On the blog today, a special 1970 "Highlight" card celebrating the San Diego Padres and their first Major League game on April 8th of 1969:
The
Padres opened it all up with a 2-1 victory against the Houston Astros
at San Diego Stadium, with starter Dick Selma going the full nine with
only five hits allowed while striking out 12.
The Padres would
actually win their first three games, though that wouldn't continue as
they'd finish their inaugural season with a record of 52 and 110. Oof!
Nevertheless,
the franchise is still around today, with a huge scare before the 1974
season when they were rumored to be moving to Washington D.C., giving us
the 1974 Topps variations of "Washington N.L.".
The big stars
of the initial team were slugger Nate Colbert and "Downtown" Ollie
Brown, who both reached 20 homers, while their big winning pitchers were
Joe Niekro and Al Santorini with eight wins apiece.
Some
53 years later and the team looks to be quite a force with players like
Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr, Xavier Boegarts and Manny Machado
stacking a formidable line-up!
