baseball’s all-time great players. The Padres did not fare well in their first few years in the NL and almost relocated before being “rescued” by the founder of fast-food giant McDonalds. San Diego is one of five current MLB teams that have never won a World Series although it did advance to the championship series in 1984 and 1998. Both those teams were led by Tony Gwynn, one of the best hitters in baseball history. Gwynn became the face of baseball in San Diego and was so beloved that he became known as “Mr. Padre.”

History

In 1936, the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) left Los Angeles and relocated to San Diego. The minor league franchise adopted the name Padres in reference to the city’s history as the site of the first Spanish mission in California in 1769. In Spanish, Padre means “father” or “priest.” The Padres played in the PCL for more than thirty seasons, albeit with only moderate success. Among the team’s alumni were Red Sox greats Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr, and fellow National Baseball Hall of Famers Tony Perez and Bob Lemon.

In the late 1960s, both the American League (AL) and NL were looking to expand, with both leagues set to each receive two new teams. The AL was granted franchises in Kansas City and Seattle, while the NL expanded to Montreal and San Diego. San Diego’s team was awarded to C. Arnholt Smith, a businessperson who also owned the PCL Padres. The new MLB franchise adopted the Padres name and began play in the 1969 season.

Expansion teams rarely find success early on, and the Padres were no exception. San Diego finished last in its division from 1969 to 1974, and lost more than 100 games four times—including a franchise record 110 games in 1969. One of the few bright spots was outfielder Nate Colbert, who set a MLB record in 1972 with 13 runs batted in (RBIs) in a doubleheader, a mark that still stands as of 2020.

As the Padres struggled on the field, they also had trouble drawing fans. With the club facing financial difficulty, Smith attempted to sell the team to a Washington, DC, businessperson in 1973, but the deal fell apart. The NL was attempting to find a new buyer and relocate the team when Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds, stepped in. Kroc purchased the Padres for $12 million in January 1974 and promised to keep the franchise in San Diego.

At first, the new ownership did little to improve the Padres’ fortunes. The team posted a losing record every season in the 1970s with the exception of 1978 when it went 84–78. However, the Padres planted the seeds for improvement in the early 1980s when they drafted outfielder Tony Gwynn in 1981 and hired future Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams in 1982. After finishing at .500 in both 1982 and 1983, San Diego surrounded Gwynn with a core of veteran players for 1984, leading to a 92–70 record and the team’s first division title. In the National League Championship Series (NLCS), San Diego lost the first two games against the Chicago Cubs by a combined score of 17–2. Up to that point, no team had ever come back from 0–2 down to win a best-of-five series. However, San Diego stormed back to win the NLCS and advance to the World Series. Unfortunately, their opponent, the Detroit Tigers, had finished with baseball’s best record in 1984 and dominated the series, 4–1.

The Padres were mostly competitive for the remainder of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, although they had three last-place finishes during that period. In 1996, the Padres won the NL West division but were swept in the opening round of the playoffs by the St. Louis Cardinals. Two years later, San Diego won a franchise-record 98 games and upset the heavily favored Atlanta Braves in the NLCS to move on to the World Series. They faced another powerhouse opponent in the New York Yankees, a team that had won 114 games during the regular season—the second-best mark in MLB history. New York proved too strong for San Diego and swept the series in four games.

After several tough seasons, the Padres returned to the playoffs in 2005 and 2006, although they lost in the opening round both times. In 2007, San Diego won 89 games and finished tied with the Colorado Rockies for the final playoff spot in the NL. The two teams squared off in a play-in game to decide which team moved into the playoffs and which went home. In an exciting matchup, San Diego led 8–6 in the bottom of the thirteenth inning, only to see Colorado rally for a 9–8 victory. That loss would be the closest the Padres would get to the playoffs for the next twelve seasons. For most of the 2010s, San Diego was among the NL’s worst teams, finishing with a losing record from 2011 to 2019.

As of 2024, the Padres were one of five teams that have never won a World Series title, joining the Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Tampa Rays. Until 2021, the Padres were the only MLB team to have never pitched a no-hitter. However, that changed on April 9, 2021, when Joe Musgrove, a San Diego County native, threw the first no-hitter in Padres history.

In 2022, buoyed by several free agent signings and key trades, San Diego advanced to the National League Championship Series. However, they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.

Notable players

Twelve former players associated with the San Diego Padres have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as of 2020. The first of these was outfielder Dave Winfield who played in San Diego from 1973 to 1980. Winfield would go on to greater fame with the New York Yankees during the 1980s but made four of his twelve All-Star teams as a Padre. Winfield is second on the franchise runs batted in (RBI) list with 626 and fourth in home runs with 154. Similar to Winfield, Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith began his career in San Diego before finding fame somewhere else. Smith played with the Padres from 1978 to 1981 before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Smith was known for his outstanding defense, earning him the nickname the “Wizard of Oz.” He won two of his thirteen career Gold Glove awards with San Diego. Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry played for eight teams over his twenty-two-year career, spending 1978 and 1979 as a Padre. In 1978, Perry went 21–6 to win the NL Cy Young Award.

Nicknamed “Mr. Padre,” Tony Gwynn played his entire career with San Diego from 1982 to 2001. A fifteen-time All-Star, Gwynn holds almost every major franchise hitting record except for home runs. He leads in hits (3,141), batting average (.338), runs scored (1,383), RBIs (1,138), and stolen bases (319). Gwynn won eight NL batting titles, including a 1994 season in which he hit .394—the closest any player has come to hitting .400 since Ted Williams in 1941. In 2007, the Padres installed a statue of Gwynn outside the team’s home at Petco Park.

Gwynn’s teammate on the 1998 NL championship team was pitcher Trevor Hoffman, one of the most dominant closers in baseball history. Hoffman played in San Diego from 1993 to 2008, accumulating a franchise record 558 saves. He is also third on the team list in strikeouts with 1,029—a notable achievement for a relief pitcher. Hoffman’s 602 career saves are second all-time in baseball history. In 2018, Hoffman became just the eighth closer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Although not a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Nate Colbert is a member of the Padres Hall of Fame. Colbert made three All-Star teams with San Diego from 1969 to 1974 and remains the franchise leader in home runs with 163. Pitcher Randy Jones had a career record below .500 but had his best seasons in San Diego from 1973 to 1980. Jones won twenty games in 1975 and twenty-two in 1976, winning the NL Cy Young Award that season. In 2007, pitcher Jake Peavy would also win the NL Cy Young Award with the Padres. Peavy is the franchise leader in strikeouts with 1,348. Eric Show, who pitched in San Diego from 1981 to 1990, holds the record for most career wins as a Padre with 166.

In 2019, Fernando Tatis Jr. made his debut with the Padres and quickly emerged as one of the most dynamic young players in baseball. In 2021, he led the National League with 42 home runs and won a Gold Glove in 2023.

Bibliography

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