Here are the 5 biggest HRs in Padres history

There isn’t much room for debate at the top spot. On the scale of important home runs, they don’t get much bigger than a season-saving walk-off blast in the National League Championship Series, which eventually led the Padres to their first pennant.

But after Steve Garvey’s obvious No. 1 on the list, there are countless options for other home runs to be included among the Padres’ most meaningful and memorable. Here’s one take on the five biggest home runs in franchise history:

5) Slam Diego is born
Date: Padres at Rangers, Aug. 17, 2020
Matchup: Fernando Tatis Jr. vs. Juan Nicasio
The situation: Bases loaded, two outs, Padres lead 10-3

Tatis hit quite a few important home runs in 2020 as the Padres reached their first postseason in 14 years. He hit two during San Diego's epic comeback against St. Louis in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series. But years from now, the dinger that will be best remembered is the one that gave birth to Slam Diego and made a national star out of Tatis.

He’d been given the take sign on a 3-0 pitch, missed it, and swung anyway. His ferocious opposite-field slam rekindled a debate about the sport’s unwritten rules -- the very rules Tatis has helped to shatter.

It also sent the Padres on an unprecedented grand slam streak. After salamis from Wil Myers, Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer the next three nights, the Padres became the first team in Major League history to hit a grand slam in four consecutive games.

4) Vaughn reaches a milestone
Date: Padres at D-backs, Sept. 27, 1998
Matchup: Greg Vaughn vs. Aaron Small
The situation: On the final day of the regular season, Vaughn needs one home run to be the first in club history to hit 50

Entering the 1998 season, Ken Caminiti held the Padres’ franchise record with 40 homers. Vaughn shattered it. Still, after breaking Caminiti’s mark on Aug. 22, Vaughn sat one homer shy of 50 on the season's final day.

The Padres had fallen into a funk after clinching the NL West title earlier that month. But in a tie game at Arizona, Vaughn snapped them out of it with one swing. His 50th homer was a game-winning blast in the eighth inning, earning the Padres their franchise-record 98th win. The visitors’ dugout erupted, and several Padres have since marked that moment as a turning point in the team’s run to the ’98 pennant. A few days later, Vaughn went deep again in Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Houston’s Randy Johnson in a similarly memorable moment in franchise history.

3) Caminiti makes a statement
Date: Padres at Braves, Oct. 7, 1998
Matchup: Ken Caminiti vs. Kerry Ligtenberg
The situation: Game 1 of the NLCS, score tied at 2 with one out in the top of the 10th

The Padres-Braves matchup in the 1998 NLCS still registers as one of the most high-quality playoff series of all-time, considering the talent on both sides. The Padres had won 98 games, yet opened the series on the road against the 106-win Braves. After a tightly contested Game 1, the Padres snatched home-field advantage thanks to Caminiti. His 10th-inning blast to straightaway center field sent the Padres to a 3-2 win, and it would prove critical in their 4-2 series victory.

2) Gwynn's moment in the Bronx
Date: Padres at Yankees, Oct. 17, 1998
Matchup: Tony Gwynn vs. David Wells
The situation: Game 1 of the World Series, score tied at 2 with two outs in the top of the fifth inning

The 1998 World Series is a largely forgettable one for Padres fans. (Game 1 in particular, for reasons that probably don't need to be rehashed here.) Despite the loss, there aren't many moments in franchise history that bring a smile quite like this one:

In a tie game, Gwynn clobbers an inside fastball from Wells off the facing of the upper deck in right field. Yankee Stadium goes silent. Gwynn trots around the bases as the Padres dugout goes nuts. No, Gwynn never got that elusive ring. But he finished as a .371 hitter across two World Series -- with this home run as his signature Fall Classic moment.

1) Garvey leads Padres to first pennant
Date: Cubs at Padres, Oct. 6, 1984
Matchup: Steve Garvey vs. Lee Smith
The situation: Game 4 of the best-of-five NLCS, Cubs lead the series 2-1 with the score tied at 5 in the bottom of the ninth

It's hard to top this moment for drama. Searching for their first NL pennant, the Padres were clinging to their playoff lives in Game 4, having already surrendered a late lead to the Cubs.

Smith, a future Hall of Fame closer, was on the mound for Chicago. After a one-out single by Tony Gwynn, Garvey unloaded on a high fastball sending it out to right-center field and sending Jack Murphy Stadium into a frenzy. Few would argue with Garvey's homer as the most memorable singular moment in franchise history. A day later, the Padres secured their first trip to the World Series, where they would lose in five games to the Tigers.