1984 San Diego Padres season

1984 San Diego Padres 1984 National League Champions 1984 NL West Champions
Major league affiliations
National League (since 1969) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Jack Murphy Stadium (since 1969) San Diego, California (since 1969)
1984 information
Owner(s)	Ray Kroc and Joan Kroc
Manager(s)	Dick Williams
Local television	KCST Cox Cable (Dave Campbell, Jerry Coleman, Bob Chandler, Ted Leitner)
Local radio	KFMB (AM) (Dave Campbell, Jerry Coleman) XEXX (Gustavo Lopez, Mario Thomas Zapiain)
Previous season     Next season

Offseason

• October 21, 1983: Sandy Alomar, Jr. was signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent.^[1]
• December 6, 1983: Joe Pittman and a player to be named later were traded by the Padres to the San Francisco Giants for Champ Summers. The Padres completed the deal by sending Tommy Francis (minors) to the Giants on December 7.^[2]
• December 7, 1983: Gary Lucas was traded by the Padres to the Montreal Expos as part of a three-team trade. The Expos sent Al Newman to the Padres, and the Chicago Cubs sent Carmelo Martínez, Craig Lefferts, and Fritzie Connally to the Padres. The Expos traded Scott Sanderson to the Cubs.^[3]
• January 6, 1984: Rich Gossage was signed as a free agent by the Padres.^[4]
• January 14, 1984: Owner Ray Kroc dies. Ownership passes to his wife, Joan B. Kroc.
• January 17, 1984: Rodney McCray was drafted by the Padres in the 9th round of the 1984 amateur draft.^[5]
• March 30, 1984: Dennis Rasmussen and a player to be named later were traded by the Padres to the New York Yankees for Graig Nettles. The Padres completed the deal by sending Darin Cloninger (minors) to the Yankees on April 26.^[6]

Regular season

• Tony Gwynn had the highest batting average in Major League Baseball.

The 1984 season began with a shock: Team owner Ray Kroc died of heart disease on January 14. Ownership of the team passed to his third wife, Joan B. Kroc. The team would wear Ray's initials, "RAK" on their jersey's left sleeve during the entire season.

Fortunately, happier times were ahead for the team. The Padres finished at 92-70 in 1984 and won the National League West championship, despite having no players with 100-RBI and only two batters with 20-HR. They were managed by Dick Williams and had an offense that featured veterans Steve Garvey, Garry Templeton, Graig Nettles, Alan Wiggins as well as Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn, who captured his first of what would be eight National League batting championships that year (he would also win in 1987-89 and from 1994-97; Gwynn shares the National League record with Honus Wagner). Gwynn, who also would win five National League Gold Gloves during his career, joined the Padres in 1982 following starring roles in both baseball and basketball at San Diego State University (he still holds the school record for career basketball assists), and after having been selected in the previous year by both the Padres in the baseball draft and by the then San Diego Clippers in the National Basketball Association draft. The Padres pitching staff in 1984 featured Eric Show (15-9), Ed Whitson (14-8), Mark Thurmond (14-8), Tim Lollar (11-13), and Rich "Goose" Gossage as their closer (10-6, 2.90 ERA and 25 saves).^[7]

Opening Day starters

• Steve Garvey
• Tony Gwynn
• Terry Kennedy
• Carmelo Martinez
• Kevin McReynolds
• Graig Nettles
• Eric Show
• Garry Templeton
• Alan Wiggins^[8]

Season standings

NL West	W	L	GB	Pct.
San Diego Padres	92	70	--	.568
Atlanta Braves	80	82	12.0	.494
Houston Astros	80	82	12.0	.494
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	13.0	.488
Cincinnati Reds	70	92	22.0	.432
San Francisco Giants	66	96	26.0	.407

Notable transactions

• July 20, 1984: Al Newman was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Montreal Expos for Greg Harris.^[9]

