The 1998 San Diego Padres season was the 30th season in franchise history. The Padres won the National League championship and advanced to the World Series for the second time in franchise history.

San Diego featured five All-Stars: pitchers Andy Ashby, Kevin Brown, and Trevor Hoffman, and outfielders Tony Gwynn and Greg Vaughn. Brown and Hoffman were two of the premier pitchers in baseball for 1998. Brown led the staff in wins, earned run average, and strikeouts, and he also finished in the league's top five in each category. Hoffman saved 53 games and was voted the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award for best closer in the league. Ashby was the team's number two starter with 17 wins.

The Padres offense was led by Vaughn, who had the greatest season of his career in 1998. He ended up winning both the Comeback Player of the Year Award and the Silver Slugger Award. And in a season headlined by sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, Vaughn was matching them in home runs before finishing with 50 (compared to 70 for McGwire and 66 for Sosa). Former MVP Ken Caminiti was second on the team in home runs and runs batted in. Gwynn had a .321 batting average.

In the regular season, San Diego won the NL Western Division. Their 98–64 record was third-best in the National League, behind the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves. Facing those teams in the NLDS and NLCS respectively, the Padres defeated both teams 3-1 and 4-2 to win their second NL pennant. The Padres were swept in the World Series by the New York Yankees.

Offseason November 26, 1997: Jorge Velandia was traded by the San Diego Padres with Doug Bochtler to the Oakland Athletics for David Newhan and Don Wengert. December 15, 1997: Derrek Lee was traded by the San Diego Padres with Steve Hoff (minors) and Rafael Medina to the Florida Marlins for Kevin Brown.

Regular season

Opening Day starters Player Pos Quilvio Veras 2B Steve Finley CF Tony Gwynn RF Ken Caminiti 3B Greg Vaughn LF Wally Joyner 1B Carlos Hernández C Chris Gomez SS Kevin Brown P

Season standings

Game log

|- bgcolor="#bfb" | 1 || March 31 || @ Reds || 10–2 || Brown (1–0) || Remlinger (0–1) || — || 54,578 || 1–0 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 2 || April 1 || @ Reds || 10–9 || Hamilton (1–0) || Sullivan (0–1) || Hoffman (1) || 13,706 || 2–0 || W2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 3 || April 2 || @ Reds || 1–5 || Cooke (1–0) || Ashby (0–1) || Shaw (1) || 13,630 || 2–1 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 4 || April 3 || @ Cardinals || 13–5 || Langston (1–0) || Aybar (0–1) || — || 26,760 || 3–1 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 5 || April 4 || @ Cardinals || 6–8 || Mercker (1–0) || Smith (0–1) || Bottenfield (1) || 34,292 || 3–2 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 6 || April 5 || @ Cardinals || 8–7 || Hoffman (1–0) || Looper (0–1) || Miceli (1) || 35,499 || 4–2 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 7 || April 7 || Reds || 3–2 || Hoffman (2–0) || Shaw (0–1) || — || 55,454 || 5–2 || W2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 8 || April 8 || Reds || 6–3 || Ashby (1–1) || White (0–1) || Hoffman (2) || 19,626 || 6–2 || W3 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 9 || April 9 || Reds || 6–2 || Boehringer (1–0) || Tomko (1–1) || — || 24,482 || 7–2 || W4 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 10 || April 10 || Diamondbacks || 6–4 || Miceli (1–0) || Rodriguez (0–1) || — || 27,243 || 8–2 || W5 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 11 || April 11 || Diamondbacks || 7–0 || Smith (1–1) || Adamson (0–1) || — || 37,753 || 9–2 || W6 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 12 || April 12 || Diamondbacks || 4–2 || Hamilton (2–0) || Blair (0–3) || Hoffman (3) || 26,217 || 10–2 || W7 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 13 || April 13 || Diamondbacks || 1–0 || Ashby (2–1) || Anderson (1–2) || — || 36,278 || 11–2 || W8 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 14 || April 14 || @ Giants || 7–13 || Tavarez (2–1) || Boehringer (1–1) || — || 11,669 || 11–3 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 15 || April 15 || @ Giants || 1–0 || Brown (2–0) || Darwin (1–1) || — || 16,255 || 12–3 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 16 || April 17 || @ Pirates || 7–5 || Boehringer (2–1) || Tabaka (0–1) || Hoffman (4) || 12,555 || 13–3 || W2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 17 || April 18 || @ Pirates || 7–5 || Miceli (2–0) || Loiselle (1–1) || Hoffman (5) || 14,728 || 14–3 || W3 |- bgcolor="#bbb" | – || April 19 || @ Pirates || colspan=7|Postponed (rain); rescheduled for May 20 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 18 || April 21 || @ Cubs || 3–5 || Trachsel (3–1) || Brown (2–1) || Beck (7) || 20,363 || 14–4 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 19 || April 22 || @ Cubs || 3–2 || Boehringer (3–1) || Telemaco (0–1) || Reyes (1) || 15,852 || 15–4 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 20 || April 23 || @ Cubs || 4–1 || Ashby (3–1) || Clark (2–2) || Hoffman (6) || 20,276 || 16–4 || W2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 21 || April 24 || Pirates || 2–4 || Schmidt (3–1) || Smith (1–2) || Rincon (1) || 26,413 || 16–5 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 22 || April 25 || Pirates || 4–3 || Reyes (1–0) || Martinez (0–1) || — || 53,710 || 17–5 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 23 || April 26 || Pirates || 0–6 || Lieber (1–3) || Brown (2–2) || — || 42,281 || 17–6 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 24 || April 27 || Cubs || 1–3 || Tapani (4–1) || Hamilton (2–1) || Beck (8) || 20,106 || 17–7 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 25 || April 28 || Cubs || 7–3 || Ashby (4–1) || Clark (2–3) || Hitchcock (1) || 21,024 || 18–7 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 26 || April 30 || @ Marlins || 4–1 || Smith (2–2) || Meadows (3–3) || Hoffman (7) || 14,562 || 19–7 || W2

