Tag Archives: Padres Pics

Padres Pics #12.

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HOFFMAN.
On January 24th, Trevor Hoffman finally got elected into the Hall of Fame, so of course, I had to open this post with a photo related to him. There’s not a lot that I can offer about the Padres longtime closer that’s not currently being said about him, but I wanted to offer my own little congrats to my favorite relief pitcher of all time and offer a few thoughts:

  1. Even though 2007 ended in an incredibly bittersweet way (Game 163, ugh!), I still think of that season with fond memories. One of the best moments from that season happened on June 6th, when Trevor registered his 500th career save. I love this photo and if you click on it to bring up a large version, you can pick out faces of a handful of guys that were pretty fun to watch in San Diego, such as Greg Maddux, Chris Young, David Wells, Heath Bell, Mike Cameron, etc. Speaking of Heath Bell, I hope I’m not the only person who hopes he eventually gets the recognition he deserves as Trevor’s successor and just overall being an awesome Padre. I honestly think he should be inducted into the team Hall of Fame at some point.
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  2. While looking at this timeline of Trevor Hoffman’s career, I noticed that Trevor’s first save as a Padre took place on August 6th, 1993. The date rang a bell and then I realized that I attended this game. It was the day that Tony Gwynn got his 2000th career hit during a doubleheader against the Rockies. With that said, Trevor got his save in game #1 and Tony got his hit in game #2. The only memory I have of Trevor that day is him coming out and the bill of his cap being bent down low in an intimidating fashion. It was quite the fitting look for a relief pitcher.
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  3. Something that I’ve always thought is cool is that Trevor had 4 hits during his career, with 2 of them being doubles. Yes, his career average was .118, but the fact that the former shortstop was able to get a pair of extra base hits is pretty awesome. I have searched high and low for video/photos of any of his Padres hits but always come up empty. All I can ever find is this video of his final career at-bat, which came during his time with the Brewers in 2010.

(Image Source: Padres’ FriarWire)

BARTON.

A few days ago, I read that former Padres catcher, Bob Barton recently passed away. To be honest, I can’t say that I knew anything about Barker besides seeing his name on old team rosters. After reading up on him, I discovered that Barton played for the Padres on two different occasions, from 1970-1972, and then again in 1974. In addition, according to Jeff Sanders at the Union-Tribune, Barton was the team player representative in 1972,  which is notable because it was the year of the first player’s strike in MLB history.

Barton spent the majority of his career as a backup catcher but in 1971 he started for the Padres and played in 121 games, where he had quite the season. I pulled this tidbit about his 1971 season from his wiki page:

His best statistical year as a hitter was as a starter for the 1971 Padres; in 121 games, he hit .250 with five home runs and 23 runs batted in along with 17 doubles. On defense, in 1971 he led National League catchers in runners caught stealing (42), percentage of runners caught stealing (51.2%) and errors committed (15) and was second in assists (67).

Even with the 15 errors, that’s an incredibly solid season for a catcher from that era. I tip my cap to you, Bob Barton. May you rest in peace.

WILLIAMS.
Photos of Ted Williams with the Padres are hard to come by and the ones that do exist are usually just him posing for cameras. This photo of the Splendid Splinter taking a pitch is easily my favorite photo of him in the Pacific Coast League. A decent quality photo of in-game action from the 1930s?? This is the stuff gets my nerdy baseball juices flowing!

I’m not sure what year this is from, who the Padres are playing, or where it was taken, but if I HAD to make an educated guess, I’d say it was taken in 1937 at Lane Field against the Portland Beavers. But hey, I’ve been known to be wrong about PCL stuff…

(Image Source: The Kid: Ted Williams in San Diego)

Padres Pics #11.

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GWYNN.

Tony Gwynn is my all-time favorite baseball player and that can’t be a surprise to anyone reading this blog. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance he was your favorite player too. With the exception of never winning a World Series championship, Gwynn had a storybook career in baseball and I don’t think I’m exaggerating by saying this.

When I first saw this quote, it brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart. You don’t hear professional athletes say things like this, especially with the money and opportunities that are available via free agency. Sometimes I forget how special his career was and I’m reminded of new ways to appreciate him. Gwynn knew what he was doing by staying in San Diego and by staying, he ended up having a baseball career that kids dream of having. I know that I certainly did.

