1969 saw the introduction of four new teams into Major League Baseball. The two expansion teams added to the American League were the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots (later to become the Milwaukee Brewers.) The National League added the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) and the San Diego Padres. Success for these new teams was to be elusive. This was particularly true for the Pads.
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.
They did have a few glimmers of hope. First was a player named Nate Colbert. Colbert, playing first base, was indeed a power hitter with many accomplishments. One of his amazing feats took place over the course of a double header. He hit 5 homeruns in those two games. He and Stan Musial are the only two players to do this. In addition to the homeruns, he also tallied 13 runs batted in, a record that he holds alone.
The second ray of hope was that the team was sold to a new owner, Ray Kroc. Kroc was the owner of the world's largest fast food chain and had a burning desire to win. One of his first actions was to introduce himself to Padre Fans during a game via the PA system. It was at this time he apologized for the team's "stupid ball playing" and pledged improvement. Unfortunately for him, the fans became distracted when a streaker took to the field while Kroc was speaking.
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.
San Diego did manage to see success with National League Pennants and World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998. Alas, they were facing a powerful force in 1984, the Detroit Tigers who had started the season 35-5 and did not look back. The Friars lost in five games.
Second they had to face the New York Yankees. The 98 Yanks won 114 of their games and are ranked among the best teams in the history of baseball. The Yanks swept that series, but San Diego played their hearts out. Three of the games were exciting nail biting matches.
The new millennium has seen much disparity for the Padres. On one hand, they won their division in 2005 and 2006. On the other hand, they played dismally other years in the 2000s.
Author Resource:
Bobbie Barton is a fitness trainer She likes SportsFanTreasures.com and recommends you check out their info on Chicago White Sox Watch and Philadelphia Phillies Bedding
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