Roster

1984 San Diego Padres
Roster
Pitchers 51 Greg Booker 25 Floyd Chiffer 35 Luis DeLeón 43 Dave Dravecky 54 Goose Gossage 46 Greg Harris 40 Andy Hawkins 37 Craig Lefferts 48 Tim Lollar 42 Sid Monge 30 Eric Show 38 Mark Thurmond 31 Ed Whitson		Catchers 15 Bruce Bochy 10 Doug Gwosdz 16 Terry Kennedy Infielders  7 Kurt Bevacqua 11 Tim Flannery  6 Steve Garvey  9 Graig Nettles 12 Mario Ramírez  4 Luis Salazar 24 Champ Summers  1 Garry Templeton  2 Alan Wiggins		Outfielders 20 Bobby Brown 19 Tony Gwynn 14 Carmelo Martínez 18 Kevin McReynolds 39 Eddie Miller 41 Ron Roenicke		Manager 23 Dick Williams Coaches 33 Harry Dunlop 34 Jack Krol 46 Norm Sherry 32 Ozzie Virgil

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Terry Kennedy	148	530	127	.240	14	57
1B	Steve Garvey	161	617	175	.284	8	86
2B	Alan Wiggins	158	596	154	.258	3	34
3B	Graig Nettles	124	395	90	.228	20	65
SS	Garry Templeton	148	493	127	.258	2	35
LF	Carmelo Martínez	149	488	122	.250	13	66
CF	Kevin McReynolds	147	525	146	.278	20	75
RF	Tony Gwynn	158	606	213	.351	5	71

^[10]

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Luis Salazar	93	228	55	.241	3	17
Bobby Brown	85	171	43	.251	3	29
Tim Flannery	86	128	35	.273	2	10
Bruce Bochy	37	92	21	.228	4	15
Kurt Bevacqua	59	80	16	.200	1	9
Mario Ramírez	48	59	7	.119	2	9
Champ Summers	47	54	10	.185	1	12
Ron Roenicke	12	20	6	.300	1	2
Eddie Miller	13	14	4	.286	1	2
Doug Gwosdz	7	8	2	.250	0	1

^[10]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Eric Show	32	207	15	9	3.40	104
Tim Lollar	31	195.2	11	13	3.91	131
Ed Whitson	31	189	14	8	3.24	103
Mark Thurmond	32	178.2	14	8	2.97	57

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Dave Dravecky	50	156.2	9	8	2.93	71
Andy Hawkins	36	146	8	9	4.68	77

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Goose Gossage	62	10	6	25	2.90	84
Craig Lefferts	62	3	4	10	2.13	56
Greg Booker	32	1	1	0	3.30	28
Luis DeLeón	32	2	2	0	5.48	44
Greg Harris (pitcher, born 1955)	19	2	1	1	2.70	30
Floyd Chiffer	15	1	0	0	7.71	20
Sid Monge	13	2	1	0	4.80	7

NLCS

Cub-Busters T-shirts were popular with Padres fans.

Main article: 1984 National League Championship Series

In the 1984 NLCS, the Padres faced the NL East champion Chicago Cubs, who were making their first post-season appearance since 1945 and featured NL Most Valuable Player Ryne Sandberg and Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe. The Cubs would win the first two games at Wrigley Field, but the Padres swept the final three games at then-Jack Murphy Stadium (the highlight arguably being Steve Garvey's dramatic, game winning home run off of Lee Smith in Game 4) to win the 1984 National League pennant.^[11] Gossage, a former New York Yankee, said the San Diego crowd at Game 3 was "the loudest crowd I've ever heard anywhere."^[12] Gwynn agreed as well.^[13] Jack Murphy Stadium played "Cub-Busters", a parody of the theme song from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters.^[12][13] Cub-Busters T-shirts inspired from the movie were popular attire for Padres fans.^[14][15]

Game 1

October 2: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Chicago	2	0	3	0	6	2	0	0	X	13	16	0
W: Rick Sutcliffe (1-0)   L: Eric Show (0-1)   S: none
HR: SD – none  CHC – Bob Dernier (1) Gary Matthews (2), Rick Sutcliffe (1), Ron Cey (1)
Pitchers: SD – Show, Harris (5), Booker (7)  CHC – Sutcliffe, Brusstar (8)
Attendance: 36,282

