Nice Clause for Some Applause From Players : Attendance Incentives Can Add to September Salaries

If you can really pack ‘em in, or if you can get the letters M-A-N-I-A added to your last name, all the power to you.

And all the bucks, too.

Because, folks, it pays to be popular. With the right team, with the right agent and with the right attendance clause, September can be something to remember.

Like today, for instance. At some point, the two millionth fan to watch the Padres at home this season will enter San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, unannounced perhaps, but not unappreciated.

Steve Garvey will collect $50,000.

Goose Gossage will collect $75,000.

And heaven forbid, if the Padres somehow draw 2.125 million fans, Garvey gets $50,000 more. If it gets to 2.15 million, Gossage gets $50,000 more. If it reaches 2.25 million, they both get $50,000 more. And they’d already collected before (Garvey $50,000 and Gossage $25,000) when the Padres went past 1.9 million months ago.

Hey Goose, Hey Garv: For all you do, this clause is for you.

But it’s not for everyone. You gotta have heart, but you also gotta be a heart throb. People gotta say “We love you” even when you gotta hit yourself in the head for striking out with the bases loaded. It’s a not-so-fine line. Is it fair that Tony Gwynn can’t get one? He tried. Sure, he did. Last year, he won a batting crown, negotiated a new contract and was told “no attendance clause whatsoever” by Padre president Ballard Smith.

“We went for it, believe me,” said Lou Muller, Gwynn’s agent. “They just flat out said: ‘We will refuse it.’ So I rounded it all into round figures. But when this contract is up, there’ll be a shopping list all right. When you get out of basic training in the military, they always tell you to put together a dream sheet. They say: ‘Here’s where we have bases. Now, where do you want to go?’ You want Hawaii and you end up in Minot, North Dakota. That’s why you call it a dream sheet. But we’ll have our dream sheet ready next time.”

Smith, who wasn’t exactly shaking in his Hush Puppies, said: “It comes up a lot, but we’ve only done it in very rare occasions.”

Can Gwynn get to where the air is rare? Not yet. Here’s our gauge. At every home game, the Padres show highlights of three players when they publicize the sale of their 1984 yearbook.

1. Steve Garvey. Every night, the people cheer.

2. Goose Gossage. Every night, the people say “Gooooooooose.”

3. Tony Gwynn. Every night, silence.

So, how do you achieve attendence clause status? s

There are simple steps. Be talented. Hit a lot of home runs. Pitch a lot of shutouts. Don’t spit on national television. Never curse. Kiss a lot of babies. Sign a lot of autographs. It helps if you work for the United Way.

Also, find out how you get “charisma.” Every team owner talks about it. And it’s essential. Like Garvey and Goose. They have it. And that’s why they have The Clause.

“We signed Garvey on Dec. 21, 1982, at a time (of the year) that we sell no season tickets,” Smith said. “We actually used to close the the ticket office the week between Christmas and New Years. But we sold 100 season tickets a day that week and well into the new year.

“Obviously, it’s a subjective thing. Not many (teams) do it because there aren’t that many players who do it. It takes more than ability to get in that category. It takes charisma. I think everybody agrees that Garvey and Goose have it. (Dwight) Gooden has it. (Fernando) Valenzuela had it.”

Valenzuela, who increases Dodger attendence by an average of 5,000 per game he pitches, doesn’t have it anymore?

“He was that type, but I don’t think he is now,” Smith said. “He hasn’t been that type of pitcher. He was so incredible at the beginning . . .”

Darryl Strawberry?

“Nope,” Smith said. “Probably a Dale Murphy, and a Pete Rose, obviously.”

Dave Parker?

“Nope,” Smith said.

So it helps if you have a good agent, a shrewd one, a stubborn one. Garvey and Gossage have Jerry Kapstein, who also handles Carlton Fisk of the White Sox, who has an impressive attendence clause, too.

“My job is to maximize potential benefits,” Kapstein said.

