1998 San Diego Padres: Gwynn’s Last Shot

1998 San Diego Padres: Gwynn’s Last Shot

[paypal_donation_button]1998 San Diego Padres: Gwynn’s Last Shot

The San Diego Padres only made one previous trip to the World Series in 1984, and many years of their history as a professional baseball franchise didn’t see much success on the field. Through the good and the bad right fielder Tony Gwynn stayed loyal to the Padres as he experienced defeat at the hands of the Detroit Tigers in the 1984 World Series. More recently Gwynn and the Padres endured a defeat in the National League Division Series at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996.

The Padres went 98-64 in 1998, winning the National League West division by 9.5 games over the San Francisco Giants. The Padres went 8-4 against the Giants in head-to-head play. The Padres went 54-27 at home and 44-37 on the road.

Tony Gwynn batted .321 with 16 home runs and 69 RBI’s off 148 hits and 35 doubles. First baseman Wally Joyner batted .298 with 12 home runs and 80 RBI’s off 131 hits and 30 doubles. Left fielder Greg Vaughn batted .272 with a whopping 50 home runs and 119 RBI’s off 156 hits, 28 doubles, 4 triples and 11 stolen bases. For part of the regular season Vaughn kept pace of the home run marks set by Mark McGwire of the Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, and even though he fell short of 70 and 66 home runs respectively, Vaughn still secured the National League Comeback Player of the Year award and the Silver Slugger award.

Third baseman Ken Caminiti had 29 home runs and 82 RBI’s off 114 hits and 29 doubles. Left fielder Steve Finley had 14 home runs and 67 RBI’s off 154 hits, 40 doubles, 6 triples and 12 stolen bases. Second baseman Quilvio Veras had 138 hits, 24 doubles and 24 stolen bases. Shortstop Chris Gomez had 120 hits and 32 doubles. Catcher Carlos Hernandez had 102 hits and 15 doubles. Catcher Greg Myers and utility player Jim Leyritz both had 10 doubles.

On December 15, 1997 the Padres made a significant trade to drastically improve their starting rotation as they sent first baseman Derrek Lee, pitcher Rafael Medina and minor league player Steve Hoff to the Florida Marlins in exchange for starting pitcher Kevin Brown. Brown would serve as San Diego’s ace in the rotation, going 18-7 with 257 strikeouts and a 2.38 ERA, recording 7 complete games and 3 shutouts.

Andy Ashby went 17-9 with 151 strikeouts and a 3.34 ERA, recording 5 complete games and 1 shutout. Joey Hamilton went 13-13 with 147 strikeouts. Sterling Hitchcock went 9-7 with 158 strikeouts and a 3.93 ERA, recording 2 complete games and 1 shutout.

Closer Trevor Hoffman remained as the steady anchor for San Diego’s bullpen as he went 4-2 with 53 saves, 86 strikeouts and a 1.48 ERA. Relief pitcher Dan Miceli went 10-5 with 2 saves and a 3.22 ERA. Donne Wall went 5-4 with 1 save and a 2.43 ERA. Brian Boehringer went 5-2. Scott Sanders went 3-1. Carlos Reyes went 2-2 with 1 save and a 3.58 ERA.

The Padres faced the Houston Astros in the National League Division Series, and in Game 1 on September 29 at the Astrodome, the Padres won 2-1. Kevin Brown pitched 8 innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks, but he absolutely flabbergasted Houston’s offense with 16 strikeouts. In the top of the 6th inning Jim Leyritz had a sacrifice fly, and in the top of the 8th Greg Vaughn hit a solo home run. A solo home run hit by left fielder Moises Alou in the bottom of the 9th wasn’t enough for Houston.

The Astros responded by winning Game 2 on October 1 by the score of 5-4. In the bottom of the 1st inning first baseman Jeff Bagwell grounded into a forceout at second base to score second baseman Craig Biggio, and Bagwell would come back in the bottom of the 3rd to have a 2-run single. In the top of the 6th Steve Finley had an RBI double, and Tony Gwynn followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th right fielder Derek Bell hit a solo home run. In the top of the Leyritz smacked a 2-run home run, but in the bottom of the 9th third baseman Bill Spiers had a walk-off RBI single, pleasing the home crowd of Houston.

