Parent’s Night for the Padres

Mark Parent, the Padres’ Businessman’s Catcher, arrived at work late Saturday afternoon to be hit with the shock of his life.

He was in the lineup. And it wasn’t a day game.

Mark Parent never plays in anything but day games because starting catcher Benito Santiago never needs a rest in anything but day games, which almost always follow night games.

Parent’s first thought: “Somebody must be in some trouble.”

His second thought: “I looked for the eye black (sun reflective ointment), I always wear eye black. Then I looked to find out what time the regulars hit before the game. I didn’t even know what time to take batting practice.”

Not to worry. By the time Parent left the field several hours and a dirty uniform later, he knew what the night can do. He had hit a three-run homer and an RBI fly to personally lift the Padres out of their three-game losing streak and into a 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh in front of a paid crowd of 29,160 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

It was just his seventh start of the season Saturday night--and just the 43rd start of a major league career that didn’t begin until he had spent nearly a decade bouncing around seven different minor league cities. But, Manager Jack McKeon pleaded afterward, don’t call him a backup.

“I don’t call him a backup catcher, I call him an extra catcher,” said McKeon, whose Padre team has lost more than three in a row just once since he took over last May 28.

And actually, not just any extra catcher.

“The best in the league,” McKeon said. “He’s actually as good as some of the starters in the league--on a short-term basis.”

If that sounds like a funny compliment, hey, Parent has seen a lifetime of funny, and he takes any compliment seriously.

“With the kind of career I’ve had, that’s a great compliment,” Parent said. “If you’ve been stuck in the minor leagues, played in the places I’ve been, it’s great to here.

“I’d like to someday change that, maybe get a chance to start. But for now, I just go up there swinging hard, just trying to hit the ball.”

It sounds just like starter Santiago’s batting strategy. Until Santiago was understandably benched Saturday, he had just three homers and 12 RBIs in 96 at-bats. Parent now has three homers and six RBIs in just 28 at-bats.

Like many part-time players who must impress quickly and mightily, Parent’s world is one of big things in little packages.

“I know I only play when Jack (McKeon) thinks I should play,” Parent said. “I’ll do the best I can with that.”

Saturday night, McKeon thought right. In a game in which Padres starter Bruce Hurst worked a no-hitter for 5 1/3 innings and wound up allowing just two runs in 7 1/3 innings, and in which Mark Davis recorded his 12th save in 12 opportunities with 1 2/3 scoreless innings, Parent stole thenight.

In the fourth inning of a scoreless tie, with Padres on first and third and one out, Parent waited out three obvious balls against pitcher Doug Drabek. And then he was surprisingly allowed to swing. So he did, flying to right field, and Jack Clark scored from third with the game’s first run.

“Jack allowing me to swing on that pitch, that was a big boost in the rear for me,” Parent said.

Two innings later, with runners on first and third and two out, and the score tied at 1-all, Parent decided to swing on his own. At every pitch. He hacked at the first one and missed. He hacked at the second one and missed. He hacked at the third one and knocked it foul. He hacked at the fourth one and knocked it foul.

And then finally he hit one fair. And how. He knocked it 340 feet down the left field line to score all three runs and give him all three runs he needed. Overall, the four RBIs equaled the Padres individual season high.

“I was waiting for a slider (from Drabek), so I figured I would just keep swinging until I got one,” Parent said “On a couple of those fouls, I was trying to use body English to get them foul. I was trying to blow them foul.”

On a couple of the fouls? Mark, there were only two fouls.

“Seemed like a dozen to me,” Parent said.

Drabek, for his part, tried to use body English on the homer.

“I was hoping that ball would hook, big time,” Drabek said, noting that he didn’t feel any worse allowing a homer to a backup catcher. “If it was Jack Clark or whoever, I would take it the same,” Drabek said. “The guy’s a good player.”

Big time. You see, besides having a thing about day games, Parent also has a thing about big games. Maybe when you play about a month every summer, every game has to be big.

