Retired Numbers - San Diego Padres
The city of San Diego is one with a tortured sports history. There was a time when they had three Big 4 teams at once. But Los Angeles claimed the San Diego Clippers in the 80s, and not too long ago the San Diego Chargers also ran to LA. Don't worry though, LA already has two baseball teams and it's highly unlikely baseball will let another New York situation happen when three teams play in one city. The Padres are all the city have left and they don't plan on leaving. Now if only they could find a way to bring a title to the city, not for two notable attempts...
#6 - Steve Garvey
In the 1982 offseason, the Padres were reeling. Former greats Randy Jones and Dave Winfield were both playing in New York, and they had a young outfielder named Tony Gwynn who was too busy being injured for anyone to realize his potential. The team needed to rebuild around something big. Enter Steve Garvey. LA might take the cities two other teams away eventually, but perhaps it was retaliation for SD signing Garvey away from the Dodgers. Year one in San Diego saw Garvey make history as he broke the NL consecutive games streak, a run that would ultimately be the 5th longest all time. Year two would have him lead the Padres to their first ever World Series.
#19 - Tony Gwynn
Mr Padre himself is one of those no-brainer choices for number retirement. A 20 year career all in San Diego, he won 8 batting titles, 7 Silver Sluggers, 5 Gold Gloves, 15 all star nominations, member of the 3000 Hit club and he helped bring the Padres both of their pennants in 1984 and 1998. His hitting statistics border on video game levels, and some of the greatest, most dominating pitchers of all time dreaded seeing him in the batters box. The great Nolen Ryan faced him 67 times and could only strike him out 9 of those times. Guys like Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez couldn't even K him once.
#31 - Dave Winfield
Dave Winfield was so good in college, that four teams in three different sports all drafted him. Both basketball leagues (NBA and ABA) and the NFL (worth noting that he never played football in college) all wanted him, but the Padres won out, and they had him bypass the minor leagues and go right to the Show. An absolute powerhouse hitter and defender, by the end of his 8 seasons in San Diego, he was a 4 time all star with 2 Gold Gloves and named team captain. He would chase titles in other places starting in 1981, but when the time came for Cooperstown, he chose the SD to go on his hat.
#35 - Randy Jones
A nerve injury in his throwing arm derailed what was becoming an elite career for Randy Jones. 1975 and '76 are when it all was coming together for Jones. He was an all star both years, getting the Save in '75 and the Win in '76, winning 20 games both seasons. He came in 2nd for the Cy Young in 1975, but left no doubt in '76 when he won 22 and pitched over 300 innings to snag the honor. After the aforementioned injury in '76, things just weren't the same, but the Padres saw fit to immortalize his 35 in 1997.
#51 - Trevor Hoffman
If you're an opponent in San Diego and "Hells Bells" starts playing, the game was already over. Hoffman began his career with the expansion Florida Marlins, but they gave him up in a trade for Gary Sheffield. Padre fans were not thrilled and booed Trevor in his first appearance. A year later he took over Closer duties and those boos started becoming cheers as Hoffman quickly became the elite end of game pitching option in the National League. From there came 7 all star games, 2 Reliever of the Year awards and the 1998 pennant. He became the first pitcher to reach 600 Saves, 552 of them coming as a member of the Padres.
