Carter, Lynn Hope to Click in Winning Combination for Padres : Baseball: After struggling through losing seasons in places such as Cleveland and Detroit, these guys are giddy with visions of victory in San Diego.

You should have seen the two of them Saturday, the way they were carrying on. Why, the way they were giggling and laughing, almost in euphoria, you’d have thought they just won the California Lottery.

Well, come to think of it, they said, this actually was better than winning $10 million on six numbers.

After all, Joe Carter and Fred Lynn figure they’re already financially set. But when you’re making your living playing for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers in two decaying stadiums filled with empty seats, there suddenly are a whole lot more important things in this world than money.

So when they visited San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on a balmy Saturday morning for the first time since signing with the Padres four weeks ago, pardon them for their giddy behavior, for acting as if they had discovered utopia.

“I couldn’t believe the clubhouse,” Lynn said. “It’s a condominium in there. And the kitchen? There are some women who’d kill for that kitchen.”

So take a wild guess where Lynn’s locker is located?

Yep, and while Lynn is just around the corner from his latest meal, Carter’s locker is just across the aisle from longtime buddy Tony Gwynn.

“This is going to be great,” Gwynn said. “He’ll be telling the jokes, and I’ll be doing the laughing. And this guy will keep you laughing, believe me.”

Just what makes him so funny, someone asked.

“Well, his haircut for starters,” said Gwynn, doubling over in laughter at Carter’s stylish fade cut.

Carter, who was a roommate of Gwynn’s in 1980 during a summer semi-pro league in Boulder, Colo., simply shook his head and said: “I think Tony will laugh at anything.”

Actually, the reason for the haircut, Carter said, is that he has a taping of the Family Feud game show today. Carter and four other baseball players are matched against five umpires in a celebrity game. And now that he’s in Southern California, well, he might as well show the boys back in Cleveland that life’s going to be a little different from now on.

Of course, Carter also found out Friday during his house-hunting search that the Southern California real-estate market is a whole lot different, too.

The 6,100-square foot house Carter bought in Leawood, Kan., two years ago cost him $320,000. “I didn’t see a whole lot yesterday I could buy for that,” Carter said, laughing.

Carter will earn $9.2 million over the next three years, but he knows that in the past, money never was able to buy happiness. Not when you’re playing at broken-down Cleveland Stadium on a team that hasn’t been to the World Series since 1954.

“I’m not worried about individual stats or money,” Carter said, “I’m set as far as that is concerned. Now, I want to play on a winner. That’s everyone’s goal. No one wants to be in fifth, sixth, and seventh place every year.”

Carter, who turns 30 in March, played 5 1/2 years in Cleveland, with the Indians finishing higher than sixth just once. And in his one-month stint with the Chicago Cubs in 1984, they finished fifth.

“That’s not a whole lot of fun,” Carter said.

If Carter needed someone to commiserate with, Lynn was just 165 miles across the interstate in Detroit.

Lynn, who turns 38 in a month, played in the 1975 World Series with the Boston Red Sox and the 1982 American League playoffs with the California Angels, but he’ll tell you these past six years have been brutal.

Why, with the exception of a one-month reprieve with Detroit in September 1988, Lynn has played with teams that have finished last or next-to-last in each of the past four seasons.

Heck, forget ancient history, just take a look at what has happened to Lynn these past two years. The Baltimore Orioles open the 1988 season with 21 consecutive defeats and are 15 1/2 games out of first place by the end of April. Lynn stays with the Orioles until Aug. 31, when he’s traded to Detroit. The Tigers are in first place upon his arrival, but immediately lose 14 of 18 games, and finish second. This year? The Tigers post a 59-103 record, their worst season since 1884 when they played in the National League.

Having fun, big guy?

“It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” Lynn said. “When you’re not winning, it’s pure hell.

“There’s no worse feeling in the world to look up in June and July and already being out of it. You know you’re supposed to be a professional and stuff, but the little boy in you gets crushed.”

This is why, more than the desert climate and all of the amenities the Padres have to offer, the most exciting aspect about Carter and Lynn’s new adventure, they say, is the opportunity for success.

“I feel like it’s a Christmas present,” Carter said, “and now I want to go play with my new toy.”

Said Lynn: “It’s like starting all over again, a fresh new start to my career.”

Certainly, the acquisition of the two establishes the Padres as perhaps the team to beat in the National League West. Carter, who’s expected to start in center field and bat cleanup, has averaged 30 homers and 108 RBIs the past four years. Lynn, a nine-time All-Star, is expected to platoon in left field, starting against right-handed pitchers with the opportunity to perhaps win the job full-time.

If Carter and Lynn indeed prove to be successful, there are lucrative incentives awaiting each, according to sources:

--Carter has $325,000 worth in his contract, for everything from making his first All-Star team, to winning the Gold Glove, to being selected the league’s Most Valuable Player.

--Lynn, who signed a one-year, $500,000 contract with a $100,000 signing bonus, has the most unique contract on the Padre roster. Injury-prone throughout his career, Lynn will receive a $3,000 bonus for each game he appears in after his 80th, and a $5,000 bonus for every game played past his 99th. In all, Lynn is eligible to receive $367,000 in playing incentives, plus $375,000 in award bonuses.

“I’m looking forward to this year already,” said Gwynn, looking over at his two new teammates. “I think this could be a big year for us. I know I say that every year, but this time, I just feel something special’s going to happen.”

In 43 days, when the Padres assemble for spring training, they’ll start to find out.

Of course, that also might be the time that Carter and Lynn realize that there is at least one thorn in this paradise.

The Padres’ spring-training site happens to be in Yuma, Ariz.