Padre Notebook : The Day After, McKeon and Show Come to an Understanding

Padre pitcher Eric Show said he woke up in his hotel room Saturday morning and thought, “Uh-oh.”

Padre Manager Jack McKeon said he woke up in his hotel room and thought, “Oh well.”

A few hours later, bygones officially became bygones as employee and boss made up for Friday night’s fuss over just who was to blame for the Padres’ 4-3 loss to the Braves in Atlanta.

Show said he realized he used some words he shouldn’t have. McKeon said he realized that Show is only human, and he admitted that even the manager himself may have said some unwise things.

Early in the afternoon, they expressed their regrets and affection for each other, and then they met behind second base for 20 minutes during batting practice for an official reconciliation. All that was missing was the kiss.

“(Friday) was just a bad day,” Show said. “I’ve never known a married couple not to argue, have you? Jack and I go way back together, and I hold no grudges. I hope he doesn’t, either.”

Said McKeon: “I have nothing against him. He was frustrated, and you say things when you are frustrated. It’s part of the game. Maybe I said some things in the heat of the battle that I haven’t liked, either. It happens.”

At issue was a questionable fielding play by left fielder Keith Moreland that led to two Brave runs off Show in the four-run first inning. Manager McKeon and pitching coach Pat Dobson started the fuss by placing the blame on Show and refusing to acknowledge Moreland’s role.

“Lay off the left fielder, lay off the left fielder,” McKeon snapped to reporters. “He didn’t throw the pitches up there. He didn’t give up four runs in the first inning. He couldn’t have stopped some of those other shots down the line. Eric just doesn’t come out and start the game aggressive sometimes.”

Show, after requesting to hear McKeon’s comments, responded: “Everybody saw what happened out there. If (McKeon) doesn’t like it, get rid of me. If they want to make excuses for what happened and blame it on me, fine. Trade me. If they don’t like it, trade me. I regret Dobson’s comments, and as for McKeon, I’m ashamed for him.”

On Saturday, Show and McKeon had called a truce, which only made sense. Show, who quietly fought with the former manager, Larry Bowa, had been overjoyed when McKeon was named manager May 28. Show reached the big leagues in 1981, McKeon’s first full season as Padre general manager. McKeon has long been one of Show’s biggest boosters, and likewise.

“Both Jack and I said what we thought had to be said at the time, but it was no more than a disagreement,” Show said. “I felt like I made more of an emotional statement. The degree to which I took my statement was based on emotion.”

McKeon said he was bothered not so much by Show’s statement, but by its implications.

“I was not about to let any of my players blame any other players for anything,” McKeon said. “I’ve said that from Day 1, and I will live by it. If we have to give somebody hell, I’ll give ‘em hell.”

The McKeon Files, Part I: By a conservative estimate, four of the first nine games on the current Padre trip have been lost because of one bad pitch. McKeon is doing all he can, but, according to this latest McKeon story, he’s not having nearly the effect he once had.

When managing in the minors in Billings, Mont., in 1957, McKeon had a rule. Every pitcher who threw a good pitch on an 0-and-2 count was fined $10, a large sum for minor leaguers back then.

“We got this guy, Dick Schultz, and he has this hitter 0 and 2, and then he throws one right down the middle,” McKeon recalled. “The umpire calls it strike three, a good call.

“I look out on the mound and there is Schultz, screaming, ‘C’mon, ump, it was high, it was high.’ ”

Did You Know . . . Roberto Alomar is the youngest player in the National League at 20 years and 5 months. Only recently could you tell, when he was benched Saturday for the third time in the 61 games he has been with the team this season. He had fallen into a 1-for-21 skid that had dropped his average to .235.

“I’m still learning the league,” the rookie said. “This is the first time I’m seeing some of these guys. Just wait till I see them next time.”

Don’t think he’s not still doing the job in the field, though, as he has helped the Padres to a tie for second in the league in double plays with 66 before Saturday.

One Fan’s Opinion: Here is how McKeon would fill out his All-Star ballot if he were not allowed to vote for any of his own players:

First base--Andres Galarraga (Montreal); second base--Juan Samuel (Philadelphia); third base--Bobby Bonilla (Pittsburgh); shortstop--Barry Larkin (Cincinnati); left field--Rafael Palmeiro (Chicago); center field--Andy Van Slyke (Pittsburgh); right field--Darryl Strawberry (New York); starting pitcher--Dwight Gooden (New York); relievers--right-hander Todd Worrell (St. Louis) and left-hander Randy Myers (New York).

Jinx of the Week: Nothing personal, but the Padres had best check the resume of one member of their traveling party.

Susan Hemond, the assistant director of the Padre telecasts on Channel 51, has a father who was in baseball headlines earlier this year. His name is Roland Hemond, general manager of the Baltimore Orioles, who lost an American League record 21 games in a row to start the season.

Unlucky enough for you? Try this:

Only one other big-league team has lost as many games to begin a season, the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 in a row.

Their general manager that year? Susan Hemond’s grandfather, John Quinn.

“On second thought,” Susan Hemond said with a smile, “maybe you better not print this note.”

The McKeon Files, Part II: One problem overlooked in Friday night’s Atlanta fireworks was that when Moreland scored the Padres’ first run in the second inning, he ran through coach Sandy Alomar’s stop sign at third base. It was the most blatant disregard for such a signal all season.

Although McKeon refused to criticize Moreland’s baserunning, saying that it was difficult to tell whether Moreland ever saw Alomar, he did talk about how he influenced one runner to obey his signs.

It was in Wilson, N.C., in 1960, in yet other unbelievably obscure minor league in which McKeon managed. The runner was a guy named Juan Vistuer. Within a two-week span, he ran through two McKeon stop signs at third base and was thrown out at home both times.

“I got so mad, I finally told him, next time he ran through one of my signs, I was going to shoot him,” McKeon recalled. “Then I went out to this pawn shop and bought a blanks gun. On sale.”

The next time Vistuer rounded third base, McKeon threw up his arms and gave him the stop sign. Sure enough, Vistuer kept on running.

“He got about halfway to home when I pulled out the toy gun,” recalled McKeon. “I aimed it in the air and fired, ‘Blam, blam, blam, blam.’

“You should have seen Vistuer dive toward the plate. He flew. Landed on the plate and covered up his head with his hands. The second baseman overthrew the catcher, and for the first time that year, he was safe.”