SAN DIEGO PADRES

With constant sunshine, warm weather and a rich history in the Pacific Coast League, San Diego was a natural choice for a Major League expansion team in 1969. The franchise was awarded to a local business entrepreneur named C. Arnholt Smith and the Padres opened their history with a 2-1 win over Houston on April 9, 1969.

Unfortunately, like most expansion teams of the time, the growing pains would be long and difficult. The Padres lost one-hundred ten games that first season, and finished last in the National League Western Division in each of its first six seasons, accumulating a winning percentage of only .368. When Smith ran into financial difficulties in the early 1970's, the team was almost moved to Washington DC, but Ray Kroc, the fast-food visionary who founded McDonalds, stepped up and bought the team. He would own them until his death in 1984, which unfortunately came only months before his team's first pennant.

The first star for San Diego was first baseman Nate Colbert. He hit one-hundred forty-seven home runs over the Padres first five seasons, his high water mark being thirty-eight in 1972. During that season, Colbert walloped five homers in a doubleheader, something only Stan Musial had done to that time. He drove in thirteen runs, still a record for RBIs in a doubleheader.

The Padres scuffled during most of the 1970's, although they did produce some noteworthy talent including Randy Jones, Dave Winfield, Ozzie Smith and on the lighter side — the team's famous mascot, the San Diego Chicken. After losing twenty-two games in 1974, Jones had back-to-back twenty-win seasons, including a 22-14 record and 2.76 ERA — good enough to win the 1976 Cy Young Award.

Winfield provided a solid bat and excellent defense from 1974-80, averaging twenty-one home runs and eighty-eight runs batted in. It's no coincidence that the Padres had their first winning season in 1978, during one of Winfield's best seasons (24 HR, 97 RBI, .308) and the year Ozzie Smith debuted at shortstop. Smith played four seasons for the Padres until he was traded to St. Louis for Garry Templeton.

After the eighty-four wins in 1978, the Padres returned to their losing ways until Dick Williams managed them to an 81-81 finish in 1983. The next year, with some imported veterans such as Steve Garvey, Goose Gossage (twenty-five saves) and Graig Nettles combining with home-grown talent like Kevin McReynolds and Tony Gwynn, the Padres earned their first division title.

Gwynn would become San Diego's most recognized and popular player over the next twenty years. He would win eight batting titles (tying him with Honus Wagner), smack three-thousand one-hundred forty-one hits, and in 1994, he would hit .394, the highest average since Ted Williams hit over .400 in 1941. Gwynn would finish his career with a .338 average, 17th best in history.

The Padres' won in 1984 with a balanced pitching staff in which four starters (Eric Show, Tim Lollar, Mark Thurmond and Ed Whitson) all won in double figures, as did relief ace Gossage. The Padres mounted a stirring National League Championship Series, winning three straight against the Chicago Cubs after losing the first two games. They were not able to match the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, however, with the Tigers winning in five games.

The Padres enjoyed some other successes in the decade. While Gwynn was making the National League Batting Title his personal property, rookie Benito Santiago had a thirty-four game hitting streak in 1987, the longest ever by a Major League catcher and, in 1980, the Padres became the first team in history to have three men steal as many as fifty bases (Gene Richards sixty-one, Ozzie Smith ffity-seven, Jerry Mumphrey fifty-two) in a season.

The Padres would not see the post season again until 1996, when Bruce Bochy led them to ninety-one wins with weapons like Gwynn (league leading .353) Ken Caminitti, (40 HR, 130 RBI, .326 and the MVP Award), and Trevor Hoffman (forty-two saves). They were swept out of the playoffs, and then finished last in 1997. To beef up for 1998, the Padres added Greg Vaugn and he responded by smoking fifty home runs while Gwynn hit .321 and Hoffman converted fifty-three saves. The pitching rotation was solid, led by Kevin Brown (18-7, 2.38 ERA) and Andy Ashby (17-9, 3.34) and the Padres rocked the National League West finishing 9½ game ahead of the Giants. This time, they advanced to the World Series, but lost four straight to the Yankees.

The Padres have been up and mostly down since then, but they did take advantage of a mediocre Western Division in 2005, to win the Division title with an 82-80 record. They lost three straight to St. Louis, making their overall final record 82-83, giving them the distinction of being the first post-season baseball team to finish with an overall record under .500. But at least they still have the sunshine and the great weather.