Padre Notebook : Expect One or Two of These Players to Be Involved in ’88 Pennant Race

Lets’ see, August is already a week old. The Padres aren’t in a pennant race. They possess several players who would be well suited to a pennant race. Several pennant-race teams could use those players and would give top prospects in return. A player must be on a team by Aug. 31 to qualify for the playoffs and World Series.

So where’s all the trade talk?

Be patient, said Jack McKeon, the manager/general manager. It’s coming.

“I expect things to really heat up in the next two weeks,” McKeon said Saturday night. “By then, things will shake out so that teams will know whether they have a chance or not. Teams will decide whether they want to break up their club and make a run for it.”

When teams do begin calling McKeon--he’s not calling them because it hurts his negotiating stance--he expects the calls to come from two divisions.

In the AL East, the Detroit Tigers need a right-handed bat. The New York Yankees need pitching. The Boston Red Sox could use another pitcher. In the NL West, the Houston Astros could use a right-handed bat. The San Francisco Giants would kill for a pitcher.

Although McKeon can’t comment on it, several major league scouts have said that the most asked-about Padres are Keith Moreland, Carmelo Martinez and Eric Show.

McKeon would probably trade any of those three, particularly if he could get someone to swallow Moreland’s guaranteed $1.25 million salary for next season.

In return, well, that depends on how McKeon believes this team should be shaped for next season.

“I have not decided that yet,” McKeon said. “I’m still evaluating.”

Yet from earlier comments, one could assume that he would seek stability in the outfield (center and left) and on the corners (first and third base).

In those areas, the Yankees could offer one of two good third basemen--triple-A star Hensley Meulens or big leaguer Mike Pagliarulo. The Giants could come in with young infield star Matt Williams. The Astros could fork over infielder Denny Walling and outfielder Kevin Bass. The Red Sox might even part with their young star outfielder, Todd Benzinger.

Whatever, McKeon definitely has some cards and people wanting to draw them. Any day now, look for him pull up a chair.

In His Own Atmosphere: As if Friday night’s pitching performance (two allowed runs in one inning) didn’t bum him out enough, reliever Dave Leiper experienced another numbing failure Saturday afternoon. After climbing to the top level of Riverfront Stadium to test out his new model paper airplane--one of several unusual Leiper hobbies--he watched it drop straight down into the mezzanine deck. He tried again, and it flew out over the lower level and curled back into the top deck.

Roommate Mark Parent watched it all and shook his head.

“It really is sad,” he said. “A grown man spending about 100 bucks on a plane kit, and then taking three hours to build the things, getting all kinds of glue on his hands, and then watching those planes fly about a total of 50 yards.”

Leiper normally is content to fashion tiny paper airplanes and toss them out of hotel windows--earlier this year he threw a plane from the 30th story of an Atlanta hotel onto a restaurant roof. Why he is involved in any of these things is understood only in the deepest recesses of his mind.

“I don’t know,” Leiper said. “Why?”

“To be honest,” Parent said. “I feel sorry for the guy.”

Question of the Week: Name the Padres’ four switch-hitters.

Stanley Jefferson, Roberto Alomar, Garry Templeton and . . . and?

Relief pitcher Lance McCullers, who used to be a pretty good hitter in his high school days in Lutz, Fla. He has batted five times this year--three from the left side, two from the right--and has yet to get a hit, with three strikeouts.

Surprise of the Week: Ed Whitson knew he had thrown six fairly nondescript innings Monday night in San Diego against Atlanta. He had allowed two runs, scattered seven hits, struck out three, no big deal.

But it was nothing to prepare him for the shock he was to receive afterward.

For the first time in his major league baseball career, according to Whitson, he was not interviewed. Not for newspapers, radio or television.

“I’m standing by my locker and nobody came over, nobody,” Whitson said, smiling. “It was the funniest feeling in the world. It was like Little League all over again. You go out, you pitch, and you go home. I never thought I’d see the day. It was great.”

Whitson was mostly ignored because, in the Padres’ 6-3 victory over Atlanta, platoon mates Carmelo Martinez and John Kruk were both heroes and were good stories, considering their battle for playing time.

Charger Power: Remember Stanley Jefferson’s left-field pop that landed on the foul-line chalk last Tuesday against Atlanta, kicking up white chalk dust? Remember how umpire Randy Marsh lost the ball in the lights and called it foul, thus inspiring Jefferson to hit the next pitch for a home run?

There wouldn’t have been any controversy over the first ball if it had been hit down the right-field line. That line is painted on. The left-field line is dusted only because the Chargers demand its removal during their games.