Friday, January 22, 2010

1976 Topps #331 - San Diego Padres




Fans of the 1976 San Diego Padres didn't have a whole lot to cheer about. The Padres had a future HOFer on the way up (Dave Winfield) and a future HOFer having a really tough year (Willie McCovey). Randy Jones pitched well for them but he didn't have a lot of help in the rotation besides Brent Strom. The Padres had a lot of guys who were once good players but were on the way down (Tito Fuentes, Willie Davis, Randy Hundley, Bobby Tolan). They would have to make more moves before becoming a contender.
John McNamara managed the Padres from 1974 until May 1977. The 1976 season was the best of those seasons. Previously John had managed the Oakland A's for 13 games in 1969 and for the entire 1970 season (2nd in NL West). After his tenure with the Padres McNamara went on to manage the Cincinnati Reds for 3 1/2 years (1979 until mid-1982), the California Angels for two seasons (1983 and 1984), the Boston Red Sox for 3 1/2 years (1985 to mid-1988), the Cleveland Indians (1990 to mid-1991), and the Angels again (28 games in 1996). McNamara won the NL West with the 1979 Reds and went to the World Series with the 1986 Red Sox. His lifetime managerial record was 1,167 — 1,242 (.484).
Team Record: 73-89 (5th in NL West, 29 games behind Cincinnati)
Attendance: 1,458,478 (4th of 12 in NL)
Team Batting: .247 (8th in NL)
Team Home Runs: 64 (11th in NL)
Team ERA: 3.65 (9th in NL)
Team Fielding: .978 (5th in NL)
Cy Young Award: Randy Jones
All Stars: Randy Jones (starting pitcher)



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