The San Diego Padres were a minor league baseball team that played in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

from 1936 through 1968. The team that would eventually become the Padres was well traveled prior to moving to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Franchise history

It began its existence in 1903 as the

Sacramento Solons The Sacramento Solons were a minor league baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Pacific Coast League during several periods (1903, 1905, 1909–1914, 1918–1960, 1974–1976). The current Sacramento River Cats began pl ...

, a charter member of the PCL. The team moved to Tacoma in 1904 (where it won the PCL pennant), returned to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

in 1905, then left the PCL altogether for the next three seasons. The Solons rejoined the PCL in 1909, then moved to San Francisco during the 1914 season, finishing out the season as the San Francisco Missions. The team was sold to businessman Bill "Hardpan" Lane, who moved the team to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

for the 1915 season as the Salt Lake Bees. Eleven years later Lane moved the Bees to Los Angeles for the 1926 season, and changed their name to the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (192 ...

. The Stars played at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...

, home of the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, winning pennants in 1929 and 1930. When, after the 1935 season, the Angels doubled the Stars' rent, Lane moved the Stars to

for the 1936 season, to become the San Diego Padres. The city constructed a waterfront stadium for its new team, appropriately called Lane Field, replacing a race track that was on the site. The team finished second in its inaugural year in the border city, then won the postseason series and the PCL pennant in 1937, led by the hitting of sophomore outfielder

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

, who was first signed to a contract in 1936. On October 2, 1944, Bill "Chick" Starr bought the Padres for $210,000 and was named the team president and general manager. In 1952, Starr announced that

KFMB-TV KFMB-TV (channel 8) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., it has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa section of San Diego, and its transmitt ...

founder Jack O. Gross purchased a large minority share, along with Dr. Robert M. Stone and real estate developer Irvin J. Kahn. Though for the next decade or more the Padres were mired in the second division, at last this franchise achieved stability and longevity. The team remained in San Diego for 33 years, displaced only by virtue of San Diego's admission to the major leagues. In 1954, managed by former major league player Lefty O'Doul, the Padres finished first in the PCL for the first time in their history, but were eliminated in the postseason playoffs. After the 1957 season, the Padres were sold to C. Arnholdt Smith, who moved the team from ancient Lane Field to

Westgate Park Westgate Park was a baseball stadium located in San Diego, California. The ballpark was home to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League from 1958 to 1967. The ballpark was located in the largely undeveloped Mission Valley region of San Die ...

, an 8,200-seat facility located in what is now the Fashion Valley Mall of Mission Valley. In 1960, Smith brought in

Eddie Leishman Edwin William Leishman (December 20, 1910 — December 28, 1972) was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He was the first general manager of the San Diego Padres when they joined Major League Baseball, serving fr ...

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and club president. Leishman, who had helped to run the Yankee farm system throughout the previous 10 years, was brought in with the goal of bringing the team to the Major Leagues. The Padres proceeded to win PCL pennants in 1962, 1964, and 1967. The Padres were the Triple-A affiliate of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

from 1962–65; some of their players (including

Tony Pérez Atanasio "Tony" Pérez Rigal (born May 14, 1942) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and third baseman from through , most notably as a member of the ...

) would become vital cogs of what was called the "

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division titl ...

" Reds' teams of the 1970s. The Pads won a final PCL pennant in 1967 as a farm club of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. In 1967, Smith won a bid for an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

for the 1969 season. After the 1968 PCL season, he surrendered the franchise, which moved to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

, and transferred the Padre name to his new NL team, the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

. Leishman was named general manager of the MLB Padres, with club president and minority investor

Buzzie Bavasi Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi (; December 12, 1914 – May 1, 2008) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s. He was best known as the ...

, formerly GM of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

, playing a dominant role in its baseball operations.

Affiliations

The Padres, like most PCL clubs, operated without a working agreement with or outright ownership by a major league team throughout much of the 1930s and 1940s, and again in the mid-1950s when the PCL was an Open Classification league attempting to attain MLB status. They were affiliated with the following major league teams:

Notable players

Joe Horlen Joel Edward Horlen (August 14, 1937 – April 10, 2022) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1961 to 1972 for the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics. In references, he is called Joe H ...

, pitcher * Art Shamsky, outfielder *

, outfielder * Bobby Doerr, second base *

Minnie Minoso As a first name, Minnie is a feminine given name. It can be a diminutive (hypocorism) of Minerva, Winifred, Wilhelmina, Hermione, Mary, Miriam, Maria, Marie, Naomi, Miranda, Clementine or Amelia. It may refer to: People with the given name * ...

, outfielder *

Tony Perez Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...

, first base * Jack Merson, second base

References

*O'Neal, Bill. ''The Pacific Coast League 1903–1988.'' Eakin Press, Austin TX, 1990. . *Snelling, Dennis. ''The Pacific Coast League: A Statistical History, 1903–1957'' McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 1995. . *Control of Padres Sold to Tuna Cannier; O’Doul May Take Charge,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1955 {{Authority control Baseball teams in San Diego 01 Defunct baseball teams in California Professional baseball teams in California Baseball teams established in 1936 Sports clubs disestablished in 1968 Defunct Pacific Coast League teams Philadelphia Phillies minor league affiliates Cincinnati Reds minor league affiliates Chicago White Sox minor league affiliates Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates 1936 establishments in California 1968 disestablishments in California Baseball teams disestablished in 1968