THE COMFORT ZONE : Terry Kennedy Left His Troubles Behind When He Left Padres

Terry Kennedy is surprised how quickly he forgot the Padres.

“After being there for six years, I thought it would be harder to get it out of my mind, but it wasn’t,” said Kennedy, who was traded from the Padres to the Baltimore Orioles after last season. “I was surprised how fast I forgot the organization. . . . I don’t even watch the Padres. I don’t give a . . . what they do.”

As for playing with the Orioles, “I love it,” Kennedy said. Was the change of scenery as good as Kennedy thought it might be? “Better, better,” Kennedy said. “The Orioles are a great organization.”

And Kennedy is having fun again. During his final season in San Diego, Kennedy was unhappy and wanted to be traded. Now he’s content. He has even become a clubhouse prankster.

How about the time Kennedy hit rookie Billy Ripken in the face with a pie while Ripken was doing a live television interview? “The kids got blamed for it,” starting pitcher Mike Boddicker said. “Terry’s pretty sly.”

And happy. Kennedy, who has been an iron man behind the plate for the Orioles and who was the American League’s starting catcher in this year’s All-Star Game, wants to stay in Baltimore. He’s in the last year of a five-year contract he signed while with the Padres.

“It’s their option, not mine,” Kennedy said. “They’ll have to make a decision about that. I want to stay with the Orioles. I don’t want to go anywhere.” Kennedy, 31, has asked that contract discussions begin once the season ends.

“He’s done an outstanding job behind the plate, and he’s helped with his bat,” said Cal Ripken Sr., the Oriole manager. “I’ve been very pleased with him.”

After Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Angels at Anaheim Stadium, Kennedy was hitting .263 with 16 home runs and 52 RBIs. Since the assortment of Oriole catchers hit a combined .197 with 118 strikeouts last season, it’s obvious why Kennedy’s accomplishments have been so appreciated.

At the plate, Kennedy had an excellent first half, but he slumped in July and August.

Kennedy hit only .227 in his previous 48 games before Wednesday’s game against the Angels. Before he hit a home run against the Brewers on Friday and another against the Angels Tuesday, he hadn’t had a home run since June 23.

“I’ve had a pretty long dry spell, but that doesn’t really bother me,” Kennedy said. “July and August have always been my worst months, so I’m not worried about that. September has been my best, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Even when he is not producing at the plate, Kennedy is “a good person to have on the club,” Boddicker said. “He never gets too up or too down.”

Behind the plate, he has remained consistent. And he’s almost always behind the plate.

Kennedy has started 105 of 120 games and, before Wednesda, had played in 19 more games than any other American League catcher. Including all the Orioles’ exhibition games, Kennedy has already played in 135 games. By the end of the season, Kennedy anticipates that those numbers will total 140 regular-season starts and about 170 overall. Last year, Kennedy caught 123 games during the season for the Padres.

“You come to the ballpark and write his name in the lineup every day,” Ripken said. “Take him out every now and then and give him a little breather. But he’s big and strong, and he comes to the park to play.”

During his years in San Diego, Kennedy was criticized for his defensive skills. He has thrown out only about 25% of runners this season, but that also can be attributed to the Oriole pitchers’ inability to hold runners on base.

“He’s great to work with,” said Boddicker. “He’s always got his head in the game. He works hard and gives 100%. And he’s a workhorse.”

Said Kennedy: “I like catching now more than I ever have. The first part of my career I really didn’t care what I did behind the plate. Now I’m having a little more integrity about my job back there. I think the last few years, ever since ‘84, I’ve been more concerned with my catching than I had been in the past.”

Kennedy says his hitting suffers from catching every day.

“It probably has affected my hitting over the past couple of years,” he said. “I’ve never wanted to admit it, but I think it has. I’d rather be in there playing every day and not hitting than getting a rest and not playing. There’s always a chance that one AB (at-bat) that I’ll do something to help the club. There’s no doubt that I think catchers, as they get older, their hitting goes downhill. Look at what happened to (Johnny) Bench. Bench hit 40 homers three years in a row and then never hit over 25.”

This season, Kennedy got off to a quick start at the plate and was voted to the All-Star team by the fans. Kennedy is the only catcher to start the All-Star Game for both leagues.

“I really appreciated that (being voted to the All-Star team),” Kennedy said. “That was nice. It ranks right up there with my biggest ones (thrills), if not the biggest.”

Playing on the Padres’ first pennant winner in 1984 ranks right up there, too, says Kennedy, who still lives in Escondido.

Unlike his days as Padre player representative, Kennedy has remained free from controversy with the Orioles.

“I took my job (as player representative) seriously,” said Kennedy, who remains pro-union. When the Baltimore Sun went on strike for six days this season, Kennedy politely told the replacement for Tim Kurkjian, the regular writer, that he wouldn’t talk to him under the circumstances.

“He made it clear he didn’t think it was right,” Kurkjian said.

As Padre player representative, Kennedy was the spokesman on union matters.

“There were times I had to posture for the players association, and it wasn’t a pretty sight,” Kennedy said. “I said a lot of things that the public didn’t like, and I said a lot of things that definitely the organization did not like. So, that was part of the job, and I knew it. I knew it might cost me in the end. I don’t know if it did or not.”

Kennedy added that being the Padre player representative was probably a “negligible at best” factor in his being traded.

Ah, the trade. While Kennedy has produced for the Orioles, the Padres are still waiting for 25-year-old pitcher Storm Davis to come through. Davis, whom the Orioles traded for Kennedy and pitcher Mark Williamson, is 2-7 with a 5.93 earned-run average and spent six weeks on the disabled list with torn cartilage. On Tuesday, he asked to be traded.

“I feel bad that Storm hasn’t been healthy,” Kennedy said. “He’s a good pitcher. He could help the Padres. I feel bad that he didn’t have the kind of year everybody was expecting. But they do that a lot over there. They expect a lot . . .

“They projected something for Storm, and if he didn’t do it, it’s not going to satisfy anybody.

KENNEDY’S NUMBERS

YR AB H HR RBI AVE *1987 395 103 15 51 .261 1986 432 114 12 57 .264 1985 532 139 10 74 .261 1984 530 127 14 57 .240 1983 549 156 17 98 .284 1982 562 166 21 97 .295 1981 382 115 2 41 .301

*1987 statistics are through 8/18/87