This Date In Padre Baseball - March 31

THIS DATE IN PADRE BASEBALL

1998 SEASON

OPENING DAY! 

Padres 10 Reds 2

The Padres open the season with a victory on the road 10-2 over the Cincinnati Reds. Kevin Brown (1-0) pitched 6 1/3 innings scattering 5 hits, allowing only 1 run and striking out 7 in his Padre debut. 

Scoring 3 in the top of the 3rd on sloppy play by the Reds (3B Greene 2 errors and a WP), starter Mike Remlinger (0-1) was in a hole the Reds wouldn't climb out of.

In the 6th, David Weather took the ball for the Reds and was greeted by a Wally Joyner solo HR to make the score 4-0 Padres.

The Padres blow the game open in the 7th with Tony Gwynn blasting his first home run of the year, scoring Steve Finley to make it 6-0. A bases loaded walk to Carlos Hernandez scores Andy Sheets, pinch running for Ken Caminiti, setting up another bases loaded scenario for Chris Gomez. After Gomez weakly pops to second for out number 2, manager Bruce Bochy allows Brown to hit for himself. Brown laced a double to center scoring 2 more to bring the Padres a 10-0 lead.

Brian Boehringer would give up a run in the 8th before yielding to Don Wengert, who closed out the game with a scoreless 1 1/3.

HOT FRIAR -Steve Finely 2 for 4 with 2 Doubles and 2 Runs scored

COLD FRIAR - Greg Vaughn with an 0-3 and a strikeout

Notable games of March 31 

Notable by omission - what should be Game 6 of the 2020 season versus the Atlanta Braves.

PADRES FRANCHISE RECORD ON THIS DATE = 4-2

Opening Day 1998 - Padres 10 @Reds 2
Opening Day 2008 - Padres 4 Astros 0
Opening Day 2011 - Padres 5 @Cardinals 3



Opening Day 2003 - Giants 5 Padres 2

I personally don't remember a whole lot about this game. What I think I remember is taking my young nephew out of school to go to Opening Day. It was my first opening day, and the last ever for the Padres at the Q!

The Padres were down 2-0 until scoring one in the 4th on back to back doubles by Xavier Nady and Sean Burroughs. In the bottom of the 6th, after a Mark Kotsay single and stolen base, is driven home by a Ryan Klesko double to tie the game.

We would remained tied into the 9th, in no small part to 2 Intentional Walks to Barry Bonds with multiple men on base. But it the top of the 9th, former Padre Benito Santiago and then J.T. Snow would take Clay Condrey deep on back-to-back pitches, staking the Giants to a 4-2 lead. Luther Hackman would give up another run before the inning was over to the final of 5-2.

Tim Worrell would come in an shut down the Padres in order to save the win for the Giants.

But hey, it was Opening Day, and that is always special!

Padres Making MLB Debuts on March 31

2019

Chris Paddack
Age - 23
Position - P
Stat Line - 5 IP, 2H, 1ER, 1BB, 7K 

Drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 8th round of the 2015 amateur draft.
June 30, 2016: Traded by the Miami Marlins to the San Diego Padres for Fernando Rodney.

Transactions of March 31

1972
Signed Aurelio Monteagudo as a free agent.

• P Monteagudo had been in the majors since 1963 debuting with the Kansas City A's. He would spend 1972-1973 at AAA Hawaii before being traded to the California Angels.

1981

Traded Jerry Mumphrey and John Pacella to the New York Yankees. Received Ruppert Jones, Joe Lefebvre, Tim Lollar and Chris Welsh.

• OF Mumphrey was traded to the Padres by the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1980 season. Mumphrey would appear in 160 games for the 1980 Padres hitting .298 with 4 HR and 59 RBI. He would finish 20th in the MVP vote in 1981 for the Yankees and make the 1984 All-Star Game as a member of the Houston Astros
• P Pacella had just arrived from the New York Mets in a trade for Padre great, Randy Jones in December 1980.
• OF Jones played from 1981-1983 with the Padres, representing the Padres at the All-Star game in 1982. He hit .257 with 28 HR and 149 RBI. Granted free agency after the 1983 season, we would seem him again in 1984, but this time in the World Series as a member of the Detroit Tigers.
• OF/3B Lefebvre played from 1981-1983 with the Padres, before being traded during the 1983 season to the Philadelphia Phillies. Hitting .248 with 12 HR and 53 RBI. He would play for the Phillies until 1986.
• P Lollar would appear in 119 games, primarily as a starter from 1981-1984. Posting a 36-42 record with a 4.07 ERA. He would pitch twice in the 1984 postseason, both times getting shelled pitching a grand total of 6 innings, giving up 7 runs via 3 home runs. He would be traded in the off season to the Chicago WhiteSox before completing his career with the other Sox in Boston.
• P Welsh was a AAA starting pitcher at Columbus when traded to the Padres. He would appear in 57 games with 40 starts. Posting a 14-16 record with a 4.28 ERA, Welsh would be purchased by the Expos before the 1984 season. He would play for Texas and Cincinnati before leaving baseball after the 1986 season.

