Padre Notebook : Enjoying Opposites in Home and Field

Saturday afternoon, for the first time since he arrived in camp last week, first baseman John Kruk was able to talk.

So, John, flu and laryngitis aside, how was your winter?

“Started the winter in San Diego and got bored,” he said flatly. “Didn’t know anybody. Didn’t know where to go. Didn’t do squat. I finally said, forget it, I’m playing baseball in Mexico.”

After playing the season with Mexicali, Kruk returned to his tiny hometown of Keyser, W. Va. Disillusioned by his San Diego experience, he decided he would settle with the home folk. He promptly bought a house that would make San Diegans blush.

A house with 2,500 square feet. On 13 acres. With an underground swimming pool.

For $100,000.

“I couldn’t buy a two-bedroom condo in San Diego for that,” Kruk said.

The catch: It’s in Burlington, W. Va., a town of about 200. It’s 3 1/2 hours from the nearest major city, Pittsburgh or Baltimore. It’s 90 minutes from the nearest interstate highway.

“Isn’t that great?” Kruk said.

Ah, but the one question San Diego wants to know--is there a view.? Kruk laughed.

“My house is the view.” he said.

Moving from housing prices to something equally unusual, Kruk and hitting coach Amos Otis will spend this spring working on not pulling the ball.

Kruk is one of baseball’s best hitters to the opposite field, and Otis wants to keep it that way. Of the left-handed-hitting Kruk’s 20 homers last year, only one was to right field. It was the only “pulled” homer of his 24-homer career. Many of his team-leading 91 RBIs also were to left field.

Still, at times, Kruk treated those hits as flukes and kept trying to go to right. Enough, Otis has said. He wants him to leave fate alone.

“Some players feel pressure to always be trying to pull it,” Otis said. “It’s seen as a sign of strength. They are called ‘The Little Man’ if they can’t pull it.

“So Johnny tries to pull it, and he starts striking out and grounding out. I’ve told him, the hell with ‘The Little Man.’ He has natural opposite-field ability, he should use it. He hits 20 dingers a year, he’s no little man.”

The spring season unofficially opens today with a 1 p.m. benefit game between the Padres and their minor league mini-camp all-stars. All proceeds will go to youth baseball in Yuma.

The major league team will feature six players who are certain be on the roster opening day--Tony Gwynn, Carmelo Martinez, Kruk, Benito Santiago, Chris Brown and Shane Mack. The starting pitcher will also be a sure bet--reliever Greg Booker.

Don’t expect more than a couple of innings out of any of them, except perhaps--you guessed it--Gwynn. Last season, he became a Yuma legend by insisting on playing all nine innings of an intrasquad game.

“Tony doesn’t ever want to come out, and that’s fine, he can work on whatever schedule he wants,” Bowa said. “Some of these other guys, I’ll decide how much they play. If they want to decide, I’ll tell them, fine, go hit .370 one year and we’ll talk.”

The minor league team will feature five of the organizations’s top young pitchers, including right-hander Terry Gilmore, last year’s 20th-round pick from Florida Southern University in Lakeland, Fla.

Gilmore has yet to lose a professional game. He went 8-0 for Rookie League Spokane after last June’s draft and had a 2.59 ERA. He will join another undefeated pitcher, Brian Harrison, a left-hander who went 4-0 last year in Class-A Charleston.

All in all, five minor leaguers will get a chance to face the big leaguers today. Translated: Saturday night in Yuma, there were at least five restless beds.

“They will be all pumped up, I’m always worried about that,” said Jack Lamabe, director of minor league pitching. “They will try too hard and blow any chance to make this an outstanding day. I try to tell them, just be yourself.”

“That’s what I told Roger Clemens once,” recalled minor league coach Tony Torchia, formerly with Boston. “He goes up to the big leagues the next day and walks 11 Milwaukee Brewers.”

Padre Notes

The two-mile run is being waived today because, according to the ever-scientific Manager Larry Bowa, “It’s Sunday, so why not?” . . . In Saturday’s run, Joey Cora made it two straight victories, this time overtaking reliever Lance McCullers on the backstretch and winning easily. Rookie pitcher Greg Harris, who won the first two races, fell to third. There are four runs remaining before the start of spring games ends the exercise. Good thing. If you listen to Cora, they are starting to seem like more than two miles. Explaining his victories, Cora said, “I’ve always been a good runner in marathons.” . . . Keith Moreland showed the first physical signs of his leadership Saturday when, while playing third base, he and catcher Benito Santiago violently collided en route to running down a baserunner. Santiago didn’t relay the ball to Moreland until both men were on top of the runner, and each other. “Next time, I think he’ll throw me the ball when I say ‘Now,’ ” said a smiling Moreland, a former University of Texas linebacker. Neither was hurt. . . . Shortstop Garry Templeton participated in the full workout Saturday for the first time since having a flu-caused boil removed from his leg Thursday night. For the first time since full-squad practice began Wednesday, no one missed the full practice.