SAN DIEGO — It won’t stop Padres fans from carping for another quarter-century about the ball call on Tino Martinez in the 1998 World Series. Or quipping that Matt Holliday still hasn’t touched home plate.

Pendulums can swing only so far.

But when it comes to judging balls and strikes in past years, MLB umpires have been very good to Padres hitters.

It’s a staggering data point to try to sort out, but when it came to benefiting from errant ball-strike calls by umpires, Padres offenses apparently had it better than anyone each of the past two seasons.

That’s right — they stood first of 30 teams, back to back.

Per the number-crunchers at Umpire Scorecards, an analytics site with 380,000 followers on social media, Padres lineups in 2023 and 2024 each led MLB in the umpiring stat Total Batter Impact (TBI).

That’s the sum of the run impact of each missed call when the team is batting, for all games played by the team.

Seeking context, I didn’t hear back from Umpire Scorecards co-founder Ethan Schwartz.

But that was OK, as I have brilliant explainers on the underlying forces driving the pro-Padres judgment.

One, it’s gotta be the cologne.

Manny Machado dabs it on before every game. As you’d expect for a ballplayer in Manny’s income bracket, it’s not Eau De Sweat Socks.

Louis Vuitton cologne — that’s Machado staple, ESPN’s Eduardo Perez unearthed during an in-game interview with the cleanup hitter/third baseman.

Subjected as they are to pungent odor, how can plate umpires not be swayed by the French stuff priced at $300 to $385 for a small vial?

Jake Cronenworth qualifies as another subtle yet powerful influencer on the umps.

Aside from being ultra-polite, the Padres infielder attended the University of Michigan. The song associated with his alma mater: “Let’s Go Blue!”

Belying their decisive body language, umps can be unsettled by the “Mr. Williams will let you know if it’s a strike” effect.

The superhero eyesight of Juan Soto, who led the ‘23 Padres with 703 plate appearances and drew an MLB-best 132 walks, may be compared to that of Mr. Ted Williams. Even the cockiest ump would acknowledge that ‘24 Padres newcomer Luis Arraez, winner of three consecutive batting titles, has great vision. So why not defer to Mr. Arraez?

Another Padres season will be upon us soon.

Play ball, the umps will say.

Love ya Blue, Padres hitters should say.

Will 2025 bring a three-peat?

Lucchino auction

Padres memorabilia from the personal collection of Larry Lucchino, the late former Padres president and CEO under whom the team won the 1998 National League pennant, will be offered online to benefit The Lucchino Family Foundation. The nonprofit organization assists charities in San Diego, Boston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

At auction house Bonhams Skinner and its online site, over 200 lots of sports memorabilia will be available from Saturday through Dec. 4, according to Lucchino’s nephew David.

Among the 200-plus items are Lucchino’s 1998 Padres National League Champion ring, his 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series ring, his 1983 Baltimore Orioles World Series ring and his 1983 Washington Redskins NFC Champions ring.

Lucchino, whose efforts were instrumental to the planning and construction of Petco Park, died in April. He was 78.

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