The 1998 season was wild when it came to the home run department. Everybody remembers what Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa did that summer — the Great Home Run Chase was so massive it dominated ESPN and every dinner-table conversation about baseball for months. That summer will forever be tainted once you factor in the performance-enhancing drugs involved.
But heck, I had no clue about any of that while it was happening. Mostly because I was an oblivious and impressionable 11-year-old baseball fan. I still remember coming downstairs every morning and flipping on SportsCenter to see who hit a home run the day before. I wouldn’t trade that feeling for anything.
Here’s the thing about 1998, though — it wasn’t just a two-man show. Four players reached the 50-homer plateau that year. Considering it’s only been done 54 total times in baseball history, watching it happen four times in one season is downright outrageous. You already know two of the names. Can you remember the other two?
- Mark McGwire: 70 homers
- Sammy Sosa: 66 homers
- Ken Griffey Jr.: 56 homers
- Greg Vaughn: 50 homers
I’ve talked about Griffey’s 50-homer efforts plenty on this site. But if Greg Vaughn didn’t roll right off your tongue, you’re in good company — my guess is you’re in the majority here, not the minority. And there’s no shame in it.
McGwire, Sosa, and Griffey were already superstars. Vaughn was playing in San Diego. Since that market doesn’t get the same national spotlight, his season got buried and stayed that way.
Greg Vaughn’s Career Year (& The One After)
Vaughn played for five teams across his 15-year MLB career and earned four All-Star nods along the way. But it’s clear what he did in ’98 — and then again in ’99 — was a tier above everything else he accomplished.
The outfielder suited up for 158 games in 1998, helping the Padres reach the postseason and, eventually, the World Series. He slashed .272/.363/.597 across 661 plate appearances that year. His .960 OPS was a career-high mark, and so were the 50 homers, 119 RBI, and 112 runs he racked up along the way.
That season earned him his third All-Star selection, his first (and only) Silver Slugger Award, and a fourth-place finish in NL MVP voting.
Here’s the side-by-side that really shows how absurd back-to-back seasons were:
- 1998 (Padres): .272/.363/.597, 50 HR, 119 RBI, 112 R, .960 OPS
- 1999 (Reds): .245/.347/.535, 45 HR, 118 RBI, 104 R, .881 OPS
His average dropped, and his OPS came down nearly 80 points, but the power barely moved. He didn’t make the All-Star team in ’99, but he still landed a second consecutive fourth-place finish in MVP voting.
Back-to-back seasons like that from a guy almost nobody brings up today? That’s exactly why this site exists.
It Kinda Came Out of Nowhere, Too
None of this is to say Vaughn never flashed real power before his two-year tear. After all, he strung together four seasons of 20-plus homers, including 30 in 1993 and 41 in 1996. But the 50-homer explosion still came out of nowhere, thanks to what he did in 1997, which was his first full season in San Diego.
He hit 31 homers in 102 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1996 before finishing that season with the Padres over 43 games, adding 10 more dingers to go with a modest .783 OPS. His 1997 campaign resulted in just 18 homers and a .393 slugging percentage across 120 games.
So no, nobody was circling Vaughn’s name heading into 1998 as someone expected to have a monster season. That’s what makes it so fun to revisit.
He Still Reigns Supreme on the Padres’ Leaderboard
More than 25 years later, Vaughn still owns the Padres’ single-season home run record — and it isn’t close. Here’s the top eight in franchise history:
- Greg Vaughn: 50 homers in 1998
- Fernando Tatis Jr.: 42 homers in 2021
- Phil Nevin: 41 homers in 2001
- Ken Caminiti: 40 homers in 1996
- Adrian Gonzalez: 40 homers in 2009
- Nate Colbert: 38 homers in 1970 and 1972
- Adrian Gonzalez: 36 homers in 2008
Tatis Jr. has come the closest anyone’s gotten since, and even that fell eight homers short. Until someone in San Diego puts together a special year, Vaughn’s 1998 stands alone. Despite being one of the more overlooked 50-homer seasons in history, it’s still unmatched by the team that watched it happen.
If you want more fun stats and stories on the Padres’ all-time power hitters, check out my full breakdown here.
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