Kruk Trying Hard to Meet Expectations : ‘Grandpa,’ Padre Fans Set Some Lofty Goals

At times like these, when he’s in a 5-for-29 slump with 2 homers in the last 30 days and 2 RBIs in the last two weeks, John Kruk thinks back to his grandfather.

“Grandpa,” Kruk recalled recently with a smile. “I think that was his real name, Grandpa . That’s that only name I ever knew he had.”

Grandpa lived amid the Appalachian peaks of eastern West Virginia. Grandpa was a baseball fan but never had a television set, so his view of the league went only as far as his little portable radio.

And that radio never picked up anything farther away than Cincinnati’s station WLW, the flagship station of the Cincinnati Reds.

“Grandpa never knew anything other than the Reds,” Kruk remembered. “That was the way he knew baseball, through the Reds.”

One day when Kruk was about 10 years old, Grandpa grew gravely ill and called Kruk to his side.

“That’s when he told me he had one wish,” Kruk said. “He told me that he wanted to see me play for the Cincinnati Reds.”

Within the year, Grandpa died, and Kruk was left with a wish about which he could think and dream, but about which he could do absolutely nothing.

“The Reds scouted me in junior college (Allegheny Community College), followed me all around. I thought for sure they were going to take me,” Kruk said. “I always hoped they would take me. But they didn’t and I said, ‘Oh well,’ and got on with it.”

At times like these, Kruk thinks about such things. Not just about Grandpa and the Reds in particular, but about whether fate has put him in the right place, and at the right time.

The Padres will begin a three-game series today against the Braves. It was right here last Aug. 4 that Kruk had the biggest offensive day by a Padre in several seasons. He hit 2 homers and drove in all 7 runs in a 12-7 loss.

The evening cemented the image of John Kruk, power hitter and run producer.

That image has expanded and fed upon itself so much that, after three months of his third season, Kruk feels trapped in a web of unusual expectations. He is a singles hitter with average power who works at a place where he’s needed to be just the opposite.

The club, having scored the fewest runs in the National League, needs Kruk to hit homers. So he has fretted about hitting just 4 homers in the last 61 games, and just 6 overall.

The club, having come from behind to win only nine times in 72 games this year, needs him to drive in big runs that win games. So he has fretted because he has just 21 RBIs in the last 61 games, and just 27 overall.

Kruk wonders, doesn’t anyone realize that before he hit 20 homers last year, he had hit 22 in his previous three pro seasons combined? Doesn’t anyone realize that before he had 90 RBIs last year, he had had more than 90 only once, six years ago?

Kruk has fretted over this so much, the one thing he really does well--just plain hit--has suffered. After the season’s first month, in which he was named Padre player of the month, he was hitting .319. But since then he has hit .242 (31 for 128) and is down to .263.

He is spiking his helmet and tossing his bat and arriving at the ballpark four hours before games just to mope.

A couple of weeks ago, Kruk’s name was mentioned in trade talk with--you’ll never guess--the Cincinnati Reds. The Padres traded Candy Sierra instead, but Kruk’s name was mentioned, and if it was mentioned once, it will be mentioned again, in other days, for other teams.

And now Kruk isn’t wondering whether a trade would be such a bad idea if it means the Padres will get the power hitter they need.

“No one on this team is too valuable to get rid of,” Kruk said recently. “Something has to be done, because we’re a good team, but we can’t compete with the top teams, day in and day out.

“I’ve got no choice over whether I’m traded, so no need saying anything about it. And I love playing in San Diego. But if they can do something that will help this team, they should do it. If they can get a better player, they should do it.”

What do the Padres need?

“A power hitter,” Kruk answered quickly. “We need somebody who can hit the long ball. We need somebody who can step up there in the late innings and win the game with one swing.”

And why can’t that be Kruk? After all, he won two games with homers in the club’s first home stand this season--remember his grand slam that beat the Dodgers, 5-3, in the home opener? With every at-bat, the home folks still cheer him as if he can win every game with one swing.

“I hear that, and I kind of laugh,” Kruk said. “People have to understand, a pitcher makes a mistake on a power hitter, like a Mike Schmidt, and it’s a homer. They make a mistake on me and it’s like, a double.

“When a power hitter gets hot, they might hit six or seven homers in a week. When I get hot, I might hit two or three. I’m just not that kind of guy.”

Lately he’s had trouble even being his kind of guy.

“Nothing is working at the plate, and I’ve tried everything,” Kruk said. “A million different stances, every bat I owned. I’ve even tried sleeping on the other side of the bed.

“I’m sure I’ll get it worked out. And when I do, you’ll know because I’m hitting the ball to left field, making good contact. Not because I’m hitting homers.”