San Diego Padres


Current Season
Team History
All-Time Leaders    Batting    Pitching
League Championship Titles: None
Ballpark: Lane Field



Lane Field   Opened: 1936   Capacity: 10,000
North Harbor Drive and West Broadway, San Diego, California






Factors
AVG overall .997
LHB .998, RHB .997
Doubles .896
Triples 1.263
HR overall .796
LHB .811, RHB .788

Distances/wall heights
Left Field line 339 ft./7 ft.
Left Field 388 ft./7 ft.
Left-Center Field 433 ft./7 ft.
Center Field 480 ft./7 ft.
Right-Center Field 439 ft./7 ft.
Right Field 397 ft./7 ft.
Right Field line 355 ft./7 ft.

In the Redux

The Padres have yet to win a Pacific Coast League championship. They made postseason appearances in 1924 as the Salt Lake City Bees, in 1931 and 1934 as the Hollywood Stars, and in 1938 in their current incarnation as the San Diego Padres.

Real-life history

This much-traveled franchise’s PCL roots were in Sacramento. After three seasons in the California League, the Sacramento Sacts joined the PCL in 1909, but like earlier teams based in the state’s small-town capitol found drawing profitable crowds a tough row to hoe. They struggled there for a few years, then spent a partial year in San Francisco as the Mission Wolves in 1914. In 1915 a Salt Lake City group including mining magnate Bill “Hardrock” Lane purchased the team and moved them to Utah’s capital, where they were known as the Bees; by 1917 Lane had purchased the controlling shares of the club. The Bees played in tiny Bonneville Park, and the combination of the thin mountain air and the short distance to the outfield fence led to astronomical home run totals. The Bees’ Tony Lazzeri hit 60 home runs in 1925 (while fashioning a Hall of Fame career in the majors, the second baseman hit no more than 18 in any big league campaign).





The 1937 Padres, PCL Champions

The Bees drew fairly well in Salt Lake City, but the other PCL owners were never happy about the cost of travel to Utah, and Lane was pressured to relocate. In 1926 he moved the club to Los Angeles, where they were briefly known as the Hollywood Bees before settling on the flashier and more familiar Hollywood Stars.

This first edition of the Stars never actually played in Hollywood, spending their decade-long L.A. tenure as tenants of the Los Angeles Angels at the original Wrigley Field. Although the club never drew as well as Lane had hoped, the Stars at least found on-field success, winning PCL pennants in 1929 and 1930.






The friar mascot predates the MLB Padres. A 19-year old fan named Carlos Hadaway won a “Create Our Brand for Us and Get Paid Nothing” contest in 1961.

Refusing to accept a 100% rent hike after the 1935 season, Lane moved the team to San Diego, where they became the Padres. Playing in the hastily-built Lane Field, the club won a pennant in 1937, its second year in the city. Although they were unable to repeat that success for more than two decades, the team had found a home. In 1957 they were purchased by banker C. Arnholt Smith, who moved them to a new facility, Westgate Park, that year. The Padres won pennants as a Reds affiliate in 1962 and 1964 and as a Phillies affiliate in 1967.

The PCL Padres officially folded after the 1968 season. Smith’s bid for a National League franchise had been accepted, and as the owner of the San Diego Padres name, he transferred it to his new team in 1969.

Salt Lake City Bees/Hollywood Stars/San Diego Padres Uniform History







1921-1923 Home

1924-1925 Home

1926-1935 Home

1936-1938 Home

1939 Home







1921-1925 Away

1926-1935 Away

1936-1938 Away

1939 Away









1940 Home

1941 Home

1942-1944 Home

1945-1946 Home

1947-1948 Home








1940 Away

1941 Away

1942-1944 Away

1945-1946 Away

1947-1948 Away









1949 Home

1950 Home

1951-1952 Home

1953 Home

1954-1966 Home








1949 Away

1950 Away

1951-1952 Away

1953 Away

1954-1963 Away











1967-1968 Home

















1964-1966 Away

1967-1968 Away