GaryMrMets
10-29-2003, 07:05 PM
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sd/news/sd_news.jsp?ymd=20031010&content_id=572423&vkey=news_sd&fext=.jsp&c_id=sdn
10/10/2003 6:28 PM ET
Looking back at the 1998 season
Padres upset Astros, Braves to capture NL flag
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com
SAN DIEGO -- The Padres will open their new ballpark next season, but it was a championship run just five years ago that helped them get there.
The citizens of San Diego will remember the ballot measure and the 17 lawsuits that dragged the project through seemingly endless litigation before it was ultimately green-lighted to completion. But had it not been for a group of ballplayers in 1998, PETCO Park may very well still be a pipe dream.
Like their 1984 squad, the Padres of 1998 had just the right mix of veterans and role players. But they differed in one respect: they were better.
Starting with Greg Vaughn's 50 homers and ending with Trevor Hoffman's 53 saves, the 1998 Padres simply had more ways to beat you.
As manager Bruce Bochy commented during the recently concluded 2003 campaign: "Man, that team could swing the bat."
The Padres batted only .253 in 1998, but they were fifth in the National League in home runs. What they had was a lineup of professional hitters, who knew how to work counts, move guys over and get the timely hit.
At 38, Tony Gwynn had slowed considerably since the 1984 squad, but he still hit .321 and had more doubles than in 1984, 35-21, in fewer at-bats while posting a higher slugging percentage. While Gwynn was never a power threat, he had grown into his power stroke during the latter stages of his career as evidenced by his 17 homers in 1997 and then 16 more the following season.
But while the Padres throughout Gwynn's tenure were as much about him as about the remaining 24 guys, the 1998 squad was a deep baseball team.
Vaughn had come over to the Padres late in the 1996 season from Milwaukee and helped the club to that season's NL West Division crown. After slumping in 1997, Vaughn came back strong the following year when he set the franchise mark for homers.
Slowed a bit by injury was third baseman Ken Caminiti, who didn't quite match his MVP numbers of 1996 but still managed to hit 29 homers with 82 RBIs. Helping to fuel the offense was first baseman Wally Joyner, who hit .298 with 80 RBIs and 30 doubles and Steve Finley, who was second on the club to Vaughn with 92 runs scored and led the Padres with 40 doubles.
Like 1984, the 1998 team was greater than the sum of its parts, but there was one part to that roster that tipped the scales.
And that was Kevin Brown.
"We had more power," Bochy said of his 1998 team over the one he played on in 1984. "We had a front-line starter in Kevin Brown, though."
Brown was basically a one-night stand in his affair with San Diego, but what a night it was.
The right-hander came to the Padres in an offseason trade with the defending-champion Marlins and stepped immediately into the role of the No. 1 starter. With Brown going 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA and a career-high 257 strikeouts in 257 innings, Andy Ashby was able to settle into his role as the No. 2 man and post his finest year with a 17-9 record and 3.34 ERA. That pair helped the Padres pitching staff post a 3.63 ERA, third best in the league.
With that nucleus, players like Quilvio Veras, Carlos Hernandez and Chris Gomez joined pitchers Sterling Hitchcock, Joey Hamilton and Mark Langston to fill roles on a team that would win a franchise-record 98 games that season to win the NL West by 9 1/2 games over the Giants.
When the playoffs began Sept. 29, the Padres were not considered even favorites to advance to the NLCS. Oddsmakers gave the nod to the Padres' first-round opponent, Houston, which had won 102 games during the regular season, and to Atlanta, which had blown past the competition, winning 106 games and the NL East by 18 games over the Mets.
What no one predicted, though, was Brown outdueling Randy Johnson in Game 1 of their best-of-five series, then coming back on three days' rest to hold the Astros to one run in Game 3. Hitchcock then went six strong innings in Game 4, allowing just one run on three hits as the Padres eliminated Houston, 3-1.
After dispatching the Cubs in a three-game sweep, the Braves awaited the Padres in the NLCS. The seven-game series opened at Turner Field and like their series with Houston, no one gave the Padres much of a chance, especially against a pitching staff that led the NL in ERA at 3.25 during the regular season.
