The San Diego Padres have never won a World Series.
They have existed as an MLB franchise since 1969, and despite advancing to the Fall Classic in both 1984 and 1998, they still don’t have a title.
They are eager to change that in 2022, but they have a colossal foe in front of them: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers, of course, earned a ticket to the National League Division Series with their MLB-best 111-51 record.
The Padres, on the other hand, won 89 games and had to defeat the heavily-favored New York Mets in the Wild Card round on the road.
In order to make history, San Diego will have to do something that hasn’t been done in well over 100 years.
“The Padres won 22 fewer regular-season games than the Dodgers. Only 1 team has won a postseason series with a RS-wins upset of at least that many games: 1906 WS: White Sox (23 fewer RS wins) over Cubs,” Sarah Langs, an MLB stats expert, tweeted.
The Padres won 22 fewer regular-season games than the Dodgers
Only 1 team has won a postseason series with a RS-wins upset of at least that many games:
1906 WS: White Sox (23 fewer RS wins) over Cubs
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 10, 2022
The Dodgers Have Completely Dominated San Diego Recently
Not only were the Padres 22-games worse than the Dodgers, but they lost the regular season matchup, 14-5.
14-5!
The Dodgers won 14 of the 19 games between them.
That has been a theme for the last few years, too: in 2021, the series was 12-7, and in 2020, Los Angeles swept the Padres in the Divisional Series and knocked them out of the playoffs en route to their own championship.
Winning against the Dodgers has been extremely tough for the Padres, which is why a victory would have a huge moral impact.
Games should be played on the field, but there is no way to deny that San Diego is entering the Divisional Series as the clear underdogs.
NEXT: Joe Musgrove May Be The Difference For The Padres