Padre Notebook : Dawson Just Warming Up as Cub

Andre Dawson looks as if he’s in pretty good shape. But he’s taking things slow. His knees still ache. He’s not doing all the baserunning drills, just to play it safe.

“As long as I’m ready by the season opener,” the outfielder said.

The Cubs signed him just the other day, and the city of Chicago went cuckoo. But Andre Dawson warned his new teammates not to expect a miracle.

“Hey, don’t put the monkey on me!” he told them.

Being a free agent isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s bad enough sitting at home while everyone else is getting a head start at spring training, but when you eventually do sign (for peanuts, practically), should everyone expect you to turn the team around?

He just got here.

The thing is, Dawson is here because he got sick of sitting around. He’s 32 now. Time is a-wasting. He figured he could sign a one-year deal now and go to arbitration in 1988 to get what’s coming to him. In the meantime, he’ll play.

He said his buddy and former Montreal teammate, Tim Raines, is finally getting the message. Dawson spoke with Raines Sunday night and Raines told him he was getting “restless.” Raines is free agent and isn’t being offered big money. Raines made $1.5 million with Montreal last season and won a batting crown, but no major league team has offered more than $1.1 million (the Padres made the only offer).

“Timmy wants to play,” Dawson said. “He wants to get into spring training. But the offers being made at this time are sort of a slap in the face.

“The way things are going, he’ll probably have to take a cut in pay (from last season). It’s sort of unheard of that a guy who leads the league in hitting has to go through this. . . . In the long run, he’ll get what he’s looking for.”

But not this year.

“Timmy mentioned he would (take a pay cut),” Dawson said. “He doesn’t want to return to Montreal (which he could do as of May 1). He said all along that if it boils down to having to take a pay cut, he will. . . . What it may come to is making a choice of where he wants to play.”

Dawson made that choice. He chose the Cubs. It’s because of his knees. Wrigley Field has that forgiving grass, and Dawson figures he can play about 150 games this season. Besides, there are all those day games and the wind blowing out.

“I probably, at the most, want to play four more years,” he said. “So I think it (going to Wrigley) is a good move on my part because if I want to extend my career I’ve just got to get off that AstroTurf. The difference between the two surfaces is night and day.

“I felt I had to make a deal that was best situated for myself. I wanted to play here. It was a low figure ($500,000 guaranteed when he could have made $1 million with Montreal), but I was willing to stand by the proposal I made.”

Dawson and his agent, Dick Moss, said they were willing to give the Cubs a blank check. He told them to just fill in the number. He’d sign.

Donald Fehr, the director of the Major League Players Assn., said the Cubs didn’t want to go through with it.

“He shamed them into it,” Fehr said Wednesday in Lakeland, Fla. “They couldn’t figure out a way to say no. . . . I think what Dawson did was to demonstrate that sometimes you have to make sacrifices. You need to demonstrate that some things are more important than money.”

Besides, Dawson was sick of sitting at home.

Will Raines get sick of it too?

“You can sit around for just so long,” Dawson said. “Your pride has to take a seat now and then. You’ve got to remember you’ve got a family, and you’ve got bills you’ve got to pay. Even though Timmy’s at an age (27) where he can sit out, financially, it just wouldn’t be feasible for him to do something like that.”

Raines has threatened to sit out the season. But Dawson said he feels certain that Raines will be in some big league city by opening day.

“I surely hope so,” Dawson said. “And he certainly shouldn’t go back to Montreal (on May 1). I hope he doesn’t get into that situation because that would involve him missing all of spring training and the first month of the season. And then you never know what kind of start he’ll get off to. It could affect the entire season for him.”

Dawson himself wasn’t willing to take that chance.

Tim Raines might be.

“I’m telling you,” Dawson said. “I spoke with him Sunday and he sounded like it’s all getting tough for him.”

Padre Notes

Manager Larry Bowa’s homecoming went a little sour Wednesday as the Padres fell, 4-1, to his former team, the Chicago Cubs. Basically, the Padres were facing a top-flight pitcher for only the second time all spring. They saw California’s John Candelaria last weekend, and Wednesday they faced Steve Trout. Trout retired all nine batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Cubs scored three runs off Padre starter Storm Davis. . . . Third baseman Kevin Mitchell had the lone Padre RBI, a sharply hit single to left that scored shortstop Garry Templeton. . . . Infielder Randy Ready started at second base and dropped a pop-up in shallow right field. Ready has played second and third this spring, as Bowa tries to figure out if Ready can be a utility infielder. “He (Ready) is known for his hitting,” Bowa said. “Defensively, he’s had his moments, but he doesn’t feel comfortable out there. If he’s going to make the team, he’ll have to play all those positions.” Bip Roberts is also getting a look as a utility infielder. Roberts, a second baseman last season, played some shortstop in Wednesday’s game. . . . Bowa on managing against the Cubs: “There are a lot of guys I really like and respect over there. I’ve got a lot of friends there.” Fans in Wrigley Field used to be critical of Bowa, and he was asked Wednesday if he’d take out the lineup card to the umpires on his first visit back to Wrigley this year. “Nah,” he said, “I probably won’t take it out. Well, I might take it out the first game and get the crowd loosened up.” . . . Pitcher Greg Booker experienced pain in his right forearm Tuesday but felt better Wednesday. He might try to pitch again as soon as today. . . . Other than Booker, the injury list is slight. Outfielder Shane Mack is due to have stitches removed from his right leg today and should play again immediately. Pitcher Eric Show has the flu.