FromAlbertSpalding,whosettledinSanDiegointhelatterpartofhislife,tolateHallofFamersTedWilliamsandTonyGwynn,SanDiegohasbeencalledhomebysomegiantsofbaseballlore.ButSanDiegowasalsotheminorleaguehomeofJohnnyRitchey,whobrokethe“colorbarrier“inthePacificCoastLeague,andBill“Chick“Starr,theformerplayerturnedownerwhosignedhim.In1909SanDiegowasthesiteofagamebetweenthe“JapaneseBaseBallAssociation“--anaspiringproteamofJapanese-bornplayers--againstthelocalCaliforniaWinterLeaguechampions,whileduringafewmonthsof1946aNegroLeagueteamknownastheSanDiegoTigersplayedthere,allbeforeexpansionbroughttheNationalLeaguetotheWestCoast.Ofcourse,thePCLPadresweresupersededbytheNLPadres,whoplaytheretoday.TheNLPadresremaintheonlyteaminMLBwithoutano-hitter,butthePCLPadreshadone,atleastby1938rules.ThePadreshavehadtheirheroes(GarveyandGossage,HoffmanandTempleton)andtheirgoats,aswellasTheChicken,whomTheNewYorkTimescalled“perhapsthemostinfluentialsportsmascotinhistory.“AlloftheirstoriesandmorefromSanDiegoandenvironsareincludedinthisissueofTheNationalPastime,tocoincidewiththenationalSABRconventiontakingplacetherein2019.
