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Padres' Top 10

Padres' Top TenMain

  • Top regular-season games of 1998

    1. April 10th vs. Arizona Diamondbacks  The Diamondbacks scored 3 runs in the top of the 1st inning and Andy Benes added another run in the 2nd with a solo homerun off Kevin Brown.  Arizona led 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth when Greg Vaughn led off with a single, and moved to second on a groundout by Carlos Hernandez.  Felix Rodriguez struck out Chris Gomez, but pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney and Quilvio Veras walked to load the bases.  Finley followed by driving an 0-1 pitch over the right-field fence for his second home run of the season... a grand slam to end the game and give San Diego an exciting 6-4 victory.
    2. April 7th vs. Cincinnati Reds  Pete Harnisch of the Reds gets early support after his team scores 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning.  They could have atleast 2 more runs had Steve Finley not made a great catch at the wall to end the 1st.  In the bottom of the 5th, the Padres had the lead-off batter Carlos Hernandez on first, the next batter hit a ball into the hole between short and third, Barry Larkin fired to the 2nd baseman who caught the ball but then dropped it.  Umpire Jim Quick initially signaled out but then reversed his call to safe.  After seeing the out call, Hernandez turned his back and then jogged off the base toward the dugout where Brett Boone tagged him out... end of threat.  The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the 9th inning with one out, Wally Joyner got a single.  Greg Vaughn then struck out.  This brought up Hernandez to the plate with only one out left for a Cincinnati win.  On the first pitch, Hernandez crushed a ball into the left-centerfield bleachers to tie the game.  The crowd goes wild. In the bottom of the 10th, Gwynn lead off with a single.  Ken Caminiti struck out.  Joyner then got an infield single that sent Gwynn to 3rd.  Vaughn then hit a 300 foot sacrifice fly to deep left field to bring in Gwynn from third and the Padres won 3-2 in dramatic fashion.
    3. April 5th vs. St. Louis Cardinals  It was a 4-3 Cardinals lead in the 8th inning when the Cardinals scored 3 runs against Trevor Hoffman.  Ken Caminiti almost saved the day with a great stab at a sharp grounder hit in the hole but he bobbled the ball and the inning continued.  With the Padres down 7-3 in the top of the 9th, Tony Gwynn singled to lead off the inning, Caminiti then drilled a pitch into the left-center seats to make it 7-5.  Wally Joyner and Greg Vaughn walked to bring up Carlos Hernandez.  After fouling off a nasty 2-strike pitch, Hernandez lined to 2nd baseman Delino Deshields who gloved it on the short hop.  Deshields hesitated, turned to 2nd base as if to throw but lost his balance and ended up throwing late to 1st base.  Bases were loaded with no outs.  Chris Gomez then took a pitch to deep left field where Willie McGee made a nice catch at the wall.  Joyner came into score from 3rd on the sac fly.  James Mouton came to bat and pitcher Braden Looper threw a wild-pitch to score Vaughn and tie the game at 7.  Quilvio Veras then singled to left and the Padres lead 8-7.  Dan Miceli retired the side in the bottom half of the 9th to end the game.
    4. September 12th vs. Los Angeles Dodgers  The Dodgers take a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the fifth when Wally Joyner leads things off with a solo homerun.  A single by Greg Myers and an error by the Dodgers allow two Padres runners on for Chris Gomez who doubles them both in to make it a 7-3 ballgame.  In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Padres, and the 60,000+ screaming fans do the Dodgers in.  Greg Vaughn leads off with a single, Ken Caminit goes to a full count before walking, then Joyner walks to load the bases.  Myers draws a walk also to force in a run making it 7-4.  Andy Sheets is then hit by a pitch forcing another run in making it 7-5 Dodgers.  Gomez walks forcing in yet another run to make it 7-6 and still no outs.  Pinch-hitter Quilvio Veras then lifts a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.  Steve Finley flies out to centerfield for the second out.  Mark Sweeney draws four balls.  Vaughn who started the inning, came to bat again and singled again to score the go-ahead run but Gomez who was on second base gets thrown out trying to score.  The Padres took an 8-7 lead and that's the way it stayed into the 9th inning when Trevor Hoffman came into retire the Dodgers and the Padres had won their 2nd N.L. West Crown in the last 3 years.  There were many heroes in this game, especially the big crowd in the stands that seemed to make the Dodger pitching nervous and lose their control.
