The 1984 San Diego Padres season was the 16th season in franchise history. San Diego won the National League (NL) championship and advanced to the World Series, which they lost to the Detroit Tigers four games to one. The Padres were led by manager Dick Williams and third-year player Tony Gwynn, who won the NL batting title and finished third in voting for the NL Most Valuable Player Award.
In their first 15 seasons, the Padres had an overall won–lost record of 995–1372 for a .420 winning percentage, and finished with a winning record just once (1978). They had never finished higher than fourth in the National League West, and eight times they had finished in last place. However, they were coming off consecutive 81–81 seasons in Williams' two years as San Diego's manager. They won the NL West in 1984 with a 92–70 record, and set a then-franchise record in attendance, drawing nearly two million fans (1,983,904). They defeated the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS, three games to two, becoming the first NL team to win the pennant after being down 2–0. Steve Garvey was named the NLCS Most Valuable Player.
Owner Ray Kroc died on January 14, making this the Padres' first season under the sole ownership of Kroc's widow Joan. Joan Kroc would continue to own the team until 1990. This would be the final season that the team wore mustard yellow & chocolate brown uniforms, which had been in place since 1969, the year they joined the National League. They would switch to a more traditional buttoned down look with pinstripes the next season.
Offseason October 21, 1983: Sandy Alomar Jr. was signed by the Padres as an amateur free agent.Sandy Alomar Jr. at Baseball-Reference 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.Champ Summers at Baseball-Reference December 7: 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.Scott Sanderson at Baseball-Reference January 6, 1984: Rich Gossage was signed as a free agent by the Padres.Rich Gossage at Baseball-Reference January 14: Owner Ray Kroc dies. Ownership passes to his wife, Joan B. Kroc. January 17: Rodney McCray was drafted by the Padres in the 9th round of the 1984 amateur draft.Rodney McCray at Baseball-Reference March 25: Second baseman Juan Bonilla waived. March 30: 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.Graig Nettles at Baseball-Reference
Regular season After spending $6 million to acquire free-agent first baseman Steve Garvey in 1983, the Padres signed free-agent reliever Goose Gossage to a five-year contract for $6.25 million in January 1984. The deal made Gossage the highest-salaried pitcher in baseball at the time. Manager Dick Williams, who had asked general manager Jack McKeon to obtain a strikeout-type reliever, declared that the acquisition made San Diego a playoff contender. Eight days after signing Gossage, Padres owner Ray Kroc died at the age of 81. The season was dedicated to his memory with the team wearing his initials, "RAK" on their jersey's left sleeve during the entire season. Ownership of the team passed to his wife, Joan Kroc.
In February, All-Star catcher Terry Kennedy underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee after being bothered by continuous inflammation since the middle of 1983. During spring training, Alan Wiggins was named the team's new second baseman over incumbent Juan Bonilla, who was subsequently waived. In a gamble to generate offense, Wiggins had been moved from the outfield to make room in left field for Carmelo Martínez, who was moved from first base after being acquired in the offseason from the Chicago Cubs. The Padres were hoping to bolster their starting outfield, which produced just 23 homers in 1983. The rookie Martinez and center fielder Kevin McReynolds, whose 140 at-bats during the prior season disqualified him from being considered a rookie in 1984, were hyped by the media as the M&M Boys, alluding to the Yankees' 1960s power-hitting duo of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. The two Padre outfielders along with Garvey, Nettles, and Kennedy supplied San Diego with five regulars who had the potential to hit at least 20 home runs. Third-year right fielder Tony Gwynn entered the season with a .302 lifetime batting average, the highest on the club. Gwynn, McReynolds, and Martinez formed the youngest outfield in the majors. Shortstop Garry Templeton was relieved of pain from a left knee that had bothered him for years and was expected to anchor the infield, especially with Wiggins moving to second base. Templeton was also projected to bat leadoff for the Padres, but he was dropped to No. 8 in the order after he took a spike to his right knee toward the end of spring training. Three days before the season opener, 39-year-old third baseman Graig Nettles, a San Diego native, approved a trade from the New York Yankees to the Padres. A left-handed batter who had hit 333 career home runs, he was open to platooning with incumbent Luis Salazar, although Nettles was expected to get the majority of playing time given the larger number of right-handed starting pitchers in the majors. Heading into the season, Williams' biggest concern was their pitching. The starters largely relied on finesse and off-speed pitches, and none of them had ever won more than 16 games.