Game 2

October 3: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
San Diego	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	5	0
Chicago	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	x	4	8	1
W: Steve Trout (1-0)   L: Mark Thurmond (0-1)   S: Lee Smith (1)
HR: SD – none  CHC – none
Pitchers: SD – Thurmond, Hawkins (4), Dravecky (6), Lefferts (8)  CHC – Trout, Smith (9)
Attendance: 36,282

Game 3

October 4: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
San Diego	0	0	0	0	3	4	0	0	x	7	11	0
W: Ed Whitson (1-0)   L: Dennis Eckersley (0-1)   S: none
HR: CHC – none  SD – Kevin McReynolds (1)
Pitchers: CHC – Eckersley, Frazier (6), Stoddard (8)  SD – Whitson, Gossage (9)
Attendance: 58,346

Game 4

October 6: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	8	1
San Diego	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	2	7	11	0
W: Craig Lefferts (1-0)   L: Lee Smith (0-1)   S: none
HR: CHC – Jody Davis (1), Leon Durham (1)  SD Steve Garvey (1)
Pitchers: CHC – Sanderson, Brusstar (5), Stoddard (7), Smith (8)  SD – Lollar, Hawkins (5), Dravecky (6), Gossage (8), Lefferts (9)
Attendance: 58,354

Game 5

October 7: Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	1
San Diego	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0	x	6	8	0
W: Craig Lefferts (2-0)   L: Rick Sutcliffe (1-1)   S: Goose Gossage (1)
HR: CHC – Leon Durham (2), Jody Davis (2)  SD – none
Pitchers: CHC – Sutcliffe, Trout (7), Brusstar (8)  SD – Show, Hawkins (2), Dravecky (4), Lefferts (6), Gossage (8)
Attendance: 58,359

As if to tease their fatalistic fans, the Cubs started out well in the final and deciding game of the series. Durham hit a two-run homer in the first and Davis added a solo homer in the second to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. With National League Cy Young Award winner and Game 1 victor Rick Sutcliffe pitching brilliantly, the Cubs maintained their lead until the bottom of the sixth. Then disaster struck in a way that left many Cubs fans muttering about curses and other storied collapses in the franchise's history.

Chicago's downfall began innocently enough, with San Diego getting two sacrifice flies in the sixth to cut the Cubs' lead to 3-2. But the Padres' seventh proved catastrophic for Chicago. Carmelo Martínez led off the inning with a walk, was sacrificed to second by Garry Templeton, and scored when Tim Flannery's grounder trickled through Durham's legs for a crucial error. Alan Wiggins singled Flannery to second, and Gwynn doubled both runners home to give the Padres a 5-3 lead. Garvey followed with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 6-3. Steve Trout then replaced Sutcliffe on the mound and got out of the inning unscathed. The Cubs got three baserunners over the final two innings against Gossage but could not score, and San Diego took home its first National League pennant.

World series

Main article: 1984 World Series

In the 1984 World Series, the Padres faced the powerful Detroit Tigers, who steamrolled through the regular season with 104 victories (and had started out with a 35-5 record, the best ever through the first 40 games). The Tigers were managed by Sparky Anderson and featured shortstop and native San Diegan Alan Trammell and outfielder Kirk Gibson, along with Lance Parrish and DH Darrell Evans. The pitching staff was bolstered by ace Jack Morris (19-11, 3.60 ERA), Dan Petry (18-8), Milt Wilcox (17-8), and closer Willie Hernandez (9-3, 1.92 ERA with 32 saves).^[16] Jack Morris would win games 1 and 4 and the Tigers would go on to win the Series 4-games-to-1.^[17]

Reporter Barry Bloom of MLB.com wrote in 2011 that "the postseason in ’84 is still the most exciting week of Major League Baseball ever played in San Diego."^[18]

