Since entering the Major League Baseball franchise in 1969, the San Diego Padres have been bringing heat and excitement  to Petco Park and the coastal city. While the team has had periods of extensive slumps and is without a World Series Champion title just yet, that has never stopped Padres fans from giving their utmost support. 

The Padres ended their regular season with a record of 93-69. During the postseason, the team defeated the Atlanta Braves (89-73) in the National League Wild Card Series 2-0. Through the following five games in the NL Division Series, the Padres lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers (98-64) 3-2, narrowly missing the ticket to the NL Championship Series. The Padres have made it to the Division Series seven times in franchise history. The closest the team got to a championship title recently was back in 1998, when they lost against the New York Yankees 4-0 in the World Series.

“The season was awesome,” Angela Willden, Chemistry Honors and AP Chemistry teacher, said. “They were a great team, came together as teammates, had each other’s backs, worked hard for 162 games and believed in themselves. For 162 games, they never took a loss too seriously, never took a win with too much excitement.  It was just daily business … [the season] didn’t end the way they wanted to, but it’s hard in a short season; all of [these qualities] can still be true and you still lose.”

After seeing her dad watching the game every night, for Riley Shehane (10), the Padres have always been her favorite team.

“I’m proud of the Padres,” Shehane said. “We played better than last year and have really improved. I can’t wait to watch again next year.”

Cullen Gibson (10), a loyal Padres fan since age 5, shared a somewhat similar perspective on the 2024 season.

“This season was overall exciting and successful, but ended poorly,” Gibson said.

With a decade of support for the team, Gibson watched almost every televised game, tuned in to listen to radio reports and attended about eight over the course of the season, including one in the postseason against the Atlanta Braves. Having seen the ups and downs of the season, Gibson shared his personal highlights.

“There were a lot of great moments,” Gibson said. “But the highlight of the season for me was Jackson Merrill’s walk off home run off of Edwin Diaz, [a pitcher on the New York Mets].”

Regardless of how the season came to an end for their favorite team, there were multiple memorable moments that fans look back to.

“The highlight of the season was definitely watching them clinch the Wild Card spot,” Shehane said. “It was only the third time in MLB history that a triple play was made to get into the playoffs.”

Throughout the season, Jurickson Profar (.280), Fernando Tatis Jr. (.276) and rookie Jackson Merrill (.292) supported the team with their batting averages above .250, and their positive team attitudes.

Fans rooted for the Padres in various ways, either physically present at the games or in front of the television.

For Shehane, whenever she wasn’t attending games, she was sitting on the couch with her mom watching from home.

“I love hearing the crowd cheer from home,” Shehane said.

Catherine Mintz, American Government, Macroeconomics and Film & Society teacher, attended one Wild Card game and one Division Series game, watching the rest of the games on TV.

Willden, being a season ticket holder since 2022, went to both Wild Card games against the Atlanta Braves, and three against the Dodgers during the Division Series. Other games, she listened to on the radio or watched on TV.

“The atmosphere was exciting even in game four [where the Padres lost 8-0], ” Willden said. “It was quiet because we were losing. But at the same time, they got runners on base, and we believed it’s gonna happen. And so there was still energy, still belief. I think people are sad, but they don’t hate the Padres. They still love the Padres.”

The process of becoming a dedicated fan can differ for everyone.

Gibson was introduced to the Padres through his dad’s love for baseball, whereas Shehane noticed them through seeing her dad watching the games every night. While Gibson and Shehane were naturally Padres fans from a very young age, for Mintz, it happened during high school.

“I moved to San Diego when I was a junior in high school, so that was like 1986,” Mintz said.

Growing up in Idaho where there is no professional baseball team, Willden never followed one specific team, but rather enjoyed baseball as a whole.

“When we moved here in 2000 was the first time ever in my life I’d lived in a town with a major league team of any kind,” Willden said. “[Before] I was a baseball fan, [but] now I had a team to follow.”

Having been in the Padres fandom for a long time, Willden sees many perks that go beyond just ball games.

“I think [the best part] is the unity with the city,” Willden said. “They’re a fun team to watch, they’re a little bit of an underdog. The resilience of that team, the dedication of the ownership to do the best they can with what they have to get a winning team on the product [speaks to us]. And that’s our lives; we don’t always have everything that we need, but we have what we have, and just take our best selves and the resources that we have just go do the best we can with it. I think that’s kind of a little microcosm of our city.”

Mintz attributed the fan base itself.

“The best part about being a Padres fan are the fans themselves,” Mintz said. “Over the past several years, I think that San Diego has come out and really supported their team, and I think that’s part of the reason that they’ve been successful — they really do have such a strong fan base.”

Gibson expressed a similar sentiment, crediting the sense of belonging as a fan.

“The best part about being a Padres fan is the connection it brings between me and the city and so many other mutual Padres fans,” Gibson said. 

Shehane loves the feeling of community that comes from the Friar Faithful. 

“The best part about being a Padres fan is the atmosphere and love for the sport,” Shehane said. “Every time you go to a game you can feel the love and support. Everyone is so nice; I think we have the best fan base.”

While being a Padres fan brings many blessings, there is a uniqueness to the specific Padres fan base that differentiate it from others.

“One thing I’d say is unique about [the Padres fanbase], because I’ve been to other stadiums, and their fans can be really aggressive … like if you’re not their fan, like if you wear clothes to their stadium that isn’t their home team, they’re really aggressive, and I’ve never seen that with Padres fans,” Mintz said. 

Willden attributed the characteristics of San Diego as a city being mirrored on the warm, relaxed atmosphere of the fandom.

“I also think we just can live and disagree harmoniously,” Willden said. “We can be neighbors and not be the same race, the same religion, the same culture, the same political party. It defines us, but it doesn’t. We understand that we are all San Diegans too. It’s reflected in our fandom … we can support our Padres without being mean or horrific or unclassy.”

Embodying this positive outlook, despite the loss, fans are already looking forward to next season.

For Willden, this includes seeing new team formations shaped around returning players, such as who will be playing shortstop and who the starting pitchers will be. To Willden, baseball is so much more than just a sport.

“For me, there’s so many life lessons that we can take from baseball,” Willden said. “How do you bounce back from a failure?  And that says a lot about the character of whatever: life, baseball, all of it.”

Gibson has high expectations for the next season.

“Next season, I’m looking forward to the development of the team and hopefully a World Series,” Gibson said. “I’d love to attend more games to watch my team.”

After the Padres left the bracket, the Dodgers proceeded to the Championship Series against the New York Mets, defeating them 4-2. In the American League, the Chicago Cubs faced off against the New York Yankees, where the Yankees won 4-1. In the World Series games starting Oct. 25, the Yankees and Dodgers will be competing for the first five wins to clutch the title.

Like Gibson, Shehane is thrilled for the 2025 season. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing the Padres hopefully get farther into the playoffs next season,” Shehane said. “I want to see us beat the Dodgers again.”