# 1976 San Diego Padres season

The 1976 San Diego Padres season was the eighth season in franchise history.

## Offseason

* February 26, 1976: Randy Elliott was released by the Padres.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 53‍–‍28 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 10 | 49‍–‍32 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Houston Astros | 80 | 82 | .494 | 22 | 46‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 40‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 89 | .451 | 29 | 42‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Atlanta Braves | 70 | 92 | .432 | 32 | 34‍–‍47 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 9–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–3 | 5–13 | 13–5 | — | 10–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–2 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 3–15 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| New York | 8–4 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 15–3 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Bob Davis
* Willie Davis
* Tito Fuentes
* Johnny Grubb
* Mike Ivie
* Randy Jones
* Doug Rader
* Héctor Torres
* Dave Winfield

### Notable transactions

* April 5, 1976: Rudy Meoli was traded by the Padres to the Cincinnati Reds for Merv Rettenmund.
* April 29, 1976: Tom Dettore was signed as a free agent by the Padres.
* May 19, 1976: Bill Greif was traded by the Padres to the St. Louis Cardinals for Luis Meléndez.
* May 29, 1976: Diego Seguí was signed as a free agent by the Padres.
* June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
** Bob Owchinko was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (5th pick).
** Craig Stimac was drafted by the Padres in the 9th round.
** Mark Lee was drafted by the Padres in the 13th round.
** Broderick Perkins was drafted by the Padres in the 15th round.
* July 10, 1976: Gene Locklear was traded by the Padres to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Rick Sawyer to the Padres on July 31.
* August 30, 1976: Willie McCovey was purchased from the Padres by the Oakland Athletics.

### Roster
## Player stats
### 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 | Fred Kendall | 146 | 456 | 112 | .246 | 2 | 39 |
| 1B | Mike Ivie | 140 | 405 | 118 | .291 | 7 | 70 |
| 2B | Tito Fuentes | 135 | 520 | 137 | .263 | 2 | 36 |
| 3B | Doug Rader | 139 | 471 | 121 | .257 | 9 | 55 |
| SS | Enzo Hernández | 113 | 340 | 87 | .256 | 1 | 24 |
| LF | Jerry Turner | 105 | 281 | 75 | .267 | 5 | 37 |
| CF | Willie Davis | 141 | 493 | 132 | .268 | 5 | 46 |
| RF | Dave Winfield | 137 | 492 | 139 | .283 | 13 | 69 |

#### 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 |
| Johnny Grubb | 109 | 384 | 109 | .284 | 5 | 27 |
| Héctor Torres | 74 | 215 | 42 | .195 | 4 | 15 |
| Ted Kubiak | 96 | 212 | 50 | .236 | 0 | 26 |
| Willie McCovey | 71 | 202 | 41 | .203 | 7 | 36 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 86 | 140 | 32 | .229 | 2 | 11 |
| Luis Meléndez | 72 | 119 | 29 | .244 | 0 | 5 |
| Bob Davis | 51 | 83 | 17 | .205 | 0 | 5 |
| Gene Locklear | 43 | 67 | 15 | .224 | 0 | 8 |
| Bill Almon | 14 | 57 | 14 | .246 | 1 | 6 |
| Bobby Valentine | 15 | 49 | 18 | .367 | 0 | 4 |
| Mike Champion | 11 | 38 | 9 | .237 | 1 | 2 |
| Tucker Ashford | 4 | 5 | 3 | .600 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Randy Jones | 40 | 315.1 | 22 | 14 | 2.74 | 93 |
| Brent Strom | 36 | 210.2 | 12 | 16 | 3.29 | 103 |
| Dave Freisleben | 34 | 172.0 | 10 | 13 | 3.51 | 81 |
| Rick Sawyer | 13 | 81.2 | 5 | 3 | 2.53 | 33 |
| Tom Griffin | 11 | 70.1 | 4 | 3 | 2.94 | 36 |
| Bill Greif | 5 | 22.1 | 1 | 3 | 8.06 | 5 |
| Bob Owchinko | 2 | 4.1 | 0 | 2 | 16.62 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Dan Spillner | 32 | 106.2 | 2 | 11 | 5.06 | 57 |
| Alan Foster | 26 | 86.2 | 3 | 6 | 3.22 | 22 |
| Dave Wehrmeister | 7 | 19.1 | 0 | 4 | 7.45 | 10 |

#### 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 |
| Butch Metzger | 77 | 11 | 4 | 16 | 2.92 | 89 |
| Dave Tomlin | 49 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.84 | 43 |
| Rich Folkers | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5.28 | 26 |
| Jerry Johnson | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.31 | 27 |
| Ken Reynolds | 19 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6.40 | 18 |
| Mike Dupree | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.19 | 5 |

## Award winners

* Randy Jones, National League Cy Young Award
* Butch Metzger, Rookie of the Year
1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Hawaii Islanders | Pacific Coast League | Roy Hartsfield |
| AA | Amarillo Gold Sox | Texas League | Bob Miller |
| A | Reno Silver Sox | California League | Johnny Goryl |
| A-Short Season | Walla Walla Padres | Northwest League | Cliff Ditto |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Hawaii, Amarillo, Reno, Walla Walla Reno affiliation shared with Minnesota Twins