San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres joined the National League in 1969 and spent their early decades as one of baseball's most anonymous franchises, nearly relocating to Washington, D.C. in 1974 before Ray Kroc, the McDonald's magnate, purchased the team and kept it in San Diego. The franchise's first taste of glory came in 1984, when a team led by Tony Gwynn and Steve Garvey won the National League pennant before falling to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. A second pennant followed in 1998, though the Yankees dispatched the Padres in a four-game sweep.

Tony Gwynn is the franchise's towering figure -- a lifetime .338 hitter who spent his entire 20-year career in San Diego, winning eight batting titles and embodying the kind of loyalty and craftsmanship that made him one of the most beloved players in baseball history. Gwynn's death in 2014 left a void that transcended baseball, and his statue outside Petco Park serves as a permanent shrine to the greatest Padre of them all.

Petco Park, which opened in 2004 in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego, is routinely cited as one of the finest ballparks in Major League Baseball. Its integration of the Western Metal Supply Co. building, its views of the San Diego skyline, and its proximity to the city's vibrant restaurant and nightlife scene make it a destination venue. The Padres have oscillated between aggressive spending sprees and painful rebuilds, with the Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado era of the early 2020s generating the most sustained excitement in franchise history. San Diego is a city that loves its sunshine more than any sport, but the Padres have gradually built a passionate and growing fan base that believes the franchise's first World Series title is not a matter of if but when.