1985

Traded Rick Lancellotti to the New York Mets. Received Rusty Tillman.

• 1B/OF Lancellotti made his MLB debut for the Padres in 1982 hitting .179 with 0 HR and 4 RBI. It would take him until 1986 to make it back to the majors, this time with San Francisco. With only 15 games, he would again go to the minors. He worked his way back up, one more time in 1990, this time with Boston.ti
• OF Tillman played all of 1985 at AAA Las Vegas. He would be traded to the Oakland A's in 1986.

1991

Traded Kevin Garner (minors), Joey Cora and Warren Newson to the Chicago White Sox. Received Adam Peterson and Steve Rosenberg.

• 1B Garner was a slugging AA prospect at Wichita before getting injured and missing all of 1990. After the trade, Garner never quite was the same player, never reaching the major leagues.
• 2B/SS Cora made his debut with the 1987 Padres. In 3 seasons from 1987-1990, Cora hit .250 with 0 HR and 16 RBI in 140 games. After a spell with the White Sox, Cora would move onto the Mariners, making the All-Star team in 1997.
• OF Newson had both power and speed in the minors. He would spend 8 years at the big league level, but never showed the power or the speed.
• P Peterson would start 11 games for the 1991 Padres, posting a 3-4 record and a 4.45 ERA. He would be released after struggling at AAA Las Vegas in 1992.
• P Rosenberg appeared in just 10 games for the 1991 Padres finishing with a 1-1 record and a 6.94 ERA,in what was his last season in MLB.

1999

Released Mark Langston.

• At age 37, P Langston started 16 games for the 1998 Padres and appeared in the post season out of the bullpen. A 4-6 record with a 5.86 ERA during the regular season, he would pitch a scoreless 1 1/3 in the NLCS. In Game 1 of the World Series, Bochy turned to Langston to stop the rally after Donne Wall coughed up a 3-run HR to Chuck Knoblauch to tie the game at 5. Langston would strike out Tino Martinez to end the threat....oh wait, the ump called that a ball....and then Martinez would smash a ball to deep RF for a grand slam and a series changing at bat. Langston would pitch for the Cleveland Indians in 1999 before retiring with 179 career wins.

2000

Released Alberto Castillo.

• Minor league pitcher invited to big league camp, his release would be his 3rd in as many years, with more to come. His persistence would eventually pay off and he would make his MLB debut in 2008 with the Baltimore Orioles and play for 4 seasons.

2004

Released Cory Doyne.

• Minor league pitcher invited to big league camp, eventually making his MLB debut  in 2007 with the Baltimore Orioles.

Released Justin Kaye.

• Free agent pitcher, made his MLB debut in 2002 with the Seattle Mariners, appearing in only 3 games in his MLB career.

Released Tom Wilson.

• Journeyman catcher selected off waivers in January from the Toronto Blue Jays, he would go on to appear in 13 games (LA,NYM) in his last season in MLB.

Kevin Walker selected by the San Francisco Giants off waivers.

• P Walker made his MLB debut as a Padre in the 2000 season. He would pitch in 108 games from 2000-2003 with a 7-2 record and a 4.24 ERA .

2007

Released Howie Clark.

• Journeyman utility player couldn't stick with the 2007 Padres, but found playing time in 2007 with Toronto, and then a quick cup of coffee in 2008 with Minnesota before his final release.

2017

Released Hung-Chih Kuo.

• P Kuo had appeared in 218 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2005-2011 and this was his opportunity to make a big leagues roster in spring 2017. 

Selected Jake Esch off waivers from the Miami Marlins.

• P Esch made his MLB debut in 2016 for the Miami Marlins. He would appear in one more MLB game in his career. On April 12, 2017, he would come in for the Padres in the bottom of the 9th in a game against the Colorado Rockies. He would walk both batters he faced on just 9 pitches! He would spend the rest of 2017 at every level of the Padres minor leagues.

2018

Released Chris Young.

• P Young played for the Padres from 2006-2010, making the All-Star team in 2007. After battling injuries, Young attempted one final comeback in 2018, but couldn't regain his magic. His Padre career saw him post a 33-25 record and a 3.60 ERA. He also was the pitcher of record in the last Padre playoff game win, October 7, 2006, a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.