Padres : Gossage Says He Doesn’t Miss a Thing About His Former Employers

The newest Chicago Cub pitcher, having just singled, was standing on first base. He grinned, almost as if giggling, then he took a lead. And a bigger lead.

Suddenly he gathered together his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame and took off for second.

At that exact time, Padre pitcher Keith Comstock turned and threw to first baseman John Kruk, who threw to second baseman Sandy Alomar Jr. The big man was trapped.

A rundown ensued. The big man was finally tagged out at first by Comstock as he slid directly into Comstock’s shins.

“Ouch,” shouted Comstock, dancing around first base. “What did you have to do that for?”

“ Me ? “ said the big man, smiling up from his cloud of dust. “Who are you to make a pickoff throw in an exhibition game?”

“It’s still your fault,” shouted Comstock. “Why did you have to get a single off me in the first place?”

“Wait a minute,” said the big man, now laughing. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t thrown me such a cock-eyed fastball!”

Spring training and old friends, the mixture produced more charm Monday. Only this time the Padres took special notice.

The old friend, the big man, was Goose Gossage.

Making his first appearance for his new team in a game against his old team--doesn’t it always seem to be this way?-- Gossage struggled, allowing two runs on two hits in one inning.

But as evidenced in the on-field conversation, recounted by Comstock, Gossage had fun.

And afterward he admitted, for the first time since the Feb. 12 deal that brought Keith Moreland to San Diego, he’s glad he’s no longer with the Padres.

When asked what he missed about the Padres, he paused, then said: “Nothing. I don’t miss one thing about the organization.”

Gossage noted he will enjoy the intensity of Chicago, already noticeable in the 6,351 that turned out for the Padres’ 5-3 victory. He said it wasn’t intense enough in San Diego.

He said he will enjoy the Cubs’ commitment to winning. He said that commitment was lacking in San Diego.

“From what I can tell, this is going to be very good for me,” said Gossage, who was scheduled for two innings but left the game early after slightly pulling his groin in that rundown play.

“Wrigley Field is going to be loud, and intense, and that will bring out the best in me, it always does,” he said. “The more noise the better. I have to play on adrenaline. It’s like stage fright. If you don’t have a little bit of it, you are in trouble. You need it to do your best.”

He said in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, it was sometimes difficult to find that spark.

“Let’s face it, San Diego has some very, very good fans . . . but the true fans, there is only about 10,000 of them,” he said. “And I think those fans are transplanted from the East.

“It wasn’t as exciting playing out there. It was so laid back you tended to . . . well, it was just so different. I will still live there, it’s a wonderful place, great people. But to play there, it’s just to laid back.”

Gossage agreed that the 1984 championship season was great. But he said 1984 was an anomaly.

“We had to generate our own enthusiasm, and we did, for one year,” he said. “But after that it was nothing. Sure, when you do good, everybody jumps on the bandwagon. But out there when you do bad, they forget about you out there. That’s the way it was.”

He said the same applied to the Padre management.

“It hasn’t been fun to play for them since 1984,” he said. “It’s been all downhill. They need an aggressive attitude, an attitude about wanting to win. They’ve got to get the right people to run it.”

He said the biggest difference he notices in Chicago, under Manager Don Zimmer, is that attitude.

“Over here, it’s different--everybody wants to win,” he said. “It’s like, Zimmer’s only rules are, play hard and be on time. Go about getting the job done, no matter what it takes. The emphasis is on being loose, having fun.”

Zimmer has said that Gossage will never be used more than two innings at a time. That has really made Gossage happy.

“Zimmer knows the way I am, the best way I’m kept,” said Gossage, 36. “The way I pitch, it takes a lot out of you, and I’m most effective with two innings.

“And that way, I can pitch more frequently. And the more I pitch, the better I am.”

That was the problem Gossage had last season with Manager Larry Bowa. En route to a career-low 11 saves, Gossage appeared in only 40 games, despite going on the disabled list only once, for 15 days.

In the end, Gossage wanted to be used more, while Bowa said Gossage was physically unable to be used in back-to-back games.

While Gossage will not comment on that now, he said everything here is relaxed.

“I am allowed to come and do my job,” he said. “You have to realize, we used to play this game for free. I’m already feeling like I’m having that kind of fun here.”

Padre Notes

The ‘other’ Padre traded with Goose Gossage, minor league star pitcher Ray Hayward, has yet to throw a ball for the Cubs. He hurt his knee while working out on the day of the trade, and is still 10 days from pitching. . . . Manager Larry Bowa waved off the Padres’ second straight exhibition victory, just as he waved off the first one, saying, “That’s not the point yet.” . . . If there’s something worth worrying about, according to Bowa, it is left-handed relief pitchers Keith Comstock and Dave Leiper. Although they combined on three scoreless innings--Leiper even picked up the save--they couldn’t do the one thing one of them will eventually be paid to do, retire left-handed hitters. “It’s early yet, but that’s one thing that concerns me,” said Bowa. “One of those two guys has got to get the left-handers out. The one that does will make this team.” In his two innings, Comstock allowed two left-handed hitters to reach base--rookie outfielder Dwight Smith walked and outfielder Rafael Palmeiro singled. In his one inning Leiper allowed both of his hits to left-handers, a single by Palmeiro and a double by rookie first baseman Mark Grace. All five hits Leiper has allowed this spring have come to left-handers. “That’s amazing,” said Leiper. “I guess I must think, ‘Oh good, here comes a left-hander’ and then not concentrate like I should. That’s all I’ve faced for the last three years. I’ll get them out.” Said Comstock: “I better get them out, or I’m out.”