The San Diego Padres
Early in the 2021 MLB season, the San Diego Padres became the last MLB franchise to throw a no-hitter
when San Diego County native Joe Musgrove allowed no hits against the Texas Rangers.
The Padres started playing in 1969 and to give a sense of how remarkable the Padres' 52-year run of zero no-hitters was, consider that
the Oakland Athletics and
the San Francisco Giants have each had seven no-hitters since 1969!
Another interesting fact about the Padres is that their
career home run record is a mere 163 (held by Nate Colbert). There are six men (Mark McGwire, Reggie Jackson, Jose Canseco, Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi,
Rickey Henderson) who have hit over 163 home runs for the A's since 1969 and
eight men (Barry Bonds, Willie McCovey, Matt Williams, Bobby Bonds, Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Jack Clark, Brandon Belt) who have
hit at least 163 home runs for the Giants in that time period. With no great
starting pitchers and no great power hitters (for a long period of time), it's no wonder that the Padres have the
second-lowest regular-season winning percentage and the lowest
postseason winning percentage of any MLB franchise.
Mark McGwire hit 363 home runs for the A's, over twice as many as Colbert hit for the Padres. McGwire then hit 220 home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals after
being traded to them. If he had been traded to the Padres instead (he is from Southern California), he would be the only man to be the career home-run leader
for two different MLB franchises. When McGwire played for the Cardinals, he scored on one of a record
two (!!) grand slams hit by Fernando Tatis in a single inning. Tatis' son has a good chance of
surpassing Colbert on the Padres' all-time home runs list within the next three years.