1998 San Diego Padres vs Houston Astros NLDS Highlights

[@hmhm856]

8:26 What does that Alou play remind you of? Think 2003

[@FigbootonPens]

I've always contended that fan got a raw deal. The way the seats were situated, he stood straight up in his seat...didn't lean over the railing...caught the ball...and got booted for interference.

[@hipstereagle6050]

Okay that is crazy

[@dukedematteo1995]

Brown vs Unit....What an amazing match up!! I forgot about this!

[@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnly]

This was the first playoff series win for the Padres since 1984.

[@ManiaxOnYT]

Until tonight, this was the last time the Padres won in the NLDS

[@hmhm856]

Jim Leyritz so freaking home run clutch in his career, wow

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

Kevin Brown went to town in this series

[@walterheisenberg251]

One of the more underrated careers in MLB history. The line for a HOFer in WAR is about 60. Brown’s is 67.8 and he’s never had serious HOF consideration.

[@hmhm856]

@@walterheisenberg251 he was in the Mitchell Report. Thats why voters wont vote him in

[@walterheisenberg251]

@@hmhm856 dgaf. That dude was good.

[@LeoWhalen1933]

Thoughts on this series: Nothing needs to be said about Leytitz in the playoffs. Amazing 😂😂😂 Qualcomm Stadium was one of the most aesthetically pleasing ballparks to wat a game. Especially at night. Bagwell and Biggios bats were silent. Gwynn isnt just arguably the greatest hitter of all-time, but one of the greatest baseball players of all-time.

[@julianguerrero6964]

Thanks for day memory once again, great been there.

[@cdelano81]

The Yankees may have set a new AL record for wins in a season, but if you could make out a list of team that could beat the Yankees in the playoffs, the Houston Astros would have to be at the top of the list. Since July 27, the Astros are 41-17, the best record on ANY MLB team, and their Trump Card is Randy Johnson, 10-1 since coming to Houston. And at home, he's 5-0 with four shutouts and allowed only 2 runs in 43 innings. Add in a solid offense that scored over 800 runs led by Biggio, Bagwell and Moises Alou, and the 102-win Astros have the makings of a deep playoff run. But the San Diego Padres, 98-64 on the season, have other plans. Not the least of which is Kevin Brown, 16 game winner in 1998, and will opposite the Big Unit in Game 1 at the Astrodome. It was a great duel, but the Big Unit did hit a bump, giving up 2 runs, scattering 9 hits over 8 innings. Kevin Brown was even better, allowing only 2 hits over 8 shutout frames, fanning 16 batters (one shy of Bob Gibson's record). Come the 9th, Bochy opted to go to Trevor Hoffman to relieve Brown. With 53 saves to his credit, why not. Hoffman did allow an unearned run, but saved the game as the Padres steal Game 1, 2-1. The Astros seem poised to even the score in Game 2, as Derek Bell's 8th inning HR extended the lead to 4-2. Houston was a strike away in the 9th, but Jim Leyritz drilled a fastball off Billy Wagner over the right field wall for a game-tying home run. Houston recovered in the bottom half as Bill Spiers singled home the game winner, as the Astros evened the series nonetheless, 5-4. Because of an off day between Games 1 and 2, the Padres opted to go to Brown on three days' rest for Game 3 at Qualcomm Stadium. Brown allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings. Then, in the 7th, Jim Leyritz--who else--homered to put the Padres ahead to stay. One more win, and the Padres will pull off an upset. In the 2nd, Leyritz went full Superman with ANOTHER home run, off the Big Unit. Sterling Hitchcock kept the Astros in check, allowing only one run through 6. The Padres snapped the 1-all tie in the bottom half on an error. Then, they put the Astros away with four runs, capped by a Wally Joyner two-run shot. Three Trevor Hoffman outs later, the Padres pulled out an upset with a 6-1 win. San Diego knocked off a 102-win club, but will they be ready for the Mt. Rushmore of pitching staffs in the Deep South in the NLCS?

[@hmhm856]

Your thoughts play at 8:29? What does it remind you of?

[@cdelano81]

@@hmhm856 Steve Bartman, unfortunately. (Five years later)

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

only 4 of his 11 wins as an Astro were at home? Wouldn't have guessed that.

[@cdelano81]

@@chrisuncleahmad789 I made an error. It WAS a 5-0 record at the Astrodome, including 4 shutouts. He was 5-1 in an Astros' road uniform. I corrected it my main recap/comments just now.

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

1:52 vintage tony gwynn

[@hmhm856]

yup, I was also thinking the same.

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

For what it's worth, SD won 98 games that year. This isn't like when the Indians had only 86 wins the previous year when they made the World Series. They took their foot off the gas after clinching the NL West on September 12 (went 4-9 the rest of the reg. season). They could have easily been a 100-win team ala Houston. The 1998 San Diego Padres are a criminally underrated pennant winner.

[@Willthrill8]

Empty pennant winner.

[@jeffyeaple6679]

@@Willthrill8 nah

[@SmoothCriminal12]

I genuinely believe that had Cleveland finished off the Yankees after going up 2-1 that San Diego takes that hypothetical series. They'd already kept all but one of those four games insanely close.

