When the Yankees roll into Petco Park for a Sept. 4-6 series, the matchup brings more than the usual interleague buzz. In San Diego, that pinstriped visit still carries the weight of 1998.
The Padres of that season are still the last San Diego club to reach the World Series, and they earned it the hard way. They won a franchise-best 98 games, knocked out a 102-win Astros team and then handled a 106-win Braves club to take the NL pennant.
That group was no fluke, either. Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Kevin Brown, Ken Caminiti and Greg Vaughn made it one of the strongest teams in franchise history.
And yet, if the memory of that team starts and ends with the Yankees’ sweep, it misses the point. New York’s march through the World Series became its own kind of takeover, but the Padres were hardly outclassed from start to finish.
Game 1 in Yankee Stadium had San Diego in control through six innings. Gwynn had already sent a ball off the upper-deck facade, Vaughn had homered twice, and the Padres were three runs up and nine outs from making a statement.
Then the seventh inning cracked everything open. Chuck Knoblauch tied the game with a three-run homer, and soon after Mark Langston appeared to catch the plate on a 2-2 pitch to Tino Martinez before home-plate umpire Rich Garcia called it a ball.
Martinez made the next pitch pay, launching a grand slam.
San Diego never got that game back. Game 3 turned into another sting, with the Padres taking a 3-0 lead into the late innings at Qualcomm Stadium before Scott Brosius hit two home runs, including a three-run blast off Hoffman in the eighth. New York finished the sweep with a 5-4 win that night and closed out the series one game later.
The Yankees were no ordinary opponent. They won 114 games that year and were viewed as one of the great teams baseball has ever seen. There’s no shame in falling to that kind of machine, but the sweep still left a bruise in San Diego, especially because the Padres have not been back to the World Series since.
That old wound gives this series some extra juice, even if the present-day stakes are more immediate. Entering Thursday, San Diego was a half game behind Arizona in the NL Wild Card race, while New York sat at 80-60 and looked firmly on track for October.
Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and the rest of this roster were built to make the Padres more than a footnote in somebody else’s championship story. And if they want to keep pushing toward that goal, home field matters.
Beating the Yankees in the regular season won’t erase 1998. But it can change the feel of this matchup, little by little, and keep San Diego from letting New York have the last word.
In Other News...
Padres Finally Have A Nick Pivetta Sign They Desperately Needed
Nick Pivettas rehab is trending the right way, and for a Padres rotation that has spent plenty of time in a holding pattern, that matters. President of baseball operations AJ Preller said Pivetta is feeling good after his recent work on the mound and will be at Petco Park this weekend, with a chance to move onto the active roster soon. His latest outing, 4 1/3 scoreless innings in Triple-A, was another step forward after earlier rehab setbacks had slowed the process.
The timing is especially useful because San Diego is still waiting on Joe Musgrove, who remains in his recovery and has not reached the same point yet. For the Padres, Pivetta getting close gives them another potential arm to lean on while they keep sorting through the health of a staff that could use a few fewer unknowns. Even before any final roster move is made, the encouraging signs around Pivetta are the kind of development this team has been needing. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Get A Fresh Test Of Their Adrian Morejn Deadline Call
The deadline passed with the Padres deciding to keep Adrian Morejn in place rather than move him for Yankees right-hander A.J. Warren, a choice that immediately became a small but telling snapshot of how they viewed their roster. Morejn has been a steady bullpen piece for San Diego, the kind of arm managers tend to trust when games tighten up, while Warren has continued to draw attention in New York as a starter with upside and room to grow.
Reports had suggested the two sides explored a deal before the Yankees later denied that version of events, and the contrasting paths of the two pitchers make the non-trade easy to revisit. Still, one series is hardly enough to declare a winner or loser on a deadline call like this, which is why the Padres will keep getting judged on how Morejn holds up in their bullpen and whether passing on Warren leaves any lasting regret. [Read more 🡒]
Michael King Credited One Padres Decision For Saving His Start
Michael Kings latest outing looked shaky early, with hits, walks and even a hit batter threatening to turn his start into a short one. Instead, the Padres right-hander settled in and delivered six scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the Reds, good for his career-high 15th quality start of the season and another reminder of how much stability he has brought to the rotation.
King said the difference came during a mound visit when manager Stammen chose to leave him in and show confidence rather than make a quick move. For a pitcher trying to work through trouble and keep the game within reach, that vote of faith mattered, and it helped turn a messy beginning into one of his cleanest finishes of the year. [Read more 🡒]