National League : Nearly Everyone Has Played a Part in the Sinking of San Diego’s Ship

On the Fourth of July, after beating the Pirates at Pittsburgh, the San Diego Padres held a five-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.

Three weeks later, the Padres are 4 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. How are they coping with a turnaround of 9 1/2 games? Well, after blowing a 6-0 lead in a 9-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, Padre second baseman Jerry Royster stood on a table in the San Diego trainer’s room, looped one end of an Ace bandage through an air vent in the ceiling, wrapped the other end around his neck and pretended to hang himself.

“I got quite a few laughs,” said Royster, adding that he had merely been aiming for a little levity in the midst of the Padres’ worst losing streak since they dropped seven straight in May, 1984.

Such reversals are commonplace in the course of a six-month season, but still, the sudden decline of the Padres is of more than passing interest, especially in Los Angeles. Pitcher Eric Show, who was lifted from last Thursday’s game with a five-run lead, sounded almost fatalistic about San Diego’s recent misfortunes.

“As soon as I left the game I had a premonition of doom,” he said.

Other doomsayers point to the departure of Alan Wiggins, leadoff man extraordinaire, as a primary reason the Padres have stalled. Without a doubt, Wiggins is missed. The Padres haven’t scored a run in the first inning since July 6.

Still, the platoon of Royster and Tim Flannery in Wiggins’ spot at second has hardly been unproductive. In the last 30 games, the combination has batted .314, with 20 runs scored, 14 RBIs, 23 walks and an on-base percentage of .450.

The problem lately has been the heart of the Padres’ order, with the exception of Graig Nettles, who is batting .460 in his last 14 games. Steve Garvey last hit a home run July 9, and he has driven in just eight runs since June 28. Kevin McReynolds, in a 2-for-26 slump, was benched recently after contributing just one home run and five RBIs since July 10.

“I feel worse now than when I first came up,” said McReynolds, who homered in his first big league game, then proceeded to hit .176 the rest of his first season.

The slump also has extended to Padre pitching, most notably in the cases of Andy Hawkins and Craig Lefferts. Hawkins, who started the season 11-0, has just two wins in his last eight starts. Lefferts, the left-handed reliever who had a 2.13 earned-run average last season as a superb setup man for Goose Gossage, has been inconsistent and has a 5-4 record and a 3.48 ERA.

The Padres, who had only two players on the disabled list for all of 1984, continue to escape injury--only Carmelo Martinez has been on the disabled list--but Tony Gwynn, who hurt his wrist sliding into the plate on the Dodgers’ Mike Scioscia last month, dipped below .300 for five games and is a concern.

One stat to bear in mind as the season enters its last two months, assuming there’s no strike: The Padres and Dodgers play each other only four more times this season.

Pascual Perez update: The Atlanta Brave pitcher, who went AWOL last weekend in New York, is expected to rejoin the Braves Tuesday, but it does not appear that he will be reinstated immediately. Perez, currently on baseball’s restricted list, reportedly is losing $2,500 a day during this latest misadventure.

Perez, who was jailed a year ago in the Dominican Republic on drug charges, reportedly was not tested for drugs last week by the team. Team officials seem to believe that Perez’s disappearance was the result of stress that has been building since his arrest.

Perez, in an interview last week in Atlanta, gave reasons for his current problems. He said the Braves wouldn’t let him go back to the Dominican Republic last winter, instead requiring that he stay in Atlanta. What Perez failed to point out was that in four of the previous five winters, he had been arrested four times: twice on drug charges, once for possession of a firearm, and once for failure to make a child-support payment.

He also said that the Braves “took away my game” by insisting that he abandon all the posturing and finger-pointing he used to do while pitching, things that naturally infuriated rival hitters.

Perez may also be having marital problems. His wife has returned to the Dominican Republic. Perhaps most important, when Perez sought a multiyear contract this spring, the Braves gave him a one-year, $455,000 contract instead, telling him that after the ’85 season they would talk about a long-term package. Then, when Perez twice went onto the disabled list with shoulder problems, he became anxious about his future. “I no win, I no eat,” he was quoted as saying.

His very own BP pitcher: Cardinal catcher Darrell Porter is hitting under .200 against the rest of the league, but against Mike Krukow of the Giants, he is 4 for 4 this season, with two home runs, a double and a triple. He has only seven extra-base hits this season, four against Krukow.

Lifetime against Krukow, Porter is batting .483 (14 for 29), with five home runs. How to explain it?

“Ever since I stopped hitting everybody else, I started hitting Krukow,” Porter said.

Manager material: Former Pittsburgh Pirate star Willie Stargell, now the team’s first-base coach, has been contacted by a team in Puerto Rico about managing there this winter.

Stargell isn’t staying in baseball for the money. He and Pirate third baseman Bill Madlock own a bottling company in Danville, Va., and Stargell also is a spokesman for Pepsi USA.

“I said (wanted to manage) two years ago, but nobody was listening then,” Stargell said. “Right now I’m observing how other people manage. There’s still a lot of learning I’ve got to do yet.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said that Stargell asked to talk to him about his managing techniques.

“I think he’s a great leader, the kind of guy who would gain the respect of players, a super, super human being. I don’t know why he won’t make a good manager,” Lasorda said. “I’ll tell you one thing, there ain’t going to be too many guys giving him lip.”