The first Padre to have his number retired, Steve Garvey, played 14 of his 19 big league seasons in Los Angeles. Randy Jones was the Padre for most of his eight years in San Diego and most certainly one of the first to put fans in the seats.
As longtime Union-Tribune columnist Nick Canepa put it when Jones’ No. 35 jersey was retired on this date — May 9 — in 1997:
“The Padres weren’t worth a lick, but Jones was worth watching, and the people came to see him bewilder the greatest batsmen of his era.