By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Sept. 13, 1998

Lost in the rush of a baseball season dominated by the home-run record chase of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, the record pace of the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves' continued domination of the regular season, consider the San Diego Padres.

You remember those guys. They were in the cellar of the NL West last season. They also won the division the year before.

SO MAYBE NOBODY SHOULD BE SURPRISED that they clinched the division Saturday with their franchise-record 94th win. The difference this season to any previous is this team is legit. No more is this team all about Ken Caminiti playing with broken bones, concussions and viruses (although he still does play under those conditions), and Tony Gwynn hitting .380.

This team has it all.

This team has the ability to win it all.

Before you start to snicker, contemplate the strength of beginning any team with Caminiti and Gwynn. And neither is the most explosive hitter on the team. Gwynn still is hitting .326 - but he could hit .320 in a hurricane with a broomstick. Caminiti, the man glued together to play, is struggling at .254 with 28 home runs and 81 RBI. He is and will always be Dangerman.

The scarier guy on this team is Greg Vaughn. Along with the anonymity of this team come the 48 home runs and 115 RBI Vaughn took into Sunday's games. Outside of Sosa, Vaughn would have to be considered a prime Most Valuable Player candidate. The longer the season continues, the more impressive his stats are, especially in a pennant race. You add Wally Joyner's .301 batting average with 12 home runs and 77 RBI, and you can see why this team can score a lot of runs.

The problem has been how streaky they are with the bats. That's why they're not dependent on the hitting.

They can win the National League because of their pitching. With a 3.64 ERA, they have the third most stingy staff in baseball - and their 54 saves are the most in both leagues.

CONSIDERING HOW BAD THE Florida Marlins are thanks to the bloodletting caused by owner Wayne Huizenga selling the team, people forget why the Marlins won the World Series last year.

They beat the Braves in the NLCS at their own game - a better pitching staff. That brings us to the Padres, and how they compare to the Marlins.

Not only did the Padres steal Marlins' ace Kevin Brown (18-6, 2.36 ERA), but Andy Ashby (16-8, 3.32 ERA) and Joey Hamilton (13-12, 4.37) form a great nucleus of starters for the postseason. Add Sterling Hitchcock and veteran Mark Langston as long relievers or spot starters, and the depth increases.

Now for the best part.

The Padres have a bullpen to shut people down. Trevor Hoffman is 4-1 with an overpowering earned run average of just 1.46 and a major-league high 39 saves. Add wily southpaw Randy Myers and set-up guy Dan Miceli - and you see the depth.

OF COURSE THE BRAVES ARE FAVORED AGAIN to win the National League. And well they should be. As long as they have the best starting staff known to mankind, they'll retain the moniker as favorites. Adding Randy Johnson to the Houston Astros has made them the buzz of the NL for the postseason - forcing the Braves to take notice.

Plenty has been made of the wild-card race, too, with the Cubs, Mets and Giants battling it out.

Meanwhile, the Padres just roll on. It doesn't take long to break it down and figure out why they've won their division already. Clutch hitting, good defense and a great bullpen win games. And for those same reasons, they've got as good a chance as anybody to win the pennant and make their first World Series appearance in 14 years.

No way?

Way. In case you haven't noticed, the Braves and Astros haven't exactly been powerhouses of the postseason.

The secret to success is in the bullpen . . . just watch.