Minor League Padres Honored by the Major League Team

Padres’ historian Bill Swank has written several books about the team including “Echoes from Lane Field.”

By Johnny McDonald

Until this year, when Anaheim changed to the Los Angeles Angels, San Diego had been the only Western city to retain its Pacific Coast League minor league nickname.

The Angels, of course, were fixtures in L.A.’s Wrigley Field, Oakland was the Oaks or Acorns, San Francisco the Seals and Seattle was named after a brewery, the Rainiers.

After 10 years of campaigning, Padres historian Bill Swank, of Clairemont, has spearheaded a drive to get team officials to recognize 33 years of exciting minor league baseball. The club last week honored several players from that era and intends to feature photos and 34 plaques at Petco Park’s bar and grill.

A statue of Johnny Ritchey is in recognition of the Padre catcher who broke the color line in the PCL.

Swank has written four books on the minor league Padres and another on San Diego baseball history, dating back to Horton Plaza in 1871.

The ceremony proved emotional for some, Swank said.

“It was a nice turnout of some of the old players and some families of those who have passed away,” he said. “During the game, an usher leaned over a railing after spotting Rod Graber.

“He told him: ‘Rod, you were my favorite player.’ It brought tears to Graber’s eyes. His daughter said, ‘My dad never cries.’ ”

Besides Graber, who played at Westgate Park in 1958-59, those present were George McDonald (’36-44, ’46-47); Bill Glynn (’57-58); Rudy Regalado (’57-58); and Bobby Klaus (’62-63, ’66-68).

McDonald was a teammate of Ted Williams, Regalado played in the college and major league World Series with USC and Cleveland, and Klaus drove in the final run for the minor league team as player-manager.

As a tribute to those days, the Padres wore uniforms of the minor league team and opponent Seattle wore Rainiers uniforms.

Administrative executive Sandy Alderson spoke to the group and Bob Chandler, a longtime broadcasting partner with Jerry Coleman, was the master of ceremonies.

“The family of Memo Luna, who is 75, came here from Mexico,” Swank said. “They told me he has a baseball school in Los Mochis, Mexico, and is still out playing with the kids.”

Luna was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals for $100,000 in 1954.

In 1936, Bill Lane brought the former Hollywood Stars franchise to Lane Field, where the team played until 1957. It then was at Westgate Park from 1958-67.

The team won PCL titles in 1954,’62, ’64, and ’67.

Several team names had been suggested, including Gorillas, Dons, Vaqueros, Pilots, Tars, Skippers or Tuna.

Local newspapers in 1936 were bombarded with such suggestions before it was deemed Padres would be the proper fit for an orphaned Pacific Coast League baseball franchise.

Howard Morin, who was then publicity manager for the chamber of commerce, vigorously advocated Padres as the true name and argued that “it was the Padres who actually founded the community.”

When the team traded minor league duds for the majors, general manager Buzzie Bavasi wanted to change the nickname. New owner C. Arnholt Smith, however, held firm on the Padres name.