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Abner Gives a Sales Demonstration : His Batting Practice Feat Could Help Padres Land Murphy

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Times Staff Writer

The Padres on Saturday took perhaps their biggest step toward acquiring Atlanta slugger Dale Murphy, and it had nothing to do with negotiating, posturing or rhetoric.

In this case, the bargaining tool was a bat.

In an early morning batting practice at Kroc Complex, trade candidate Shawn Abner hit, by his count, 12 homers. By any count, it was the most impressive hitting performance here in many springs.

And watching it all was Wes Westrum, the Atlanta scout sent here by Braves’ General Manager Bobby Cox to see if any Padre prospects would be worth one Dale Murphy.

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“My, I was very impressed; this is going to make my job very difficult,” Westrum said before slipping back into a scout’s typical defensiveness. “Of course, the air out here is pretty light. And I used to hit .400 in the spring.”

Westrum, a catcher for the New York Giants in the ‘40s and ‘50s, had a .217 career average.

The Braves already have decided upon catching prospect Sandy Alomar Jr., and will take John Kruk if it appears his knee is recovered from the arthroscopic surgery that was performed last month. But they also want a third player, a top outfield prospect, and have asked Westrum to see whether Abner, Shane Mack or Gerald Clark fit that description. If not, no deal.

“You can bet that scout saw something today,” said first base coach Greg Riddoch, the poor soul who pitched to Abner Saturday. “It is the best day I’ve seen by anybody in a long, long time.

“Pitching batting practice, I get smoked every day. But never like this.”

“Nothing but a real, real good day,” said Abner, 22, a former national No. 1 pick who last season lost all power, and all clue, with just two homers and five RBIs while playing in 37 big-league games. The rest of the time he was either sitting on the bench or messing up in Las Vegas, where in 63 games he hit just .254 with four homers and 34 RBIs.

“After last year, I decided this season I just wanted to come in and get a job somewhere,” he said. “I just want to stay in the big leagues, all season. I’d rather be in Atlanta than go to the minor leagues.”

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So he noticed the Braves scout?

“Man, I wouldn’t know a Braves scout if he came up and bit me in the face,” he said. “I can’t think about anybody watching me. I just have to play hard and think that something good will happen.”

This may sound a tad mature for this irreverent kid, who last year treated the clubhouse as if it were a high school locker room and who still wears his hair shaved on the sides, complemented by a diamond earring. But the Padres think Abner is finally growing up.

“Last year he came in here like, ‘Hey, I’m a rookie, look at me,’ ” Riddoch said. “He did a lot of typical rookie things, barely made it on time to a couple of workouts, was the brunt of the jokes, all that.

“But this year the difference is obvious. He has come here saying, ‘I’ve got a job to do.’ And he’s acting like it.”

While it might be too late, Abner, who was acquired from the New York Mets in the winter of 1986 in the ignominious Kevin McReynolds trade, has finally decided that he likes it here.

“It would be a shame to leave here now, just when we’ve got all these studs,” he said. “They’re going to win it here, I know it, and I’d hate to leave them now. But I’ve just got to play. Somewhere.”

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Padre Notes

Padre Manager Jack McKeon kept the trade fires with Seattle alive Saturday when he phoned Mariner General Manager Woody Woodward and agreed to meet when the Padres visit the Mariners’ spring home in Tempe in a couple of weeks. McKeon would like pitcher Mark Langston and outfielder Mickey Brantley if he can’t land Dale Murphy. . . . In today’s 1 p.m. game against a group of minor-league stars, the Padres’ first organized outing of the spring, Greg Harris will be the starting pitcher (three innings) followed by Greg Booker (two innings), Terry Gilmore (two innings) and Rickey Bones (two innings). The remainder of the Padres’ starting lineup will be peppered with prospects or platoon players, with one intriguing exception. Outfielder Carmelo Martinez will make his first start at third base since he was a child. Manager Jack McKeon is wasting no time in testing his Experiment of the Spring . . . Nothing To Worry About, Yet, Dept: Bruce Hurst had a stiff left shoulder Saturday, which meant nothing at the time because it was not his day to pitch. But today he is scheduled to throw on the side, and he will be watched.

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