Virgil Still Has No Idea Why Padres Fired Him : Former Third Base Coach May Join Giants, Says Williams Is Probably Next to Go

Ozzie Virgil is going to be hired before he knows why he was fired. The San Francisco Giants were resilent enough Monday to find him in Venezuela and are on the verge of offering him a new job.

Meanwhile, Virgil says the Padres, who never told him why they wouldn’t renew his contract 19 days ago, could be on the verge of something bigger.

“(Manager) Dick (Williams) doesn’t know if he’s coming back or not,” Virgil said Monday in a phone interview. “ . . . I think it (Virgil’s firing) was a way to get to Dick, myself. I don’t know what Dick’s going to do. They haven’t told him anything . . . Right now, they have something hush, hush, I believe. Nobody knows what’s going on. The club didn’t announce the decision on me, did it? Something must be going on.

” . . . I feel they thought they could get to Dick through me. I guess that’s because I was the only coach brought in by Dick. The other coaches weren’t hired by Dick. And Norm Sherry, who Dick brought in, was fired after last year. If Dick does come back, I’d be interested to see who they get to replace me. That’s if Dick comes back, which I doubt . . . I believe they are forcing him out somehow.”

Williams was unavailable to comment Monday. Padre front office people were available, but wouldn’t comment. President Ballard Smith has all along given Williams many votes of confidence, and he finds it ridiculous that this sort of talk has surfaced.

Still, Virgil said Williams told him he had a meeting scheduled with Smith at the end of this week.

Smith, however, said he knew of no such scheduled meeting.

But . . . “I’m sure I am going to meet with him,” Smith said. ‘He’s our manager. The winter meetings are next week (in San Diego), and we hope to make changes with the ballclub at the winter meetings (as far as trades). Obviously, the manager’s going to be involved with that, so I’m sure we will be meeting.”

So this would be an ordinary personnel-related meeting then?

“You got it,” Smith said.

Virgil hasn’t got a reason for his firing, although Smith prefers to say Virgil wasn’t fired, just not re-signed.

“It was sort of shocking, but I never take anything for granted in baseball,” Virgil said. “Coaches, managers . . . It’s a one-year, two-year deal, and you see how the club goes. Unfortunately, our club didn’t do as well as expected this summer, and they had to blame somebody.

“When we left (San Diego), I understood we (coaches) were all coming back. That’s what Dick told us, and McKeon told us to go home, and everything would be all right . . . They never gave me a reason at all (for the firing). He (McKeon) thanked me for my services and said ‘adios.’ That was end of conversation.

“But I didn’t know what the hell was going on. He gave me double-talk. But I understand. In baseball, they always give you the ‘We don’t know what’s going on,’ but they do know and don’t want to tell you. That’s the way it goes. I’m not bitter at anybody. I’m just disappointed at the way it was done.”

McKeon said it was his decision. He never consulted Williams, but he says that’s because Williams was out of town. And the decision had to be made by Nov. 15, the day unsigned coaches would be free to go anywhere they wanted. So McKeon dealt with Virgil alone.

“Yeah, it was my decision,” McKeon said. “I’m the boss. When you’re the boss, you make decisions.”

Virgil, once told of the news on Nov. 13, made calls to the Giants, a team he previously played and coached for. Manager Roger Craig, who lives in San Diego, was intrigued. He saw McKeon on a golf course and asked about Virgil. Craig said Williams called to recommend Virgil.

Finally, it has come to this: As long as Giant president Al Rosen approves it, Virgil will be hired. He will coach third base.

“I definitely want him,” Craig said Monday after speaking minutes before with Virgil. “I’ve always liked him and Norm Sherry (the new Giant pitching coach and a former coach for Williams in San Diego). Now, I can put Bob Lillis (former Houston manager) on the bench with me. Originally, I had him at third.

“I know Norm and Ozzie are both outstanding coaches. I’m glad I got one, but now I’ve got both.”

Virgil’s voice sounded strained over the telephone, mostly because he was time zones away in Venezuela. He had to go, he said, but he made a final comment: “It’s kind of tough to say why this happened. I don’t know. The only people who know are the Padres. They have something up their sleeve . . .”

Someone close to Virgil, who wished not to be identified, later said: “Dick told Ozzie: ‘I’m not going to be back.’ He told Ozzie: ‘They don’t want me, and now I know for sure since they let you go.’ ”