Ashby went pitch-for-pitch against John Smoltz in Game 1 and left the game with the Padres nursing a 2-1 lead. After the Braves had tied the game in the ninth, Caminiti drilled a solo homer in the top of the 10th off Kerry Ligtenberg to give the Padres a 3-2 win and an early 1-0 advantage in the series.
Showing the Padres had the pitching to match, Brown stepped up in Game 2 and hurled a complete-game shutout. The Padres not only found themselves leading in the series, 2-0, but were heading back to San Diego with a chance to win the pennant at home and sweep.
After allowing a third-inning run on a Walt Weiss single, Hitchcock combined with four Padres relievers to hold the Braves scoreless as the club rallied to record a 4-1 victory and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Eighteen of 21 teams to that point had completed sweeps when holding a 3-0 lead while no team had forced a sixth game when staring at a three-love deficit in a seven-game series. But a funny thing happened on the way to the title.
The Braves found themselves and rallied.
The Padres looked prepared to pour the champagne with a 2-0 lead after three innings in Game 4 and a 3-2 lead after six, but Atlanta posted a six-spot on the board in the top of the seventh, highlighted by Andres Galarraga's grand slam off Dan Miceli. When the Braves rallied with five eighth-inning runs the following day to win Game 5, the Padres' grip on the NL pennant appeared to be weakening with the series returning to Atlanta.
Game 6 had all the makings of a nail-biter as Hitchcock dueled with Tom Glavine, the 1998 NL Cy Young winner, for five scoreless innings. But the Padres strung together a series of seeing-eye singles, dribblers and bloop hits to plate five men in the top of the sixth. Four Padres relievers followed as the staff held the Braves to just two hits in their pennant-clinching 5-0 win.
Hitchcock went 2-0 in the series with a miniscule 0.90 ERA to win NLCS MVP honors.
Like their 1984 brethren, the 1998 Padres got contributions from throughout the lineup to win the National League flag. And also like 1984, the Padres ran into the best team of that season in the World Series.
But what that 1998 squad was able to accomplish was to enliven the baseball passions of a city and provide a big lift toward their eventual new home downtown.
Mike Scarr is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/images/2003/10/10/qrYjtUjd.jpg
Trevor Hoffman (left) celebrates with Carlos Hernandez after their 1998 NLCS win. (Eric Draper/AP)
10/10/2003 6:28 PM ET
Looking back at the 1998 season
Padres upset Astros, Braves to capture NL flag
By Mike Scarr / MLB.com
SAN DIEGO -- The Padres will open their new ballpark next season, but it was a championship run just five years ago that helped them get there.
The citizens of San Diego will remember the ballot measure and the 17 lawsuits that dragged the project through seemingly endless litigation before it was ultimately green-lighted to completion. But had it not been for a group of ballplayers in 1998, PETCO Park may very well still be a pipe dream.
Like their 1984 squad, the Padres of 1998 had just the right mix of veterans and role players. But they differed in one respect: they were better.
Starting with Greg Vaughn's 50 homers and ending with Trevor Hoffman's 53 saves, the 1998 Padres simply had more ways to beat you.
As manager Bruce Bochy commented during the recently concluded 2003 campaign: "Man, that team could swing the bat."
The Padres batted only .253 in 1998, but they were fifth in the National League in home runs. What they had was a lineup of professional hitters, who knew how to work counts, move guys over and get the timely hit.
At 38, Tony Gwynn had slowed considerably since the 1984 squad, but he still hit .321 and had more doubles than in 1984, 35-21, in fewer at-bats while posting a higher slugging percentage. While Gwynn was never a power threat, he had grown into his power stroke during the latter stages of his career as evidenced by his 17 homers in 1997 and then 16 more the following season.
But while the Padres throughout Gwynn's tenure were as much about him as about the remaining 24 guys, the 1998 squad was a deep baseball team.
Vaughn had come over to the Padres late in the 1996 season from Milwaukee and helped the club to that season's NL West Division crown. After slumping in 1997, Vaughn came back strong the following year when he set the franchise mark for homers.
Slowed a bit by injury was third baseman Ken Caminiti, who didn't quite match his MVP numbers of 1996 but still managed to hit 29 homers with 82 RBIs. Helping to fuel the offense was first baseman Wally Joyner, who hit .298 with 80 RBIs and 30 doubles and Steve Finley, who was second on the club to Vaughn with 92 runs scored and led the Padres with 40 doubles.
