Baseball legend Ted Williams, who played in his native San Diego while in the minor leagues, and Ken Caminiti will be posthumously inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame this summer, the team announced Thursday.
Williams will be honored for his time as a member of the Pacific Coast League Padres during the 1936 and 1937 seasons and for his lifetime contributions to the game of baseball, the Padres said. He helped bring San Diego its initial baseball championship in his second season.
Williams will be inducted July 1 in conjunction with the opening of the Hall of Fame's new home at Petco Park.
Caminiti will be inducted in an Aug. 6 pregame ceremony.
The third baseman led the Padres to the National League West title in 1996 and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. Nearly as popular as teammate Tony Gwynn when he played in San Diego, he helped the Padres reach the World Series two years later.
"In their own distinctive ways, Ted Williams and Ken Caminiti played pivotal roles in the story of the Padres," said longtime Padres beat writer Bill Center, who now serves as a team historian and contributor to the "Padres Social Hour" television program.
"Ted went straight from Hoover High to Lane Field to become a member of the original Padres in 1936," Center said. "He returned to San Diego in the 1990s, where he developed a close friendship with Padres legend Tony Gwynn."
Members of the Caminiti and Williams families are expected to be in attendance as the two men become the 12th and 13th Padres enshrined in the Padres Hall of Fame, which will be located on K Street behind the left field seating area.
