Baseball is an integral part of the American culture, and many a baseball team has been formed in order to compete with one another in friendly but fierce competition. Almost all major cities have their own teams, and San Diego is no exception. This California city, home to world famous San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and some of the best beaches on the West Coast, is also home of the baseball team known as the San Diego Padres.
The Padres is a Major League Baseball team, playing in the Western Division. The San Diego Padres, which is Spanish for “fathers,” was founded in 1969, adopting the name from the Pacific Coast League baseball team which arrived in the city back in 1936. It was called the Padres in honor of the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded San Diego back in 1796.
Not long after, they joined Major League Baseball under the ownership of C. Arnholdt Smith, and the guidance of Eddie Leishman and Buzzie Bavasi. Their early years proved to be a struggle, finishing in last place in their first 6 seasons in the National League West. This, including other factors, almost got the Padres sold to a man named Joseph Danzansky who wished to move the team to Washington D.C. by the 1974 season. The transaction would have pushed through, had Arnholt Smith not changed his mind. Instead, it was Ray Kroc, co-founder of McDonald’s, who bought the team, and he kept the Padres in San Diego.
Under Kroc’s ownership, the Padres still finished last, having the same 60-102 record they had in 1973, however, Kroc drew an increase of spectators and business. Attendance to the Padres games shot up 76% breaking the million audience record for the first time since the team’s founding.
The following year saw the Padres get out of last place for the very first time, finishing with a 71-91 record that brought them to fourth place. This year also saw Randy Jones, their pitcher at the time, capture the League ERA title, at the same time, becoming the first Padre to win 20 games in just 1 season.
While the team’s performance would continue to be rocky from this point on, the Padres would produce some of the best players in the league, which includes Butch Metzger, Gaylord Perry, and legendary hometown hero, Tony Gwynn, who in 1982, under Dick Williams, brought the team to fourth place with a 81-81 record.
The next 20 plus years would continue to see changes to the Padres, involving fantastic runs, numerous trades, and changes in ownership. Today, the Padres, coming from a rocky season in 2008, continue to strive to bring pride to their hometown and to the sport of baseball.
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