The San Diego sports curse is a superstition cited for the city of San Diego's inability to claim a modern North American major league professional sports championship (Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, and NBA Finals). With a population of over one million, San Diego is the largest city in the United States with this distinction.[1] San Diego also has the distinction of having the longest major league championship drought for any city that has at least two major sports franchises, the last title dating back to 1963.[2][3] Ignoring short lived and now defunct franchises, all but one of the major San Diego teams have had lopsided losing regular season records during their tenure in the city (through January 4, 2014), these being the Padres (3,321 wins 3,843 losses),[4] the Rockets (119 209), and the Clippers (186 306). Only the Chargers, at 398 397 11,[5] are at or near the break even point.

Comparison to other notable sports curses[edit]The last major league sports championship for San Diego was the AFL Championship in 1963, when the San Diego Chargers emerged as league champions before the AFL merged with the NFL to form the current National Football League.[3] By comparison, in Cleveland, another cursed city, the Browns last won an NFL Championship in 1964. Since then, no other team from that city has won a major professional sports championship. The city of Buffalo is similarly affected by an alleged curse, having last won an AFL Championship in 1965 (incidentally, the Bills defeated the Chargers for both of their AFL titles). In the cases of both San Diego and Buffalo, there is considerable debate as to how the team would have fared had the Super Bowl existed by 1963.[6]

Other notable sports curses affect only specific teams; examples are the Chicago White Sox's Curse of the Black Sox and the Chicago Cubs' Curse of the Billy Goat. San Diego's sports curse, by contrast, affects all major professional teams in the city and county of San Diego, much like the Curse of Billy Penn and the Curse of the Inauguration[7] in Philadelphia. One is thought to be the trade of Chargers wide receiver Lance Alworth to the Dallas Cowboys in 1970,[1][3] this being similar to Boston's Curse of the Bambino in that the flip side of the San Diego curse was the Cowboys' success after the transaction (not to mention the similarity in nicknames, Bambino and Bambi). Dallas went from being a perennial loser in championship games over the previous five seasons (the Ice Bowl, Super Bowl V) to a team that won the Super Bowl during Alworth's first season there (and has won five Super Bowls overall), gaining the distinction of "America's Team". In contrast, the Chargers never made an appearance in the Super Bowl until the 1994 NFL season, when they were soundly defeated by the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.

Another explanation for the curse would involve the 1963 AFL champion Chargers. Following this success, Chargers head coach Sid Gillman approached then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle with the idea of having the champions of the AFL and NFL play a single final game (the 1963 NFL champions were the Chicago Bears),[8] but Gillman's idea would not bear fruit until the 1966 season, when it gave rise to what today is known as the Super Bowl. As if in consequence, the Chargers to date have not won the Super Bowl and have only reached it once, in 1994. On the flip side, their AFC West divisional rivals (the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Kansas City Chiefs), once envious of the Chargers' early success, have each won at least one Super Bowl since then (ironically, longtime Raiders owner Al Davis served on the coaching staff of the Chargers from 1960 62). Furthermore, every time San Diego has hosted the Super Bowl, an AFC West rival has represented the AFC (the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII and XXXII the Broncos winning the latter and the Raiders in XXXVII).

Other explanations include the uniforms worn by San Diego teams, such as the Chargers' powder blue jerseys (despite being well acclaimed) and the Padres' mustard yellow jerseys,[9] and Qualcomm Stadium (the home stadium of the Chargers and, until 2004, the Padres). Others claim that the land where Women's Brock Vereen Jersey Qualcomm Stadium is built (Mission Valley) was cursed long before its construction by the local Native Americans (Kumeyaay), because the mouth of the valley is where Europeans under Cabrillo made first contact with them in 1542.

Results of the "curse"[edit]

The record for all major San Diego sports teams in championship games as of 2013 stands at one win and seven losses, with appearances in five AFL Championships, two World Series, and one Super Bowl. Besides the 1963 Chargers, the only pro sports teams in San Diego to have won championships have been indoor soccer or minor league teams. The original San Diego Sockers team won ten championships in both the original Major Indoor Soccer League and the indoor North American Soccer League. The minor league San Diego Padres won four Pacific Coast League championships, and the San Diego Gulls won five West Coast Hockey League championships. San Diego has fielded two Little League World Series champions, one in 1961 by Fletcher Hills in El Cajon and another in 2009 by Park View in Chula Vista.

Some of the instances of a curse are listed below, including but not limited to playoff and championship games ending in defeat, controversial calls by officials, and players spurning San Diego teams and going on to win championships.

As of 2012 the Padres are one of only two teams in Major League Baseball to win at least two league championships and never win the World Series (the other team being the Texas Rangers).

