San Diego rebounds after purge

      Tony Gwynn admits it.
      He doesn't want to, yet the San Diego Padres' All-Star right fielder admits it nonetheless.
      It was the end of the 1993 season, and San Diego had just lost a major league-worst 101 games. It was a trying year for Gwynn, who watched a revolving door to the Padres' clubhouse spin continuously as stars such as Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield marched out and unproven players such as Tim Mauser waltzed in.
      San Diego's ballclub was becoming Gwynn and a cast of misfits, and the usually upbeat Mr. Padre started to lose faith in the organization that employed him since 1981.
      "I tried to be optimistic, but it was tough," Gwynn said Saturday afternoon before the Padres' 5-4 exhibition victory over the Boston Red Sox before a Big League Weekend crowd of 8,133 at Cashman Field. "We (had) traded McGriff and Sheffield and Bruce Hurst and Greg Harris and Darrin Jackson. I mean, the year before, we were right there in the thick of it going into September, and a year later we lost 100 games, and you're wondering `What happened?'"
      That offseason, Gwynn's father -- just days before he died unexpectedly -- tried to convince his son to sign a free-agent contract elsewhere. But something convinced Gwynn to stay. He and his family were happy in San Diego, and Gwynn believed there was a remote chance the team could recapture the glory of 1984, when Gwynn and the Padres made itheir only postseason appearance.
      It seemed like false hope on Gwynn's part -- until last season.
      That's when San Diego completed an astonishing turnaround, winning 91 games and the National League West title in dramatic fashion. The Padres beat the archrival Dodgers in Los Angeles on the final day of the regular season.
      Although the improbable run ended when the St. Louis Cardinals swept the Padres in the divisional playoffs, everyone in San Diego's locker room went home satisfied.
      Particularly Gwynn.
      "I just felt like (San Diego) was a magical place for me," said Gwynn, whose ties to the city date to the late '70s when he attended San Diego State. "And I know at the end of '93, I was like `Geez, how much magic could be here.' But you know, I knew this was where I was supposed to be, and so to see it turn around as quickly as it did was incredible."
      There was a lot about the Padres' 1996 season that could be called incredible.
      Gwynn won his seventh National League batting title, batting .353 despite being hobbled by a partially torn Achilles' heel.
      And pitcher Trevor Hoffman emerged as a dominant closer, saving a career-high 42 games in 49 opportunities.
      But without a doubt, the most incredible aspect of last season was the inspiring play of Ken Caminiti.
      The Padres' third baseman tore the rotator cuff in his left shoulder during spring training but refused to have season-ending surgery. Instead, Caminiti played through constant pain, hitting .326 with a club-record 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. In addition, he made several sterling defensive plays that were highlighted on national television.
      Caminiti was rewarded with his second Gold Glove and was the unanimous choice as National League MVP.
      "He was such an inspiration for everybody," San Diego manager Bruce Bochy said. "For him to go out there every day under the circumstances and pain he was in and never complain about it ... He just threw up incredible numbers. The last two months, he couldn't have performed any better defensively or offensively."
      So uplifting was Caminiti that he basically became a sort of poster child for the never-give-up Padres.
      "Watching what he did last year," Gwynn said, his thought giving way to a huge laugh, "you had to see it. I'm telling you, you just had to see it.
      "Poster child is a real good description, because that's what he was. He was setting the tone; he was leading by example. ... I'm telling you, he had the best year I've ever seen anybody have. It was unbelievable."
      Not surprisingly, the soft-spoken Caminiti is taken aback by such comments. He said he just did what he thought was right, and if others were inspired, all the better.
      "My deal is if I'm helping the team, I'll go out there (even) if I'm broke," Caminiti said. "But if I'm not helping the team, I'm not going to go out there. So I was helping the team, and I just kept playing. Sometimes you go out and play (injured) and you suck. But things went right for me all year and I played hard.
      "All I'm going by is what my teammates tell me, and they said `You're an inspiration.' That's all you could ask for."
      Of course, Caminiti wasn't done with his emotional feats: He finally had the rotator cuff surgically repaired this winter, and it was feared he would be lost to the Padres until possibly July. Instead, he has recovered remarkably, compiling a .341 average this spring with five home runs in 17 games.
      Caminiti is expected to be at third base Tuesday when San Diego begins its season at home against the New York Mets. And with a healthy Caminiti, a healthy Gwynn, a talented lineup and a solid pitching staff, who knows? Maybe the Padres can complete their worst-to-first journey this season and bring a title to San Diego.
      "To be a part of it when it turned around, man, it was just the best feeling in the world," Gwynn said. "Now it's gotten to the point where we expect to win. We expect to go out and play well and be right in the thick of it."