25 years ago, in 1998, the Padres were in the thick of a fantastically fun and competitive season. It was the second year of Channel 4 San Diego, the TV home of the Padres, and the creative energy and storytelling were cranking on all cylinders!
My role as the pre-game reporter and producer/host of One on One offered an insight to the players as people as well as our heroes. And just like fans or players, when I hear “1998”, I sigh at that mutual feeling of… Wow… what a ride!
So, come along as I share some behind the scenes and personal memories surrounding that magical year when our Padres went all the way to the World Series.
For me, my ‘98 memories take root in ‘97… my rookie baseball year.
I hope my stories spark memories and connections for you as well.
Memory #1: My Baseball Love Story
Celebrating the 1998 season, for me, requires rewinding one year, my “Rookie” year in baseball. Preparing for my first spring training, February 1997, everyone said it was so special. Arizona in February, blue skies, crisp air, a fresh start.
Sure. Okay. As the only TV crew there early that first day, it was quiet and nice… but still just a sports complex, right? Then it happened. The door of the weight room opened. Pitchers, catchers, and coaches emerged, walking down the steps on to the red clay track surrounding the field. The click-clacking cleats. Chitchatting voices. The popping of balls smacking gloves. A symphony of sounds. A symphony of spring.
That was it! I got it. A new beginning. It was tangible. I had goosebumps. My heart pounded a little faster. In those few moments, I fell in love with baseball. A memory, a feeling, that I’d come to appreciate even more… as time went on.
Memory #2: Ken Caminiti "I'm back"
Rewind to 1996, just for a moment. Ken Caminiti, with his dazzling plays at 3rd base, sparkling eyes and quiet mystique had captivated fans. So, in 1997, Cammy was top of our list as part of our new Padres TV mission to tell players’ stories. He had just won the National League MVP award and was rehabbing from shoulder surgery. The big question was: would he be ready for Opening Day? But, as a quiet guy, would he have much to say? I was in for a pleasant surprise.
In Houston with a Padres video crew we tagged along during his rehab routine, then to his house for the interview. I started from the beginning of his life, and as we went along, he opened up. I learned he didn’t like baseball as a kid because he got hit with a ball, but then, got used to it! We touched on his rebellious times as a teenager, challenges in the early part of his career, and his faith.
One excerpt:
JANE: Do you have a sense of why this was your year?
KEN: I don't know. I accepted the MVP award a couple nights ago, and part of my speech was God gifted me this year, and He really looked after me.
I had goosebumps. We took our time and he was so humble and sweet. As he held his newborn Nicole, so tiny in his arms, I commented how he had an All-American family. "All American," he laughed, "with the toys, the blind dog knocking over the lights. Yeah, All-American!”
Back in San Diego, I told the planning group about the interview and in a matter of minutes, we decided to make it a half-hour program and I had the green light to travel to his hometown to meet his parents and get great video and pics!
After spring training and many hours of writing and editing, “One on One with Jane Mitchell” featuring Ken Caminiti debuted…. with the reassuring words for fans “I’m Back…”
WOW what a reaction from fans! No one really knew me yet, but they were watching and loved getting to know their hero, what was beneath that rugged exterior.
We were on to something. The first of what would eventually be… 100+ shows.
Memory #3: Getting to know Tony Gwynn
My prelude to the great ’98 is spring training ’97. As the newbie, and yes, a woman reporter and new to baseball, I wondered how I’d be accepted by the players at camp. The real test, for me, was what kind of impression I made on the leader of the clubhouse, Tony Gwynn.
Our first interview at his home went well. I thought. At camp, he acknowledged me. Yay. While I don’t know if he put out a positive word or just said nothing, I had a feeling I was still safe, with no strikes against me. A few days after his show debuted that June, he called out to me with a thumbs up and said, “Good job. Well done.” Tony’s validation boosted my confidence.
It was the start of a professional and authentic friendship with mutual trust and respect. A favorite picture is of Tony and me at Qualcomm Stadium sitting in a quiet dugout at an early batting practice, just talking about baseball and life. I’m blessed to have known him through that ‘98 dream season and tell his story several times all the way to the Hall of Fame and beyond.
Memory #4: One on One with Future Champs
Going into the ’98 season I remember feeling the bond between the Padres and the players deepening… in part, because we were all getting to know some of the icons and current stars on the field and, lucky me, through my One on One show.
A thank you from the guests was always appreciated (and a relief!) but what really surprised me was when players (specifically, one time, Andy Ashby! ) told me THEY had been watching One on One after the game and learning about their own teammates! Wow!
