San Diego Padres' Ray Kroc Emulated New York Yankees' George Steinbrenner

Ray Kroc purchased the San Diego Padres early in 1974 for $12 million. The latest Forbes valuations estimated that the today's Padres are worth about $406 million.

Mr. Kroc was a Chicago Cubs fan. In 1970, he attempted to buy his favorite team from Cubs owner Phil Wrigley, but he was turned down.

If one were trying to find Ray Kroc, a good place to start was Wrigley Field.

He was there when the Cubs won pennants in 1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938. Much to his and all Cubs fans chagrin, the four pennants didn't produce a single World Championship.

Former Padres part owner and president Buzzie Bavasi knew Kroc as well as anyone. He fondly recalled how much Kroc loved the Cubs.

Bavasi told Dave Anderson of the New York Times that Gabby Hartnett, the great Hall of Fame catcher, was Kroc's favorite.

"Gabby Hartnett was his favorite Cub player. He liked Gabby because he thought Gabby was a tough player."

In some ways, perhaps in many ways, Kroc was similar to George Steinbrenner, who purchased the New York Yankees in 1973 for a reported $10 million.

Steinbrenner later revealed that two parking garages were included in the purchase. Seller CBS bought the garages from Steinbrenner for $1.2 million, which means the Yankees cost Steinbrenner only $8.8 million.

Shortly after gaining control of the Padres, Kroc attended many games, both at home and on the road. He emulated some of George Steinbrenner's most terrible moments.

In a home game against the Houston Astros, the Padres were trailing in the ninth inning 9-2. The lead off batter drew a walk and manager John McNamara, of 1986 World Series fame, put in a pinch runner who was immediately picked off.

Kroc went crazy. He left the owner's box, ran into the public address booth, grabbed the microphone and told the crowd that he was Padres owner Ray Kroc.

He said to the fans, "I suffer with you....I've never seen such stupid ball-playing in my life."

Another time, the Padres were playing the Giants in San Francisco. Left fielder Nate Colbert, one of the all-time great Padres sluggers, misplayed a fly ball, allowing the Giants to jump off to a quick lead.

"Get rid of him," Kroc told Bavasi.

In the eighth inning, Colbert hit what turned out to be a game-winning home run. Kroc jumped to feet as he applauded the home run. Bavasi remained seated.

Kroc was a little confused as he asked Bavasi "What's the matter Buzzie? Why aren't you clapping for Nate's homer?"

"That can't be Colbert. I had to get rid of him, remember?"

Ray Kroc passed away on Jan. 14, 1984. That season, the Padres won the Western Division title for the first time. Ironically, their playoff opponents were Kroc's favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.

There is no question which team Kroc would have rooted for.

Reference:

Anderson, D. (1984, Oct 05). The cubs fan who owned the padres. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. A23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/122448734?accountid=46260