    5. August 28th vs. Montreal Expos  Carlos Hernandez's two-run single capped a nine-run fourth inning as the San Diego Padres overcame a seven-run deficit for their sixth straight win, 12-8, over the Montreal Expos.  The Padres sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth, their largest inning since scoring 11 runs against the New York Mets on Opening Day 1997.  Greg Vaughn and Mark Sweeney triggered the nine-run fourth with consecutive solo homers.  The win helped bail out Andy Ashby by giving him a no-decision instead of a loss after giving up 8 runs.
    6. June 18th vs. San Francisco Giants  Joey Hamilton hits a 2-run triple in the fifth inning to put San Diego on the board, but they still trail San Fransisco 3-2.  Giants score three more times in the sixth inning to make it a 6-2 Giants lead.  Greg Vaughn then leads-off the 7th with a HR to cut the lead to 6-3.  Quilvio Veras led off the 8th with a single.  Rich Rodriguez relieved and was greeted by pinch-hitter Rivera's single. After Tony Gwynn grounded into a double play, Ken Caminiti drilled a shot to third that Bill Mueller threw past first baseman Charlie Hayes, allowing Veras to score.  Steve Reed replaced Rodriguez and faced Vaughn, who launched a two-run blast over the left-field fence for his fourth multi-homer game of the season and 19th of his career.  It was tied 6-6 in the top of the 9th when the lead-off hitter again, this time Chris Gomez hit a deep fly ball to left that appears to hit off Barry Bond's glove and bounce behind the fence for a HR.  The umpires said it was not a HR and after 3rd-base coach Tim Flannery and Bruce Bochy discuss it with the umpires, Chris Gomez is standing at third base with a triple.  After Mandy Romero strikes out, Ruben Rivera comes through with a line drive to left field good enough for a sacrifice fly to put the Padres up 7-6.  Giants then go down in order in the bottom half of the inning and the Padres pull one out.
    7. April 1st vs. Cincinnati Reds  Down 5-0 after the 1st inning, and 6-1after the 2nd, the Padres rallied with home runs from Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti to put the score 6-3.  The 6th inning saw the Padres score 7 runs with Greg Myers providing the big blow with a bases-loaded double to put San Diego up 7-6.  San Diego eventually won 10-9.
    8. June 12th vs. San Francisco Giants After Rey Sanchez's solo HR and Barry Bonds' 2-run shot put the Giants out to a 3-0 lead, Carlos Hernandez homers to put the Padres within 2.  Pinch-hitting for Hernandez, and with runners on the corners, Tony Gwynn drives a pitch to deep left field for a sacrifice fly, where Bonds catches it right up against the wall.  Padres tie it in the 7th inning when Quilvio Veras gets on with a lead-off infield-single and advances to second base on the shorstop's error.  After Steve Finley strikes out and Vaughn flies out, Ken Caminiti ropes one down the right-field line for a double.  60,789 fans who were anticipating Sky Show fireworks after the game got them in the bottom of the 8th inning.  Chris Gomez led off with a single, Mandy Romero then drops down the bunt, the pitcher quickly gets it, fires to 2nd  to get the force but he throws it away.  Runners on the corners and no outs for Veras who singles for an RBI.  With 1 out, Greg Vaughn drives a pitch to deep right-center field off the base off the wall for a double which scores another run.  Caminiti is intentionally walked for Wally Joyner who then singles to score two more runs and the Padres now lead 7-3.  With runners now on 2nd and 3rd, Ruben Rivera launches a ball, which Bonds watches soar over his head into the left-field bleachers and the place erupts.  Giants don't score in the 9th and the Padres win a great game 10-3.  Just don't let the score fool you.
    9. May 11th vs. New York Mets  Ex-teammates Al Leiter and Kevin Brown face each other at the Q.  On the first pitch of the game, Brian MacRae hits a deep drive to rightfield where Tony Gwynn waits, leaps & brings the ball back into the park for an out and robbing the McRae of a HR.  Both teams eventually score a run in the 2nd inning.  The Mets threatened a couple of times... with a runner on 1st and 1 out Carlos Baerga smokes a line drive that seems to be headed over first base and down the line for extra-bases, but Wally Joyner makes a brilliant back-handed snag and then steps on the bag to complete the double play.  In the 8th inning with 1 out, Mets catcher Alberto Castillo hit a gapper to left-center but only a great relay from James Mouton to Chris Gomez to Archi Cianfrocco enabled the Padres to throw him out at third.  What seemed like a rally is now history.  In the Padres half of the inning, Gwynn doubles and scores on Joyner's looper to left which is lost in the lights by the left fielder Preston Wilson.  Ex-Padre Luis Lopez, leading off the ninth, loops a similar drive to left but Vaughn makes a brilliant play to rob him of a hit.  Trevor Hoffman then retires the following 2 batters and secure Kevin Brown of a badly-needed win as the Padres win 2-1.
