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The '1998 World Series' matched the New York Yankees against the San Diego Padres marking the first time the Yankees had ever faced an expansion team in the Series. The Yankees swept the Series in four games to capture their second championship in three years, and their 24th overall. It was San Diego's second World Series appearance, losing in 1984 to the Detroit Tigers.

Contents

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Quotes of the Series

Trivia

External links

Game 1

October 17, 1998 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	1	0	'6'	'8'	'1'
'New York'	0	2	0	0	0	0	7	0	X	'9'	'9'	'1'
'W': David Wells (1-0)   'L': Donne Wall (0-1)  'S': Mariano Rivera (1)
'HR': 'SD' – Greg Vaughn 2 (2), Tony Gwynn (1)  'NYY' – Chuck Knoblauch (1), Tino Martinez (1)

In Game 1, Kevin Brown took the hill for the Padres and he was opposed by Yankee ace and ALCS MVP David Wells. The Yankees began the scoring in the 2nd inning, when rookie Ricky Ledee laced a 2 run double into the right field corner with the bases loaded. Wells was battered hard for the only time in the postseason beginning with the 3rd when Greg Vaughn homered to rightcenter with a man aboard tying the game up at 2 runs apiece. In the 5th, Tony Gwynn smashed a 2 run shot off the facing of the upper deck and that was followed up immediately by Vaughn's second dinger of the night. Trailing 5-2, the Yanks made their comeback in the 7th. Jorge Posada singled and Ledee walked ending the night for Brown. It turned out to be a bad move by Padres manager Bruce Bochy. New York took advantage of the Padres bullpen with a 3 run homer by Chuck Knoblauch that tied the game at 5. Later in the inning, a 2-2 count call by home plate umpire Rich Garcia would prove to be decisive. Mark Langston's pitch was shown on television replays to be a borderline pitch, which Rich Garcia called a ball. Tino Martinez would take advantage of Garcia's call and on the next pitch sent a grand slam into the upper deck making it a 9-5 lead. The Padres would only score one more run as the Yankees won game one 9-6.

Game 2

October 18, 1998 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	'3'	'10'	'1'
'New York'	3	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	X	'9'	'16'	'0'
'W': Orlando Hernandez (1-0)   'L': Andy Ashby (0-1)
'HR' – 'NYY': Bernie Williams (1), Jorge Posada (1)

In Game 2, the Bombers would go up 2-0 thanks to a dreadful outing by San Diego starter Andy Ashby. Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada would go yard to assist the Yankees on offense. New York started Cuban import, Orlando Hernandez, who was outstanding.

Game 3

October 20, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
'New York'	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	'5'	'9'	'1'
San Diego	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	'4'	'7'	'1'
'W': Ramiro Mendoza (1-0)   'L': Trevor Hoffman (0-1)  'S': Mariano Rivera (2)
'HR': 'NYY' – Scott Brosius 2 (2)

With the Yankees up 2-0, they sent David Cone to the mound to face Sterling Hitchcock, the MVP of the NLCS. Both teams were kept off the scoreboard until the bottom of the 6th when Hitchcock himself led off the inning with a single off Cone. He and Qulivio Veras both scored two batters later when Tony Gwynn shot a double down the line past Tino Martinez at first base. Gwynn would also score in the inning to give San Diego a 3-0 lead. However, a half inning later the Yanks jumped on Hitchcock for two runs beginning with a home run to left-center by Scott Brosius. The second run came in after Shane Spencer doubled and scored on an error by Ken Caminiti. In the 8th, the call was made to Trevor Hoffman after Randy Myers walked Paul O'Neill to open the inning. Hoffman then walked Tino Martinez before Scott Brosius tagged a three run blast over the fence in dead center. With a 5-3 lead, the Yankees wrapped up the victory when Mariano Rivera picked up the save in the 9th to end it.
===Game 4===
October 21, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
'New York'	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	'3'	'9'	'0'
San Diego	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	'0'	'7'	'0'
'W': Andy Pettitte (1-0)   'L': Kevin Brown (0-1)  'S': Mariano Rivera (3)

The once struggling Andy Pettite outdueled Kevin Brown in Game 4.

Quotes of the Series

''"You gotta win four to wear the crown."'' - Hall of Fame-Elect Tony Gwynn in an interview prior to Game 4 of the Series, insisting that the Padres would not quit despite being down three games to none.
''"From ear to ear, you can feel Darryl Strawberry smiling"'' - FOX announcer Tim McCarver after the Yankees win. Darryl had cancer and could not play in the 1998 postseason.
''"Hit on the ground on a hop to Brosius, fields, throws across...in time! BALL GAME OVER! WORLD SERIES OVER! YANKEES WIN! THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!"-''Yankees announcer John Sterling on the last out.
''"And The Yankees have done it AGAIN, #24, they are the world champions in 1998!"-''Joe Buck calling the final out of the series.
''"And the 3-2 pitch...SWUNG ON AND DRILLED DEEP TO RIGHT! THERE IT GOES! THAT BALL IS GONE! A GRAND SLAM IN TO THE UPPER DECK FOR TINO MARTINEZ! AND THE YANKEES LEAD 9-5! OH, WHAT A HOME RUN FOR TINO MARTINEZ!"-''Michael Kay's call on Tino's Game One slam.
''"Martinez down the right field line....Grand Slam!"-''Joe Buck's call on the Tino Martinez grand slam
''"In our lifetime, we may probably never see this again. 125 wins, unheard of! They are an amazing baseball team!"''-Michael Kay after the Yankees sweep
''"Every great team in baseball history will now be compared to these 1998 Yankees. And I predict, that when the game of baseball is finally done, this team will be remembered as the greatest team of all time."''-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani at the Yankees victory rally.

★ "''We're the greatest team ever''!!"-A Yankee during the champagne celebration in the locker room after Game 4.

Trivia

★ The New York Yankees victory gave them the most wins of any team in any season in baseball history (including postseason) with 125.

★ It was the first sweep in the Fall Classic since 1990, and the first Series since then that lasted fewer than six games.

★ This was the first year this particular World Series logo was used. It was only used again in the 1999 World Series. Both the 1998 and 1999 series were won by the Yankees.

★ For the first time the same city, San Diego, hosted both the Super Bowl and the final World Series game in the same year. Not only were they held in the same city, they were both held in the same stadium.

★ This was the last World Series to date to be won by a team that had won 100 games or more in the regular season.

★ This was the first World Series to be broadcast by ESPN Radio. The network took over national radio broadcast rights from CBS Radio, which had aired the event since 1976.

★ ESPN, in celebration of their 25th anniversary, rated the 1998 Yankees as the greatest sports team in the ESPN era (1979-2004).

External links

★ 1998 World Series by Baseball Almanac

★ History of the World Series - 1998

★ Baseball-Reference.com - 1998 World Series