Padre Notes : To Pitchers, From Bowa: Inside Is Where It’s At

What is a convention opening, after all, without a keynote speech? About halfway through the first day of the Padres’ 20th spring training Friday, Manager Larry Bowa called together the assembled pitchers and catchers and addressed them with this:

“You have to learn to pitch inside. Pitch inside! If you have to knock the batter back, fine. Don’t worry if he’s mad. Let him come out after you. We’ve got 23 guys who will back you up.”

If Friday was any indication, the Padres are planning not just to approach this 1988 season, but to jump at it.

With 24 players on hand for Friday’s first workout (all 21 pitchers and catchers, plus three voluntarily reporting position players), the Padre bosses preached aggression. They preached boldness.

“I’m not saying you’ve got to knock the batters down,” Bowa said later. “But you have to use the inside of the plate. You can’t let the batter sit on your outside pitches. You have to bring it in there, hard.”

And another thing. Bowa preached war.

“I told them, when you see the opposition, you have to hate them, every one,” Bowa said. “You can be their buddy off the field, but once they get into a uniform, it should be a hate. You should be mad at them.

“Last year some guys on this team were too passive. There was too much friendship before the game. A guy pitching that night was over there on the other side talking to his buddies.

“I believe in saying, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ But those 10-15 minutes talks, I don’t like.”

Bowa was so excited by all this, he got up at 6 a.m. before Friday’s practice and ran three miles.

“Through the streets of Yuma at dawn,” he said.

And who else is on the streets of Yuma at dawn?

“Nobody,” he said. “It was the same as the streets of Yuma at high noon.”

He showered, ate and descended upon the Padre practice facility to casually put his partial team through what may have been the longest pitcher-and-catcher workout of their lives.

Five and a half hours. From 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Pitching, hitting, running, exercising and participating in an unusual drill in which they fielded fungoes while continuously running in a huge circle.

And all done in a 50-mph desert wind. “Was that a long workout for pitchers and catchers or what ?” said pitcher Andy Hawkins. “I think we stretched five times.”

Bowa laughed. “I know they are tired and dragging, but that’s good. They’ll be sore tomorrow morning, but we’re going to do the same thing again.”

The Padres will have Sunday off because of physical exams in San Diego, so Bowa wanted them to put in two good consecutive days.

“I saw no sense in coming all the way over here for two easy days. We’ll work hard, recharge on Sunday and then come back hard on Monday,” said Bowa, who believed his pitchers were not in shape when they left camp last season. “Our legs will be ready for this season.”

Bowa was impressed that some legs, and bodies, were already ready.

“Six guys had to go in and change their pants--to a smaller size,” he said. “That’s a good sign.”

Particularly impressive were relievers Greg Booker, who had dropped 21 pounds from last spring’s reporting weight of 253, and Lance McCullers, who had dropped 15 pounds from last year’s reporting weight of 218.

But sometimes Friday, even the best of shape was not enough.

“I was going to run four miles after this,” said McCullers, wearily shaking his head. “Not now. I’m too hungry.”

Misery being what it is, the pitchers and catchers will be glad to know that the rest of the squad will join them Wednesday.

In the meantime, it will seem like just them, Bowa, and his new enforcer, pitching coach Pat Dobson.

After Bowa’s speech Friday, Dobson gave one like it, emphasizing the inside fastball. In fact, under his guidance, the pitchers will not throw anything but a fastball for the first four days.

“It’s a recognition thing,” Dobson said. “We want the opponents conscious of the fact that we will throw inside.”

Padre Notes

The Padres are nearing a potentially messy situation involving unsigned players who are not eligible for arbitration. Those are players with less than three full years of experience who have no choice but to sign. Even if they walk out or hold out, they return with no more leverage than when they left.

Thus it is common to wait to sign these players until every other trade and winter financial transaction is worked out first. The Padres haven’t signed any of theirs, leaving 27 of the 38 roster players unsigned.

If the players don’t sign by a club-imposed deadline of March 4, their contracts will be automatically renewed at the club’s figure. A renewal is written into the league’s Basic Agreement with the players’ union, but it’s not a pleasant way to start the season for either party.

Among the unsigned Padres are second baseman Randy Ready (seven days shy of arbitration), Lance McCullers and Benito Santiago, whose Miami-based agent, Joe Menza, is reportedly asking for considerably more than the Padres’ likely offer of around $150,000.

Although no player is threatening any action, none seems close to agreement.

“We’re trying to be fair. We don’t want to drive anybody into the ground,” said Chub Feeney, the Padre president. “But most of the guys we are talking about just haven’t played too much yet.”

The three position players who showed up early were center fielder Stanley Jefferson, second baseman Joey Cora, and shortstop Roberto Alomar. Bowa was particularly impressed with Jefferson. “We talked five times this winter, and he wanted to come to camp at the earliest date possible. You can tell, his attitude is different. He is more outgoing. He is really wanting to do what it takes.” . . . Eric Nolte is still recovering from a tonsillectomy performed last week. He says his arm is “100%” but his health is “80%.” . . . During his first batting practice, a cocky Santiago was calling the location of each hit. Finally, batting coach Amos Otis shouted, “OK, man on third, two out, where you gonna put it?” Santiago smiled and laid down a bunt and said, “You like?” . . . The first-day media darling was none other than Keith Comstock, who was surrounded by the Japanese media, who are covering the spring training of the Yakult Swallows. Comstock played two years in Japan.