Like 1984, the 1998 team was greater than the sum of its parts, but there was one part to that roster that tipped the scales.
And that was Kevin Brown.
"We had more power," Bochy said of his 1998 team over the one he played on in 1984. "We had a front-line starter in Kevin Brown, though."
Brown was basically a one-night stand in his affair with San Diego, but what a night it was.
The right-hander came to the Padres in an offseason trade with the defending-champion Marlins and stepped immediately into the role of the No. 1 starter. With Brown going 18-7 with a 2.38 ERA and a career-high 257 strikeouts in 257 innings, Andy Ashby was able to settle into his role as the No. 2 man and post his finest year with a 17-9 record and 3.34 ERA. That pair helped the Padres pitching staff post a 3.63 ERA, third best in the league.
With that nucleus, players like Quilvio Veras, Carlos Hernandez and Chris Gomez joined pitchers Sterling Hitchcock, Joey Hamilton and Mark Langston to fill roles on a team that would win a franchise-record 98 games that season to win the NL West by 9 1/2 games over the Giants.
When the playoffs began Sept. 29, the Padres were not considered even favorites to advance to the NLCS. Oddsmakers gave the nod to the Padres' first-round opponent, Houston, which had won 102 games during the regular season, and to Atlanta, which had blown past the competition, winning 106 games and the NL East by 18 games over the Mets.
What no one predicted, though, was Brown outdueling Randy Johnson in Game 1 of their best-of-five series, then coming back on three days' rest to hold the Astros to one run in Game 3. Hitchcock then went six strong innings in Game 4, allowing just one run on three hits as the Padres eliminated Houston, 3-1.
After dispatching the Cubs in a three-game sweep, the Braves awaited the Padres in the NLCS. The seven-game series opened at Turner Field and like their series with Houston, no one gave the Padres much of a chance, especially against a pitching staff that led the NL in ERA at 3.25 during the regular season.
Ashby went pitch-for-pitch against John Smoltz in Game 1 and left the game with the Padres nursing a 2-1 lead. After the Braves had tied the game in the ninth, Caminiti drilled a solo homer in the top of the 10th off Kerry Ligtenberg to give the Padres a 3-2 win and an early 1-0 advantage in the series.
Showing the Padres had the pitching to match, Brown stepped up in Game 2 and hurled a complete-game shutout. The Padres not only found themselves leading in the series, 2-0, but were heading back to San Diego with a chance to win the pennant at home and sweep.
After allowing a third-inning run on a Walt Weiss single, Hitchcock combined with four Padres relievers to hold the Braves scoreless as the club rallied to record a 4-1 victory and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Eighteen of 21 teams to that point had completed sweeps when holding a 3-0 lead while no team had forced a sixth game when staring at a three-love deficit in a seven-game series. But a funny thing happened on the way to the title.
The Braves found themselves and rallied.
The Padres looked prepared to pour the champagne with a 2-0 lead after three innings in Game 4 and a 3-2 lead after six, but Atlanta posted a six-spot on the board in the top of the seventh, highlighted by Andres Galarraga's grand slam off Dan Miceli. When the Braves rallied with five eighth-inning runs the following day to win Game 5, the Padres' grip on the NL pennant appeared to be weakening with the series returning to Atlanta.
Game 6 had all the makings of a nail-biter as Hitchcock dueled with Tom Glavine, the 1998 NL Cy Young winner, for five scoreless innings. But the Padres strung together a series of seeing-eye singles, dribblers and bloop hits to plate five men in the top of the sixth. Four Padres relievers followed as the staff held the Braves to just two hits in their pennant-clinching 5-0 win.
Hitchcock went 2-0 in the series with a miniscule 0.90 ERA to win NLCS MVP honors.
Like their 1984 brethren, the 1998 Padres got contributions from throughout the lineup to win the National League flag. And also like 1984, the Padres ran into the best team of that season in the World Series.
But what that 1998 squad was able to accomplish was to enliven the baseball passions of a city and provide a big lift toward their eventual new home downtown.
Mike Scarr is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/images/2003/10/10/qrYjtUjd.jpg
Trevor Hoffman (left) celebrates with Carlos Hernandez after their 1998 NLCS win. (Eric Draper/AP)