|- bgcolor="#fbb" | 27 || May 1 || @ Marlins || 5–6 || Powell (3–2) || Miceli (2–1) || — || 19,465 || 19–8 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 28 || May 2 || @ Marlins || 8–7 || Hamilton (3–1) || Ludwick (1–3) || Hoffman (8) || 22,383 || 20–8 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 29 || May 3 || @ Marlins || 0–1 || Sanchez (1–1) || Ashby (4–2) || Powell (1) || 18,644 || 20–9 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 30 || May 4 || @ Brewers || 13–5 || Hitchcock (1–0) || Mercedes (2–2) || Wengert (1) || 9,357 || 21–9 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 31 || May 5 || @ Brewers || 13–4 || Smith (3–2) || Wagner (1–3) || — || 9,162 || 22–9 || W2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 32 || May 6 || @ Brewers || 2–3 || D. Jones (2–1) || Reyes (1–1) || — || 13,381 || 22–10 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 33 || May 7 || @ Braves || 3–6 || Smoltz (3–0) || Hamilton (3–2) || Ligtenberg (3) || 31,811 || 22–11 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 34 || May 8 || @ Braves || 3–2 || Ashby (5–2) || Glavine (4–2) || Hoffman (9) || 37,490 || 23–11 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 35 || May 9 || @ Braves || 4–6 || Millwood (5–1) || Van Ryn (0–1) || Ligtenberg (4) || 46,160 || 23–12 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 36 || May 10 || @ Braves || 5–8 || Cather (2–1) || Wall (0–1) || Ligtenberg (5) || 33,376 || 23–13 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 37 || May 11 || Mets || 2–1 || Brown (3–2) || A. Leiter (3–2) || Hoffman (10) || 15,291 || 24–13 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bbb" | – || May 12 || Mets || colspan=7|Postponed (rain); rescheduled for May 14 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 38 || May 13 || Mets || 3–4 || B. Jones (2–3) || Hamilton (3–3) || Franco (7) || 14,929 || 24–14 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 39 || May 14 || Mets || 3–1 || Boehringer (4–1) || Cook (2–2) || Hoffman (11) || N/A || 25–14 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 40 || May 14 || Mets || 6–2 || Miceli (3–1) || McMichael (1–1) || — || 26,488 || 26–14 || W2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 41 || May 15 || Phillies || 7–6 || Boehringer (5–1) || Grace (1–5) || Hoffman (12) || 25,157 || 27–14 || W3 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 42 || May 16 || Phillies || 3–2 || Reyes (2–1) || M. Leiter (2–1) || — || 53,117 || 28–14 || W4 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 43 || May 17 || Phillies || 3–1 || Wall (1–1) || Schilling (5–4) || Hoffman (13) || 27,913 || 29–14 || W5 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 44 || May 19 || @ Pirates || 0–3 || Silva (5–3) || Hamilton (3–4) || Loiselle (10) || 10,493 || 29–15 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 45 || May 20 || @ Pirates || 2–5 || Cordova (5–3) || Ashby (5–3) || Loiselle (11) || N/A || 29–16 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 46 || May 20 || @ Pirates || 8–3 || Hitchcock (2–0) || Peters (0–3) || — || 17,248 || 30–16 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 47 || May 21 || @ Pirates || 2–3 || Schmidt (7–1) || Brown (3–3) || Rincon (2) || 10,222 || 30–17 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 48 || May 22 || @ Astros || 9–6 || Miceli (4–1) || Nitkowski (1–2) || Hoffman (14) || 28,550 || 31–17 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 49 || May 23 || @ Astros || 3–4 || Miller (2–0) || Miceli (4–2) || Wagner (12) || 36,281 || 31–18 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 50 || May 24 || @ Astros || 2–5 || Schourek (2–2) || Hamilton (3–5) || Wagner (13) || 25,701 || 31–19 || L2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 51 || May 25 || @ Diamondbacks || 2–3 || Springer (3–2) || Ashby (5–4) || Olson (5) || 45,367 || 31–20 || L3 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 52 || May 26 || @ Diamondbacks || 12–1 || Brown (4–3) || Suppan (1–5) || — || 41,204 || 32–20 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 53 || May 27 || @ Diamondbacks || 6–4 || Wall (2–1) || Benes (3–5) || Hoffman (15) || 42,844 || 33–20 || W2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 54 || May 29 || Cardinals || 3–8 || Petkovsek (3–1) || Hamilton (3–6) || — || 36,648 || 33–21 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 55 || May 30 || Cardinals || 3–2 || Ashby (6–4) || Brantley (0–1) || — || 54,089 || 34–21 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 56 || May 31 || Cardinals || 7–3 || Brown (5–3) || Lowe (0–1) || — || 42,618 || 35–21 || W2

