Show Makes Impressive First Pitches : Baseball: After back surgery in August clouded his future, the Padre right-hander said Tuesday’s eye-popping comeback is just the start of the best year of his career.

The whispers spread throughout the complex. Fans elbowed one another to get a closer look. Cameras flashed. Reporters began scribbling.

It had been just 60 minutes since the Padres walked onto the practice field Tuesday for their first spring-training workout, but as incredulous as it sounds, they were calling this perhaps their most important moment of the 1990 season.

Eric Show, the man who has created more rumors about his well-being than Elvis, was taking the mound.

It had been nearly nine months since Show had last pitched for the Padres. The date was June 25, 1989, to be exact. He pitched three innings against the San Francisco Giants, and left the field after three innings complaining of lower back pains.

Since that day, he went on the disabled list, changed his telephone number, underwent back surgery, changed his phone number, threw on the side a couple of times, changed his phone number, had what he thought was a relapse, changed his phone number, began working out again, changed his phone number, and arrived Tuesday morning at the Padre clubhouse.

“Nobody knew what Eric was up to because hardly anyone had seen him, or even talked to him,” Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn said. “It was like he wanted to keep everything a big secret.

“I don’t think any of us had his number because he kept changing it.”

Said one Padre pitcher: “I don’t know how he does it. The guy changes his number every three weeks. I’ve got trouble remembering my number now, and I’ve had it for years.”

Show was the most talked-about Padre pitcher during the off-season. His name came up when the Padres went after free-agent Mark Langston. His name came up when the Padres lost bullpen stopper Mark Davis. His name came up at the winter meetings. His name came up in every preseason prospectus.

“Nobody knew how he’d be,” said Jack McKeon, Padre Manager and vice president/baseball operations. “I heard some good reports, in fact, even from my own son, but until I saw him, I had no idea how he’d throw.”

Show, who envisioned this day for the past seven months, ever since Aug. 2 when he had the lumbar 5 disk removed from his lower back, kept reminding himself with each step he took toward the mound to calm down.

“That was my biggest fear,” Show would say later, “getting too excited and trying to do something I shouldn’t. I didn’t want everything I worked for ruined.”

Yet, how could he not be nervous? How could he not be apprehensive? Heck, it had been so long since the last time he pitched in a Padre uniform that there were 29 new players who have been invited to camp who Show never had played with.

If this was just a routine spring-training outing, then why was McKeon flanked to his left and Las Vegas pitching coach Gary Lance flanked to his right?

Slowly, he began warming up, throwing to a catcher he had never met, Pedro Lopez, a 20-year-old minor leaguer. He threw fastballs. He threw curveballs. He threw sliders. He even threw changeups.

He was supposed to warm up for only five minutes, but it was 10 minutes before Lance could pull him away from the mound.

Now, it was time for the real stuff. Live batters. First up, Tony Gwynn. On deck, Fred Lynn.

It didn’t matter who was batting on this day. Nobody was going to be getting their knocks off Show. He threw fastballs past hitters. He fooled them with his new changeup. He dazzled them with his slider.

This is the guy who’s supposed to be the biggest question mark on the club? Sorry, the secret’s out. If his first workout is any indication, pay attention baseball world.

Eric Show is back.

“To tell you the truth, if I hadn’t been told, there was no way I would have known that he had back surgery, or that there was anything wrong with him,” Lance said. “He had great stuff, especially that nasty slider. And now that he’s got that changeup working, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see the guy win 18 to 20 games.

“There was no one else that was pitching like that today.”

Gwynn could only shake his head at Show’s performance, saying, “I just knew Eric was going to come back like this. He wanted to keep it a big secret, keep everyone wondering what he was up to, but I just knew he’d do this.

“Eric has got a lot of pride in what he does. You can tell this year is going to be important to him. He wants to prove to everyone what kind of pitcher he really is.