It also helps to be a free agent, because teams get so much more generous when they’re bidding against other teams. Like with Goose and Garvey.

“We wanted to sign them,” Smith said.

It helps if you’ve been around a while.

“It usually takes a player who has played a lot of years with public appeal and charisma,” Garvey said.

But it also helps if you’re a young superstar. Garry Templeton, once the rage in St. Louis before the fans there raged back at him and ran him out of town, had an attendance clause that carried over when he was traded to the Padres.

So he made $20,000 when Padre attendance reached 1.25 million, $20,000 more when it reached 1.5 and $20,000 more when it reached 1.75 million.

“With attendance clauses, you’ve got to get them coming back for you,” Templeton said. “If you like the way a guy entertains on TV, you’ll keep watching him week in, week out. If you do things on the field, people will come out and they’ll tell their friends and say: ‘You should’ve seen him.”’

It also helps to be at the right place at the right time. Harold Baines has an attendance clause.

Harold Baines.

“That was our means of showing confidence in him,” said Roland Hemond, White Sox general manager. “You’re showing good faith in his ability. It was also a case of our ownership, relatively new on the scene, exhibiting to him that we thought he was an important player.”

What kind should you get if you get the chance? There are all sorts. Examples follow (figures obtained from Major League Players Assn. files):

THE PADRES’ GARVEY--As stated, he makes $50,000 apiece at attendance levels of 1.9 million, 2 million, 2.125 million and 2.25 million. His 1985 base salary of $800,000 might sound low, but Kapstein wanted all his clients’ salaries to be reduced in 1985 because of the possible strike. In 1986, Garvey’s base salary jumps to $1.25 million.

THE PADRES’ GOOSE GOSSAGE--His attendance levels are nearly identical to Garvey’s, except he makes only $25,000 at 1.9 million. At 2 million, however, he gets $75,000. He, too, had a low 1985 base salary ($650,000) because of the strike.

THE ANGELS’ REGGIE JACKSON--Although his current attendance clause isn’t known, his past one was. After the Angels would reach the 2.4 million attendance level, Jackson would get 50 cents per admission.

In 1982, he made $203,000.

In 1983, he made $77,000.

In 1984, he made about $1,500.

THE CUBS’ RON CEY--The Penguin’s numbers bring cold cash. He collects $100,000 at each level of 1.5 million, 1.6 million, 1.7 million, 1.8 million and 1.9 million.

He made $500,000 last year.

And he made $500,000 more this weekend.

THE METS’ GEORGE FOSTER--He makes $50,000 at fan levels of 2 million, 2.25 million, 2.5 million and 2.75 million. At three million, he makes, $100,000. So far, with the Mets at the 2.269 million, Foster has earned an additional $100,000. Also, his base salary is $1.75 million.

THE WHITE SOX’ HAROLD BAINES--After the White Sox reach 2 million, he gets 40 cents for ticket sold. In 1983, he made $53,000. In 1984, he made $14,795.

THE WHITE SOX’ CARLTON FISK--After 1.4 million, he collects $10,000 each time the attendance increases by 50,000. In 1982, he earned $30,000. In 1983 and 1984, he made $140,0000. Just to illustrate what other goodies you can get in your contract, he has an option to work as a coach/broadcaster in 1986 and 1987.

THE WHITE SOX’ TOM SEAVER--He gets money from road games, too. For instance, say the Yankees play the White Sox nine times at Yankee Stadium, and Seaver starts two of those games. And say the Yankees average 32,000 fans in attendance in the games Seaver doesn’t pitch, compared to 37,000 when Seaver does pitch.

That’s a difference of 5,000.

Multiply 5,000 by 50 cents (equals $2,500) and multiply again by the number of starts he had in New York (two). That’s $5,000 he would’ve made in New York.

They use the same formula for White Sox home games, and they also give him 10 cents for each admission over 2.13 million fans.

In 1984, he made $51,926.