The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California since their founding in 1969. They play in the National League Western Division.
Pre 1970s: The Beginning
The Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League team which arrived in San Diego in 1936. That minor league franchise won the PCL title in 1937, led by then-18-year-old San Diegan Ted Williams.
In 1969, the San Diego Padres joined the ranks of Major League Baseball as one of four new expansion teams, along with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals), the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers).
Their original owner was C. Arnholt Smith, a prominent San Diego businessman and former owner of the PCL Padres whose interests included banking, tuna fishing, hotels, real estate and an airline. Despite initial excitement, the guidance of longtime baseball executive Buzzie Bavasi and a new playing field, the team struggled; the Padres finished in last place in each of its first six seasons in the NL West, losing 100 games or more four times.
One of the few bright spots on the team during the early years was first baseman and slugger Nate Colbert, an expansion draftee from the Houston Astros and still (as of 2007) the Padres' career leader in home runs.
Washington Padres?
Before the 1974 season began, the Padres were on the verge of being sold to Joseph Danzansky, who was planning to move the franchise to Washington, D.C. by the beginning of the 1974 season.
People were so convinced the transfer would happen that new uniforms were designed. Even the baseball card companies were fooled. About half of the Padres' player cards printed by Topps that season displayed "Washington National League" as the team name.
But C. Arnholt Smith changed his mind, and instead sold the Padres to McDonald's' co-founder Ray Kroc, who was not interested in moving the team and kept the team in San Diego.
The nation's capital would have to wait until after the 2004 season, when the Montreal Expos, the Padres' sister National League expansion team in 1969, transferred to the District of Columbia and became the Washington Nationals.
1970s: Winfield, Jones, Fingers and Ozzie
Although the Padres continued to struggle after Colbert's departure via trade to the Detroit Tigers in 1974, they did feature star outfielder Dave Winfield, who came to the Padres in 1973 from the University of Minnesota without having played a single game in the minor leagues.
Winfield was also drafted by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association and the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association.
Winfield took over where Colbert left off, starring in the Padres outfield from 1973 until 1980, when he joined the New York Yankees. In seven seasons, Winfield played in 1,117 games for San Diego and collected 1,134 hits, 154 home runs and drove in 626 runs.
But most importantly, he helped the team out of the National League West basement for the first time in 1975, under the guidance of manager John McNamara, who took over the club at the start of the 1974 season.
Winfield's emergence as a legitimate star coincided with the turnaround of a promising young left-handed pitcher named Randy Jones, who had suffered through 22 losses in 1974. Jones became the first San Diego pitcher to win 20 games in 1975, going 20-12 in 37 outings as the Padres finished in fourth place with a 71-91 record, 37 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.
Jones won 22 games in 1976, winning the Cy Young Award in the process, another franchise first. The club set a new high with 73 wins, but fell to fifth place.
Jones slipped to 6-12 in 1977, and not even the acquisition of Rollie Fingers could help the Padres escape the second division.
Only Winfield and fellow outfielder George Hendrick cracked the 20-homer barrier, and the pitching staff was filled with a group of unknowns and youngsters, few of whom would enjoy much success at the major league level.
The 1978 season brought hope to baseball fans in San Diego, thanks to the arrival a young shortstop named Ozzie Smith, who arrived on the scene and turned the baseball world on its ears with an acrobatic style that redefined how the position should be played in the field.
The Padres hosted the all-star game that summer. The National League won the contest 7-3 thanks to an MVP performance by Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Steve Garvey, who would play a crucial role for San Diego in the not-too-distant future.
Winfield and Fingers represented the team at the game, but conspicuously absent was starting pitcher Gaylord Perry, who joined the Padres after spending three years with the Texas Rangers.
At 39 years of age and coming off a 15-14 season with Texas, little was expected of him. All Perry did that summer was post a 21-6 record and a 2.73 earned run average, edging Montreal's Ross Grimsley to earn the Padres' second Cy Young Award in three seasons. San Diego also picked up another first that summer, compiling an 84-78 mark for manager Roger Craig, the only time in 10 seasons the team finished a season with a winning percentage above .500.
The good times didn't last, as the Padres closed out the decade with another losing season in 1979, a 68-93 record that cost Craig his job. Winfield was the lone bright spot, leading the National League with 118 RBIs. The good times continued to fade out as Winfield signed a 10-year contract with the New York Yankees after the 1980 season.
| 1968 |
May 27: San Diego is awarded a National League franchise during owners meetings in Chicago.
August 29: Preston Gomez is named the first Padres manager.
October 14: Padres select 30 players in the expansion draft, with Ollie Brown the first choice. |
|
|
|
| 1969 |
April 8: The Padres make their major league debut with a 2-1 victory over Houston in front of 23,370 fans at San Diego Stadium. |
|
|
|
| 1970 |
June 12: The only no-hitter in San Diego Stadium history is thrown by the Pirates' Dock Ellis as he blanks the Padres, 2-0. |
|
|
|
| 1971 |
September 18: Clay Kirby retires the first 21 in a row before Willie McCovey homers for San Francisco's only hit in a 2-1 Padres victory. |
|
|
|
| 1972 |
July 18: Steve Arlin hurls 8.2 no-hit innings against Philadelphia before giving up a 9th-inning single to Denny Doyle.
August 1: Nate Colbert hits 5 home runs and drives in 13 runs in a doubleheader at Atlanta. The RBI total establishes a record that still stands, while the 5 home runs tie Stan Musial's 1954 major league mark.
September 2: Chicago's Milt Pappas no-hits the Padres in an 8-0 win at Wrigley Field. |
|
|
|
| 1973 |
August 5: Phil Niekro tosses a no-hitter against the Padres in Atlanta, winning 9-0. |
|
|
|
| 1974 |
January 25: Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's, prevents the Padres from moving to Washington, D.C., by purchasing the club from C. Arnholt Smith. |
|
|
|
| 1975 |
September 23: Randy Jones becomes the Padres' first 20-game winner with a 6-5 win over Los Angeles. |
|
|
|
| 1976 |
December 16: Randy Jones wins San Diego's first Cy Young Award after a 22-14 season in which he sets club records for wins, innings pitched and complete games. Butch Metzger is N.L. Rookie Pitcher of the Year. |
|
|
|
| 1977 |
December 17: Rollie Fingers is named N.L. Fireman of the Year, and Bob Owchinko is honored as Rookie Pitcher of the Year.
Highlights: Gene Richards steals 56 bases, setting a M.L. rookie record. |
|
|
|
| 1978 |
March 21: Roger Craig is named manager, replacing Alvin Dark.
July 11: The Padres host the All-Star Game, a 7-3 N.L. win. Steve Garvey is named the game's MVP.
Highlights: Gaylord Perry earns the N.L. Cy Young Award, the first time a pitcher has won the honor in each league. |
|
|
|
| 1979 |
October 1: Jerry Coleman leaves the broadcast booth to become manager, replacing Roger Craig. |
|
| |
Source: http://www.padres.com |
.gif)
