# 1990 San Diego Padres season

The 1990 San Diego Padres season was the 22nd season in franchise history. The team regressed to a 75–87 record. They scored 673 runs and allowed 673 runs for a run differential of zero.
During the season, the Padres were sold by McDonald's heiress Joan Kroc to an ownership group led by Tom Werner.

## Offseason

* November 16, 1989: Don Schulze was released by the Padres.
* December 6, 1989: Fred Lynn was signed as a free agent by the Padres.
* December 6, 1989: Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga and Chris James were traded by the Padres to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Carter.
* December 12, 1989: Craig Lefferts was signed by the Padres as a free agent.
* January 11, 1990: Ronn Reynolds was signed as a free agent with the San Diego Padres.
* February 27, 1990: Omar Olivares was traded by the Padres to the St. Louis Cardinals for Alex Cole and Steve Peters.

## Regular season

* Joe Carter set a club record for most RBIs in a season.
* July 12, 1990: Jack McKeon, holding the dual positions of general manager and field manager of the Padres, turns over the managing portfolio to one of his coaches, Greg Riddoch, during the All-Star break. The Padres are 37–43 (.463) and in fourth place in the NL West at the time of McKeon's resignation.
* July 25, 1990: Roseanne Barr performed a controversial rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" before a game against the Cincinnati Reds. As she later reported, she was initially having trouble hearing herself over the public-address system, so she was singing as loudly as possible, and her rendition of the song sounded "screechy". Following her rendition, she mimicked the often-seen actions of players by spitting and grabbing her crotch as if adjusting a protective cup. Barr claimed she had been encouraged by baseball officials to "bring humor to the song". The song and the closing routine offended many in the audience, and it was replayed frequently on television, drawing further attention to it.
* September 23, 1990: Ten weeks after stepping down as field manager, McKeon is fired from his general manager position by the Padres' new ownership group. He had led the San Diego front office since July 1980 and had acquired many of the players who led the team to its 1984 National League pennant. He is replaced by New York Mets executive Joe McIlvaine.

### Opening Day starters

* Roberto Alomar
* Joe Carter
* Jack Clark
* Tony Gwynn
* Fred Lynn
* Bip Roberts
* Benito Santiago
* Eric Show
* Garry Templeton

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 5 | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 49‍–‍32 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Houston Astros | 75 | 87 | .463 | 16 | 49‍–‍32 | 26‍–‍55 |
| San Diego Padres | 75 | 87 | .463 | 16 | 37‍–‍44 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Atlanta Braves | 65 | 97 | .401 | 26 | 37‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–10 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 8–4 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 9–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–14 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 10–8 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 14–4 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | — | 7–11 | 3–9 |
| San Francisco | 13–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 11–7 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball draft
** Robbie Beckett was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round.
** Alan Benes was drafted by the Padres in the 49th round, but did not sign.
* July 11, 1990: Alex Cole was traded by the Padres to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Lampkin.
* July 12, 1990: Mark Grant was traded by the Padres to the Atlanta Braves for Derek Lilliquist.
* August 24, 1990: Atlee Hammaker was signed as a free agent by the Padres.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Benito Santiago | 100 | 344 | 93 | .270 | 11 | 53 |
| 1B | Jack Clark | 115 | 334 | 89 | .266 | 25 | 62 |
| 2B | Roberto Alomar | 147 | 586 | 168 | .287 | 6 | 60 |
| 3B | Mike Pagliarulo | 128 | 398 | 101 | .254 | 7 | 38 |
| SS | Garry Templeton | 144 | 505 | 125 | .248 | 9 | 59 |
| LF | Bip Roberts | 149 | 556 | 172 | .309 | 9 | 44 |
| CF | Joe Carter | 162 | 634 | 147 | .232 | 24 | 115 |
| RF | Tony Gwynn | 141 | 573 | 177 | .309 | 4 | 72 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Fred Lynn | 90 | 196 | 47 | .240 | 6 | 23 |
| Mark Parent | 65 | 189 | 42 | .222 | 3 | 16 |
| Shawn Abner | 91 | 184 | 45 | .245 | 1 | 15 |
| Phil Stephenson | 103 | 182 | 38 | .209 | 4 | 19 |
| Darrin Jackson | 58 | 113 | 29 | .257 | 3 | 9 |
| Jerald Clark | 52 | 101 | 27 | .267 | 5 | 11 |
| Joey Cora | 51 | 100 | 27 | .270 | 0 | 2 |
| Tom Lampkin | 26 | 63 | 14 | .222 | 1 | 4 |
| Thomas Howard | 20 | 44 | 12 | .273 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Williams | 14 | 42 | 12 | .286 | 3 | 4 |
| Paul Faries | 14 | 37 | 7 | .189 | 0 | 2 |
| Ronn Reynolds | 8 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 1 |
| Rob Nelson | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Ed Whitson | 32 | 228.2 | 14 | 9 | 2.60 | 127 |
| Bruce Hurst | 33 | 223.2 | 11 | 9 | 3.14 | 162 |
| Andy Benes | 32 | 192.1 | 10 | 11 | 3.60 | 140 |
| Dennis Rasmussen | 32 | 187.2 | 11 | 15 | 4.51 | 86 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Eric Show | 39 | 106.1 | 6 | 8 | 5.76 | 55 |
| Calvin Schiraldi | 42 | 104.0 | 3 | 8 | 4.41 | 74 |
| Derek Lilliquist | 16 | 60.1 | 3 | 3 | 4.33 | 29 |
| Mike Dunne | 10 | 28.2 | 0 | 3 | 5.65 | 15 |
| Atlee Hammaker | 9 | 19.1 | 0 | 4 | 4.66 | 16 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Craig Lefferts | 56 | 78.2 | 7 | 5 | 23 | 2.52 | 60 |
| Greg W. Harris | 73 | 117.1 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 2.30 | 97 |
| Rich Rodriguez | 32 | 47.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.83 | 52 |
| Mark Grant | 26 | 39.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.85 | 29 |
| Pat Clements | 9 | 13.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.15 | 6 |
| John Davis | 6 | 9.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.79 | 7 |
| Rafael Valdez | 3 | 5.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.12 | 3 |

## Award winners

* Joe Carter, National League Leader in At-Bats (634)
* Jack Clark, National League Leader Walks (104)
* Bruce Hurst, National League Leader Shutouts (4)
1990 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Las Vegas Stars | Pacific Coast League | Pat Kelly |
| AA | Wichita Wranglers | Texas League | Steve Lubratich |
| A | Riverside Red Wave | California League | Bruce Bochy |
| A | Waterloo Diamonds | Midwest League | Bryan Little |
| A | Charleston Rainbows | South Atlantic League | Jack Krol |
| A-Short Season | Spokane Indians | Northwest League | Gene Glynn |
| Rookie | AZL Padres | Arizona League | Jaime Moreno |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Spokane