Vice President Bush Drops In, Roots His Astros Past Padres

Houston sportswriters came out of a Friday afternoon news conference here saying: “What a mess,” and they weren’t talking about the complimentary spread of baloney and ham.

Apparently, fourth place hadn’t been good enough for the Astro chairman of the board John McMullen, and, consequently, he fired general manager Al Rosen, who just didn’t make enough off-season moves (zero) to satisfy his bosses. Also, McMullen wanted to show fans he’s willing to improve things, so somebody had to be the scapegoat.

But do the fans really care? Maybe, maybe not. Hours later, only 8,932 turned out to see the Astros pull closer to third place, defeating the Padres, 3-2, behind the pitching and hitting of Mike Scott, who, tossed a five-hitter and drove in two runs.

This at least pleased their No. 1 fan, this nation’s No. 2 man, Vice-President George Bush. Bush is a home-grown Astro fanatic. Right there, smack in the middle of the seventh inning, he waltzed into the Astro dugout, said “hi” to the fellas and plopped himself down on the bench. The 18 secret service men preferred to stand.

Houston Manager Bob Lillis, knowing it’s against baseball rules for unauthorized visitors to be in the dugout, ran and asked home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt for his approval.

“Only if you introduce me,” Wendelstedt said.

Said Lillis of Bush: “He is a real baseball fan, an Astro fan. He’s been here a few times, and we were happy to see him. Actually, he’s personal friends with (Nolan) Ryan. I asked him if he wanted to pitch the last inning, but he remembered his first pitch at Cooperstown (Bush, at the Hall of Fame game this year, accidentally threw a breaking ball).”

Over in the depressed Padre dugout, there was reaction to Bush, too. Tony Gwynn said “I was shocked,” but Manager Dick Williams and batting coach Deacon Jones recalled an incident prior to the fifth game of last year’s World Series when Bush visited the Padres.

Williams had planned to introduce Bush to his team that day, and he, naturally, would start with Steve Garvey. But Bush turned the wrong way and instead peered straight at Jones. Williams said: “Mr. Vice-President, this is our hitting coach Deacon Jones.”

Jones, who’d lost his senses, responded by saying: “Hi, Bush.”

To this day, it still gives Williams the giggles, but he did say Friday: “We lost that game, too.”

They lost Friday by playing what has lately become typical Padre baseball. The pitching was fine, but the offense was minimal. The big play: With two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, Scott lined a Mark Thurmond pitch to right, making it 2-0. Scott earlier had hit long homers in Cincinnati and St. Louis, and Thurmond knew about that.

“That pitch was a bad pitch,” Thurmond said, summing it up articulately.

Still, the Padres tied the game in the third on back to back singles by Miguel Dilone (who gave Carmelo Martinez a rest in left field), Jerry Royster and Gwynn. Considering they’d scored only five runs in their last four games, maybe this was a start. Alas, it wasn’t. Scott, throwing an excellent split-fingered fastball, didn’t yield another hit and went the distance. He’s now 17-7.

Not-so-suddenly, the Padres trail the Dodgers by 12 games (just 22 remain), and they lead the fourth-place Astros but by one game.

“It means a little extra dough,” said catcher Terry Kennedy of Padre incentive for third place. “Anyway, fourth place would mean a four-place slip since July 4th.”

Of the 1985 season, Kennedy said: “One thing you can’t point to (as a reason for the fall) is defense. That’s about it, though. Our hitting’s been off, our pitching, our relief. No speed. One thing we did have, though, was defense.”

Elsewhere, Gwynn sadly was the first player to utter the words “I’m looking forward to next year.”

He explained.

“I didn’t mean to say that, but I had to. No, I’m not quitting. I know that. It’s just our chances of finishing first are pretty tough. We can’t just finish out the season, though. We’ll bust our tails and try to win as many as we can. I’m not saying it’s over, but 13 back with 24 left or something like that? Almost impossible. But we’re good enough to deserve second place.”

In Houston, though, are they good enough to deserve a fan like Bush?

Padre Notes Shortstop Garry Templeton missed Friday’s game to be with his ailing father in Shreveport, La. He is expected to play tonight. . . . The Eric Show-Carmelo Martinez-Tim Flannery conflict apparently is history. “It’s a long season,” Flannery said Friday, implying that it might have been caused by tension. “But that stuff’s overwith. Today’s a new day. That’s the way I feel. We’ve got ballgames to worry about. Regardless of who’s right or wrong, it’s over with.” . . . Pitcher LaMarr Hoyt had experienced soreness after his first start in over a month last week. But he’s still expected to start Sunday’s game here against Nolan Ryan. “He wants to try it,” Manager Dick Williams said. . . . Terry Kennedy’s father, Bob, had been the Astros’ vice president of operations, but was dismissed along with general manager Al Rosen Friday. Terry Kennedy, though, said he probably would end up in San Francisco with Rosen. “A good chance,” Terry Kennedy said. “A better than average chance.”