San Diego Padres
In 1968, the San Diego Padres came to life as the city was awarded a National League franchise during owners meetings in Chicago. As expected, the first five years of the San Diego Padres’ existence are difficult in the win-loss column, but things gradually start to work out in 1974 when Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, buys the San Diego Padres in a move that prevents the team from relocating to Washington DC, from there San Diego begins to built with Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres as their first true superstar as he was selected to the National League All-Star team in 1975 and 1976 and was voted the 1976 National League Cy Young Award winner when Randy Jones The San Diego Padres won 22 games.
In 1978, the San Diego Padres had their first winning season going 84-78 in the National League West before the San Diego Padres sold out when Hall of Famers P Rollie Fingers and OF Dave Winfield of the San Diego Padres led the and are stars of the National League.
It wouldn’t be until 1984 that the San Diego Padres, who had never finished higher than fourth in their 16-year history, would earn their first playoff berth, and it would be memorable when they faced the Chicago Cubs in the NBA Series. National League Championship, led by newcomers 1B Steve Garvey, closer Rich Gossage and perennial OF star Tony Gwynn, the San Diego Padres faced a Chicago Cubs team that won 96 games on the year and it had National League Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe who had a 16-1 record on the mound going into game 1.
It was a forgettable playoff debut for the San Diego Padres as they were beaten 13-0 and although their game 2 performance was slightly better, the San Diego Padres lost 4-2 and fell behind 2- 0 in the best-of-five series. he returned to San Diego knowing that no National League team had trailed 2-0 and rallied to win the series, but the San Diego Padres refused to stop winning the next two and force the fifth and deciding game, after falling behind 3-0 Going into the bottom half of the sixth inning, the San Diego Padres pitched two runs and one more in the seventh to tie the score at 3, from there all of San Diego as the Padres’ Tony Gwynn of San Diego and Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres (NLCS MVP) had run scoring hits to put the San Diego Padres up 6-3 where Rich Gossage of the San Diego Padres shut out the Chicago Cubs and San Diego was on its way to the World Series to face the Detroit Tigers who had won 104 games during the regular season and mocked the American League Championship Series with the Kansas City Royals as they won in three games. in a row.
In the 1984 World Series no San Diego Padres pitcher lasted more than five innings and the Detroit Tigers did to the San Diego Padres what they had done to everyone in their path, simply crush them even though it was a disappointment to the San Diego Padres. San Diego Padres that no one could stand. away the National League pennant and the excitement it brought to the city. It would be 12 long years before the San Diego Padres once again participated in the postseason, in 1996 led by NL 3B MVP Ken Caminiti, the San Diego Padres won the NL West in the last day of the regular season and they met the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series, each game in the series was very close and could have gone either way, but the St. Louis Cardinals made the big plays when it mattered most and they swept the San Diego Padres of the 1996 playoffs in three straight games. The 1998 edition of the San Diego Padres was the franchise’s best team to win 98 games on the season and featured four stars.
In the playoffs they faced the Houston Astros in the divisional round, the Houston Astros had won 102 games and had late-season acquisition P Randy Johnson, but the San Diego Padres found a way to defeat Johnson two times in the series as P Kevin Brown of the San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres were incredible going 2-0 in the series as the San Diego Padres defeated the Houston Astros in four games.
The Atlanta Braves with their 106 wins expected the San Diego Padres, but once again the San Diego Padres were up to the task by defeating the Atlanta Braves four games to two, when Kevin Brown and Sterling Hitchcock combined to winning 3 games in the NLCS and leading the San Diego Padres to the World Series against the New York Yankees, who had a 114-48 record on the year and were being regarded as one of the greatest teams ever assembled.
Immediately, the New York Yankees showed why they were held in such high esteem by defeating the San Diego Padres 9-6, on the strength of a seven-run seventh inning capped by Tino Martinez of the New York Yankees. hit a grand slam at home. run, the series reminder was a runaway when the New York Yankees swept the San Diego Padres 4-0 in the 1998 World Series leaving no doubt as to who was the better team.
The San Diegans and the Padres themselves had nothing to think about, having just wrapped up the greatest season in franchise history. The San Diego Padres have some down years due to injuries and defections, including the retirement of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn and P Kevin Brown, numerous ailments.
But in 2005, the San Diego Padres rallied to win the NL West in something of an upset behind P Jake Peavy, OF Brian Giles and closer Trevor Hoffmann, but were easily beaten by the St. Louis Cardinals. in the playoffs in three straight games. but the future looks bright for the San Diego Padres as C Mike Piazza now joins the team to bolster the hitting lineup along with OF gold glove Mike Cameron.
Great moment in team history.
Game 4 NLCS vs Chicago, Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres, who had already driven in three runs on the night, comes to the plate in the bottom half of the ninth with the score tied at 5, with one down and the Padres of San Diego down two games to one and facing possible elimination, Chicago Cubs star closer Lee Smith fires a fastball and San Diego’s Steve Garvey anticipates it, throwing it right to center where Chicago Cubs OF Henry Cotto Chicago unsuccessfully jumps out giving Steve Garvey the game-winning San Diego Padres a two-run home run and the San Diego Padres a dramatic victory forcing a deciding Game 5.