Padre Notebook : Bowa Tells Gwynn Not to Press in No. 3 Spot

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said recently that he isn’t comfortable hitting third in the lineup. He prefers to bat second, because he says there’s too much pressure to get RBIs in the No. 3 spot.

So Larry Bowa, the Padre manager, brought Gwynn in for a chitchat before Saturday’s exhibition game against Cleveland.

“He (Gwynn) was worried that he had to drive the ball and hit the alleys in the No. 3 spot,” Bowa said. “I just told him to do what he did before in the No. 2 spot. Hit singles. He doesn’t have to hit home runs and doubles and triples. He thinks he has become a power hitter or something.”

After their talk, Gwynn went out and got three hits and four RBIs in the No. 3 spot.

“I know, I know,” Gwynn said. “I can’t believe it.”

Add Gwynn: Tony’s brother, Chris--an outfielder for the Dodgers--singled off Met pitcher Dwight Gooden the other day. But it looks as if Chris will spend the 1987 season at Triple-A.

“I think he’s ready (for the big leagues) now,” Tony said Sunday.

Sunday’s game against Oakland was rained out. The Padres play Milwaukee at 12:05 p.m. today in Chandler, Ariz.

More from Dick Williams:

There was increasing tension between Williams and Jack McKeon, the Padre general manager, during Williams’ final months as Padre manager. However, he and McKeon were on the same cruise together just a month before Williams was fired.

Asked about the cruise, Williams said: “I had a hell of a time.”

With McKeon?

“No, I had my wife with me,” he said.

When Williams’ Seattle Mariners played the Padres last week, Williams was greeted by some of his former players--pitchers Goose Gossage and Craig Lefferts, infielders Garry Templeton and Tim Flannery and coaches Deacon Jones and Galen Cisco.

But a number of guys didn’t greet him.

“It was good to see some of the guys,” Williams said. “But some of the other ones, I wouldn’t walk across the street to see. . . . So what difference does it make?”

Williams has said that he thought Harry Dunlop--one of the Padre coaches--was a spy in the clubhouse who reported back to McKeon every day.

Dunlop’s new nickname in the Padre clubhouse is “007.”

Also, when the Padres played the Mariners on Friday, Bowa was going to send Dunlop out with the lineup card if Williams brought it out for the Mariners.

Williams didn’t come out, so the confrontation was avoided.

Finally, a word from former Padre third base coach Ozzie Virgil, who was fired with Williams last year:

“If the thing had been done properly, it would have been no big deal. There’s no disgrace being fired. I thought we had a chance to win it (their division in July, 1985). We were in first place, and I’m pretty sure the GM (McKeon) knew what we needed. How about the left-hander from Pittsburgh (John Candelaria)? He was available and he would have been perfect.

“Mrs. (Joan) Kroc (the Padre owner) really took care of us, though. I’m really grateful the way she handled our part. She took care of us (financially) all year. She was really professional about it. At one time, she tried to talk him (Williams) into coming back, but I couldn’t see it working. Either Jack (McKeon) had to go or Dick had to go. It was Dick. But it would have been a mess if he came back. They did the right thing. They had to get rid of someone.”