Conventional wisdom says this will be a brief and painful World Series for the San Diego Padres.
With Tony Gwynn hobbling with a .220 postseason average, Ken Caminiti hitting .222 and Chris Gomez, Quilvio Veras and Carlos Hernandez giving the Padres three “who’s that guy?” regulars, it’s hard to imagine them scoring a lot of runs off the Yankees’ solid pitching staff.
But what’s easily forgotten is that San Diego beat Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine twice each to get here. The Padres knocked off two teams with more than 100 victories apiece and blew through the Braves without much help from 50-home run man Greg Vaughn, who missed Games 2 through 6.
Every big sporting event needs an underdog, and the Padres don’t mind being the doggiest World Series underdog in quite a while.
“Sure, why not?” Kevin Brown said. “Everybody has us as underdogs, so why not?”
“We’re starting to like that title,” Jim Leyritz said.
The Padres don’t have much hitting, but they do have the starting pitching to keep games tight into the seventh inning, knowing anything can happen in crunch time. Nine out of the Padres’ 10 playoff games have been either tied or one-run games in the seventh inning or later, and they won six of those nine.
San Diego also has the comfort of knowing that the man in charge of the pitching staff is Dave Stewart, one of the great money players of his era. The man known as “Stu” went 8-0 in American League Championship Series games with Oakland and Toronto and was named 1989 World Series MVP with the A’s after beating the Giants in both of his starts.
Stewart’s October experience could go a long way toward keeping the Padres in the Series, though he acknowledges that this underdog role is not one he’s familiar with.
“The teams I’ve been involved with never went in as underdogs,” Stewart said. “We’d always gone in as the team picked to win. But this team was not picked against Houston. This team was not picked against Atlanta. But we’re the last man standing in the National League. And as long as we can pitch, we have a chance to win some ballgames.”
The Padres can pitch. Yes, they can.
They were second in the majors with 1,217 strikeouts this season, and from July 24, 1996, to the end of this past regular season they were an amazing 174-0 when leading after eight innings. Trevor Hoffman has been one of the top closers of the ’90s, with 53 saves in 54 opportunities and a 1.48 earned-run average.
Kevin Brown is Kevin Brown. He has been almost perfect for the last month. Over his last five starts, two in the regular season and three in the postseason, Brown has posted an 0.72 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. He struck out 16 Astros in Game 1 of the division series.
Sterling Hitchcock has beaten Johnson, Glavine and Greg Maddux in his three postseason starts. Andy Ashby had a 17-9 record and could have been a 20-game winner had the Padres scored more than 12 runs total in his nine losses.
The Padres also are capable of winning on the road. They won all three road games in the NLCS and had the majors’ fourth-best road record behind the Yankees, Atlanta and Houston.
So when trying to assess the Padres’ chances of spoiling the Yankees’ dream season, don’t dwell on the weak bats of Gomez, Hernandez and Veras or the gimpy legs of the legendary Gwynn. San Diego can win if Stu’s boys do their jobs.