Padres icons and ownership allowed us into their homes for heart and soul interviews, sorting through childhood photos (that I usually had to track down through their parents!), time with their families, showing their hobbies and community work. At that time this was a whole new sports story world! Every person was different, but I had the freedom to do it my way… stats, sure, but beyond the box score, their whole journey. I loved it. So many details. So many late hours! So rewarding!
The sum of the parts is a memory… so happy the story behind the uniform was making an impact and 98’s lineup including Steve Finley, Dave Stewart and Trevor Hoffman added to that. What a One on One roster!
Memory #5: My Rookie Optimism
So how would the not-so-good-on the field ’97 Padres turn things around for ’98?
The optimist in me wanted to know.
So in the October One on One ’97 Retrospective Tony Gwynn said, everyone better come to spring training with “fire in their belly”
and Ken Caminiti told me, everyone needs to look at themselves and say “what do I need to do” to help the team.
This is an important precursor memory of ‘98 because I still didn’t quite get why “everyone” seemed so down. What about the bright spots and that adage, “Wait ‘til next year”? I didn’t want to see the season labeled a total loss and apparently, neither did Tony (who, yes, did deliver another Batting Title season) or Cammy (who had come into the season after shoulder surgery.)
I was moved by their candor and promise of “next year,” and how they shared how grateful they were for the loyal fans at that last game.
Cammy: “… they’re still behind us even after the brutal display of baseball that was presented to them all year. It was a warm feeling I’ve never had before.”
Tony: “Hopefully ‘98 will be a better year because of the experiences we went through in ‘97. I sit here with all the confidence in the world that we’re going to be a quality club.”
Cammy: “Quality and character, we have a winner…”
Memory #6: Trevor Hoffman "It's About Time"
Spring Training, on the road with the team in Arizona, I said hello to Trevor at the hotel. When the subject of One on One came up, I boldly asked, “So when do I get to tell your story?” To my surprise, he said, “Well, it’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.” I was stunned, but seized the moment and said, “Let’s do it!”
Logistics weren’t easy. We had 1 hour to interview him at his mother’s home in Anaheim after the All-Star break so he could get to Dodger Stadium for that night’s game. In a moment of levity, he leaned back on the couch as if I were a therapist and he was telling me his problems!
Some questions revealed his serious and contemplative sides, and a few weeks later, we spent time with his wife Tracy and baby Brody, and I convinced him to let us videotape him watching the sunset at the beach and follow him on his pre-game routine.
After the show aired, Trevor sincerely thanked me. This was the beginning of a professional friendship; trusting me to update his various chapters all the way to the Hall of Fame in 2018.
Memory #7: Stormy Weather & Bochy's Inspiring Speech
After a rainy spring training, I rejoined the team in Mobile Alabama for an exhibition game with Double A Mobile Bay Bears. When it came time to board the busses for the airport, a huge storm hit. Bad weather grounded us at the ballpark. The players and coaches went back into the locker rooms. The rest of sat on the busses.
The dark sky could have meant gloom and doom… what a way to start the season? Actually, quite the opposite.
Turns out Manager Bruce Bochy used that time to deliver what players later called his “inspiring and motivating” speech, solidifying how he thought they were winners, and that now the players had to believe it.
I don’t have a picture looking out at that rain or the players walking back to the bus, but I know this was a defining moment of the trajectory of the 1998 season.
Memory #8: Kevin Brown: Don't talk!
The off-season trades and signings to build the potential of a championship team included securing dominant starting pitcher Kevin Brown. So, we traveled to Macon, Georgia to learn more about the Ace and what makes him tick.
For being so tall, at 6’4, he didn’t intimidate me (I wasn’t facing him at the plate!). Although, when I asked him about his reputation for being “intense” he called me out, chuckling, “I see you're tiptoeing around that… not sure how to approach that!”
True! As nice and low key as he was with his family at home with Southern Hospitality, I did heed a “warning” about his game day routine: he doesn’t talk… to anyone… and doesn’t want anyone to talk to him!
Fast forward to a very hot March 31, 1998, Opening Day in Cincinnati, and somewhere between my being on the field for batting practice and the pre-game show, we cross paths. Somehow our eyes connect, and I try to look away. I did NOT want to violate his routine or mess up his mojo! But in a flash, he nodded as if, I think, to acknowledge me and how I was respecting his no-talk rule.
Whatever it was, he did not lose his mojo that day (phew!) and he even got a hit, as the Padres won 10-2. What a start to that promising season.
