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.
San Diego Padres History
