Do you remember Ruben Rivera?
His name surfaced in Padres news Saturday, amid the team’s seven-homer barrage.
Rivera hit one of six homers by the 1998 Padres in a July game.
Thought a future Pads star, the 24-year-old supplied good outfield defense — behind starters Greg Vaughn, Steve Finley and Tony Gwynn — to the ’98 club, which reached the World Series.
However, the shiny .895 on-base-plus-slugging percentage Rivera took into August 1998 was fool’s gold.
Off the field, his yellow flags foretold red flags.
Hindsight is hindsight, but the Padres should’ve traded Rivera in 1998, either that July — when the Mariners were eyeing him and shopping ace Randy Johnson — or after the season.