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The San Diego Padres started playing the National League West as an expansion team in 1969. The team’s beginnings were rough, with seasons ending neat the bottom of the standings until 1984.Those teams had star power, but it could not come together to produce winning seasons. The tem began by picking up power hitting first baseman Nate Colbert. Colbert stayed until he was traded in 1974 and still leads the team in home runs all time.
The club picked up star outfielder Dave Winfield in the 1973 draft. Winfield’s star rose as Randy Jones developed into the Padres first 20-game winner. Jones went on to win the 1976 CY Young Award.
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The team would not make out beyond fourth in the West, but the future was being plotted with the Acquisition of first baseman Steve Garvey and shortstop Ozzie Smith. The 1984 team featured Garvey, Smith, Garry Templetom, Graig Nettles, Alan Wiggins, and Tony Gwynn.
The Padres broke out of their repetitious bottom of the barrel finish to take first in the NL West. The pitching was strong with Eric Snow, Ed Whitson, Mark Thurmond, Tim Lollar, and closer Goose Gossage. The hitting was enough with Gwyn capturing his first of eight batting titles.
The Padres faced the Cubs in the NLCS. The Cubs had the NL MVP and the Cy Young winner of 1984 on their team (Ryne Sandberg and Rick Sutcliffe) and jumped out to a two game lead in a best of five series. The Padres battled back to win three straight, continue the Cubs’ woes, and go to their first World Series.
The Tigers were a power hitting club with Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell. They also had an excellent pitcher in Jack Morris. Morris would win two games and the Padres went down 4 games to 1.
The Padres struggled despite producing talented players like Benito Santiago, Roberto Alomar, Tony Fernandez, and Fred McGriff. Never ever to reach the playoffs, the Padres changed ownership (Jon Moores), team president (Larry Lucchino), and manager (Bruce Bochy) in 1996 and won the NL West with Gwyn, NL MVP Ken Caminiti, leadoff hitter Ricky Henderson, pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, first baseman Wally Joyner, and outfielder Steve Finley. The post season was short, with a first round exit at the hands of the Cardinals.
Kevin Brown replace Valenzuela and Greg Vaughn replace Rickey Henderson in 1998 and the Padres captured their second division title in three years. This time that would last in the post season, defeating the Astros in the NLDS and the Braves in the NLCS, but lost to Yankees in the World Series.
The Padres sunk into a funk for the next few seasons. They won the West in 2005 and 2006, but lost in the NLDS both times to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The San Diego Padres are a good team with good veterans. The question is whether that will be enough for a fourth straight playoff appearance with a loaded National League West. The pitching staff was remarkably better at home than away, notching a 47-34 record at PETCO Park and a 42-40 record on the road. That same rotation threw a lot of pitches. Jake Peavy, the staff ace, threw over 3,600 pitches for third in the majors. The astounding total might take their toll out on a power pitcher who had the most victories in the NL (19), best ERA (2.54), and most strikeouts (240). Peavy had already led the majors in ERA and strikeouts once. The staff starts a downward slide after the power pitcher. Chris Young was a fine pitcher who had back problems that through him off a little bit in his delivery, but his 6-foot-10 frame gives him excellent control over his pitch selections. Greg Maddox continues to be an effective pitcher, forcing mostly groundouts, but his age is starting to get to him, as evident by his plus 4.00 ERA last season. After those two a couple of high ERA pitchers finish the rotation. The Bullpen is solid as ever with Trevor Hoffman at closer. He had an inconsistent season in 2007, but should return to form. Heath Bell and Cla Meredith are excellent middle relievers who will keep games close for Hoffman to finish.
The Padres have some big bats in first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and shortstop Khali Green. Kevin Kouzmanoff had a stellar rookie year, batting over .300 in his final 118 games and hitting 17 home runs and driving in 66 in the same time span. The youth are surrounded by veterans trying to make a comeback. Tadahito Iguchi, Jim Edmonds, and Brian Giles hope to return to glories of years past, but will provide good solid hitting and defense even if they do not. PETCO Park will field a good team that can make a deep run if the team finds the right team chemistry and the pitching holds up deep into the rotation. The long season and its 162-game schedule will ultimately decide if this team is simply a good team in a tough division or a good team with enough chemistry to carry it into October.