Baseball Teams in San Diego, California - San Diego Padres, San Diego State Aztecs Baseball, List of San Diego Padres First-Round Draft Picks (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 27. Chapters: San Diego Padres, San Diego State Aztecs baseball, List of San Diego Padres first-round draft picks, San Diego sports curse, 2007 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game, 1968 Major League Baseball expansion draft, San Diego Padres award winners and league leaders, United States Navy Baseball, Tony Gwynn Stadium, The San Diego Chicken, San Diego Padres team records, Jack Murphy. Excerpt: The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times. They and the Los Angeles Angels are the only MLB California teams to originate in California; the Dodgers and Giants are originally from New York, and the Athletics are originally from Philadelphia. The Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League team which arrived in San Diego in 1936. That minor league franchise won the PCL title in 1937, led by then-18-year-old San Diegan Ted Williams. The team's name, Spanish for "fathers," refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded San Diego in 1769. In 1969, the San Diego Padres joined the ranks of Major League Baseball as one of four new expansion teams, along with the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals), the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers). Their original owner was C. Arnholt Smith, a prominent San Diego businessman and former owner of the PCL Padres whose interests included banking, tuna fishing, hotels, real estate and an airline. Despite initial excitement, the guidance of longtime baseball executives, Eddie Leishman and Buzzie Bavasi as well as a new playing field, the team struggled; the Padres finished in last place in each of its first six seasons in th...