Bowa Tries to Fire Up His Troops, but Is Met With a Cold Shoulder

Padre Manager Larry Bowa, rattled by his team’s 2-10 start, would like to see his players get angry, hold a meeting without him and try to figure out what they’re doing wrong.

“If I was still playing, I’d be getting on guys with some constructive criticism. Maybe a team meeting without the manager. We did that a lot in Philadelphia,” Bowa said after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Dodgers.

“If I was still playing, yes, I’d be embarrassed. I’m not playing and I’m embarrassed.”

But Bowa’s search for a way to ignite his struggling team did not elicit a sympathetic reaction from a couple of the Padres’ more senior and respected players.

Both shortstop Garry Templeton and right fielder Tony Gwynn said it would be out of character for them to rant and rave at teammates. Templeton, the team captain, said he liked the idea of a meeting without Bowa, but Gwynn doubted it would do any good.

“That’s bull,” Gwynn said. “We all see what’s happening and we’re not happy about it. Us sitting here talking won’t do a lot of good. We’re not failing in the clubhouse. What good is talking? It won’t do a lick of good. We’ve got to do it between the white lines.”

If there is common ground between manager and players, it is that the Padres’ feeble offense, averaging fewer than two runs a game, magnifies all the other shortcomings.

“I can’t swing the bat for these guys,” Bowa said. “If you only score two runs, you have got a chance to lose 130 or 140 games. You ain’t gonna win too many. It’s as simple as that.”

Bowa bemoaned the absence of a big hitter in the middle of the lineup, such as Eric Davis, Darryl Strawberry, Pedro Guerrero or Dale Murphy.

He also believes the Padres are lacking a firebrand kind of player such as he was.

“I’d take some responsibility,” he said. “I’d be asking, ‘Are we really this bad?’ . . . You’d be surprised what could happen. Guys sit around and carry on, you can get a lot out of it. You need pressure from your peers. . . .

“There’s gotta be some guys here that are mad . . . Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know. But I see the same reaction. Guys come in, put down their glove, take a shower and walk out. I’m not saying you’ve gotta go crazy, but I would think at 2-10 you’d have some emotion.”

He also suggested that if the Padres were playing in front of East Coast fans, like those in Philadelphia and New York, they would be hearing boos so loud that they would dread coming to the ballpark.

“Maybe I played on the East Coast too long. I know you couldn’t stick your head out of the dugout if you had a 2-10 record in Philly or New York. No chance. You hate going to the park when you know you’re going to get your butt booed. Those people let you know when you play good and when you don’t.”

Templeton and Gwynn said they are as angry as Bowa, but they won’t take it upon themselves to alter their personalities and begin goading their teammates.

Templeton stopped short of promising to call a team meeting or taking it on himself to castigate teammates.

“There are a lot of guys here who are not emotional as far as throwing stuff or kicking stuff,” he said. “We’re like Larry; we’re mad, too.

“We’ve got a good club. We just need to score more runs. We’re not getting production from anybody. We’re just not hitting in key situations.”

Gwynn said he is sick of losing.

“I sure don’t play this game to lose every day,” he said. “We’re all as upset as anybody (about losing). Probably even more than Larry. We’re trying to do the right things.

“I know Larry is frustrated. We all are,” Gwynn said. “If we keep busting our tails, it’ll turn for us, hopefully.”

As he has always done when asked whether he is a team leader, Gwynn gave an emphatic negative answer.

“I just do my job and if people want to follow my example, fine,” he said. “I don’t sit here and rant and rave.

“Everybody here know the things to do, or they wouldn’t be here. I won’t jump on a guy’s case. That’s not for me to do. If you’re in the big leagues, you have to realize what has to be done. It’s not my job.”

Whether his players take it upon themselves to start yelling at one another, Bowa vowed he won’t back off.

“I can scream and holler and kick guys in the butt,” he said. “I’ll do it every day. I won’t quit.”