Padres’ Feeney Resigns : Club President Quits One Day After Making Gesture During Game

One day after making an obscene gesture toward two detractors in the crowd on Fan Appreciation Night, Chub Feeney resigned Sunday as the San Diego Padres president.

Feeney, 67, publicly apologized for the gesture he initially denied giving and then stated he was returning to retirement.

“I was going to wait until Wednesday night to announce this but . . . I won’t be coming back next season,” Feeney told reporters in a terse question-and-answer session at the start of the Padres game against the Houston Astros.

Asked if it was solely his decision, Feeney said, “Yes, it is.”

He denied, however, that the decision had anything to do with Saturday night’s gesture.

“I had planned on not coming back for about 10 days now, this was not a decision I made last night,” he said. “I was going to do it on the last day of the home stand but . . . I just thought it would be better for me to retire again.”

Feeney, a former National League president, had been coaxed out of retirement last summer by Padre owner Joan Kroc.

In the 1 1/2 seasons Feeney was president, the Padres’ record was 128-129. During that term, he fired Larry Bowa as manager, replacing him with Jack McKeon.

Said outfielder Tony Gwynn: “The times have been tough for him, and I guess he finally had enough. I actually feel a little sorry for him, going out like this.”

For Feeney, it reached a low point Saturday night when, in the middle of the seventh inning, two La Jolla businessmen paraded two levels below Feeney’s box with a banner that read “Scrub Chub.”

Feeney responded by leaving his seat, walking down to the front railing of the box and sticking up his right hand in an obscene gesture. He then turned the hand around and waved, but it was too late. Several sections of the 22,509 fans had seen it, and it had been broadcast over the San Diego Cable Sports Network.

Within minutes, a reporter questioned Feeney about the gesture.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous, I deny giving an obscene gesture,” he said. “I was just waving.”

Sunday, he changed his story.

“I would like to . . . offer my sincerest apology for the incident that occurred,” he said. “A totally inappropriate gesture was made by myself in a moment of frustration and anger, which I wish with all my heart had never occurred.”