San Diego Padres (PCL)

Location: San Diego, CA
League: Pacific Coast League 1936-1968
Affiliation: Boston Red Sox 1936; Cleveland Indians 1949-1951, 1957-1959; Chicago White Sox 1961; Cincinnati Reds 1962-1965; Philadelphia Phillies 1966-1968
Ballpark: Lane Field 1936-1957; Westgate Park 1958-1967; San Diego Stadium 1968

Team History[edit]

The San Diego Padres, prior to becoming a 1969 major league expansion team, were a Pacific Coast League team from 1936 to 1968. The team was formed when the Hollywood Stars were unable to compete financially with the Los Angeles Angels and moved south to San Diego, CA.

The Padres took PCL championships in 1937, 1962, 1964, and 1967. The Padres were Ted Williams' first professional team ; he signed as a pitcher while still in high school in 1936. When moved to the outfield, he hit .287, 23, 109 in 180 games in 1936-1937. The Boston Red Sox bought Williams and teammate Bobby Doerr who had signed with Hollywood and started at 2B while also still in high school.

The Padres were the first team to break the color line in the PCL when they signed catcher John Ritchey, a local boy, for the 1948 season. He was soon joined by a number of other African-American players, including Luke Easter, Artie Wilson, Minnie Minoso, Al Smith and Harry Simpson, who all came through San Diego over the next few seasons.

Year-by-Year Record[edit]

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1936	95-81	2nd	Frank Shellenback	Lost in 1st round
1937	97-81	3rd	Frank Shellenback	League Champs
1938	92-85	5th	Frank Shellenback
1939	83-93	5th	Cedric Durst
1940	92-85	4th	Cedric Durst	Lost in 1st round
1941	101-76	3rd	Cedric Durst	Lost in 1st round
1942	91-87	4th	Cedric Durst	Lost in 1st round
1943	70-85	7th	Cedric Durst (50-66) / George DeTore (20-19)
1944	75-94	8th	George DeTore
1945	82-101	6th	Pepper Martin
1946	78-108	6th	Pepper Martin (72-100) / Jim Brillheart (6-8)
1947	79-107	8th	Ripper Collins
1948	83-105	7th	Ripper Collins (67-62) / Jimmie Reese (0-3) / Jim Brillheart (26-40)
1949	96-92	4th	Bucky Harris	Lost League Finals
1950	114-86	2nd	Del Baker	none
1951	79-88	6th	Del Baker
1952	88-92	5th	Lefty O'Doul	none
1953	88-92	6th	Lefty O'Doul	none
1954	102-67	1st	Lefty O'Doul	Lost in 1st round
1955	92-80	2nd	Bob Elliott	none
1956	72-96	7th	Bob Elliott	none
1957	89-79	4th	Bob Elliott (17-18) / George Metkovich (72-61)	none
1958	84-69	2nd	George Metkovich	none
1959	78-75	3rd	George Metkovich	none
1960	77-75	5th	George Metkovich (43-57) / Jimmie Reese (34-18)	none
1961	72-82	4th	Jimmie Reese (39-44) / Whitey Wietelmann (1-5) / Bill Norman (32-33)	none
1962	93-61	1st	Don Heffner	none League Champs
1963	83-74	3rd	Don Heffner
1964	91-67	2nd	Dave Bristol	League Champs
1965	70-78	8th (t)	Dave Bristol
1966	72-75	8th	Frank Lucchesi
1967	85-63	1st	Bob Skinner	League Champs
1968	76-70	4th	Bob Skinner (31-28) / Bobby Klaus (45-42)