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

Astros consistently had issues scoring runs back then. They were Braves lite.

[@tevinsherrill5653]

Game 2 was the best game of this series, hands down.

[@tbewin1z143]

Must be an Astros fan!!!

[@jeffyeaple6679]

Leyritz and KB27 killed it for the Pads, Leyritz almost had a GS in game 1 aswell

[@hmhm856]

Randy Johnson is now a free agent and he will sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason

[@walterheisenberg251]

And win 4 Cy Youngs.

[@banditpicasso]

Tony Gwynn vs randy must’ve been crazy.

[@hmhm856]

12:15 what is Bagwell thinking making the first out at home plate, specially so late in the game and down by one?

[@LeoWhalen1933]

I never realized Caminiti was such a great defensive 3rd baseman. Besides the one throw that got away in game one he was a brick wall and had an accurate arm...

[@hmhm856]

Ken Caminiti, Robin Ventura, and Scott Rolen are the greatest defensive thirdbasemen of all time

[@timmount9151]

@@hmhm856 Frank Robinson disagrees.

[@SmoothCriminal12]

​@@timmount9151I think you mean Brooks Robinson.

[@johndaniels7609]

​@@hmhm856Mike Schmidt?

[@hmhm856]

9:37 Tony Gwynn with the strong and accurate throw. Come on Alou, what are you doing making the first out at third base, specially when youre down by one so late in the game against a tough pitcher.

[@roguegust8832]

Little league mistake that cost them the game and maybe their season

[@redmustangredmustang]

This is when San Diego was so good for the last time then fell off the face of the earth until they finally got in the playoffs in 2020. For the Astros, it wasn't until 2004 when they finally beat the Braves to win their first ever playoff series.

[@ManiaxOnYT]

The Padres made the playoffs in 2005 and 2006, but yeah weren't great again until 2020

[@hmhm856]

@@ManiaxOnYT They also played in that game 163 in 2007, if you wanna count that as postseason. Man, that was a collapse in 2007 in the second half of September by the Padres

[@ckendall67]

8:30...wouldn't be the last time Moises Alou would be involved with a fan interference play down the leftfield line.........

[@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnly]

Oh no...but the next time it happened it would be in a much larger city with an even more tortured fanbase

[@charliegodinez9655]

Good ol days when you waited for the ESPN scores and recaps. Now it’s junk

[@Frank_E_Scialdone]

I WAS AT THAT GAME 4. GO PADRES!!!!!!

[@jeffyeaple6679]

i remember staying home from school in Australia to watch my Padres win game 1 and almost take game 2.............

[@tbewin1z143]

Do you own the team lol???

[@hipstereagle6050]

8:30 okay this is spooky

[@roguegust8832]

The Astros basically ran themselves out of the series on the basepaths

[@GoBlue_yanks42]

8:27…. 🤔

[@Nitsudrd]

Word on the street is leyritz wasn't liked in the clubhouse

[@prosandconsfilms6933]

Is the ump as dumb as he looks at 0:14 😂

[@mongozx]

Craig Biggio was Tom Brady before Tom Brady was Tom Brady. I'll miss Qualcomm, I mean the Murph, I mean SDCCCCU.

[@hmhm856]

Astros power offense................. WOW....... just wow.... one run in game 1 one run in game 3 one run in game 4. And come on Randy Johnson, you have to win that game 4. Shame we didnt get to see Lima Time starting for the Astros in this series.

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

heck, even the one run in game 1 came via an error

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

Always their Achilles heel back then. Couldn't score runs in October.

[@chrisuncleahmad789]

Should th hey have started Lima in game 3?

[@hmhm856]

@@chrisuncleahmad789 No, Mike Hampton pitched really good for the Astros allowing just one run in six innings. Im surprised the Astros took him out after six innings and just 77 pitches. He had complete game stuff that day. And if there was a game 5, Astros would have gone with Shayne Reynolds on short rest, since Reynolds pitched really good in game 2. So no Lima starting in NLDS, due to the weird off days in this NLDS. Every 4 games that the Astros pitchers pitched, they pitched great. It was the Astros offense that got anemic as they always did in the NLDS in 97, 98, 99, and 2001.

[@jeffyeaple6679]

@@hmhm856 Hampton pitched extremely well in Game 3 considering he was getting alot of out on ball counts and walks were his achilles heel vs the Braves the year before

[@bvb-xe8co]

Biggio and Bagwell never had a clutch hit in the playoffs...never ......

[@tbewin1z143]

Biggio actually had good performances in '04 and '05!!!

[@hmhm856]

Biggio game 7 2004 NLCS, lead off home run against the Cards (if thats considered clutch). Bagwell game 6 2004 NLCS, down to their final out, he gets the game tying hit against the Cards. Sadly, the Astros would lose in extras that game 6, and then they would lose the following night game 7 . But yes, in 97 NLDS, 98 NLDS, 99 NLDS, 2001 NLDS they always had nothing!!!! Given, they had to face Atlanta in 97, 99, and 01 (Glavine, Maddux, SMoltz, Millwood), and in 98 they had to face Kevin Brown twice against the Padres.