LANE FIELD.

I love all photos related to the Pacific Coast League Padres and this photo of Lane Field from 1940 is no exception. I’ve seen countless photos of Lane Field over the years, but this provides a different view that is entirely new to me.

I’m not 100% certain, but it looks as if the players warming up may be wearing pinstripes. If this is the case, then assuming that the year is correct, this is not a member of the Padres. The PCL Padres did not wear pinstripes between 1939 and 1952. This would mean that the home dugout at Lane Field was along the first-base side of the field.

This leads me to wonder where the home dugout was located in Westgate Park? If it was on the first-base side, then that would mean that both eras of Padres baseball have kept their home dugout on the same side. I’m aware how nerdy it is to even think about this stuff, but hey, this blog is all about the nerdy side of Padres baseball.

OROSCO.

For a period of time around the late 90s and early 2000s, and especially after Tony Gwynn retired, I didn’t pay much attention to professional baseball. With the exception of looking at standings and stats once in awhile, and attending random A’s games, I just didn’t care too much. I was just too preoccupied with skateboarding and playing music at that time in my life. However, there are some things that I missed from that era that I come across now which leaves me scratching my head. This photo is one of them.

Jesse Orosco was one of those guys that every kid my generation was somewhat familiar with. The dude pitched 24 seasons in the big leagues, which lead to him breaking the record for all-time pitching appearances and due to this, I ended up with SO many of his cards over the years.

In 2003, his last season in the big leagues, he played for the Padres, Yankees, and Twins. Prior to finding this photo, I had no recollection of Orosco’s time in San Diego, which is kinda odd because 2003 is when I really started paying attention again. It turns out that the 46-year-old Orosco only logged 25 innings with the Padres before getting sent to the Yankees in July. His era at the time of the deal was 7.56, so I think it’s safe to say he was done. Still, I thought it was cool when I discovered that he was a Padre for a short period of time in the twilight of his career.

Padres Pics #9.

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GWYNN.
tony-gwynn-safeEverything about this photo rules. From the dirt flying in the air, to both team’s colorful and unique uniforms, to the umpire’s expression and Tony Gwynn‘s body language, this photo is incredible. Oh yeah, if Gwynn said that you’re safe, then in all likelihood, you’re probably safe; so I’m going to assume that was the outcome of this play.

WILLIAMS.
Ted Williams San Diego Padres
Back in July, I made the trek to San Diego to check out the All-Star Game festivities. It was an incredible experience and one that I’ll never forget. In ways, it was baseball (and Padres) overload, but I enjoyed every second of it, especially the All-Star Game Fan Fest.

At Fan Fest, there was a comprehensive timeline on display of San Diego baseball, from the late 1800s to the current Padres. This obviously included the PCL Padres and included the above photo of Ted Williams, which was taken at Lane Field in 1937. I honestly thought I’d seen every documented photo of The Splendid Splinter during his time with the Padres, but apparently, I was wrong, as this one caught my eye and sparked my curiosity.

There’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on that I love about this photo. Maybe it’s old Lane Field behind him, in addition to the look on his face which reflects that he may not have been prepared to pose for the photo, as his bat is by his side and a teammate is sitting to his left. It’s just a great photo of a young man who’d one day be known as the greatest hitter of all time. (Image Source: Getty Images)

NIEKRO.
joe-niekro-padresThe former knuckleballer, Joe Niekro played in the big leagues for 22 seasons, spending time with 7 different teams. One of those teams were the San Diego Padres, whom he played with during the organization’s inaugural season of 1969. He won 8 games and lost 17, with an ERA of 3.70 over 202 innings. Unfortunately, Niekro didn’t use his knuckleball during his time in San Diego, as he started using it a few years later

Unfortunately, Niekro didn’t throw the knuckleball during his time in San Diego. The story goes that he started using it a few years later after joining his brother, Phil Niekro with the Braves. Joe was never the knuckleballer that his brother was, but he was still pretty great. If he had the pitch back in 1969, the end result of those 200 innings would’ve been quite interesting. For a 24-year-old kid on an expansion team, in his 3rd season in the big leagues, it was already respectable.

Padres Pics #8.

