Padres Keeping Eyes on the Runner : Team Will Watch From Bench to Cut Down on Base Stealing

For lack of a better pair of feet, call it the Vince Coleman Syndrome. It happens in baseball every time a quick runner gets on first base. It happens to the pitcher.

The pitcher eyes the runner and goes into the stretch position.

What is suddenly stretched is the brain.

Padre reliever Mark Davis will take it from here: “You’re out there on the mound, looking over at the runner, and while you’re winding up, you’re thinking OK, I’m gonna watch this guy, I’m gonna watch . . .

“Then, bam, you throw the pitch, and realize not once have you looked at the catcher’s glove. High and away. Ball one.

“You get the ball back from the catcher and start thinking about the runner again and, bam, same thing. You are down in the count 2-and-0 before you know it. And then the guy can really steal.”

Don’t the Padres know it.

Benito Santiago was voted by the Associated Press as the best catcher in baseball last season, yet he still allowed 85 stolen bases in 127 attempts (33%). Most Padre pitchers, stricken with various forms of Vince Coleman Syndrome, were finally forced to ignore the runners so they could just worry about the hitters.

“So I never had a chance,” Santiago said. “If I have a chance at anybody--Vince Coleman, Tim Raines, anybody--I can throw them out.”

Sharing his dismay, this spring the Padre bosses are doing something about it. Through an intricate set of signals transmitted from the bench to the catcher to the mound, pitchers will now be told when to throw to first base. They will be told when to fake that throw. They will be told when and how to do everything but pitch to the hitter.

Not only is this complicated, it is unusual. As far as the Padres know, nobody else on the major league level is doing it.

“When I was with Seattle last year, we did it throughout the minor league system, and it worked,” said Pat Dobson, new pitching coach. “I don’t know if anybody else does it, but it can really get the pitcher’s minds back on the batter, and let Benny have a shot at the runner.”

The grateful, if not temporarily confused, pitchers agreed.

“It will take a lot of responsibility away from us and allow us just to concentrate on getting the guy out,” Hawkins said. “Now we just have to learn the signals.”

Said Ed Whitson: “I’m convinced that the runner steals 95% of the time off the pitcher. When a pitcher gets thinking and worrying, that’s when a team like St. Louis runs you to death. This can be a great idea.”

The way it will work, Manager Larry Bowa and Dobson will watch the runner from the bench. They will watch how he leans, or how he flinches, and when they sense a steal, they will relay the proper sign. Meanwhile, pitchers can still throw over to first any time they would like, but should be relaxed in the knowledge that it’s not always expected.

Said Bowa: “There is no reason for us not to throw out 45-50% of the runners. It’s a matter of mental discipline.”

Padre Notes

The Padres have agreed to terms with five players--Joey Cora, Candy Sierra, Stanley Jefferson, Todd Simmons and Sandy Alomar Jr. This leaves 20 players with less than three years experience unsigned. If they don’t sign by a Padre-imposed deadline of March 4, by virtue of league rules, the Padres will renew their contracts at whatever figure the club chooses. The biggest name among the unsigned remains Benito Santiago, but he said Monday that a walkout is out of the question. In fact, he is not particularly disturbed. Santiago and agent Joe Menza are asking for $180,000, the Padres are offering $140,00. “Why should I walk out, it will do no good,” Santiago said. “They have everything on me. I will play two more years and get everything on them. I’ll get mine then. Besides, the money they are offering, that’s good money.” . . . In his final day of spring training with the Yakult Swallows Japanese team, Doug DeCinces visited Manager Larry Bowa, who was pitching batting practice. From the mound, Bowa screamed, “I don’t believe you made it through their spring training!” DeCinces screamed back, “Of course I did. They let me do it at my own pace.” . . . Tony Gwynn took batting practice for the first time Monday, and drew a crowd of about 25 Padre minor leaguers. . . . Pitcher Eric Nolte experienced soreness in his ankles, and was not full speed. It has not been a great spring thus far for a man fighting Andy Hawkins for the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Eight days before camp he underwent a tonsillectomy, and still has difficulty talking. “I’m up to 12 hours a day talking, after that my voice is finished,” he said. Said Bowa: “I’m sure he’s still a little weak from it.” . . . After watching Tim Flannery work out for the first time this spring, Bowa said he would let the infielder work at his own pace as he recovers from arthoscopic ankle surgery. “We won’t make him run for a while,” Bowa said. “We’ll let him give it time.” . . . First baseman Rob Nelson became the seventh position player to report to camp. Position players will take their physicals today and are expected at camp for a first workout Wednesday.