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It's not Fernandomania, but it's worth watching

Sporting News, The, May 8, 1995 by Bob Nightengale

Palm trees are pleasantly arranged behind the outfield fence at Jack Murphy Stadium. New seats are positioned closer to home plate. Fresh faces, proven veterans making more than $4 million, are sprinkled throughout the playing field.

They call themselves the New Padres, valiantly attempting to shed the memories of the great fire sale that has haunted the city of San Diego the last two years.

Gone are Fred McGriff and Gary Sheffield. The Blue Jays aren't about to trade them Roberto Alomar back. And it's too late to protect infielder Dave Hollins and outfielder Shane Mack from the Rule 5 draft. Yet, there is reason to believe life will be different this season for the lovable Padres, who have provided so much comedy through the years.

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No one argues that if s going to take time. The Padres' home crowds of 7,468 the second day and 10,037 and 13,663 for the next two night games, respectively, subtly remind them just how far they need to go before capturing the public's affection.

This is why no one, with the possible exception of the Mariners, needs a successful season more than the Padres. It is essential to their future in San Diego that they have a winning season.

Perhaps even a division-championship season.

You see, if the Padres don't win this year, they're not going to receive the public support to build a new stadium. And if the Padres don't get their new stadium, they will leave after the 1999 season, packing their bags for northern Virginia.

"These people will do everything necessary to give San Diego every opportunity to adopt this franchise,' says first-base coach Davey Lopes. "If San Diego doesn't then that's up to (owners John Moores and Larry Lucchino) to make a decision what they will do.

"I don't think you have to be a genius to figure out what will happen."

The Padres, who boosted their payroll by $5.5 million after the 12-player trade with the Astros, signed leadoff hitter Bip Roberts to a two-year, $4.8-million contract and flew starter Andy Benes in a private plane to spring training in an attempt to woo him to stay. They certainly. have done everything possible to assure a winner.

They have the finest pitching staff in the National League West. They have drastically improved their defense. They still have Tony Gwynn. They have a sharp manager in Bruce Bochy. A sage general manager in Randy Smith. And marketing gurus in Lucchino and assistant Charles Steinberg.

Yet, unless they win, everything is for naught and there will be another front-office housecleaning.

It's no secret Lucchino wanted Fernando Valenzuela, whom the Padres signed (along with Teddy Higuera) to help attract fans from nearby Tijuana. Smith wanted no part of Valenzuela and instead would have preferred using the money for a pitcher who could help the team win. Valenzuela should have won his first decision Sunday, but the bullpen blew the lead yet held on as San Diego improved to 4-1, its best start since going 6-1 in 1991.

Lucchino is the one who asked the Orioles for permission to talk with Frank Robinson about being an assistant G.M. Smith was unaware of the request. until Robinson rejected the offer.

Smith's contract expires after this season. Lucchino has an escape clause after this season.

It's a forced marriage that could work, but once again, only if the Padres win. The new owners want to get the fans back in the stands and make the ballpark a fun place to be," Gwynn says. "As a player, that's all you can ask. But for all this stuff to work, we need to go out and play winning baseball. I'm tired of losing."

If the early returns are any indication, they could be in for a lifestyle change. The Padres won four of their first five games. They overcame an opening-night public relations faux pas when Roberts lost his cool - "You start giving away hats to fans and then the fans are quick to (turn) on you. We don't need fans like that." And after being outscored 10.2 in their opener, they won the next four by a combined score of 37-19.

"We're giving the crowds something to get excited about," Gwynn says. "We're doing some things people haven't seen around here."

That includes the sight of Benes handing Out free caps to fans at the gates, along with teammates. "I'm not accustomed to being up in a public area handing out hats before I start a game," he says. "It wouldn't be something I would choose to do on my own."

The Padres just hope to see more of those caps in the stands, and they can help that cause by going quickly from-bad to good. Is there any chance they could be miserable again this year, and finish last for a third consecutive season?

"I'd be extremely disappointed," Smith says. "I'd also be shocked."

Hyp-hypocritical

Let me make sure I've got this straight:

The union says it is collusion when clubs drastically reduce offers to free agents because of their lost revenues during the eight-month strike.

But it's not collusion when the union has a four-hour conference call with their agents the eve before arbitration filings to make sure everyone submits their proper numbers.

It's not Fernandomania, but it's worth watching

Sporting News, The, May 8, 1995 by Bob Nightengale

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