|- bgcolor="#bfb" | 57 || June 1 || Cardinals || 3–2 || Hitchcock (3–0) || Stottlemyre (6–5) || Hoffman (16) || 22,156 || 36–21 || W3 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 58 || June 2 || Astros || 3–4 || Reynolds (6–3) || Reyes (2–2) || Wagner (15) || 15,735 || 36–22 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 59 || June 3 || Astros || 2–8 || Bergman (5–3) || Hamilton (3–7) || — || 13,229 || 36–23 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 60 || June 4 || Astros || 5–1 || Ashby (7–4) || Hampton (7–3) || — || 21,027 || 37–23 || W1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 61 || June 5 || @ Rangers || 7–8 || Crabtree (3–0) || Wall (2–2) || Wetteland (15) || 37,903 || 37–24 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 62 || June 6 || @ Rangers || 0–3 || Burkett (4–5) || Hitchcock (3–1) || Wetteland (16) || 46,022 || 37–25 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 63 || June 7 || @ Rangers || 17–8 || Miceli (5–2) || Patterson (1–2) || — || 46,372 || 38–25 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 64 || June 8 || Reds || 4–2 || Hamilton (4–7) || Sullivan (1–3) || Hoffman (17) || 14,620 || 39–25 || W2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 65 || June 9 || Reds || 5–1 || Ashby (8–4) || Tomko (5–5) || Hoffman (18) || 14,857 || 40–25 || W3 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 66 || June 10 || Reds || 2–1 || Brown (6–3) || Shaw (1–3) || — || 12,957 || 41–25 || W4 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 67 || June 12 || Giants || 10–3 || Miceli (6–2) || Reed (2–1) || — || 60,789 || 42–25 || W5 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 68 || June 13 || Giants || 4–2 || Hamilton (5–7) || Gardner (5–3) || Hoffman (19) || 54,390 || 43–25 || W6 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 69 || June 14 || Giants || 3–2 || Ashby (9–4) || Darwin (6–4) || Hoffman (20) || 40,151 || 44–25 || W7 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 70 || June 16 || Dodgers || 10–6 || Brown (7–3) || Park (5–4) || Hoffman (21) || 38,166 || 45–25 || W8 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 71 || June 17 || Dodgers || 3–2 || Hoffman (3–0) || Reyes (0–2) || — || 35,765 || 46–25 || W9 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 72 || June 18 || @ Giants || 7–6 || Ramirez (1–0) || Johnstone (2–4) || Miceli (2) || 16,899 || 47–25 || W10 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 73 || June 19 || @ Giants || 9–5 || Ashby (10–4) || Darwin (6–5) || — || 23,034 || 48–25 || W11 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 74 || June 20 || @ Giants || 2–5 || Estes (6–5) || Langston (1–1) || Nen (22) || 35,782 || 48–26 || L1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 75 || June 21 || @ Giants || 5–1 || Brown (8–3) || Hershiser (6–5) || Hoffman (22) || 46,506 || 49–26 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 76 || June 22 || @ Mariners || 5–3 || Miceli (7–2) || Fassero (5–5) || Hoffman (23) || 41,571 || 50–26 || W2 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 77 || June 23 || @ Mariners || 3–5 || Moyer (5–6) || Hamilton (5–8) || Slocumb (2) || 30,961 || 50–27 || L1 |- bgcolor="#fbb" | 78 || June 24 || Mariners || 1–2 || Johnson (7–6) || Ashby (10–5) || — || 36,900 || 50–28 || L2 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 79 || June 25 || Mariners || 6–0 || Langston (2–1) || Cloude (3–7) || Wall (1) || 32,626 || 51–28 || W1 |- bgcolor="#bfb" | 80 || June 26 || Angels || 6–3 || Brown (9–3) || Dickson (8–5) || Hoffman (24) || 40,621 || 52–28 || W2 |- bgcolor="#bfb"