Returning home to Qualcomm Stadium for Game 3 on October 3, the Padres won 2-1. Brown pitched 6.2 innings and gave up 3 hits, 5 walks and 1 run, but he recorded 5 strikeouts. Houston’s Mike Hampton was up for the challenge as he dueled Brown, pitching 6 innings and giving up 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 run while recording 2 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 6th inning Gwynn grounded into a forceout at second base to score Carlos Gomez. In the top of the 7th Biggio drew a bases loaded walk to score center fielder Carl Everett to tie the game. In the bottom of the 7th Lyeritz came through again with a solo home run.

The Padres would then put the Astros away with a 6-1 victory in Game 4 on October 4. Sterling Hitchcock pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 hits and 1 run, but he recorded an impressive 11 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 2nd Leyritz hit a solo home run. Houston’s only run came in the top of the 4th when Bagwell had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 6th Caminiti reached on an error to score Vaughn, and San Diego would break the game open in the bottom of the 8th as pinch hitting outfielder John Vander Wal had a 2-run triple, and Wally Joyner followed by belting a 2-run home run.

The Padres advanced to the National League Championship Series to face the Atlanta Braves, and in Game 1 on October 7 at Turner Field, the Padres won 3-2. Andy Ashby pitched 7 innings and gave up 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 run, but he recorded 3 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 3rd inning center fielder Andruw Jones hit a solo home run, and after Gwynn had an RBI single in the top of the 5th, Leyritz reached on an error to score outfielder Ruben Rivera in the top of the 8th. Andruw Jones then tied the game at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th. In the top of the 10th Caminiti hit a solo home run.

The Padres then blanked the Braves 3-0 in Game 2 on October 8. Kevin Brown pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while recording 1 strikeout. In the top of the 6th inning Quilvio Veras had an RBI single, and in the top of the 9th both Finley and Joyner had RBI singles.

The Padres then took a commanding 3 games to none lead when they returned to Qualcomm Stadium for Game 3 on October 10, beating the Braves 4-1. In the top of the 3rd inning shortstop Walt Weiss scored Atlanta’s only run first. In the bottom of the 5th Finley had an RBI double, and Caminiti followed with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th Carlos Hernandez had an RBI double and then scored on a passed ball.

The Braves then attempted to come back in the series, starting with an 8-3 win in Game 4 on October 11. In the bottom of the 3rd Gwynn had an RBI double, and Leyritz followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 4th third baseman Larry “Chipper” Jones had an RBI single, and in the top of the 6th left fielder Ryan Klesko had an RBI single. After Leyritz hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th, catcher Javy Lopez hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th, shortstop Ozzie Guillen had an RBI single, and then first baseman Andres Galarraga, also known as “The Big Cat”, crushed a grand slam home run.

The Braves then squeaked in a 7-6 victory in Game 5 on October 12. In the bottom of the 1st inning Caminiti belted a 2-run home run. In the top of the 6th right fielder Michael Tucker had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 6th Vander Wal belted his own 2-run home run. Tucker then gave Atlanta a huge boost in the top of the 8th by launching a 3-run home run, and second baseman Tony Graffanino followed with a 2-run double. In the bottom of the 9th pitcher Randy Myers hit a solo home run for San Diego, but it wasn’t enough.

In Game 6 on October 14 at Turner Field, the Padres blanked the Braves 5-0 to claim the National League pennant. Sterling Hitchcock pitched 5 innings and gave up 2 hits and 3 walks while recording 8 strikeouts. Leyritz had an RBI groundout in the top of the 6th, and he would be given much help. Joyner followed with an RBI single, Hitchcock reached on an error to score Joyner, and Veras topped things off with an RBI single. Hitchcock would be named NLCS Most Valuable Player.

The 1998 World Series didn’t go according to plan for the San Diego Padres at all as they would be swept 4 games to none by the New York Yankees, who were in the middle of creating a World Series dynasty. Though this would be his last shot at obtaining a World Series championship ring, Tony Gwynn’s legacy as a player was pretty much cemented with his run in 1998, an entertaining run with talented teammates who gave it their all.