“Most of us hadn’t even seen him since the summer. He didn’t spend a lot of time around the ballclub once he got hurt, and guys thought he didn’t care.

“But today, you could tell guys were excited about seeing him come back. I can start talking to him about baseball again, but you know, anything else I’ll stay away from.”

Show always has been a little different.

Like his claim that he doesn’t read the newspaper or watch the TV news, and instead gathers his information from an alternative newspaper called the New American.

For proof, someone casually asked him about Pete Rose.

His reply?

“What happened to Pete? Seriously, what happened?”

“You didn’t know that he was suspended from baseball?”

“No, I mean, I knew they were mad at him, but did they really suspend him for life? I think that’s too much.”

Like, that the disk that was removed from his back now sits in a bottle of formaldehyde in the office of his home.

“It looks like crabmeat, only it tastes better,” he said. “No really, I wanted it so that I could see what it looks like. People in the hospital didn’t think it was that strange of a request, but I can tell, I’m sure people in here do.

“It’s sort of a sentimental smell for me, actually. I haven’t smelled that stuff since I dissected frogs.”

Like, the fact that he’s a member of the John Birch Society, has a love for studying philosophers, historians and theorists, and enjoys studying ancient civilization, . . . just for starters.

There are times when his teammates wonder if this guy is for real, but listening to him Tuesday discuss his fears, dreams and anxieties, he sounded just like any other player in the game of baseball.

“Sure, I was scared, I was plenty scared,” he said.

Show first felt the back pains in January, 1989, and after extensive testing, three millimeters of a protruding disk was discovered. Exercises were prescribed, and Show kept pitching.

“But the pain kept getting worse, and worse,” Show, 33, said. “When I had another test done in July, it (the protruding disk) had increased to over 7 inches.

“I went to three different specialists, and each one of them said that if I didn’t get something done, I’d have nerve damage.

“I mean, baseball is one thing, walking is another.”

Show had no choice. He had to have surgery.

“There were a lot of anxieties on my part,” he said. “But you look at Dave Dravecky, and you look at his thing, and it’s not a valid comparison. I mean, I just talked to Dave the other day, and I guess it’s 50-50 whether he still has the cancer, can you believe it?

“You begin to wonder how much one person can take.”

The surgery was performed Aug. 2, and he began throwing again in December. Yet, he started feeling pain while running, and learned that he now had to build up the muscles around his lower back. Slowly, he felt better, and quickly he progressed on the mound.

What was accomplished and displayed Tuesday for all of the Padres to see, he said, is just the start of the best year of his career.

“I’ve always felt I had something to prove in baseball because I haven’t thrown the ball as well, or consistently as I should,” said Show, who is the Padres’ all-time leader in victories, but never has won more than 16 games in a season.

“I don’t know why that is. I’m sure some is the mental aspect, and some is the physical aspect. Those are just two things I’ve been bothered with my entire life.

“That’s why I feel I have something to prove this year, now, more than ever.

“I guess that’s why I’m so happy today. Today was like a perfect practice. In fact, for a first practice day, I can’t remember having felt any better.

“I hope this is just the beginning.”

Padre Notes

The Padres likely will open their 1990 season at 1:05 p.m. April 9 in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, and then return to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium for a three-game series. The Players Assn. and Player Relations Committee are studying the proposal, and are expected to make the announcement today. . . . The Padres had 29 players in camp Tuesday, but oddly, still missing were San Diego residents Benito Santiago and Roberto Alomar Jr. Other veterans who have yet to arrive include outfielder Joe Carter, first baseman Jack Clark, pitcher Ed Whitson and third baseman Mike Pagliarulo. Padre batting coach Amos Otis, who lives in San Diego, is not expected until Thursday because of recent oral surgery. . . . Padre catcher Mark Parent is expected to begin throwing today. He suffered a sore right shoulder during winter ball in Puerto Rico, and has been receiving treatment at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium for the past two months. “It’s getting better,” Parent said.