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PEAVY.
Jake Peavy 1948 Throwback
On May 6th, 2006, in a game against the Cubs, the Padres first wore their 1948 PCL throwback uniforms, during a two day celebration of the Negro Leagues. You may ask why would they wear Pacific Coast League uniforms during a Negro League celebration? Well, they wore the throwbacks to honor John Ritchey, the former Negro League catcher who broke the PCL color barrier with the Padres in 1948 and became known as the “Jackie Robinson of the Pacific Coast League.”

While I love the old PCL and the uniforms from that era, I find it a little odd that they didn’t go with the San Diego Tigers of the West Coast Negro Baseball League. I assume it’s because the league was short lived not much is known about the league to casual fans, but then again, that’s what would make it interesting and fun.

Jake Peavy was the starting pitcher that day and he did it in style, wearing high stirrups and saluting the Negro Leagues in a way that makes baseball history nerds like myself very happy. Before the first pitch of the game, Peavy did a Satchel Paige-esque double-pump windup before delivering a strike to Juan Pierre. You can read about it HERE. (Image Source: Dandy’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Blog)

PENA.Roberto Pena PadresRoberto Pena was the starting second basemen for the inaugural 1969 San Diego Padres, and based on this photo of him diving to lay a tag on a Phillies player, he also spent some time at first base. Oh yeah, he also played shortstop and third as well, so he was quite versatile. Pena only played one of his six big league seasons in San Diego and later wrapped up his playing career in the Mexican Leagues with the Tampico Stevedores and Yucatan Leones. Awhile back, I did a write up on Pena on “Bridging the Gap: The PCL Padres & MLB Padres (Part 1),“ due to the fact that he played for both the PCL and MLB Padres. (Image Source: Mears Auctions)

USHER & COLAVITO.
Bob Usher & Rocky Colavito PadresA 1956 San Diego Union photo featuring PCL Padre outfielders, Bob Usher and Rocky Colavito. Here is the original caption to the photo:

“Padre, Bob Usher, left, inspects throwing arm of Rocky Colavito, new outfielder on option from Cleveland. Colavito’s throwing arm is termed by many veterans as the finest in organized baseball while Usher’s is one of the best in the Pacific Coast League. Colavito is subject to 24-hour recall”

Rocky Colavito’s legacy as a baseball player is largely associated with the Indians, and rightfully so, as he spent 8 of his 14 big league seasons in Cleveland. Still, it’s interesting to know that Colavito spent 35 games with the Padres in 1956, during the team’s time as the AAA affiliate of the Indians.

Usher, on the other hand, spent parts of two seasons in San Diego, in addition to playing 4 seasons with the PCL Angels and bouncing around 4 teams during his 6 seasons in the big leagues. I previously wrote about Usher HERE, which I suggest checking out. The guy lived an interesting life in baseball, which lead to him being present at some notable moments in the history of the game. (Image Source: The J.G. Preston Experience)

Padres Pics #7.

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1984.
1984 Padres World Series
I believe this photo was taken prior to Game 1 of the 1984 World Series, at Jack Murphy Stadium. While this specific photo only seems to include bench players, bullpen guys and coaches, it’s still pretty cool if you ask me.

GWYNN.
For ages, I’ve looked for video of Tony Gwynn’s 1997 inside the park grand slam against the Dodgers and today I finally found it. Skip forward to 0:37 in the video and you will find Tony going oppo in the grandest of ways. The only downside to this clip is that after the hit, it only shows Tony coming down the third baseline and sliding into home. I would LOVE to see him running the bases, even at that stage in his career.

LYNN.
Fred Lynn PadresRecently, while looking through some old Padres cards from my childhood, I came across a few Fred Lynn cards from both 1990 and 1991. I’d forgotten that Lynn was a Padre at one point and after during a little research, it turns out that San Diego was the last stop of his seventeen year career. Lynn played only one season in San Diego (1990) and the 38 year old didn’t fare all that well, as he put up a .240/.315/.357 clip with 6 home runs over 90 games.

I guess Lynn could’ve done a lot worse in 1990 and since there are Padres cards of him for the 1991 season, I’m lead to believe the team considered bringing him back the following season on a minor league contract or spring training invite. With that all said, it’s odd seeing Lynn in a Padres uniform, but wow, does that brown looks great or what?