Boros, Templeton Chat, Clear the Air

Padre Manager Steve Boros finally found Garry Templeton. He found him in the trainer’s room. He invited Templeton inside his office for a chat. Boros shut the door. He locked it, too.

But he never got angry.

The day before, Garry Templeton had said Boros was too nice a guy, that there wasn’t enough enthusiasm on the Padre bench, that former Manager Dick Williams did a better job of creating enthusiasm and that it was too bad Boros hadn’t settled on a set lineup like Williams used to do.

He said Boros needed a “mean streak.”

It won’t happen.

Boros called Templeton into his office before Tuesday’s game, and they had (what else?) a nice, 20-minute chat. Templeton apologized for making his remarks to a reporter and not directly to Boros. Later, when the meeting was over, Templeton said of his Monday comments: “I might have been out of line.”

But he also said: “I didn’t criticize the guy in the paper. I don’t think I said anything that bad. All I said was that the team didn’t have any enthusiasm. I didn’t say he was a bad manager.

“I feel good. It’s off my chest. I said something, and I can’t take it back. But now he knows how I feel and where I’m coming from. It’s worked out for us both. There are no bad feelings. We weren’t screaming at each other. I’m just like anybody else in America; I’m entitled to my opinion. It’s not like I was speaking for everybody else on the team.”

But did anyone else agree with Templeton? Just one year ago, most every player on this team thought Dick Williams was a jerk. And now this? Is the grass always that green on the other side?

Apparently not. Tony Gwynn agreed with Templeton--to a degree. And Jerry Royster agreed with Templeton--to a degree. But not anybody else. Some of them were extremely mad at Templeton for opening his mouth.

Eric Show said: “Maybe people are mistaking kindness for weakness. As far as the team enthusiasm goes, it’s as high as it’s been since I’ve been here. Sure, you need to know when to pat people on the back and when to kick them in the butt, but he’s done a good job of that. I don’t always agree with him switching around the lineup, but there’s no manager in baseball who pleases everybody. Anybody who has problems with him should go talk to him. He’s a sensitive person and will listen. But for a guy to come out in the press and say that, it’s premature and bush at best.”

Tim Flannery said: “That is not the opinion of the entire team. I think a set lineup is one of the most overrated things in baseball. . . . I don’t think a lot of players agree. The enthusiasm? When you’re winning, it’s fine. Winning takes care of everything. This is crazy. You can’t have a set lineup if the everyday players aren’t performing. When we’re losing, he’s got to do something different because his job is on the line. Steve’s got to win. He won’t run the same people out there if they’re not winning, not unless he has a guaranteed contract.

“You know what I like about Steve? I like him because he’s not afraid to play a hunch. He will go against the book. Nothing burns me up more than seeing a manager always play by the book, just to cover himself so that if something goes wrong, he can go to the media and say the book said I should do it. . . . Listen, I’ve played for five managers here--and I said this a long time ago--the grass is not always greener. You have good managers and you have bad managers. I like Steve Boros.”

Steve Boros doesn’t love managing. He has said many times that he wants to manage now, but not forever. And after the Templeton ordeal, he said: “It just makes me more certain that I won’t be managing the rest of my life.”

Of Templeton, he said: “I think he said it more out of frustration because the club hasn’t won the way we’ve wanted it too. And I’m probably his explanation for it. My explanation is that our fourth and fifth starters have been struggling all year.”

Of being too nice a guy, he said: “It’s a question of what he means by kicking people in the pants. Should I chew out a player in front of his teammates or rip him in the press? Or do I sit him down when he’s not producing--take him out of the rotation or use him differently? It seems to me you can send a message that way (the latter way) and not demean a player. That’s the way I’ve done it. When I felt players haven’t done what I thought they should do, I’ve talked to them.”

Of the alleged lack of enthusiasm, he said: “From what I saw in L.A. and San Francisco when we won, I was impressed.”

Of the criticism on shuffling the lineup, he said: “I thought the problem last year was that it was too set and guys were tired and had to play hurt. It perplexes me.”

Boros was considered too nice when he managed at Oakland, but he said he will “not change” his style. Templeton wants Boros to get on players after mental mistakes, but Boros--as he always has done--will merely pull them aside and calmly tell them to do better next time.

“If he came in and ranted and raved in a meeting, it would get worse,” Gwynn said. “He’s not the kind of guy who can come in and scream and moan. Everybody would know it’s not him. So how can he win? If he came in and closed the doors and cursed and said, ‘You better start playing or I’ll get rid of you,’ what would we do? We’d all laugh.

“Everybody who knows Steve knows he’s a super nice guy. If Dick Williams cursed at us, we’d all sit with our eyes wide open. If Steve did it, our eyes would open for a second, and then we’d laugh. I’m not saying he should rant and rave. Just drop some fines every now and then.

“I think Tempy’s right to a degree. There comes a point in time when you’ve got to kick some butt. . . . Every manager I’ve played for had what I’d call a mean streak. . . . What Tempy said was heavy, but, I’m telling you, by no means are we saying we need a new manager. I’m not saying that.

“If you don’t win, you bitch. Each team, whether it has Tom Lasorda or Chuck Tanner, will have somebody who’s not happy. We’re no different, except guys are talking openly here about their feelings.”

Jerry Royster said: “I think Tempy knows what he’s talking about. But I’m the kind of guy who thinks you have to go out and play ball. It’s up to you to win, not the manager. But Tempy made some good points.”