Padres hitters' resilience, Kevin Towers' June trade pulled team out of quicksand following a 4-19 stretch. The result was a playoff berth.
Let’s visit the the Padres’ doldrums of June 1996, fellas.
San Diego Padres’ pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, center, is doused with beer by the teammate Rickey Henderson, right, after the Padres’2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League West Division on Sunday, Sept. 29, 1996 in Los Angeles. The teammate at left is unidentified. Lately the 2023 Padres have dropped 11 of 13 contests, leaving them five games under .500. Ahead are 115 games, starting Tuesday night in Washington, D.C. in the opener of a nine-game trip.
Start with the two Hall of Famers in the outfield. Though deep into their 30s, both Rickey Henderson, 37, and Tony Gwynn, 36, could control the strike zone, the former reaching base at a 41 percent clip, the latter batting .353 with 27 doubles. Henderson stole 37 bases, while Gwynn hit a Gwynnish .381 with men in scoring position.
No one matched Ken Caminiti knocking 40 home runs and assembling an adjusted OPS that was 36 points above league average. Ken Caminiti waves to fans at Qualcomm Stadium after St. Louis eliminated the Padres from NLDS in 1996, the year he was MVP of National League.A longtime scout with an optimist’s sense of humor, Towers often quipped that his Irish luck would lift up the Padres. His June 18 trade warranted back slaps from a leprechaun.
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