The Padres won their first four games of the season, and were 9–2 before leaving on their first road trip. They were 18–11 before losing seven in a row, their longest losing streak of the season. The streak was snapped on May 17, when Wiggins tied an NL record with five stolen bases, and the club swiped a team record of seven in a 5–4 home win over Montreal. They were tied for first in the West at the end of May, and were games up by the end of June. After moving back into first place on June 9, they did not relinquish the lead the rest of the season. San Diego played at a steady pace, never falling below .500, while their longest winning streak was only six. For much of the final two months, they led the division by eight to ten games. San Diego clinched the division on September 20, when they beat San Francisco 5–4 behind a three-run homer by pitcher Tim Lollar, and Houston lost to Los Angeles 6–2 three hours later. The Padres finished the season with a 92–70 record, winning the NL West division by 12 games. It was just the second winning season in the franchise's history. The future Hall-of-Famer Gwynn batted .351 to capture the first of his eight NL batting titles, while also gathering 213 hits to shatter the Padres record of 194 established by Gene Richards in 1980. Eric Show (15–9, 3.40 ERA) was the only starting pitcher with 15 wins, though the four main starters all recorded at least 11. The acquisition of Gossage, who finished the season 10–6 with a 2.90 ERA and 25 saves, was a strong factor in San Diego's 34–24 record in one-run games.
The team relied on small ball and moving runners from base to base. With the exception of Gwynn, who finished third in balloting for the NL Most Valuable Player Award, no Padre enjoyed an outstanding season individually. McReynolds led the team with a .465 slugging percentage and was tied with Nettles for the team lead in home runs with 20. Only two other Padres exceeded 10 homers. Garvey led the club with 86 RBIs, the only Padre with more than 75. Coming off his thumb injury from 1983, he hit only eight home runs and drew just 24 walks, but had 175 hits and did not commit an error. Wiggins' move to second base proved successful, as he exhibited excellent range with his quickness in spite of his 32 fielding errors. Offensively as the leadoff hitter, he batted .258 and drew 75 walks for an on-base percentage of .342, while setting club records by stealing 70 bases and scoring 106 runs. Benefitting from the higher number of fastballs opposing pitchers threw in response to Wiggins' speed, Gwynn batted above .400 when his speedy teammate was on base. According to Williams, Wiggins "was absolutely the most valuable player in the National League in 1984." No longer a .300 hitter like in his earlier days with St. Louis, Templeton enjoyed his most successful season since 1981. Hitting eighth in the lineup, he did not receive many pitches to hit. He batted .258 with 24 extra-base hits and six game-winning RBI, and was praised by Williams for his defense. Both Templeton and Gwynn were honored by The Sporting News with Silver Slugger Awards, and Martinez (.249, 13 HR, 68 walks) was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Martinez however, hit only three homers in the second half, and just one after July 18, after hitting 10 in the first half. Troubled by his knees, Kennedy slumped to .240 while his RBIs fell to 57 from 98 a year earlier. Nettles hit .222, which was 29 points below his career average, and most of his homers came in two hot streaks. However, his averages of .252/.355/.469 against right-handed pitching were near his career norms.
San Diego's pitching staff was last in the league in strikeouts per nine innings, and were among the team leaders in most home runs allowed and walks allowed. Still, they were adept at forcing fly balls and had a low ground ball/fly ball ratio. In addition to Show, the starting rotation included fellow 28-year-old Mark Thurmond (14–8, 2.97), as well as veterans Ed Whitson (14–8, 3.24) and Lollar (11–13, 3.91). Andy Hawkins (8–9, 4.68) and Dave Dravecky (9–8, 2.93) split time as the fifth starter. In the bullpen, Gossage and Craig Lefferts (2.13 ERA and 10 saves) each appeared in 62 games and logged over 100 innings apiece. Unlike modern closers, Gossage often entered games in the seventh or eighth innings, with Lefferts filling in as the stopper when Gossage needed a game off after working successive long stints. Dravecky also recorded eight saves. At age 33, Gossage experienced a decline in his fastball, and did not record a save after August 25.
Williams led the team with a tough, no-nonsense approach. He cited the advantage of having the experience of veterans Garvey, Nettles, and Gossage on the team. Prior to joining the Padres, Garvey and Nettles had advanced to the World Series four times, while Gossage had participated in two. Throughout the season, they stressed the value of consistency and an even temperament to youngsters like Gwynn, McReynolds, and Martinez, who were among the 11 players on the team with less than four years of major league experience. Gossage and Nettles, in particular, would stay after games and talk baseball and have a beer with the youngsters. Additionally, Templeton befriended Wiggins, helping his transition from the outfield to second base.
Brawl with the Atlanta Braves
The Padres' regular season is most remembered for an August 12 Sunday afternoon game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium against the Atlanta Braves. From the start, the game was tense and erupted into a series of brawls which ended with a total of 13 ejections and 5 arrests. All fans who participated in the taunting and brawls were detained and arrested. The Braves eventually won the game by a score of 5–3.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: