Padres Alum Critical of 2023 Team, Praises Improvements in 2024

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jul 13, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Winning a World Series is the goal on every team's mind entering the season but some teams wait decades before winning another.

The San Diego Padres are still waiting for their first.

On Wednesday, San Diego celebrated the '84 National League pennant-winning team and a few of them offered their thoughts on this season’s bunch, so much has changed in San Diego and around the game.

“They’re playing more as a team this year,” Garry Templeton, the Padres’ shortstop in ’84, said before the group was honored Wednesday at Petco Park. “They’re moving runners and getting that extra hit here or there. They’re not taking the big swings like they did last year. It seemed like everybody just came up and tried to hit the ball 900 feet. Now, they’re trying to put the ball in play to make stuff happen.”

While it is a different era of baseball, the fundamentals are the same, and disciplined baseball is fun to watch.

Your 1984 San Diego Padres! pic.twitter.com/3xlXyJWy16

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 10, 2024

“I said to (manager) Mike Shildt before the game, ‘I don’t know if you were teaching it, but I bet you were, about situational hitting, productive outs, moving runners,’” said Tim Flannery, a plug-and-play cog in ’84. “They’re more disciplined. Then everyone starts to feel like a part of it.

“I love watching them because they’re a team. I couldn’t watch them the last couple years.”

The city is still anxiously awaiting another pennant. Just making the playoffs gives any team a chance to win. This year's team will most likely get in with a Wild Card.

“What you see now (in optimism and energy), I think is a result of the ’84 team,” Templeton said. “The fans are hungry for a championship. They just want a winner. If you put a winner here in San Diego, these fans will go crazy.”