Show Answers Bowa by Raising Questions About His Perceptions

Padre pitcher Eric Show, whose competitiveness was questioned Wednesday night by Manager Larry Bowa, has, in response, questioned Bowa’s perceptions and his ability to communicate those perceptions.

“I haven’t said anything to all of his inconsistent remarks this year,” Show said Thursday. “Then all of a sudden, what do I find? That he thinks I want out of games? I didn’t know that. I’m actually surprised he was that creative and could come up with something that far-fetched.

“He tells me one thing and tells other people different things. I just wish he would tell me what he tells everybody else.”

Show was asked if this quarrel with Bowa--one more incident in Show’s controversial six-year career, which has been filled with verbal fights with fellow Padres--would lead him to openly seek a trade.

“I can’t answer that, for reasons I can’t tell you,” said the enigmatic pitcher, who is 5-12 with a 4.03 ERA.

Said Bowa: “What I said about Eric, I didn’t mean it personally. When people can’t take the criticism, maybe it’s time to move on.”

After Show was touched for six runs in 2 innings in Wednesday’s 15-5 loss to the Reds, Bowa complained that his pitcher didn’t appear to want to stay in the game.

“My pitcher came up and asked me if he was hitting,” Bowa said. “That shows me he wants out of the game. He’s only down 4-0, and he wants out of the game. Show showed me something there. . . . I would expect a young kid to say that, not a veteran pitcher.”

On Thursday, Show said his approach involved common sense.

“First off, when I asked the question, he wasn’t mad at all,” Show said. “I asked if they were hitting for me, and he just said no. I’ve been pulled out of games earlier than that. I think it was a reasonable question. I definitely wanted to stay in the game. That part, he made up.”

After the game, Bowa gave a 10-minute clubhouse speech in which he accused “three or four guys” of not caring enough.

Show said he suspected nothing even then. “After the game, Larry didn’t say anything to me,” he said. “In his speech, I didn’t know whether or not I was the one he was talking about. I think it wasn’t until you guys talked to him that he wrote the script.”

Show said he has no other complaints with his manager.

“I like Larry. I have nothing against Larry, no grudges, nothing personal,” he said. “I think Larry has a good baseball mind. I think he knows the game.

“I just don’t know his reasons for making up these stories. He must have some motivation. I just don’t know it.”

In response to Show’s response, Bowa said he couldn’t understand why his pitcher took it so hard.

“I didn’t say I was mad at Show. . . . I was mad at a lot of guys last night (Wednesday),” Bowa said. “All I said was, I was disappointed. I like him, I think he’s a good kid. I just said that maybe he wasn’t competitive enough.

“I’m a young manager, I make mistakes just like everybody else. But at least I’ll admit them. That’s the difference between me and some of my players.”