Padres on Historic Pace

San Diego's ofense could be amazingly bad

The Padres lost to the Diamondbacks 6-0 on Saturday night at PetcoPark. You almost certainly think the team is not generating much excitement at its jewel of a downtown stadium. They are 6-14 at home (worst home record in MLB), after all.

But I have a different spin.

The Padres are playing so poorly, they're actually doing things no other baseball team has ever done before. They could set new records for offensive ineptitude, and any record, no matter how infamous, is exciting!

After Saturday night's 0-for-4 effort with runners in scoring position, the Padres are hitting .178 when they have a chance to score a run from second or third base. No team in the last decade-plus has been under .200 in that category for a season.

Here's the one that really kills me.

The Padres have been shut out eight times (five at home) in 33 games. That means they score no runs in roughly 25 percent of their games. If they keep that up for an entire season, they'll be shut out about 39 times. The major league record for a single season is 33, set by the 1908 St. Louis Cardinals, a team from the dead ball era when Tim Jordan hit 12 home runs and LED THE LEAGUE!

So, next time you go to Petco Park and have a good idea the Padres are going to play nine (or more) scoreless innings, remember you may be bored, but you may also be witnessing history.

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