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1969: Padres Finish As They Started, with a Win

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
by Geoff Young

October 2, 1969, San Francisco: Padres 3, Giants 2 (box score) Prior to the Padres' inaugural season, manager Preston Gomez and his coaching staff had hoped their club could win 60 games. Although they fell short of that mark, they fared much better than the last National League expansion team, the historically inept 1962 New York Mets. As for Gomez' prediction that the Padres would outscore the Los Angeles Dodgers... well, let's just say he was off a tad (where a tad equals 177 runs). San Diego sent 20-game loser Clay Kirby to the mound in the season finale. The Giants countered with rookie right-hander Rich Robertson. The ...

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1969: Padres Squander Early Lead, Come Back Late to Win

Sunday, September 23, 2007
by Geoff Young

September 23, 1969, San Diego: Padres 5, Giants 4 (box score) The Padres wasted no time in getting to San Francisco starter Frank McCormick. After Jose Arcia led off the first with a single, Roberto Pena doubled him home and took third on an error. One out later, Al Ferrara singled to left, plating Pena. A Nate Colbert double to left put runners at second and third with only one out. With Ivan Murrell at the plate, McCormick balked home Ferrara. Murrell then grounded to second, scoring Colbert and giving the home team a commanding 4-0 lead. If you've been following along all season, you know that the ...

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1969: Padres Score Six in Fifth, Rout Reds

Tuesday, September 18, 2007
by Geoff Young

September 18, 1969, San Diego: Padres 7, Reds 1 (box score) Here's the danger of small sample sizes, as illustrated by Jose Arcia. We've established that the guy couldn't hit a lick, and yet, over a four-game period in mid-September, he went 9-for-18 with four doubles. In this one, Arcia collected four hits en route to a Padres win over Cincinnati. Starters Clay Kirby and Jim Maloney kept the game scoreless until the fourth. Then the Reds parlayed four singles into a run, driven in by none other than Maloney. With the bases still loaded, Kirby retired Bobby Tolan and Alex Johnson to limit the damage. San Diego scored its ...

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1969: Sutton, Lefebvre Lead Dodgers to Sweep

Friday, September 14, 2007
by Geoff Young

September 14, 1969, Los Angeles: Dodgers 3, Padres 1 (box score) Let's get the one Padre highlight out of the way. Ollie Brown knocked a solo homer with two out in the ninth to ruin Don Sutton's shutout bid. Sutton was in complete control all game. He went the distance, scattering three singles in addition to Brown's home run, and striking out nine. The Dodgers scored one run in the second and two more in the fourth. Jim Lefebvre drove in all three runs on a double and a two-run homer off Clay Kirby, who took the loss and saw his record fall to 5-19.

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1969: Kirby Sucks Up Reds

Monday, September 10, 2007
by Geoff Young

September 10, 1969, Cincinnati: Padres 2, Reds 1 (box score) This Wednesday affair at Crosley Field turned out to be quite the pitchers duel. Through the first three innings, there were a total of three baserunners: all walks by the Padres against Cincinnati starter Tony Cloninger. In the fourth, San Diego scored the game's first run. Rookie Jerry Morales, getting the start in left field, led off the inning with his first big-league home run. The score remained 1-0 until the sixth, when the Reds tied the contest. Clay Kirby, who had allowed just one hit entering the inning, served up a two-out triple to Jimmy Stewart that brought home ...

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1969: Padres Start September with a Win

Saturday, September 1, 2007
by Geoff Young

September 1, 1969, San Diego: Padres 5, Phillies 2 (box score) After suffering through a miserable 5-22 August, the Padres opened September at home against Philadelphia. Left-hander Grant Jackson started for the visitors and failed to record a single out. Jose Arcia led off the first inning with an infield single. Roberto Pena singled to center, and Ivan Murrell tripled both of them home. A balk by Jackson plated Murrell, making the score 3-0. After Nate Colbert walked, right-hander John Boozer replaced Jackson and retired the Padres without further incident. San Diego added two runs in the fourth. Colbert drew his second walk of the game, and Ed Spiezio ...

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1969: Padres Lose Sixth Straight

Monday, August 27, 2007
by Geoff Young

August 27, 1969, San Diego: Mets 4, Padres 1 (box score) There's domination, and then there's DOMINATION. This game qualified as the latter. Mets left-hander Jerry Koosman gave up a solo home run to Ollie Brown with two out in the first inning. The next batter, Al Ferrara, singled to left. From that point on, Koosman was unhittable. He walked opposing pitcher Clay Kirby to lead off the third and Ed Spiezio with two out in the seventh. Those were San Diego's only two baserunners over the final 8 1/3 innings. New York, meanwhile, scored twice in the third off Kirby and twice more in the sixth. Kirby didn't ...

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