Birthday Spotlight: Greg Vaughn

The late Tony Gwynn (L), Greg Vaughn (C), and Jim Leyritz (R). Mandatory Credit-utsandiego.com

Happy Birthday to former Padres’ outfielder Greg Vaughn. He turns 49 today. Most Padres fans remember him as being a key cog in the 1998 World Series run. He played 3 seasons for the Padres, hitting 78 home runs and 198 RBI. Vaughn’s best season was 1998, when he had 50 HRs, 119 RBI and a .272 average. His 50 HRs are still the Padres single-season record. If it weren’t for the unbelievable seasons Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa had, Vaughn would have led the league in home runs.During the ’98 postseason, he had 9 hits and 3 HRs, he also had 2 home runs in the World Series against the Yankees.

Vaughn finished his career with 355 HRs, 1,072 RBI and 1,475 hits. He is a 4-time All-Star and a Silver Slugger Award winner. He also twice finished 4th in the MVP voting. Vaughn provided an offensive spark throughout the ’98 season to help the Padres win. He had one of the greatest single-seasons in Padres history. We lost another member of the ’98 World Series team in Tony Gwynn. We should continue to remember and celebrate the other key players to that season that we do still have.