Padre Notebook : No Mean Feet: Winning Ways Coincide With the Addition of New Socks

Let the truth be revealed: The reason for the recent Padre success is all in the feet.

Forget the appearance of Jack McKeon’s smile, or Marvell Wynne’s bat, or Ed Whitson’s arm.

The Padres’ recent success began at the same time that they changed their socks.

After the Padres wore simple sanitary socks for years, equipment manager Brian Prilaman passed out new padded Tor-Lo socks at the start of the recent home stand. They had been recommended by Mark Davis and trainer Dick Dent, who had ordered five dozen pairs.

The reasons for trying them were compelling.

“I have worn them when I played tennis, and they felt pretty good,” Dent said.

“I kind of liked them,” Davis said.

Whatever, the socks were passed out, the players put them on, and, well, the results have spoken. The Padres have gone 11-5 and pushed themselves back into NL West contention.

“There are hits in those socks,” Dent said.

“A new trend,” Davis said. “Thick in the heel, thin everywhere else, felt like you were wearing three pairs of socks when you were only wearing one.’

Before anyone thinks the Padres are going to continue socking it to the rest of the league, a word of caution.

“The socks help our players on grass, but we don’t know what they will do on turf,” Dent said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens then.”

Be still, our beating toes.

In keeping with today’s theme of sweat, anybody ever notice bullpen coach Denny Sommers? If not, next time out, notice.

On the field, he is virtually always soaking wet. His uniform is stained dark, and his face is stained red. During the course of an afternoon and night, he sometimes goes through three sets of clothes.

Sure, this former minor-league catcher and big-league coach with Cleveland and the New York Mets works hard . . . but seriously.

A detailed investigation has uncovered a trickle of reasons.

Reason No. 1: “I’ve always pitted out with the best of them,” Sommers says.

Reason No. 2, or The Real Reason: When catching relievers in the bullpen, Sommers is afraid to take off his brown warmup jacket.

“I don’t want people to know my name, so they can’t yell at me as much,” said Sommers, who estimates that all season, he has shown off his cooler uniform shirt twice.

He is indeed an easy target for hecklers in most bullpens; he is working close to the stands, and fans are less afraid to yell at a non-player from whom they wouldn’t need an autograph later anyway.

“The fans in St. Louis and Cincinnati are the worst. They get on you all the time,” explained Sommers, 47. “They say stuff like, ‘Hey old man, why don’t you move over and let a kid do that!’

“When the fans are on me like a cheap suit, the last thing I need is for them to know my name.”

A rumor to follow: The Padres’ first base coach, Greg Riddoch, will be a candidate for the next managerial job opening in Seattle, which could be soon.

Since Dick Williams was fired June 6, the Mariners are 3-9. Before Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Minnesota, they had scored just one run in each of their past four games under interim boss Jimmy Snyder. Although Mariner officials say they will make no further changes right now, something definitely will happen by the end of the season if things continue downward.

Sources say that when something does happen, look for Riddoch to be in the running. He is friends with Mariner General Manager Dick Balderson, who was an admirer of Riddoch’s ability with young players during Riddoch’s 14 years in the Cincinnati organization. Riddoch managed in and directed the Reds’ minor-league system, and many feel he is partly responsible for the success of guys such as Eric Davis, Kal Daniels, Tracy Jones and Kurt Stillwell (now with Kansas City).

Riddoch also has the backing of one of the more influential members of the Mariner organization, longtime trainer Rick Griffin, who was his trainer for several years in the minors.

Although Riddoch, 42, has never managed on the major league level, he was proven himself everywhere else. Last season, he kept the players and Larry Bowa from killing each other in his role as dugout coach.

Only one problem: The Mariners have not been known for having the kind of good sense that would make this rumor a reality.

You know about Garry Templeton and Eric Show. But they aren’t the only members of the Padre organization who will become free agents at the end of the season.

Would you believe Dave Campbell and Jerry Coleman?

The Padre radio and television announcers are in the final year of their three-year contract, which is no big deal because they have been there before. But they have never been there when budget-conscious Chub Feeney has been club president, which, if the Tony Gwynn raise matter last winter is any indication, could make this a bigger story later.

“I don’t anticipate any problems,” said Campbell, who is in his 11th season as a Padre announcer. “It’s just that we are used to negotiating with Ballard Smith, so that makes this a little different.”

Said Coleman, who is in his 16th year as an announcer (he managed the team in 1980): “No, we have no contract, but no, I’m not worried. We go through this same thing every three years.”

They hope to be seriously talking with Feeney by August. Stay tuned.

Mistaken Identity Award: We know that the Padres have not been much like themselves lately, but this is ridiculous:

In the June 25 issue of the national Baseball America magazine, accompanying a story about minor-league star Mark Davis of double-A Birmingham, was a photo of guess who.

Padre reliever Mark Davis.

Not only is one white (the Padres’ Davis) and the other one black, but Birmingham’s Davis is an outfielder and batting power.

“No, now, that makes sense, then,” the Padres’ Davis said. “They made the mistake after they saw me hit.”

He said this a day before his first big-league homer Monday against San Francisco. For that, teammates awarded him a tiny silver bat and softball mounted on cardboard, signifying his entry into the “One-One Club”

One home run, one stolen base.

Why the Padres Could Finish Ahead of Cincinnati and Nobody Should Be Surprised:

After the Padres completed a doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers Friday, the second-game winning pitcher, Dennis Rasmussen, who was just traded from the Reds 10 days ago, said this:

“This team is winning because we’re just playing baseball . The kind of baseball where everybody is willing to give themselves up to help the team.

“It sounds easy, but with a younger team, you don’t see it that often. Look at the Reds. When I was there, they weren’t doing that. And it has cost them a lot of runs.”