    10. April 15th vs. San Francisco Giants  Padres win 1-0 as Kevin Brown goes the distance pitching a 4-hit, complete game shut-out.  The lone run came in the 2nd inning on a homerun by Greg Vaughn.  The Giants threatened in the bottom of the 9th with a lead-off double.  The runner was sacrificed to 3rd and the next batter hit a grounder to Quilvio Veras who dashed between the 2nd and 1st base bags to get the ball, freeze the runner at 3rd and make the unassisted out at 1st.  Barry Bonds was intentionally walked, which brought up J.T. Snow to the plate.  Brown fired and struck out Snow to end the ball game. 
    11. September 11 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers  In the top of the first inning, Eric Young leads off with a walk but is then thrown out trying to steal second by Carlos Hernandez. The Dodgers eventually loaded the bases in that inning but weren't able to score a run.  The Padres scored their lone run in the bottom half of the first when Steve Finley led off with a double.  Finley went to third base on Charles Johnson's passed ball.  Andy Sheets then singled to right and the Padres led 1-0.  In the top of the 4th inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases with 1 out, but Joey Hamilton got the speedy Eric Young to ground into a double play that was turned nicely by Chris Gomez and Sheets.  In the 8th inning, the Dodger's Trenidad Hubbard was on first base and there was a full count to Eric Karros.  With the runner going on a full-count pitch, Karros took a called third strike and Hernandez threw down to second base to complete the double play ... end of threat.  The Dodgers threatened again in the 9th inning with 2 outs against Trevor Hoffman, Mark Grudzielanek singled, took second base on a wild pitch and then stole third base.  Hoffman then got Charles Johnson to pop up to Sheets to end the game and make the magic number to 3. The Giants later lost to the Rockies to make the magic number, 2.
    12. August 12th vs. Atlanta Braves  The matchup between Cy Young Award candidates Greg Maddux (15-5) and Andy Ashby (15-6) makes for quite a game.  The 2nd batter of the game, Keith Lockhart, homers to give Atlanta an early 1-0 lead. In the 4th inning, Quilvio Veras leads off with a single but is cut down trying to steal second base.  Tony Gwynn then doubled and Ken Caminiti homered to left to give the Padres a 2-1 advantage.  Ashby pitched out of a big jam in the sixth after a leadoff walk to Lockhart and a single by Chipper Jones put runners at the corners. Ashby fanned sluggers Andres Galarraga and Ryan Klesko, then got Michael Tucker to ground out to second.  That was the break of the game.  San Diego added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when Wally Joyner reached Maddux for a bases-loaded single, scoring Veras and Steve Finley for a 4-1 edge. Jim Leyritz's RBI single an inning later capped the scoring.  A big game which should gives the Padres confidence against the Braves.
    13. May 16th vs. Philadelphia Phillies  The Phillies take a 2-0 lead after 3 innings.  Thanks to some great defensive plays in which Carlos Hernandez touched home plate for a force, throws late to 1st, but then Wally Joyner throws back to Carlos, and after a slight scramble, the umpire wrongly calls the runner out therefore completing a big inning-ending double play.  Padres score a run in 6th inning but are robbed of more when San Diego has runners on 2nd & 3rd when SS Desi Relaford dives and takes away a sure basehit from Ruben Rivera.  In the bottom of the 9th, Rivera walks, Chris Gomez gets hit by a pitch after squaring to bunt.  Ed Giovonola drops a perfect bunt down the 3rd base line where Scott Rolen throws the ball away at 1st scoring the tying run.  Quilvio Veras is then intentionally walked to load the bases.  Pinch-hitter Greg Myers then drives a ball down the left field line for a single and the Padres win a thriller.
    14. April 25th vs. Pittsburgh Pirates  Pirates score 3 in the top of the 2nd to take an early 3-1 lead.  Padres score a run in the 4th and the 5th inning to tie it up.  Neither team scores a run until the 16th inning when Steve Finley drives a ball to deep left-center for a hit to score Quilvio Veras from 2nd base.  The game last over 4 1/2 hours but the Padres come out on top.

