Attitude Is Key Ingredient in Their Stew

In the ‘90s, of course, all postseason roads have led through Atlanta, where the Braves’ pitching staff--primarily the renowned rotation--has provided a yardstick against which all others can be measured.

Now come the San Diego Padres, who chilled the Killer Bs and the potent offense of the Houston Astros in the division series, pitched with consistency throughout the regular season and have risen to a higher level of mental toughness under the intense, aggressive and positive direction of pitching coach Dave Stewart.

The National League championship series opens tonight with San Diego’s Andy Ashby opposing John Smoltz, followed by Kevin Brown against Tom Glavine and Sterling Hitchcock against Greg Maddux.

The yardstick?

“I won’t argue,” Stewart said. “Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux are great pitchers who have had great years. The statistics are there. They have all pitched well in the postseason, but I have every confidence our staff is capable of going out there and throwing pitch for pitch with them and giving us a chance to win.”

The Padres are where they are because of pitching, which may mean they are where they are because of Stewart, the four-time 20-game winner who was 8-0 in 10 championship series starts and 10-6 in postseason play, when his killer glare on the mound became a TV staple.

“I think this was always thought of as a staff of great arms without an identity,” General Manager Kevin Towers said. “Stew has helped give it a presence, a toughness, a mental direction. At this stage, in this pressure, the difference is usually above the shoulders, and I think we saw some of the results of what Stew has done in the Houston series.”

The Astros led the National League in runs and were second in team batting but hit only .182 in the four games and scored only one run in three of them. Manager Larry Dierker said afterward that if the Padres pitched against Atlanta as they had against the Astros, they are probably heading to the World Series--which is where Stewart came in.

He has been preaching to Padre pitchers that they are World Series capable since the start of spring training, when he agreed to serve as pitching coach while maintaining his responsibilities as assistant general manager and his goal of becoming more than an assistant somewhere.

The Dodgers would have been a nice fit, considering L.A. is where Stewart started, that he would have brought some fire and imagination, and that the Dodgers’ baseball operations are devoid of a front-office minority.

All of that is another story, however.

This one, Tony Gwynn was saying in the aftermath of the division series victory, is all about pitching and how a staff with the league’s third-best earned-run average of 3.63 consistently compensated for an offense that was 12th in the league in batting. And about how the Padres always felt they had a chance against Houston, despite a 9-15 September and a .216 average in the four games of that series.

“A lot of people wrote us off because we had not hit at all coming down the stretch, but our pitching carried us all year,” Gwynn said.

Make no mistake, the addition of Brown was huge, giving the Padres a No. 1-caliber pitcher and a competitor whose intensity rivals that of Stewart.

And the additions of Dan Miceli, Brian Boehringer and Donnie Wall strengthened the bullpen.

But the message and leadership came from Stewart, whose resume and presence, said former Angel Mark Langston, translated to “instant and ultimate respect.”

“This was not just another pitching coach,” Langston said. “I mean, as a pitcher, you ask yourself, ‘What do I need to do to tap into that resource?’ We had a talented and veteran staff that knew how to go about its business and used Stew to take it to the next level.”

In addition, Langston said, to all the elements Stewart talked about, Brown delivered on the mound, providing a leadership by example, and some one-on-one guidance among the players.

“Kevin sets the tone, the attitude, by the way he goes about it,” Langston said. “It’s a war to him, and I’ve never played with a pitcher who can dominate it like he can.”

Stewart understands that battle cry.

“I know the intensity level is better this year than it was last year,” he said. “That could be because I’m the pitching coach or because the pitchers are more mature or because of Kevin Brown’s leadership. I mean, you’ve got Kevin Brown at one end of the spectrum and [closer] Trevor Hoffman, who is also very intense, at the other.

“Overall, I think we believe as a staff that we’re very good. I made the statement in spring training that I think we have the ability to be a World Series-caliber pitching staff, and I pounded that and pounded it. I stressed that we were responsible for what happened to the ballclub, that if we pitched well we’ll win. They heard me say it a thousand times.”

He planted some seeds, Stewart said, and hoped they would take root, “And they have.”

He reinforces formulas learned when younger but often taken for granted: throw first-pitch strikes, pitch inside, stay aggressive, stay away from big innings, remember strengths and stay with them.

“The things they should think about when they’re pitching, how they should go about their business, those things I think I’ve taken care of as far as planting the seed,” Stewart said. “But with all of that, I still don’t do the pitching. They have to go out and throw the ball.

“They have to continue to remember that the guy who ends up winning is the guy who stays calm, collected and composed in situations where it looks like he can do nothing but fail.

“This staff has practiced that all year and it hasn’t had any extreme highs or lows. It’s been very consistent, and I think that’s the trait of which I’m proudest.”

And proudest of all, perhaps, about the progress Miceli--the invaluable setup man, or “our closer before the closer,” Stewart said--has made in controlling his emotions when roughed up some, remembering not to get over-aggressive in response. That tendency affected his performances at times with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers.

Calm, collected and composed. Miceli was 10-5 with the Padres this year and in bases-loaded situations in Games 3 and 4 against the Astros, came in to deliver rally-killing strikeouts.

“I had heard he was a tough guy who wants the tough situation,” Stewart said. “The tougher the better. But now he’s more emotionally equipped to handle it.”

The Padres handled Houston in such a way that Stewart said, “The entire staff stepped it up a notch. It was our best four-game series of the year.”

Can they repeat it against Atlanta? Stewart is confident. He has the yardstick ready.