There’s no way to talk about Padres history, or what this franchise means to San Diego, without Randy Jones sitting right near the center of it. Before there were postseason runs, star-studded rosters or a ballpark rising over downtown, there was a soft-tossing lefty with a funky delivery who went out every fifth day and gave Padres fans a reason to care.
Jones took an expansion team that the rest of the league mostly ignored and dragged it into relevance on sheer will and command. On Nov. 19, the Padres shared the heartbreaking news that Randy Jones, the franchise’s first Cy Young winner and one of the true pillars of the organization, had passed away at 75.