  • Top 10 games ever

    1. Sept. 29, 1996  Padres win 2-0 in 11 innings in LA to complete the sweep and win the 1996 NL West Title. Chris Gwynn comes through with a 2-run double and Trevor Hoffman shut down the Dodgers in the bottom half of the inning.  Steve Finley, Chris Gomez , Bob Tewksbury and Ken Caminiti come through in the clutch.  (I rank this barely above #2 because of  the Dodgers magic number being 1 with 4 games to play and the Padres chances were very very slim.  If Garvey's winning homerun was hit with the Padres behind, then I would have listed it #1)

    2. Oct. 6, 1984  Padres and Cubs tied at 5 in the bottom of the 9th inning and Tony Gwynn on first base when Steve Garvey hits a HR to win Game 4 of the1984 NL Playoffs and keep the Padres' hopes alive

    3. Oct. 7, 1984  Padres win Game 5 1984 NL Playoffs to send them to their first World Series after losing the first two games of a best-of-five series

    4. Sept. 28, 1996  Padres, in a must-win situation overcome a 2-0 deficit & win it when Tony Gwynn hits a 2-run single in the 8th bringing the Padres to a tie atop the division with LA with one game remaining

    5. Aug. 1, 1971  Nate Colbert hits 5 HRs & collects 13 RBIs in Atlanta during a double-header

    6. Last day of 1989 season  Tony Gwynn out-duels Will Clark to claim NL batting title

    7. Oct 10, 1984  Game 2 of 1984 World Series, the only Padres victory in a World Series... to date

    8. August 12, 1984  The Atlanta "Basebrawl" game, will be forever remembered as the nastiest brawl in baseball history.  10 players were ejected including a handful of Braves fans who decided to join in on the action.  Both teams were heavily fined.

    9. September 20, 1984  Padres clinch NL West.  The only reason this ranks near the bottom is because the Padres were way out in front and the Padres actually clinched when LA beat Houston later that night.

    10. April 12, 1974  In his first home game as an owner, Ray Kroc overwhelmed with the lack of play of his Padres took the stadium PA microphone with Houston ahead 9-2.  Ray Kroc: "Ladies and gentlemen, I suffer with you..."  at that moment, a streaker decided to interrupt him and run onto the field.  "Get him out of here!... throw him in jail!"  The crowd cheered wildly, "I have some good news and some bad news.  The good news is you loyal fans of SD have outstripped LA.  They had 31,000 on opening night, we have almost 40,000.  God Bless you!  The bad news is that I've never seen such stupid ball playing in all my life!"

  • CruiznSD's choice of the Top 10 players by position

    • SP - Randy Jones

    • RP - Trevor Hoffman

    • C - Benito Santiago

    • 1B - Nate Colbert

    • 2B - Roberto Alomar

    • SS - Ozzie Smith

    • 3B - Ken Caminiti

    • LF - Rickey Henderson

    • CF - Steve Finley

    • RF - Tony Gwynn

    • Honorable mentions - Wally Joyner at first base and Dave Winfield in RF, unfortunately the best hitter in baseball beat Winfield.

      • Note:  Nate Colbert played first base and left field.

      • Remember, this is a "Dream Team" of sorts... in selecting my choices, I considered that they   must have played at least 1 game in a Padres uniform and that the players is in his prime (not necessarily as a Padre).

  • Top 10 regular season crowds at a Padres game thru 9/12/98

    1. 61,148 - July 4, 1998 vs. Colorado Rockies
    2. 60,823 - September 12, 1998 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
    3. 60,789 - June 12, 1998 vs. San Francisco Giants
    4. 60,230 - August 29, 1997 vs. Anaheim Angels
    5. 55,454 - April 7, 1998 vs. Cincinnati Reds
    6. 55,412 - August 3, 1996 vs. Florida Marlins
    7. 55,046 - July 20, 1996 vs. Colorado Rockies
    8. 54,841 - May 10, 1991 vs. Montreal Expos
    9. 54,732 - June 7, 1986 vs. Atlanta Braves
    10. 54,517 - June 1, 1991 vs. Houston Astros
    11. 54,490 - April 15, 1985 vs. San Francisco Giants