Tuesday, October 15, 2024
HomePhotographyPadres winning the World Series would be the best outcome for baseball...

Padres winning the World Series would be the best outcome for baseball – San Diego Union-Tribune

Published on

spot_img


Of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, there’s only one that lacks a World Series trophy and plays in a city that’s never won a Super Bowl or an NBA crown.

The San Diego Padres and their city’s parched sports fans are therefore unique, all the way down to their brown pinstriped uniforms and brown caps.

Unique stories make for better stories.

Which is why the best outcome for baseball, as a whole, would be for the Padres to win the World Series trophy.

A run to Rob Manfred’s hunk of metal would carry more weight than outsiders realize.

Hockey’s not our thing in San Diego, and the two NBA teams that set up shop here pulled out.

The Chargers reached one Super Bowl in 51 tries and lost big as a 19-point underdog.

The two times the Padres went to the World Series, one of the great teams in baseball history booted them out lickety-split.

The weather here is so pleasant, it’s surreal. The team sports’ history here is so barren, it’s also surreal.

San Diegans have celebrated no victory by a home team that compares in scope with the Super Bowl wins celebrated by folks in D.C. and Dallas before the Washington Nationals and the Texas Rangers broke through in 2019 and last fall, respectively, to win a franchise-first World Series title.

Sports fans in Chicago and Boston were treated to giddy runs to Super Bowl trophies, NBA crowns and the Stanley Cup trophy long before the Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox broke generations-long World Series-title droughts.

See also  Teaching computer science in the prison has been a challenging and rewarding experience – San Diego Union-Tribune

The last time the Kansas City Royals won the World Series was 2015. In San Diego time, that’s a blink.

Relatively speaking, San Diego sports fans have gotten nothing. That’s how it’s gone.

The weather. That’s what they have.

(The San Diego Weather would be an apt name for a San Diego sports team.)

A fan holds an image of the Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. as he bats against the Chicago White Sox during the eighth inning at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A fan holds an image of the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. as he bats against the Chicago White Sox during the eighth inning at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

A lot is made of how spirited sports fans are in cold-weather cities.

Here, they’re spirited as well — just not frostbitten.

Last year, the Padres finished second in MLB attendance, trailing only the Dodgers.

This year, the Padres ended up third. Among the big-market bluebloods they outdrew: the Yankees, Braves, Red Sox and Astros. By 8,000 fans per game San Diego crowds exceeded the average turnouts in Dallas, where Bruce Bochy’s Rangers were defending their title. The gap between Padres crowds and Mets crowds was 12,000 per game.

The 12-team World Series tournament that begins Tuesday could serve up other potential winners who would freshen up the sport.

Baseball would gain some credibility if the small-market Milwaukee Brewers advanced to their second World Series and won their first trophy.

But the celebration in America’s Dairyland wouldn’t be unique.

Three summers ago, thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo’s brilliance at basketball, the city celebrated the Bucks’ NBA championship. Go back to 1971. Sports fans in Milwaukee had it better than San Diegans ever have on the major sports scene, cheering Hall of Famers Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson and Bobby Dandridge in a title-winning season. That team won 78 of 94 games, an unfathomable feat to anyone who watched the San Diego Rockets or San Diego Clippers.

See also  Woman critically injured after thrown from motorcycle in Mission Beach

Cleveland baseball fans in sackcloth will dispute this, but the Padres winning the trophy would be bigger even than the Guardians claiming the franchise’s first World Series trophy since 1948.

Or was that a mirage eight years ago in Cleveland — the so-called Factory of Pain — when 1.3 million folks crammed into downtown to celebrate the NBA title won by LeBron James and friends?

San Diego, CA - September 20: Padres fan watch the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego, CA – September 20: Padres fan watch the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024 in San Diego, CA. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Padres need 13 more wins to become the last team standing in early November. If it happens, consider this a standing invitation to fans in other tough-luck sports cities.

You are hereby invited to San Diego this winter. Lobster tacos and margaritas will be on the Seidler family and Manny Machado.

Originally Published:



Source link

Latest articles

Harris works to appeal to Black men, a critical group for Democrats

For a second day this week, Vice President Kamala Harris is focusing on...

Meet the Election Denier Forecasting a Trump Win in the 2024 Election

Seth Keshel has become a darling among election deniers by factoring widespread voter...

Lufthansa Fined $4 Million for Stopping 128 Jewish Passengers From Boarding Flight

The Transportation Department said the fine is the largest it has issued against...

Philadelphia museum to display rare sword carried during Revolutionary War

A weapon that was used during the Siege of Yorktown will soon...

More like this

Harris works to appeal to Black men, a critical group for Democrats

For a second day this week, Vice President Kamala Harris is focusing on...

Meet the Election Denier Forecasting a Trump Win in the 2024 Election

Seth Keshel has become a darling among election deniers by factoring widespread voter...

Lufthansa Fined $4 Million for Stopping 128 Jewish Passengers From Boarding Flight

The Transportation Department said the fine is the largest it has issued against...