The Dream bullpen: Hoffman and Davis

The Padres Dream Team is simple — the best single season by a Padres player at each position with a five-man rotation and a two-man bullpen. The pennant-winning 1998 team received the most selections with three, while the 1984 pennant-winners were shut out.

Catcher: Terry Kennedy, 1982. 21 home runs, 97 RBIs, .295 batting average, .328 on-base percentage, .486 slugging percentage, 42 doubles. Kennedy tied Johnny Bench’s record for doubles by a catcher with 40. 2. Gene Tenace, 1977.

First base: Ryan Klesko, 2002. 29 home runs, 95 RBIs, .300 batting average, .388 on-base percentage, .537 slugging percentage. 2. Jack Clark, 1989. 3. Nate Colbert, 1972 4. Adrian Gonzalez, 2007. 5. Fred McGriff, 1992.

Second base: Mark Loretta, 2004. 16 home runs, 76 RBIs, .335 batting average, .391 on-base percentage, .495 slugging percentage, 108 runs, 208 hits, 47 doubles.

Third base: Ken Caminiti, 1996. 40 home runs, 130 RBIs, .326 batting average, .408 on-base percentage, .621 slugging percentage, 109 runs. 2. Gary Sheffield, 1992. 3. Phil Nevin, 2001.

Shortstop: Ozzie Smith, 1978. 1 home run, 56 RBIs, .258 batting average, .311 on-base percentage, .312 slugging percentage, 40 stolen bases. Smith should have won the NL Rookie of the Year Award over Atlanta’s Bob Horner and won the Gold Glove Award over Philadelphia’s Larry Bowa.

In the worst trade in franchise history, Smith was traded with Steve Mura to the Cardinals for Garry Templeton and Sixto Lezcano on Dec. 10, 1981. 2. Khalil Greene, 2004. 3. Tony Fernandez, 1991. 4. Templeton, 1985.

Left field: Greg Vaughn, 1998. 50 home runs, 119 RBIs, .272 batting average, .363 on-base percentage, .597 slugging percentage, 112 runs. His 50 homers were third to Mark McGwire?s 70 and Sammy Sosa?s 66. Vaughn is one of just eight players to hit 50 homers in a season and not lead the league. He is one of just two players to hit 50 homers and not even finish second.

Center field: Steve Finley, 1996. 30 home runs, 95 RBIs, .298 batting average, .354 on-base percentage, .531 slugging percentage, 126 runs, 45 doubles, 22 stolen bases. 2. George Hendrick, 1977. 3. Kevin McReynolds, 1984.

Right field: Tony Gwynn, 1997. 17 home runs, 119 RBIs, .372 batting average, .409 on-base percentage, .547 slugging percentage, 220 hits, 49 doubles. At 37, the best hitter since Ted Williams had a career year, winning his eighth and final batting title. 2. Dave Winfield, 1979.

Starting rotation
Randy Jones, 1975.
20-12, 2.24 ERA, 103 strikeouts and 56 walks in 285 innings. Jones led the league in ERA and should have won the Cy Young Award for this season, not in 1976.

Kevin Brown, 1998. 18-7, 2.38 ERA, 257 strikeouts and 49 walks in 257 innings. Another Cy Young Award snub.

Jake Peavy, 2007. 19-6, 2.54 ERA, 240 strikeouts and 68 walks in 223.1 innings. Peavy won the NL Cy Young Award unanimously and became just the fourth National League pitcher since Sandy Koufax to win pitching’s version of the Triple Crown.

Gaylord Perry, 1978. 21-6, 2.73 ERA, 154 strikeouts and 66 walks in 260.2 innings. Perry became the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues.

Dave Roberts, 1971. 14-17, 2.10 ERA, 135 strikeouts and 61 walks in 269.2 innings.

Five more: Ed Whitson (1990), Bruce Hurst (1989), Tim Lollar (1982), Andy Benes (1991), Andy Ashby (1998).

Bullpen
Right-hander: Trevor Hoffman, 1998. 4-2, 1.48 ERA, 53 saves in 54 opportunities, 86 strikeouts and 21 walks in 73 innings. The all-time saves leader converted 33 consecutive save opportunities and adopted “Hell’s Bells” as his entrance music.

Left-hander: Mark Davis, 1989. 4-3, 1.85 ERA, 44 saves in 48 opportunities, 92 strikeouts and 31 walks in 92.2 innings. Davis became the fourth reliever to win the NL Cy Young Award.

One of the last of his kind, Davis had 22 Tough saves, 15 Regular saves and seven Easy saves. In contrast, Mariano Rivera had three Tough saves, 16 Regular saves and 26 Easy ones in 1999.
— Kevin Brewer


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