Coming--Kiwis, Seeking Waves--and Going--Bowa, Unfairly

Comings and goings ...

Going ... Larry Bowa

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Padres are within a few days of sacrificing another manager at the altar of organizational ineptitude. (Or is impatience a better word?)

It would appear that Larry Bowa is on the way out because the Padres’ youth movement wasn’t moving, except maybe downward.

And he is on his way out even though he has yet to be given a major league team to manage, at least not a complete major league team. The Padres may have a dozen major league caliber players on the 24-man roster, and some of those are hurting.

And so Larry Bowa is supposed to win?

The usual explanation at times like this is that the team is not as bad as its record indicates, and that may be the case. Entering the three-game weekend series in New York, the Padres had won exactly 33% of their games. This team might be good enough to win 40% of its games, but not many more.

Larry Bowa himself put it in perspective with this assessment of the series in New York: “I’m going to war, and they’ve got live ammunition. I’m using a water gun.”

Coming ... New Zealand

Indeed, the Kiwis are not coming. There are here.

There was nothing glamorous about Friday morning’s arrival of the 123-foot sloop. No bands were playing as the barge carrying the Kiwi yacht eased into its slip at Main Terminal 10.

In fact, the whole scene could have been painted gray . . . as in skies, asphalt and even water.

The boat, of course, was glistening white, and it looked serene in its cradle.

Very little about September’s America’s Cup defense might be described as serene, to be sure. As the Kiwi yacht arrived, both sides awaited word from the New York Supreme Court on the validity of Sail America’s defense in a catamaran.

“Right from Day 1,” said John Wade, New Zealand’s project manager, “we’ve felt Sail America should come up with a like and equal boat so that we can have an exciting competition.”

But this moment belonged to a yacht rather than an attorney, and that was nice. The New Zealand yacht was finally on the scene, only a few hundred yards from the Stars & Stripes compound and its controversial cat. It did not seem appropriate to suggest that New Zealand’s best chance might be in court rather than on the water.

Besides, there was work to be done.

Eight giant shipping canisters were lifted from the barge and deposited into the Kiwi compound.

The first item out of the first canister?

A surfboard.

In between ... Sockers

As of about 10 tonight, the Sockers will be back in the Major Indoor Soccer League finals after a one-year absence . . . or gone from the playoffs altogether.

It has come down to one showdown match with the Kansas City Comets tonight in the Sports Arena.

To get to this point, the local heroes had to win Games 5 and 6. They did so, by 7-1 last Saturday in Kansas City and 6-1 Wednesday in the Sports Arena. In those two victories, the Sockers looked like the dominant force that won five successive indoor championships from 1981-82 through 1985-86.

In retrospect, only one thing is surprising about this Western Division championship series. How in the world did the Sockers manage to fall behind, three games to one?

Gone ... SDSU Baseball

It has come to this in the world of collegiate baseball. One of the nation’s better teams wins its regular-season conference championship but loses the postseason tournament . . . and is knocked out of the NCAA tournament by a computer.

It happened to San Diego State this week. It almost seemed a foregone conclusion that a 47-18-1 record would be good enough to make the tournament.

Not so, said the computer.

It has been happening in basketball for a few years now, a computer evaluating at-large entries according to strength of schedule, winning percentage and presumably how far the coach can throw either a chair or a heckling fan.

Maybe SDSU should have taken its case to the New York Supreme Court. If that august body can handle the complexity of America’s Cup, it should be able to cope with anything as simple as America’s pastime.

A new Padre manager? Who? Dave Campbell? Steve Garvey? Ted Leitner? Dan Fouts? Dennis Conner? Don Coryell? Michael Fay?

Is Billy Martin unemployed yet?

How about Leo Durocher?

Maybe a nice guy would be appropriate.

Chuck Tanner is available. And so is Bob Hope.

But the guess here is that Jack McKeon and his cigar might be asked to light a fire.