Padre Notebook : Templeton Setting Good Example

While most of the other veterans were inside sipping soup, shortstop Garry Templeton was out by himself Friday, hitting off a batting tee.

Templeton, who will be 31 next month and who hit only .247 last season, appears to be motivated by the team’s new manager, Larry Bowa, and by all the talented young players assembled here.

Templeton walked up to General Manager Jack McKeon the other day and said: “Best group of young kids we’ve ever had here, Jack.”

And Templeton is helping to lead them. On Friday, for example, he helped rookie second baseman Joey Cora execute a rundown play.

“If you take Tempy out of our shortstop spot, we’d be like a chicken with its head cut off,” right fielder Tony Gwynn said, adding that when players don’t work hard, “Tempy’s crazy enough to get in your face. The man’s a winner.”

Bowa said of Templeton: “He’s got a great attitude right now.”

Rookie outfielder Shawn Abner continues to draw raves. After a batting-practice round Thursday, coach Greg Riddoch got on his knees, looked skyward and shouted: “Thank you, Joe McIlvaine!”

McIlvaine, the New York Met vice president, traded Abner to the Padres.

Abner is trying to stay level-headed. When he was in his first spring training camp with the Mets, he asked such players as Keith Hernandez and George Foster for their autographs. And he said Friday: “I might do the same thing here before I leave.”

But where is he going? Bowa--who said, “Abner keeps hitting ‘em out to the palm trees”--loves him so far. Still, Abner probably will end up at Triple-A. Bowa wants him to play every day, and that probably will happen in Las Vegas.

Pitcher Eric Show, whose locker is next to Abner’s, said: “All you got to do is hit 25 homers this spring (to stay with the big league club).”

Free-agent outfielder Tim Raines told the Cincinnati Post recently that he will not sign for less than $1.5 million a year--which is what he made with the Montreal Expos last season.

Raines said he is interested in playing for the Padres, Dodgers, Atlanta Braves or Houston Astros, but is willing to sit out the season if things don’t work out.

Show, coming off an elbow injury, threw 10 minutes of painless batting practice Friday. After watching a couple of Show’s breaking balls, teammate Marvell Wynne said: “That’s nasty stuff.”

“He threw well,” Bowa said. “That’s a good sign. He said it was the best he’d felt so far. Show looked like he was throwing effortlessly. I don’t care if he can get anybody out right now, as long as there’s no pain.”

Last June, infielder Randy Ready’s wife, Dorene, 24, collapsed and went into a coma. She awoke months later but had severe brain damage. Ready took most of the year off to be with their three boys, all under age 3.

Now he is competing for a job with the Padres while Dorene is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bakersfield. She is making slow progress and will be in the hospital for about a year.

Outfielder John Kruk, who is trying to trim down, went to an Italian restaurant with teammate Tim Flannery Thursday night but ate only a salad.

Kruk isn’t allowed to hit for a few weeks because he has a slightly separated right shoulder. But on Friday, he dived shoulder-first after a fly ball in the outfield.

“He’s going to drive me crazy,” Bowa said. “He’s possessed. He wants to play. I like that attitude, but I just don’t want him to get hurt. Really, I want 44 guys who say, ‘How come I ain’t playing?’ That’s good. It means they’re hungry.”

Bip Roberts, last year’s opening-day second baseman, is still depressed about being taken off the 40-man roster. He has a chance to make the team, but he has said that if he doesn’t, he may quit baseball.

Bowa saw Roberts working out by himself at the batting tee Thursday and had a chat with him.

“I told him, ‘Sometimes adversity helps all of us,’ ” Bowa said. “I think he’s got a good attitude this year. He’s a little down, but that’s expected.”

Third baseman Kevin Mitchell has reported to camp a bit overweight.

“I’m not sure what his playing weight was last year,” Bowa said. “He said it was 215 or 217, but he weighed in at 221, 222. He said he could stand to lose five pounds. But he’s a big guy. Kind of like (former major leaguer Greg) Luzinski, because even though he’s in shape, he’s big.”

Mitchell, who wasn’t a regular third baseman last year with the Mets, has looked a little shaky fielding grounders. But Bowa said: “I think he has good hands. The last two days, he’s been out taking extra (ground balls). It’s just a matter of getting comfortable.”

While pitcher Dave Dravecky was involved in some on-field drills, his 2-year-old son, Jonathan--who made the trip to Yuma with his mother, Jan--shouted: “Dad, are you busy?”

Dravecky waved, winked and said: “Yeah, I am.”

The Padres will play a game against their minor league all-stars at 1 p.m. Sunday in Desert Sun Stadium.