AL Detroit Tigers (4) vs. NL San Diego Padres (1)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Tigers – 3, Padres – 2	October 9	Jack Murphy Stadium(San Diego)	57,908	3:18
2	Tigers – 3, Padres – 5	October 10	Jack Murphy Stadium (San Diego)	57,911	2:44
3	Padres – 2, Tigers – 5	October 13	Tiger Stadium (Detroit)	51,970	3:11
4	Padres – 2, Tigers – 4	October 14	Tiger Stadium (Detroit)	52,130	2:20
5	Padres – 4, Tigers – 8	October 15	Tiger Stadium (Detroit)	51,901	2:55

Award winners

• Tony Gwynn, National League Batting Champion (.351)
• Tony Gwynn, National League Leader in Hits (213)

1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Las Vegas Stars	Pacific Coast League	Bob Cluck
AA	Beaumont Golden Gators	Texas League	Bobby Tolan
A	Reno Padres	California League	Jim Skaalen
A	Miami Marlins	Florida State League	Steve Smith
Short-Season A	Spokane Indians	Northwest League	Jack Maloof

^[19]

Notes

1. ^ Sandy Alomar Jr. page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ Champ Summers page at Baseball Reference
3. ^ Scott Sanderson page at Baseball Reference
4. ^ Rich Gossage page at Baseball Reference
5. ^ Rodney McCray page at Baseball Reference
6. ^ Graig Nettles page at Baseball Reference
7. ^ Baseball-reference.com San Diego Padres 1984
8. ^ http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1984&t=SDN
9. ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/newmaal01.shtml
10. ^ ^{a b} 1984 San Diego Padres Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com
11. ^ Baseball-Reference.com 1984 NLCS
12. ^ ^{a b} Johnson, Jay; Hughes, Joe (October 5, 1984). "Full house beats 9 Cubs". Evening Tribune: p. A-1. "The scene was joyous pandemonium after the game, as long-suffering fans danced in the aisles, hugged total strangers, whooped and sang along as "Cub-Busters" played on the stadium's loudspeakers." 
13. ^ ^{a b} Staples, Billy; Herschlag, Rich (2007). Before the Glory: 20 Baseball Heroes Talk about Growing Up and Turning Hard Times Into Home Runs. HCI. p. 386. ISBN 9780757306266. http://books.google.com/books?id=0DoprUPyhqEC&lpg=PA386&dq=cub%20buster%20padres&pg=PA386#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved October 6, 2011. "The home crowd had another weapon up its sleeve, a ditty called "Cub-busters," a parody of the theme from the Chicago-based 1984 hit movie Ghostbusters." 
14. ^ Sauer, Mark (October 6, 1984). "With a toast from the host ... Padres' faithful primed for game 4 -- and maybe game 5". The San Diego Union: p. A-1. "'The Cub Busters T-shirts have been the hottest item, but stuff we hadn't sold in years suddenly started moving,' said Croasdale." 
15. ^ Laurence, Robert P. (October 2, 1984). "'Busters' promoter Cub at heart". The San Diego Union: p. B-1. "Logan came up with the design after hearing the 'Ghostbusters' theme song at a Padres-Mets game in August, and his creation is without a doubt the hottest selling item in the Padres' inventory as excitement builds going into today's first game of the National League playoffs." 
16. ^ Baseball-reference.com Detroit Tigers 1984 season
17. ^ Baseball-reference.com 1984 World Series stats
18. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (March 22, 2011). "Dark cloud hovers over 1984 Padres". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/60Cw07fvO. 
19. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

External links

• 1984 San Diego Padres team page at Baseball Reference
• 1984 San Diego Padres team page at Baseball Almanac
• A look back at the '84 NL Champs

Preceded by Los Angeles Dodgers 1983	NL West Division Championship Season 1984	Succeeded by Los Angeles Dodgers 1985
Preceded by Philadelphia Phillies 1983	National League Championship Season 1984	Succeeded by St. Louis Cardinals 1985