# 1970 San Diego Padres season

The 1970 San Diego Padres season was the second season in franchise history. The Padres improved by 11 wins from their inaugural season in 1969.

## Offseason

* January 17, 1970: John Scott was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft (January).

## Regular season

* June 12, 1970: Dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates threw a no-hitter against the Padres. The rumour is that Dock Ellis pitched the no-hitter on acid. The way Ellis tells the story, in Donald Hall's book, "In the Country of Baseball", the Pirates were starting a west-coast road trip. After the Pirates landed in San Diego, Ellis visited his hometown of L.A. for a party. Ellis forgot he was slated to pitch the next day. So he started doing acid the night before the game, and around 10 a.m., after catching maybe an hour of sleep, he realized he was in the wrong place.

### Opening Day lineup

* Ollie Brown
* Dave Campbell
* Chris Cannizzaro
* Nate Colbert
* Tommy Dean
* Pat Dobson
* Cito Gaston
* Van Kelly
* Jerry Morales

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 57‍–‍24 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 87 | 74 | .540 | 14½ | 39‍–‍42 | 48‍–‍32 |
| San Francisco Giants | 86 | 76 | .531 | 16 | 48‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 23 | 44‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Atlanta Braves | 76 | 86 | .469 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 63 | 99 | .389 | 39 | 31‍–‍50 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 5–7 | — | 15–3 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–15 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| New York | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 4–14 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1970: Dan Spillner was drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Chris Cannizzaro | 111 | 341 | 95 | .279 | 5 | 42 |
| 1B | Nate Colbert | 156 | 572 | 148 | .259 | 38 | 86 |
| 2B | Dave Campbell | 154 | 581 | 127 | .219 | 12 | 40 |
| SS | Tommy Dean | 61 | 158 | 35 | .222 | 2 | 13 |
| 3B | Ed Spezio | 110 | 316 | 90 | .285 | 12 | 42 |
| LF | Al Ferrara | 138 | 372 | 103 | .277 | 13 | 51 |
| CF | Cito Gaston | 146 | 584 | 186 | .318 | 29 | 93 |
| RF | Ollie Brown | 139 | 534 | 156 | .292 | 23 | 89 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Steve Huntz | 106 | 352 | 77 | .219 | 11 | 37 |
| Ivan Murrell | 125 | 347 | 85 | .245 | 12 | 35 |
| José Arcia | 114 | 229 | 51 | .223 | 0 | 17 |
| Bob Barton | 61 | 188 | 41 | .218 | 4 | 16 |
| Ray Webster | 95 | 116 | 30 | .259 | 2 | 11 |
| Van Kelly | 38 | 89 | 15 | .169 | 1 | 9 |
| Rafael Robles | 23 | 89 | 19 | .213 | 0 | 3 |
| Ron Slocum | 60 | 71 | 10 | .141 | 1 | 11 |
| Larry Stahl | 52 | 66 | 12 | .182 | 0 | 3 |
| Jerry Morales | 28 | 58 | 9 | .155 | 1 | 4 |
| Dave Robinson | 15 | 38 | 12 | .316 | 2 | 6 |
| Jim Williams | 11 | 14 | 4 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Fred Kendall | 4 | 9 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Pat Dobson | 40 | 251.0 | 14 | 15 | 3.76 | 185 |
| Clay Kirby | 36 | 214.2 | 10 | 16 | 4.53 | 154 |
| Danny Coombs | 35 | 188.1 | 10 | 14 | 3.30 | 105 |
| Mike Corkins | 24 | 111.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.62 | 75 |
| Steve Arlin | 2 | 12.2 | 1 | 0 | 2.84 | 3 |
| Jerry Nyman | 2 | 5.1 | 0 | 2 | 15.19 | 2 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Dave Roberts | 43 | 181.1 | 8 | 14 | 3.81 | 102 |
| Al Santorini | 21 | 75.2 | 1 | 8 | 6.07 | 41 |
| Earl Wilson | 15 | 65.0 | 1 | 6 | 4.85 | 29 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Tom Dukes | 53 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 4.04 | 56 |
| Ron Herbel | 64 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 4.95 | 53 |
| Ron Willis | 42 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4.02 | 20 |
| Gary Ross | 33 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5.20 | 39 |
| Jack Baldschun | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.13 | 12 |
| Roberto Rodríguez | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.61 | 8 |
| Paul Doyle | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6.43 | 2 |

## Award winners

1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Cito Gaston, outfield, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Bees | Pacific Coast League | Don Zimmer |
| AA | Elmira Pioneers | Eastern League | Harry Malmberg |
| A | Lodi Padres | California League | Sonny Ruberto and Ken Bracey |
| A-Short Season | Tri-City Padres | Northwest League | Marty Keough |
Elmira affiliation shared with Kansas City Royals