The San Diego Padres have a very bright future, but they haven’t had a very good past. They have had a lot of forgotten players on their team throughout their history. Take a look at the five forgotten Padres of the last 20 years.
Since 2000, the Mets produced or acquired many recognizable names. For now, let’s look back at five lesser-known New York performances of the past 20 seasons.
In 1969, Major League Baseball went through another expansion. Four teams were added to MLB, with two being added to the National League and two to the American League. The expansion teams were awarded to Montreal (NL), San Diego (NL), Kansas City (AL), and Seattle (AL). All four of these cities still have MLB teams today, but the Seattle expansion team of 1969 (Seattle Pilots) only lasted one season. The Pilots were relocated to Milwaukee in 1970, and they became the Milwaukee Brewers.
Since 2000 alone, the Indians produced 13 seasons of .500 ball or better, making it to the playoffs seven times. During this time, the Indians produced three Cy Young winners (CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, and Corey Kluber – twice), and several quality performers, including five that fans may not remember.
This entire 2020 season is unusual, and in the American League West, it’s been incredibly unusual. There are four struggling teams and one standout team, but while mostly everyone expected that standout team to be the defending American League champions, that certainly hasn’t been the case. As this season rolls on, it’s clear that we may have a one-horse race in this battle, and we may have a new AL West champion for the first time since 2016.
The history of the Oakland Athletics resembles a roller coaster. When the team started in Philadelphia in the early-to-mid 1900s, they managed 25 winning seasons in 54 years. Winning five World Series titles while making it to eight overall. When the team moved to Kansas City in 1955, they did little to build any momentum, not producing a single winning record in 13 seasons there.
Heading into the 2000s, the Red Sox were locked in an 80-plus year curse where they failed to win the World Series. After their World Series victory in 1918, the Red Sox failed to make it back to the promised land until 1946, then again until 1967, then again until 1975, and then again until 1986. Each time they made it back, they came up short. After their 1986 heartbreaking World Series loss to the Mets, the Red Sox fortunes started changing. They began making the playoffs more often, earning playoff berths six times from 1986-1999. However, the team knew they couldn’t stop at just making the playoffs, and when the 2000s hit, the Red Sox turned their 1900s misery into a 2000s dynasty.
Of course, the Red Sox had plenty of help along the way. With players the likes of David Ortiz, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Pedro Martinez, Jon Lester, and Chris Sale on their roster at one point or another, it’s no surprise that the Red Sox made the playoffs ten times and won four World Series titles since 2000. Despite a ton of big-name talent, the Red Sox also got help from a few other sources that don’t get talked about often.
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