Tom Krasovic: As regular season wraps, Padres fans hope for more home games

Some 700 feet from a home plate they could not see, dozens of Padres fans Sunday afternoon crowded onto a walkway and peered into coastal sunlight – just so they could try to watch the Padres beat the Diamondbacks in the regular-season finale.

The season’s 72nd capacity crowd had gathered inside the ballpark. The announced turnout of 45,072 pushed the season total to 3,437,201, Yet no one was surprised that the club record landed small-market San Diego second of 30 Major League Baseball clubs in attendance, what with finishes of third, fifth, second and third since 2001.

“Man, they just bring it,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after the 12-4 victory.

As the shadows lengthened over the green field, fans insisted this wouldn’t be the final Padres home game of 2025.

“See you next week,” stadium workers said as pitcher Randy Vásquez was getting the final outs.

“We’ll be here next week,” said a young man working security. “You’ve got to speak it into existence.”

For that to happen, Manny Machado and friends will need to win two games in Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. With Machado, the Padres have won every first-round series, beating the Cardinals, Mets and Braves.

It would not be surprising if, come next week, Shildt’s club is playing at home in a best-of-five National League Divisional Series.

Machado drew the afternoon’s loudest cheers by cracking a hanging sweeper for his 27th home run. A sweet end note to his 14th big league season and seventh with the Padres, both Machado and the fans soaked up the moment. When the 32-year-old loped past third base to loud cheers, the volume soared higher.

Were the fans trying to juice up Machado’s confidence as he headed to Chicago? Machado, who also rifled a single off a fastball, said the whole team feels confident.

“Things are finally starting to click,” he said as players and staff packed for Sunday night’s flight to Chicago. “We had our bumps and bruises and ups and downs. We made it through 162. It’s a blessing to be here. Overall as a group, we accomplished a lot.

“Now,” he said, “it’s time to go out and leave it on the field and play some good baseball.”

The Padres and their fans ought to know not to take these opportunities for granted.

The franchise missed every postseason from 2007 through 2019. The ballpark vote in 1998 that led to the team’s lucrative move to downtown did not result in the anticipated slew of playoff trips. Nor when they got there did the Padres come close to creating the October excitement that helped win the vote in 1998. They won no full-season playoff series between 1999 and 2021.

Things finally came together after A.J. Preller was hired and, in time, grew into one of baseball’s better team-builders, rewarding the patience of Peter Seidler and Ron Fowler.

The best-of-three Wild Card Series against the Cubs will mark the Padres’ third postseason in five years after a full season, plus the trip in ‘20 off the pandemic-shortened season.

I’ll say it to make sure everyone gets the message: don’t take for granted this Padres era of relevance.

“The window is so small in the game in general,” said Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove. “Less than 10% of players play 10 years in the big leagues. And in those 10 years, you could wind up on a team that never sniffs the playoffs. Anytime you get to the postseason, you have to take it for what it is and not miss the moment.”

Let’s sniff more flowers. The Padres, in finishing second in attendance, drew more fans than the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and several other large-market clubs.

The anticipated robust attendance increased the player payroll, which came in ninth. Stretching dollars better than New York Mets (second in payroll), the Texas Rangers (seventh), the Atlanta Braves (eighth) and the Los Angeles Angels (11th) – who all missed the postseason cut — the Padres earned the second of three NL wild-card spots.

Led by MLB’s second-best run-prevention units, they won 90 games, tying them with the surging Seattle Mariners — who trailed them by 10,000 per game at the gate — for the sport’s seventh-best record.

Joining the surreal 2010 Padres, who won 90 games on MLB’s smallest payroll, these Padres slide into fifth place for regular-season wins by a Padres club. And Shildt becomes the first Padres manager to pilot consecutive seasons of 90 wins or more.

Unless they can light up October, many locals won’t be impressed.

There is, after all, no World Series trophy in the Padres’ offices.

Starting Tuesday, the Padres have a chance to fill that void.