1998 World Series

Background

The Padres had won their first National League pennant in 1984 but then fell into a period of futility. After disagreements led to manager Dick Williams's dismissal in 1986, the team endured multiple losing seasons, friction among players and management, and two ownership changes. The club's fortunes shifted when Bruce Bochy was hired as manager in 1995; he turned a team that had won only 40 games in the strike-shortened 1994 season into a 70–74 club in 1995.

In 1996 the Padres finished 91–71 and won the National League West, earning Bochy NL Manager of the Year honors, though they were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series. After a last-place 76–86 record in 1997, the Padres rebounded to a franchise-best 98–64 in 1998. Key contributors included Tony Gwynn, Greg Vaughn, and pitchers Andy Ashby, Trevor Hoffman (who saved 53 games and was runner-up in Cy Young Award voting), and Kevin Brown.

Vaughn hit 50 home runs during the regular season, drawing notice alongside Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, who hit 70 and 66 respectively. The Padres entered the postseason as the #3 seed in the National League. They defeated the second-seeded Houston Astros in the Division Series three games to one, with Jim Leyritz hitting three home runs after managing only four in the regular season. In the Championship Series against the top-seeded Atlanta Braves, the Padres beat the Braves' trio of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux, winning four games to two to capture the franchise's second pennant.

Matchups

In Game 1, Kevin Brown started for the Padres and David Wells for the Yankees. The Yankees took a 2–0 lead in the second inning on a two-run double by Ricky Ledee. The Padres tied the game in the third on a two-run homer by Greg Vaughn. In the fifth, Tony Gwynn hit a two-run home run, his first in postseason play, and Vaughn followed with his second homer of the night, putting San Diego ahead 5–2.

In the seventh, the Yankees loaded the bases, and Chuck Knoblauch hit a three-run homer off Donne Wall to tie the game. After a walk loaded the bases, Tino Martinez hit a grand slam off Mark Langston, giving the Yankees a 9–5 lead. The Padres scored once in the eighth off Mariano Rivera, but Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Yankees won 9–6.

Broadcasting

Fox televised the 1998 World Series, as the network held the rights for even-numbered years under the television contract signed in 1996. Joe Buck provided play-by-play, with Tim McCarver and Bob Brenly in the booth. ESPN Radio carried the national radio broadcast for the first time, having taken the rights from CBS Radio; Jon Miller and Joe Morgan handled the coverage.

Series overview and aftermath

The series win gave the Yankees 24 championships, tying the NHL's Montreal Canadiens for the most by a franchise in the four major North American professional sports leagues. The Yankees broke that record the following year by sweeping the Atlanta Braves for their 25th title. The 1998 Yankees are considered one of the top teams in baseball history, posting an MLB record 125 total wins in a single season (including the postseason), surpassing the previous record of 116 set by the New York Mets.

The sweep was the first time the Yankees had swept a World Series since they swept the Philadelphia Phillies, and they were the first team to sweep a World Series since the Cincinnati Reds. It was the first time since a team with the best regular-season record won the World Series, and the first time since a team with at least 100 regular-season wins did so. On October 11, 2005, A&E Home Video released a DVD set that included Game 3 of the 1998 World Series.

Padres

The loss made the Padres the first expansion team to lose two World Series, having lost previously to the Detroit Tigers. As of 2023, the Padres are one of only two MLB teams to win at least two league championships without a World Series win, the other being the Tampa Bay Rays. Bruce Bochy, the only Padres player or manager to be on every Padres playoff team until 2020, later won three World Series titles as manager of the San Francisco Giants and one with the Texas Rangers.

This remains the most recent championship game or series a professional San Diego sports team has participated in, extending the city's sporting championship drought since 1963. Kevin Brown left the Padres in free agency for the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming the first baseball player to earn a $100 million contract; he was later traded to the Yankees in 2004 and retired in 2005.