As a side effect to the curse, the Padres are the only MLB team to have never had a pitcher throw a no hitter and are one of two teams to have never had a player hit for the cycle (the other team being the Miami Marlins). Obviously, the Padres are the only MLB team with both of those distinctions.[10] On the other hand, the Padres have been no hit by opposing pitchers eight times, and six opposing players have hit for the cycle (as of August 2013). The first no hitter was at the hands of Dock Ellis, who later admitted to being high on LSD throughout the game.

During the 1969 season, the Padres lost 19 0 twice in the space of a month and a half.[11] The second of these games was Don Drysdale's second to last win of his career.

On July 21, 1970, the Padres' Clay Kirby pitched no hit ball against the Mets for eight innings. However, with the Padres trailing in the bottom of the eighth, manager Preston Gmez decided to pinch hit for Kirby, thereby denying him the chance to complete the no hitter. The strategy failed, as the pinch hitter struck out, the Padres were unable to score, and the Mets promptly collected three hits and two runs in the top of the ninth. As a result, the Padres lost both the no hitter and the game.[12]

On September 24, 1971, the very same Clay Kirby pitched 15 innings for the Padres against the Houston Astros and struck out 15 batters while allowing only one run. However, his effort was again to no avail, as the Padres lost 2 1 in 21 innings, with the winning run scoring on a balk.[13] As if the length of the game were not enough, this was merely the first game of a doubleheader.

In the 1971 season, Dave Roberts of the Padres posted a sparkling 2.10 earned run average, second in the National League only to Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, and still the Padres' single season record. However, due to a lack of run support, Roberts also posted a losing win loss record of 14 17 that year.

The average home game attendance for the Padres in 1969, 1970 and 1971[14] was lower than the capacity of Westgate Park, the minor league stadium used by the Padres of the Pacific Coast League from 1958 to 1967.

On July 18, 1972, Steve Arlin of the Padres was one strike away from a no hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies at San Diego Stadium when Denny Doyle bounced a single over the head of drawn in third baseman Dave Roberts.[15]

After finishing last in the NL West in each of their first five years and failing to average even 9,000 fans per game,[14] the Padres were so close to being sold and moved to Washington DC that some of the Topps baseball cards in 1974 showed the team name as "Washington National League". The team remained in San Diego only because of a last minute sale to Ray Kroc of McDonald's fame. However, during the very first regular season game under his ownership, Kroc took to the public address system in San Diego Stadium and lambasted the team for "stupid ballplaying". Doug Rader of the opposing Houston Astros attempted to defend the Padres players in the press by pointing out that they were not "short order cooks", but his remarks were misunderstood and he became a villain as well. Nevertheless, in a final twist of irony, he was traded to the Padres late the following year.

On May 19, 1975, Randy Jones of the Padres threw a ten inning one hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the only hit being a single by future Padre Luis Melendez that Jones himself could not handle.[16][17]

Hall of Famer Dave Winfield played his first eight seasons for the Padres and became an established star with them, but he then went on to achieve even greater fame with the New York Yankees and won a World Series championship with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992. The manager of that Toronto team was former Padres player Cito Gaston, who became the first African American manager to accomplish the feat. Coincidentally, Gaston had been the player assigned to pinch hit for Clay Kirby in the aborted 1970 no hit bid mentioned above.

Likewise, Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith played his first four seasons with the Padres and became known as a superb fielder, but he was traded away in 1982. In his first season after leaving, he helped his new team (the St. Louis Cardinals) to win the World Series. Another key player on that Cardinals team was George Hendrick, who had been traded from the Padres in 1978.

Famed knuckleball pitcher Joe Niekro played for the Padres during their first year of existence (1969). After serving time with four other teams, he finally won a World Series ring with the Minnesota Twins in 1987.

On June 2, 1982, Juan Eichelberger pitched a one hitter against the Chicago Cubs. The only hit was a Scot Thompson grounder to second baseman Tim Flannery that, according to Flannery's own assessment, should have been ruled an error.[18][19]

In 1984, the Padres appeared in their first World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Unfortunately for the Padres, the Tigers would win the series 4 1, with the Padres winning only Game 2; this is the only World Series win in Padres history to date. In Game 5, San Diego closer Goose Gossage talked manager Dick Williams into letting him pitch to Kirk Gibson. Gibson went on to hit a three run home run into the upper deck of Tiger Stadium, effectively clinching the championship for the Tigers. Of course, this would not be the last time that Gibson would hit a dramatic World Series home run off a Hall of Fame reliever.

Outfielder Johnny Grubb played his first five seasons with the Padres, but he finished his career with the Detroit Tigers and helped them to beat the Padres in the 1984 World Series.

Pitcher Tim Lollar can claim to have experienced both the San Diego curse and the Curse of the Bambino. After being with the Padres when they lost the 1984 World Series, he was with the Boston Red Sox when they lost the 1986 World Series in excruciating fashion to the New York Mets. The manager of that Red Sox team was John McNamara, who had managed the Padres through 3+ losing seasons in the mid 1970s.