For more than 50 years, the San Diego Padres were a mainstay in the Pacific Coast League, with future Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Minnie Minoso and Tony Perez passing through on their way to big league stardom.  When the National League looked to expand for 1969, San Diego was chosen for its rich baseball heritage, its warm, sunny weather and as a means to cut down on the travel costs of the Giants and Dodgers (in the same expansion, the American League's Angels received a coast-mate in the form of the Seattle Pilots).  Owned by banker and President Nixon's friend, C. Arnholt Smith, the Padres finished last from 1969 to 1973.  This on-field misery along with Smith's receding financial fortunes prompted him to announce in May of 1973 that he intended to sell the club to a Washington, D.C.-based grocery chain owner who would then move the club to D.C. for 1974.  There followed months of back-room wrangling, during which the Topps company, hedging their bets, even printed their initial run of 1974 baseball cards showing the Padres as already having moved to D.C.  In January of 1974, McDonald's hamburger king Ray Kroc stepped in, purchased the club, and kept them in San Diego.  Kroc's ownership did little initially to stem the team's losing ways, and Kroc himself proved more hands-on in his approach than many owners (see below).  However, key trades and the development of Tony Gwynn by their farm system eventually led to a pennant in 1984.  In the World Series, they became a footnote to the Tigers' dominant season, dropping out 4 games to 1. 

 

Years of mediocrity followed, punctuated by another pennant in 1998, and another quick World Series exit, this time to the overpowering Yankees in a sweep.  Led by Adrian Gonzalez, Jake Peavy and future Hall of Fame closer Trevor Hoffman, they secured two first place finishes (and two first round playoff exits by a cumulative margin of 6 games to 1) in 2005 and 2006,  and then saw only 2 .500-plus seasons over the next 13 years.  With the arrival of young star Fernando Tatis, Jr. in 2019, there may be hope for another contender, but if history is any indicator Padre fans shouldn't form a line for World Series tickets just yet.  

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The main purpose of this page is to illustrate those players, managers and coaches who have been the most prominent in the franchise's history.  Links below will take you to galleries highlighting each, by position.  Generally, an individual is included if he spent at least 2 full seasons (consecutive or cumulative) as a starter, relief pitcher, closer or manager. For coaches, I've generally used 5 years of service as the bar.  None of this is scientific, though, so there are exceptions.  Where possible and practical, I used pictures of actual baseball cards because that it is the medium through which I, and I suppose many others, first discovered the game. Where necessary, I designed my own images.  Images of actual baseball cards were obtained at the Card Cyber Museum, and for my own designs I used photos found at host of different sites, but none moreso than the wonderful forum at Out of the Park Developments.  

 

I claim no rights to, or ownership of, any of the photographic images I've used on these pages.   You are welcome to use them yourself.  All I ask is that that if you use any of my personal creations, you give credit to this site.