Meet the Padres T he baseball season lasts more than six months A lot can happen pp during that time Some teams race into the lead while others others wait until the final month before making an amazing charge to to e the top The San Diego Padres have won both ways They are full of surprises Even when the Padres don’t finish in first place they usually give their fans plenty of thrills The players are always searching for an edge that will help them win They play smart exciting baseball They play hard until the final out of every game This book tells the story of the Padres San Diego is a great place to live and work It is a warm and friendly city where re different cultures blend together You can see it in the stands at a s at a baseball game and you can also see it in the San Diego locker room Few teams in baseball or any other sport represent their city as well as the Padres do Manager Bud Black gives his players advice during a 2010 game 5
Glory Days D uring the 20th century Southern California became a baseball hotbed Good weather and a growing population meant the game could be played all year long In 1958 the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles Three years later the Angels began play in Southern California In 1969 the National League NL added two new teams California’s southernmost city San Diego was chosen for one of these teams The Padres were born The team’s owner was a banker named C Arnholt Smith He had previously owned a club in the minor leagues It was also called the San Diego Padres Smith saw no reason to change the name of his new team in the major leagues Building a winner posed a greater challenge The Padres tried to find 6
LEFT Clarence Cito Gaston RIGHT Dave Winfield players that other teams had overlooked They discovered some good ones in Nate Colbert Cito Gaston Clay Kirby Dave Roberts and Ollie Brown Unfortunately they still finished last in the NL West year after year In 1974 Smith had to sell the Padres after his bank failed He found a buyer in Ray Kroc who had built the McDonald’s fast-food empire Kroc was used to giving orders and getting results He was not used to losing Kroc needed great patience to make it through his first 10 seasons as owner of the Padres The team had only one winning year during that time For Kroc and San Diego fans exciting players such as Dave Winfield Gene Richards Ozzie Smith and Rollie Fingers made the losing a little easier The Padres finally began to play winning baseball in the early 1980s The team put it all together in 1984 Young outfielders Tony 7
