Chris Cannizzaro earned Padres' first All-Star berth

Chris Cannizzarro, 78, was a member of the original 1969 San Diego Padres and the first Padres All-Star. He was a catcher. Adrian Carmona / U-TChris Cannizzaro met a man in the mid-1960s during a visit to the Houston Space Center when Cannizzaro was a catcher for the New York Mets. It was a brief meeting, handshake, some small talk with others in the group, and then the men went their separate ways.

It was one of those occasions baseball players repeat thousands of times during their careers. Most of these events are long forgotten, unless there is another event that triggers the memory later on.

In 1969, Cannizzaro realized one of the proudest moments of his 13-year career when he became the…