25 years later, an enduring lesson in leadership

Padres fans celebrated the anniversary of an NL Pennant this week and, to this day, owe a debt to the 2 men who laid the groundwork for that season and all that's happened since in San Diego

The Padres celebrated the National League championship at Turner Field in Atlanta on October 14, 1998

The San Diego Padres welcomed members of their 1998 National League Championship team back to town this week for a festive 25th anniversary celebration.

13 former players and a pair of coaches were joined by family members representing the late Tony Gwynn and Ken Caminiti for the occasion, which brought memories of a magical season flooding back for the capacity crowd at Petco Park and reminded me of the impact the right owner and club president can have in transforming a franchise and, in this case, an entire city.

Before eventually moving into the broadcast booth, I was in my second season as the Padres’ Director of Public Relations in 1998 and enjoyed a front-row seat for what was undoubtedly the most important season in franchise history.

Larry Lucchino (left) and John Moores (right) at their introductory press conference as owners of the Padres, December 21, 1994

John Moores and Larry Lucchino had purchased the club in December of 1994, in the middle of a baseball strike that had led to the cancellation of that year’s World Series.

It was a dark time for the sport but an even darker time in San Diego. When Moores and Lucchino assumed control, the Padres were coming off a season in which they had the worst record in Baseball and the lowest payroll in the game. They ranked last in the majors in attendance, last in season ticket sales and last in revenue.

The very future of Major League Baseball in San Diego was in doubt.

At their introductory press conference, Moores, the club chairman, and Lucchino, the president, made a series of commitments to the people of San Diego. Most notably, they pledged to “put a team on the field worthy of the fans’ support” and “to be active participants in the community.”

They were men of their word.

Within weeks of their arrival, the new Padres leaders authorized a record 13-player deal with the Houston Astros that was headlined by the acquisition of third baseman Ken Caminiti and center field Steve Finley. Third base coach Bruce Bochy was elevated to manager, replacing Jim Riggleman. The following fall, director of scouting Kevin Towers was named general manager.

One-by-one, the pieces were beginning to fall into place on the baseball side.

On the business side, Lucchino built a powerhouse front office, a blend of seasoned major league executives with track records of success and young, innovative minds eager to contribute to the organization’s success and to make their own marks in the process.

Having worked for Lucchino for 11 seasons in both San Diego and later Boston, I can tell you one of his greatest strengths as a leader is, as brilliant as he is, he knows what he doesn’t know, and he surrounds himself with experts in those areas. He trusts those people, and he empowers them to do their jobs. A tough and demanding boss who holds his staff to the highest standards of excellence and accountability, he inspires people to run through walls for him through the respect and appreciation he shows for their efforts.

Led by this new and resourceful front office, the organization showed it’s commitment to the community through a series of programs large and small.

Players and owners partnered to create the landmark Padres Scholars program, funding college scholarships and providing mentoring opportunities to a new class of 25 middle schoolers annually.

To honor the 60th anniversary of Padres baseball (going back to the old Pacific Coast League days), the club announced its intention to build 60 Little Padres Parks, youth ballfields across San Diego and on the other side of the border in Tijuana, Mexico.

There was a program to fight childhood cancer. With San Diego being home to one of the largest Navy bases in the U.S., the Padres introduced a first-of-its kind program to connect with and assist members of the Military and their families.

There were countless other programs, including many initiated by Padres players and coaches themselves, that connected the ballclub with its community in a way rarely seen in sports before or since.

Under Moores and Lucchino, the Padres were San Diego. And San Diego was the Padres.

By 1996, year 2 under the new leadership, the Padres were National League West champions, winning 3 straight at Dodger Stadium on the final weekend to finish a game ahead of Los Angeles and win the division for the first time since 1984.

And in 1998, the Padres captured the National League Pennant. They were led by future Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman and stars like Finley, Caminiti, Kevin Brown, Greg Vaughn and Wally Joyner.

That team routinely packed crowds in excess of 60,000 into cavernous Qualcomm Stadium on regular season Saturday nights and throughout the postseason. The Padres’ attendance annually reached unprecedented heights in club history during these years, as sleepy San Diego became a passionate baseball hotbed.

Those ‘98 Padres were the first team in history to beat 2 100-win teams in the playoffs, taking down Randy Johnson’s Houston Astros in the NLDS and the Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine Braves in the NLCS.

In the World Series, they ran into the Yankees dynasty and were swept by a team that won a record 125 regular season and post-season games.

Mere weeks after the conclusion of the World Series, the Padres’ on-field success, coupled with the incredible bond Moores and Lucchino had built with the community, resulted in the biggest victory of all, a resounding win at the ballot box that November, when 60 percent of San Diegans voted to approve the proposition that authorized the public-private partnership that would result in the construction of Petco Park, assuring the future of baseball in San Diego.

A series of legal hurdles thrown at the Padres delayed the opening of the new ballpark until 2004, by which time Lucchino and countless key staff members had left to join the Boston Red Sox, where more history would be made.

After Moores eventually sold the Padres, there was a run of lean years, but under the current ownership of Peter Seidler, Padres passion is again as strong as ever in 2023. With the 3rd-highest payroll in MLB, a star-studded roster and huge crowds nightly at Petco Park, which fulfilled Lucchino’s vision and transformed downtown San Diego into arguably the most beautiful and lively city center in America, the Friar faithful believe this may finally be the year the Padres chase down their elusive first World Series championship.

With the club’s recent success, there are a lot of new faces on the Padres’ bandwagon these days, folks for whom the 1998 season is nothing but an old black-and-white snapshot.

But for those who were around 25 years ago, this week’s celebration of that 1998 season brought back recollections of the most special summer ever in the land of eternal summer.

Under the leadership of the late GM Kevin Towers and future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy, the Padres soared to new heights in ‘98.

But it was the stewardship of John Moores and Larry Lucchino that ultimately made it all possible. The culture they created and the passion they engendered is at the heart of the stirring success the Padres enjoyed 25 years ago. And the legacy they left behind remains at the core of the triumphs a new generation of Padres stars and leaders are ushering in today.

Any executive looking to turn around a franchise today would do well to start the journey by studying the Moores-Lucchino San Diego blueprint.

They led. They inspired. They motivated. They transformed. And they won.