Lefty starting pitcher Randy Jones didn’t have a long career for the Padres but in 1975 and 1976 no pitcher was better than him in the N.L. In 1975 he finished second to Tom Seaver of the Mets in the Cy Young Award voting despite leading baseball with 22 wins and the N.L. with a 2.24 ERA. But in 1976, Randy Jones won the Cy Young Award. In 1976, Jones pitched in 40 games (all starts) in which he was 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. That year Jones completed 25 of his starts of which 5 of those were shutouts. He made the All-Star team twice in his 8 years with the Padres. Jones pitched in 264 games (253 starts) in his career with the Padres and he was 92-105 with 2 saves, a 3.30 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Jones is the Padres’ all-time leader in games started (253), innings pitcher (1,766), complete games (71) and shutouts (18). He is also #6 in games pitched (264), he’s tied for second in wins with Jake Peavy (92), #8 in ERA (3.30), #7 in WHIP (1.21) and he is #8 in strikeouts (677) in Padres’ history. Jones didn’t pitch long for the Padres but he made his mark there.

Lefty starting pitcher Dave Dravecky was a darn good pitcher for the Padres. He pitched in 199 games (119 starts) in his six years with the Padres and he was 53-50 with 10 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. His best season with the Padres was in 1983 when he made the N.L. All-Star team. In 1983, Dravecky pitched in 28 games (all starts) in which he was 14-10 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Dravecky is #4 all-time in ERA in Padres’ history (3.12), #6 in WHIP (1.20), #6 in complete games (23) and he is tied for 8th in shutouts (6). Dravecky’s life and career took a downturn after he left the Padres. On October 7th, 1988 he had surgery to remove a desmoid tumor from his pitching arm. That kept him out of the majors until August 10, 1989 when he made it back to the show with the Giants. Five days later he snapped the humerus bone in his left arm on a pitch to Tim Raines. That was the end of his pitching career. On June 18th, 1991 Dravecky had his left arm and shoulder amputated. He kept his head up and wrote a book called “Comeback”. It was a outstanding, uplifting book and I would suggest that anyone who thinks they are going through rough times should read.

Tony Gwynn Jr. is now on the Padres but his dad was the best player in team history. Gwynn Sr. played all 20 of his years in the majors with the Padres. He played in 2,440 games in his major league career and he was 3,141 of 9,288 (.338 avg, .847 OPS) with 1,383 runs scored, 135 homers, 1,138 RBIs and 319 stolen bases. Gwynn is #1 all-time for the Padres in games played, hits, runs scored, batting average, RBIs, stolen bases and many more categories. He is also #4 all-time in homers for the Padres despite not hitting for a lot of power. Gwynn played on 15 All-Star teams in his career and he won 5 Gold Gloves in the outfield. Gwynn led the N.L. in hits 7 times including 5 seasons with over 200 hits and he also led the league in runs scored 1 time. Gwynn is in the Hall of Fame where he will always live as a San Diego Padre.