Whatever, remember that big friendly guy who had two homers and five RBIs in Houston last August? It was Parent.

Remember the easygoing lug who had two homers and four RBIs in a September 25 game. Same guy.

Then, and we know you remember this, how about the guy who hit a two-out, two-run pinch homer off LA’s Ricky Horton in the 16th inning last Sept. 28 to give the Padres a 2-1 win in the game which, earlier, Orel Hershiser had set his consecutive scoreless innings record at 59 innings?

“That’s Mark Parent,” Tony Gwynn said. “Always lost in the shuffle. But we couldn’t get by without him.”

Padre Notes

John Kruk’s sore right hip had not improved Saturday, so look for the Padres to juggle their roster for the first time this season today. Kruk will likely be placed on the 15-day disabled list, which would prompt a recall of--surprise--both left-handed hitting first baseman Rob Nelson or outfielder Jerald Clark from triple-A Las Vegas. Considering the Padres would need both an outfielder and some left-handed punch to replace Kruk--and a couple of hitters couldn’t hurt this team anyway--it would make sense. To make room, expect a bench position player to be sent down. Both Nelson and Clark have been playing well, so the Padres would be getting a double shot of fresh bats. Nelson, whose 17-game hitting streak ended Friday, entered Saturday night hitting .330 with eight doubles, seven homers and 17 RBIs in 28 games. Clark entered hitting .329 with five doubles, one triple, three homers and 17 RBIs in eight fewer games. . . . Few were surprised when slumping catcher Benito Santiago was benched Saturday for what may be longer than just one day. The Padre bosses are upset with his tendency to swing from the heels at every pitch, a tendency baseball people consider selfish. They also were bothered by Santiago’s frustration at being ordered to take a first pitch from the Pirates’ Bob Walk with one out in the ninth inning of Friday’s 4-2 loss. The pitch was a fastball. Santiago was so mad at not getting a chance to swing at it, he swung at the next pitch, a terrible breaking ball, and fouled it off. Then he swung at another breaking ball and grounded out. Then he stormed the bench and threw a water cooler. Santiago and Padre Manager Jack McKeon met before Saturday’s game, but the .208-hitting Gold Glover nonetheless sat. “We just need him to cool of a little and realize what he’s doing wrong,” McKeon said. “He’ll be fine, but he needs to relax and not be so frustrated, and I think this will help.” . . . Former big league third baseman Bill Madlock, who most recently played in Japan, visited the Padre clubhouse before the game. He spent more time with former teammate Jack Clark than with Manager Jack McKeon, leading observers to believe that he was just visiting. . . . In the season-long Rolaids Relief Man competition, an 8-year-old contest that sounds corny but is gaining respect, the Padres’ Mark Davis led all of baseball in April. Picking up three points for each save and two for a victory, with two points deducted for each loss or blown save opportunity, Davis led everyone with 33 points. It was the highest April total recorded since Rolaids began the monthly competition in 1982. Second in the big leagues in April with 24 points was Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley (one win, eight saves, one blown save) and Cincinnati’s John Franco (eight saves).

PADRES AT A GLANCEcf,ul,6

Scorecard

FOURTH INNING

Padres--Clark walked. Wynne singled to right, Clark taking third. Wynne stole second. Martinez lined to short. Parent flied to right, Clark scoring, Wynne taking third. Templeton popped to third. One run, one hit, one left.

SIXTH INNING

Pirates--With one out, Bonds doubled to left. Lind doubled to left, scoring Bonds. Reynolds grounded to third. Bonilla grounded to third. One run, two hits, one left.

Padres--Gwynn tripled to right. Clark popped to short. Wynne struck out. Martinez walked. Parent homered to left, his third. Templeton doubled to right. Hurst struck out. Three runs, three hits, one left.

SEVENTH INNING Pirates--Wilson homered to left, his fifth. Distefano popped to second. Quinones grounded to third. Prince grounded to first. One run, one hit.