Padres Special: 5 Reasons to be Thankful For the San Diego Padres

1998 Padres

This particular team also had a fantastic group of individuals and played with great chemistry. The addition of Kevin Brown before the season sent this team on a great run. Brown shored up the rotation and at the same time provided an intensity that was amazing to watch.

Brown helped mentor Andy Ashby, Joey Hamilton and Sterling Hitchcock while posting an amazing 18-7 record with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.066 WHIP. Brown started 35 games that season and threw 257 innings for the Padres. He was an intimidating prescence on the mound and was responsible for many great moments that year.

The memories from this team are still very vivid to most Padres fans. The run to the World Series from this team directly led to the building of Petco Park. The efforts of that team combined with the huge crowds and tremendous support surprisingly allowed the unthinkable to happen. It was a daunting task but the new Padres home was eventually constructed after a couple of delays.

The team of 1998 was led by Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti, Greg Vaughn and Steve Finley offensively. The Padres advanced through the playoffs beating the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves but ran into one of the greatest teams in baseball history. The 1998 New York Yankees swept the Padres and their season came to an abrupt end. The tragic part about this team is that Brown, Caminiti, Finley and Vaughn all played for different teams after the 1998 season.

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James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.