His First Big League Hit Won’t Be His Last : But Sandy Alomar Jr. Says He’ll Just Let His Future Take Care of Itself

Sandy Alomar Jr., the man who has been heard from but not seen this year in San Diego, got his first major league hit Sunday.

Alomar, the catcher of somebody’s future, has been waiting for a crack at the major leagues for six years now, ever since he was signed by the Padres in 1983.

He was summoned to the Padres for 17 days from Las Vegas (triple A) last September, but you really can’t count that as a legitimate chance. A knee injury limited him to one at-bat.

Alomar is healthy this September, but now he has another problem. He was recalled again Sept. 2, but because the team is six games behind San Francisco with time running out, Manager Jack McKeon is staying with his regulars.

That means Benito Santiago is doing the catching, and Alomar is once again doing the waiting.

“I understand the situation,” Alomar said. “These people are six games back. When I came here and saw them in contention, I didn’t expect to play that much.”

Sunday, Alomar got his first chance. With the Padres trailing the Dodgers, 12-4, in the sixth inning, Alomar went in to catch.

In the ninth against Mike Munoz, he doubled home two runs. The ball was sliced to left and possibly could have been caught, but Dodger left fielder Billy Bean got a bad start and didn’t figure out where the ball was going until it was too late.

Alomar didn’t see that, though. He was watching first base.

“I just hit it and started running,” Alomar said. “I just wanted to make sure I touched first base. It was a good experience, especially with people on base. Two RBIs.”

The hot stove league was hotter than usual last winter regarding Santiago and Alomar. Alomar was the triple-A player of the year in 1988, so most figured he would get a chance in the major leagues this season. But McKeon couldn’t work out a trade, and he was sent back to Las Vegas.

“The first month-and-a-half (this year) was tough,” Alomar said. “I was frustrated. I thought I’d be in the big leagues this year after the kind of year I had in triple A last year. It was tough to go to the ballpark every day. I was doing the same things as the year before, and I was seeing people in the big leagues who I played with and know I can compete with.

“Going to the ballpark every day, it was like I was stepping backward instead of forward. There was a point where I was getting too down and couldn’t do any more.”

He recovered nicely, though, finishing with a .306 average in Las Vegas with 13 homers and 101 RBIs. He was named the Pacific Coast League’s most valuable player for the second consecutive year.

But he still hasn’t done anything in the major leagues. And he is out to change that in these remaining three weeks.

“I’m here for everything,” he said. “To prove I can play in the big leagues, to prove I can help another team, or to prove I can help this team.”

There is one thing he is not here to do. That’s to think about his future.

“I’m not even going to think about next year,” Alomar said. “I’m just going to go play winter ball, and whatever happens here, happens.”