Former MLB player Nate Colbert, who was an original member of the San Diego Padres, passed away on Thursday. No cause of death has been released. Colbert was 76.
A native of St. Louis, Colbert was signed by the Cardinals prior to the 1964 season. By the following year, the Cardinals had sent him to the Houston Astros where he played briefly in both 1966 and 1968.
But his fortunes turned for the better when the Padres selected him in the expansion draft prior to the 1969 season. Colbert immediately became the Padres best player on a very bad ball club. He was selected to three consecutive NL All-Star Teams between 1971-1973. Colbert's best season came in 1972 when he hit .250 with 38 HR and 111 RBI.
The highlight of that '72 season (and indeed his entire career) when on August 1st, Colbert hit 5 HR and drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves. Those 5 HR matched that of Stan Musial who had done it with the Cardinals in 1954. Remarkably, Colbert was in the stands that day rooting on his favorite player.
Back problems would hamper Colbert's career. Prior to the 1975 season, Colbert was traded to the Detroit Tigers. This would be followed by brief stints with the Montreal Expos and Oakland A's. It appeared that Colbert would hook on with yet another expansion franchise when he went to spring training with the Toronto Blue Jays. But his back problems forced his retirement. In 1,004 games over 10 seasons, Colbert collected 833 hits for a lifetime batting average of .243 with 173 HR and 520 RBIs.
Of those 173 HR, 163 of them came with San Diego. To this day those 163 HR are more than any other player who has worn a San Diego uniform. Adrian Gonzalez came very close to eclipsing this record with 161 HR. However, Gonzalez was traded to the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2011 season. Manny Machado has 108 HR but is expected to opt out of his contract at the end of this season. Fernando Tatis, Jr. is about halfway home with 81 HR, but it remains to be seen how much longer he'll be staying in San Diego despite being currently signed with the club through 2036.
As it stands, Colbert's HR record with the Padres has stood for nearly 50 years and remains among the best players to ever wear a San Diego uniform. R.I.P.
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