Memory #9: Center Field Star: Steve Finley
The off-season trades and signings to build the potential of a championship team included securing dominant starting pitcher Kevin Brown. So, we traveled to Macon, Georgia to learn more about the Ace and what makes him tick.
For being so tall, at 6’4, he didn’t intimidate me (I wasn’t facing him at the plate!). Although, when I asked him about his reputation for being “intense” he called me out, chuckling, “I see you're tiptoeing around that… not sure how to approach that!”
True! As nice and low key as he was with his family at home with Southern Hospitality, I did heed a “warning” about his game day routine: he doesn’t talk… to anyone… and doesn’t want anyone to talk to him!
Fast forward to a very hot March 31, 1998, Opening Day in Cincinnati, and somewhere between my being on the field for batting practice and the pre-game show, we cross paths. Somehow our eyes connect, and I try to look away. I did NOT want to violate his routine or mess up his mojo! But in a flash, he nodded as if, I think, to acknowledge me and how I was respecting his no-talk rule.
Whatever it was, he did not lose his mojo that day (phew!) and he even got a hit, as the Padres won 10-2. What a start to that promising season.
Memory #10: Dave Stewart's Aura
It was big news when Dave Stewart signed with the Padres to be the club’s pitching coach for 1998. I didn’t know anything about him, until our One on One.
Aside from his magnificent home, the most vivid memory I have of that day has to do with time. As we put on the microphone, he asked how long it would take. I replied it depends how long you feel like talking. Pushing back on his couch, with his feet up, he said he could talk all day. Actually, 3 hours… still holding the record for longest One on One interview!
He opened up about his life and the game. Some topics I’d never have time to include, but he was mesmerizing and thoughtful in relaying things important to him and now, to the Padres.
His pitching philosophy? I can still picture him saying each word slowly and deliberately. “A pitcher’s appearance on the mound during the game might be the first time someone has seen a baseball game, so it is the pitcher’s job to show the fan that the pitcher is baseball, that day.” I was so caught up in his vision and passion I joked, “I’ll pitch for you! Sign me up!” He just had a way of drawing you into his world. No wonder he was so good.
Oh… and he had a hot tub with a skylight above it to look at the stars! Dave Stewart… very cool.
Memory #11: The Battle of Square Footage
This memory just makes me chuckle about the various personalities on that ‘98 team. While relaying to Dave Stewart that his One on One would be airing that night, it came up that the episode included a tour of the Jacuzzi in his master bathroom.
Mark Sweeney started comparing Dave’s house with his.
With grandiose gestures and well-placed humorous drama, Mark described how Dave, a five-time World Series pitcher, had a big house, a big bathtub with a skylight, that took all day for us to shoot, and yet, “when Jane did a story on me in spring training, it took about five minutes to show the house, the bedroom” and his prized new vacuum!
It underscored the different degrees of their careers and the TV time associated with it so far. Mark would have his time in the spotlight that season, and the fan favorite and I would later share celebratory champagne in our eyes on live TV.
He’d return two more times to San Diego, and we finally did a full One on One show at his lovely home.
Now a veteran broadcaster, Mark Sweeney stands out to me as a special part of ’98.
Memory #12: Lessons from a Postseason Clinch
No game was as significant or as special to me in 1998 as September 12th.
The Padres needed one win to clinch the West. We wanted it to be Saturday at home so we could carry it on Channel 4.
As the game against the Dodgers went on, it didn’t look good, until Wally Joyner’s hit started a rally in the 7th. I relocated down by the dugout to the grounds crew closet, put on the white NL Division Series Champion T-shirt (under my jacket, not to jinx anything!) and waited, like the other 60,000+ people in the stadium, to see what would happen.
The nail biter ended with a Padres 7-6 come from behind victory over the Dodgers and the stadium erupted!
After a huge player dog pile on the mound, the players ran into the clubhouse, popped champagne and before I even had time to interview one fan, they came running back out to the field to celebrate!
I told the producer in the truck I was in position to get players, and he said go for it! I talked live with Cammy, Trevor, Carlos Hernandez, and Mark Sweeney, among others. I was in the middle of the action. Pure euphoria!
Players poured champagne and beer on my head. I could feel it in my eyes, on my shirt and I looked like a mess, but I didn’t care.
I learned three important things that night.
1: Wear waterproof mascara to a potential celebratory dousing so you don’t have black running down your face.
2: Wear an extra layer in case the victory shirt is white, and you get drenched (Wet t-shirts? Not good!)
and 3… Stay tuned for #3…