Padres Are Back Together : Team Now Calling Williams’ Settlement a Misunderstanding

During a seaside summit meeting here Friday morning, the San Diego Padres apparently achieved harmony.

Nobody hated anybody anymore. Dick Williams would be back as manager, and Jack McKeon would be back as general manager. And not only would Ballard Smith be back as team president, but also back as owner Joan Kroc’s son-in-law.

A lot of feelings almost got hurt. McKeon and Smith supposedly had conspired to get Williams to quit. And Kroc, who was on Williams’ side, supposedly was so sick and tired of Smith that their working and family relationships appeared in jeopardy.

But they all left Kroc’s La Jolla home on Friday with smiles and handshakes and pats on the back.

At an afternoon news conference, Smith tried to explain what happened. There had been a “misunderstanding.” Williams thought Smith had offered him a financial settlement to quit when Smith really had done no such thing. But since Williams thought he did, he let Smith know he might be willing to quit. Smith told him to get back to him on that.

Meanwhile, Williams left on vacation and gave all indications that he would quit, telling friends, who told friends, who told friends.

News of this got back to McKeon, who then figured he might as well let Williams’ third base coach, Ozzie Virgil, know that he wouldn’t be needed “at this time.” News of the firing was not announced, though, since Smith was waiting to hear if Williams would get back to him. Also, no one told Kroc what was going on.

When Kroc did find out--in a newspaper article, no less--she was livid, saying privately that “heads could roll in the front office,” including Smith’s. She, quite frankly, did not like being kept in the dark. She said Williams would not be bought out and she ordered Virgil rehired. She scheduled a secret meeting for Friday. This would settle it.

Sources said Williams actually would have quit had the Padres offered him some sort of settlement. But Kroc was against it, and Williams couldn’t pass up the final year of his contract, worth $200,000.

“He had to come back,” said Virgil, who also said he will turn down an offer from the San Francisco Giants and come back as the Padre third base coach.

Meanwhile, some Padre players aren’t exactly thrilled by this decision, based on random interviews Thursday.

One player, for instance, requesting anonymity, said: “I’ll say 23 out of 25 players don’t like Dick Williams. I think it would be a benefit for a lot of guys (if they got a more amiable manager) because Dick isn’t the type of manager who pats you on the back when you do something well. . . . If we get somebody who comes in and does that, a lot of guys will feel a lot more comfortable about playing baseball.”

Another player said: “I love playing for Dick, but when I get out of this game, I’m gonna run over him with a car. It’s definitely a love-hate relationship.”

At the news conference, Smith said: “To be perfectly honest, I’ve heard grumblings (about Williams) ever since Dick’s been here. I think Dick has some adjustments to make in his style, and he seems to be prepared to make them. And I assume the players will meet him halfway.”

In other words, Dick Williams, age 56, will change?

“Sure, absolutely,” Smith said. “Why not? Are we ever too old to change?”

Williams said: “I’ll probably start meeting (with players) after they start conditioning. I’ll talk to anybody I see out there. We’re all thinking positive here. We’re going on from here. I’m excited about it.”

Kroc’s official statement apparently ends speculation of a conflict with Smith: “I have complete confidence in Ballard. He is president of the ballclub with all the authority that goes with the title. I’m happy with the decision that was agreed upon by Ballard, Jack, Dick and I. And I look forward to opening day.”