The Past and the Present of the San Diego Padres

The team that is called the San Diego Padres has been around since 1969. A relatively new team, the San Diego Padres also goes by a few nicknames like The Pads, The Friars, The Dads and even the nickname the Fathers, all having the same meaning or connotation as "Padre" which is a Spanish word for dad or father. The San Diego Padres have yet to win a World Series title however; they do have five West Division wins and two National League Pennants.

The San Diego Padres is a team that was part of an expansion batch of baseball teams in 1969. The original owner of the team, C. Arnholt Smith, was also the owner of the Pacific Coast League's "Padres", which got moved to San Diego in 1936 as the Minor League team to represent the area. The San Diego Padres did not do quite as well as was expected during its first few seasons and was even dangerously close to being sold to a buyer who wanted to move the team to Washington, D.C. The team was finally sold to someone who wanted to keep the San Diego Padres in San Diego and this person was no other than Ray Kroc, co-founder of the popular McDonald's fast-food chain.

Today, the San Diego Padres plays out of the PETCO Park, a stadium that was opened in 2004. This is the park that witnessed the new San Diego Padres winning two back-to-back West Division titles, one in 2005 and the next one in 2006. The team is only one of five teams that belong to the NL to still remain short of a World Series title and just like the other five NL teams that want to gain that particular title, the Padres is trying its best to try and capture one for glory.