Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the San Diego Padres.

Founded in 1969, the San Diego Padres have had their share of star players, but it has yet to result in a World Series win, though they have won the National League Pennant twice (1984 & 1998).  

The team has lost far more Games than they have won but has a unique history, solid fan base, and hopefully, unlike the Chargers, are not going anywhere.

This list is up to the end of the 2021 regular season.

Our Top 50 lists in Baseball look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2021 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Tony Gwynn

2. Trevor Hoffman

3. Jake Peavy

4. Dave Winfield

5. Randy Jones

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always, we thank you for your support.

In January 2006, the San Diego Padres executed a franchise-changing six-player trade with the Texas Rangers, trading away starting pitcher Adam Eaton and reliever Akinori Otsuka. While the primary return for San Diego was future All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, the inclusion of the exceptionally tall Ivy League right-hander, Chris Young, proved to be an astute strategic move for the team’s pitching rotation. Standing an impressive 6-foot-10, the Princeton alumnus took the mound at Petco Park and promptly utilized his remarkable height and deceptive, high-release fastball to establish himself as one of the most distinctive pitching profiles in the National League.

Young’s transition to the National League West was a resounding success, as he immediately flourished in the vast, pitcher-friendly confines of his new home stadium. During his first two seasons in San Diego, he established himself as a durable, front-line anchor, exceeding the 170-innings threshold and punching out at least 160 batters in both the 2006 and 2007 campaigns. He was particularly lethal at baffling opposing hitters, leading the entire National League in lowest opponent batting average in back-to-back seasons, including a microscopic .206 mark during his debut summer with the club.

His individual peak arrived during the 2007 season, when he earned a well-deserved selection to the National League All-Star team. Young was nearly unhittable during the first half of that summer, ultimately finishing the year with a 9–8 record, a stellar 3.12 ERA, and a career-high 167 strikeouts over 30 high-intensity starts. His extreme downward plane and uncanny ability to generate high-in-the-zone swings-and-misses made him a central component of a highly sophisticated Padres pitching staff that routinely suffocated opposing offenses.

Nonetheless, the extreme physical demands of his unique mechanics eventually severely impacted his upper body. After his impressive All-Star season, Young faced three more years of ongoing struggles with shoulder capsular tears and chronic inflammation. Between 2008 and 2010, he was frequently sidelined, with only 36 sporadic appearances during that period, as his body consistently failed to keep up with his competitive spirit.

Despite ongoing health challenges, Young proved highly effective when he pitched, notably delivering a brief yet outstanding four-start stint in 2010, where he posted a stellar 0.90 ERA over 20 innings. Aware that his long-term health was uncertain, the budget-conscious Padres front office decided to let the tall right-hander explore free agency, resulting in his signing with the New York Mets before the 2011 season.

Young walked away from Southern California having logged his longest and most impactful major league tenure with a single franchise. He left the Padres organization with a highly respectable 33–25 record, 489 strikeouts, and a sharp 3.60 ERA across his 97 career starts.