Opening Day rites of passage for Padres fans

Chicago Cubs fans may be among the most heartbroken in baseball with 100 years between World Series appearances. But closer to home, Padres fans have started to create their own list of miseries.

The Cubs won back-to-back World Series titles in 1907 and 1908 and promptly embarked on a record 108-year drought until recording their first World Series title in 108 yards in 2016 when they roared back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Cleveland Guardians (then Cleveland Indians) in seven games.

It was a dramatic ending with Chicago winning, 8-7, in 10 innings to end the fabled curse.

The Cubs were close several times before with runner-up finishes in 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and 1945. But the curse turned into a stranglehold on the Windy City club after the end of World War II.

The Padres were among Major League Baseball’s lowest performing teams during their first decade. Owner Ray Kroc came to the rescue when it looked like the team would be moving to Washington, D.C. But Kroc’s big payroll still wasn’t enough despite bringing in such notables as Willie McCovey, Gene Tenace, Rollie Fingers and Gaylord Perry among other retreads.

Reggie Jackson was the one that got away, however.

The Padres went 15 years since their formation in 1969 before reaching their first World Series in 1984 against the Detroit Tigers. Alas, it was without their savior as Kroc died in January 1984 prior to the start of spring training.

The team wore armbands in his honor.

Detroit took the series opener, 3-2, before the Padres evened the series with a 5-3 win at Jack Murphy Stadium. The Tigers won the final three games in their ballpark by scores of 5-2, 4-2 and 8-4.

Kroc’s $12 million investment paid off, though he didn’t live to see it come to reality.

The Pads made the World Series lineup again in 1998 after a 14-year absence as National League champions, this time against the fabled New York Yankees.

The Friars did not fare well despite winning a club record 98 games during the regular season. The Yankees won in a four-game sweep by scores of 9-6 and 9-3 at New York and 5-4 and 3-0 in San Diego. The last two games were close, but still no cigar.

The Padres have yet to host a World Series at their new home at Petco Park since its opening in 2004 and local fans have started to get antsy with the recent acquisition of top talent.

A new study analyzing 15,000-plus Reddit comments places Padres fans as the third most heartbroken in MLB heading into the 2026 season as frustration has grown alongside rising expectations.

The Friars ranked a solid No. 3 in terms of overall level of emotional distress in baseball and No. 2 in MLB for most frequent expressions of heartbreak across all fanbases.

The Padres reached the National League Wildcard Series against the Cubs last year but fizzled when it counted, losing by scores of 3-1 in Game 1 and Game 3 sandwiched around a 3-0 Friars win Game 2 in the best-of-three series at Wrigley Field.

The L.A. Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds by scores of 10-5 and 8-4 to sweep their way into the National League Championship Series where they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-game sweep to reach their 23rd World Series (including years spent prior in Brooklyn).

The Dodgers rallied from a 3-2 series deficit against the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays with a 3-1 win in Game 6 and a marathon 5-4 win in 11 innings in Game 7.

The series was epic as the Dodgers won a 6-5 contest in 18 innings in Game 3 to take an early 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The 2025 World Series was hailed as one of the greatest all time and Game 7, in particular, as one of the greatest World Series games of all time. The Dodgers erased early deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 with single runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings to send the game into extra innings. Will Smith hit a home run in the 11th inning and the NL champs turned in a sizzling game-ending double play to stave off a potential game-tying run after the Blue Jays had advanced a runner to third base with one out.

It was a thrilling ending, no doubt.

Game 7 was the most-watched World Series game since Game 7 in 1991 with 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada and Japan.

It’s those miraculous endings that have evaded Padres fans in recent years.

The Padres started last season on a promising note with a 7-0 start had fans dreaming of greatness. But it was another runner-up finish to the nine-time World Series champion Dodgers in the NL West.

A year later, the Pads opened the season with six-games homestand and a 2-4 start in the standings (1-2 against the Tigers and 1-2 against the San Francisco Giants). After seven games, they were 2-5.

There doesn’t appear to be an witchcraft involved so far.

The Friars opened the season with an 8-2 setback to the Tigers on March 26 and lost 5-2 in their next game to Detroit.

“It was disappointing but there’s always the next game,” said ardent Padres fan Lupe Lucero of Paradise Hills.

Lucero continued a family tradition of attending Opening Day with her grandson Jose Julian Saucedo — something they’ve done together for the past 11 seasons.

Opening Day is always exciting, made more so this year by increased parking fees in downtown.

But she was vigilant. She spotted a free parking spot (one of about eight free spaces with one free handicap spot) at the rear of the tailgate parking area.

“It was the last one available, I guess it had our names on it,” she said, offering a smile. “It pays to get there early (10:30 a.m. for a 1:10 p.m. game).

As on most Opening Days, she and her grandson inspected new Padres fan gear and new menu items. With the money saved on parking, she splurged on a sparkly tank top for herself and an Opening Day-themed shirt for her grandson.

“Wooo-hooo,” she cooed. “Definitely glad with my choice of the carnitas nachos.”

Opening week remains a rite of passage into spring for many fans. Opening Day attracted 45,673 to Petco. There were 44,896 in the house for Game 3 and 44,368 to watch a 3-0 win on March 28.

The three-game series against the Giants attracted crowds of 43,611, 41,891 and 41,491.

A three-game winning streak (two in Boston and another in Pittsburgh) righted the Pads’ record to 5-5 before a 7-1 loss to the host Pirates on Tuesday. The Friars shared second place with the Arizona Diamondbacks at 5-6 behind the 8-2 Dodgers.

Lucero and her grandson remain optimistic about what this season holds. She’s got to ring her bell a lot in the past week.

“Of course, it wasn’t what we had hoped for on Opening Day, but things are looking steady,” she said. “We have a very experienced group of guys along with Padres manager Craig Stammen that will pull us through. Check back with us in June or July.”

Locals only

Eastlake High alumnus Casey Schmitt was on the San Francisco roster while EHS grad Marcelo Mayer was in the Red Sox lineup.

Schmitt was hitting 0.273 with a double and two RBI through seven games while Mayer was batting 0.185 in 10 games with three RBI and five runs scored.

El Capitan and Southwestern College alum Kevin Ginkel remains with the D-Backs.