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The 1998 San Diego Padres season was a season in Major League Baseball. It involved the Padres winning the National League championship and advancing to the World Series for the second time in franchise history. This team featured six All-Stars: pitchers Andy Ashby, Kevin Brown, and Trevor Hoffman, and outfielders Tony Gwynn and Greg Vaughn. Brown and Hoffman were two of the premier pitchers in the world that season. Brown led the staff in wins, earned run average, and strikeouts, and he also finished in the league's top five in each category. Hoffman saved 53 games and was voted the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award for best closer in the league. Ashby was the team's number two starter with 17 wins. The Padres offense was led by Vaughn, who had the greatest season of his career in 1998. He ended up winning both the Comeback Player of the Year Award and the Silver Slugger Award. And in a season headlined by sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, Vaughn was also in the home run record chase for awhile. He finished third in the league, with 50. Former MVP Ken Caminiti was second on the team in home runs and runs batted in. In the regular season, San Diego won the NL Western Division. Their 98-64 record was third-best in the league, behind only the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. They then proceeded to defeat said teams in the playoffs, taking seven out of 10 games. But unfortunately, they had to face one of the best baseball teams in modern history, the 1998 New York Yankees, in the World Series. The Padres were swept in four games.