Professors Gwynn, Clark Give Carter National League Lessons

Joe Carter swung and lifted a high fly ball to center field. Tony Gwynn watched from right as the ball landed harmlessly a few feet short of the warning track.

“Home run in Cleveland,” Gwynn cackled.

Carter, caught off guard, laughed so hard he had to step out of the batter’s box.

He stepped back in, still chuckling, and hit the next pitch deep to left. Again, it fell just short of the warning track.

“Home run in Boston,” Carter yelled.

And Gwynn cackled again.

There will be no Clevelands or Bostons for Joe Carter in 1990. This is a year of adjustment to a new team and a new league for the man the Padres obtained in the off-season trade that sent Sandy Alomar Jr. to the Indians.

With the exception of a few games with the Chicago Cubs at the end of the 1983 season, Carter has been a career American Leaguer. He knows where to go for seafood in American League cities, how baseballs bounce off the walls in American League parks and what American League pitchers are likely to throw him when they are behind in the count.

Suddenly, he finds himself in a different world.

“I’m always looking for good restaurants,” he said. “Any suggestions?”

But restaurants are not exactly at the top of his list. Carter’s idea of a feast is a fastball down the middle or maybe a hanging curve. And he wants to know what each pitcher is likely to feed him.

“I think I have a little advantage,” he said, “because I have Tony Gwynn and Jack Clark to talk to. I want to find out how they pitch to Jack. And Tony knows pitchers like a book.”

Carter will learn different things from Gwynn than he will from Clark. He will learn what a pitcher throws from Gwynn and where it is likely to be thrown from Clark, the reason being that pitchers approach guys such as Carter and Clark differently than they approach Gwynn.

“Those guys,” Gwynn said, “are threats. Make a mistake with those guys, and it’s out of the park. Make a mistake with me, and I hit maybe a single to left field.”

So how might Mr. Gwynn be of some help?

“The biggest advantage you can have as a hitter is to know the pitchers,” he said. “You need to know what a pitcher throws when he’s behind in the count, what he throws when he’s ahead in the count, what he throws when he has to make a pitch. It helps to have an idea what you might see.”

When, I wondered, would they begin talking about specific pitchers? That opening day date with the Dodgers, after all, is only a little more than two weeks away.

“Start?” Gwynn said. “We’ve already gone over the whole Dodger staff. Hershiser. Belcher. Wetteland. All of ‘em.”

Clark, who has considerable experience in both leagues, has very good news for Carter.

“He’s gonna see a lot more fastballs,” Clark said. “He’s a good fastball hitter, so that should be right up his alley. He’s a perfect fit for this league.”

Gwynn nodded his head.

“When we see American League teams in spring training,” he said, “we see more breaking balls than we do in our league. The pitcher gets behind 2 and 0 and he throws a changeup or a curve. Pitchers get behind in our league, and you’ll usually see something hard.”

That, to a power hitter like Carter, is a perfect fit.

Of course, Carter’s concern for pitchers is likely mirrored by pitchers’ concern for Carter.

“I don’t want to go up there thinking so much I forget to swing,” he said. “I’d like to think they’re doing some thinking about me.”

There is certainly cause for pitchers to be a bit worried about Joe Carter. The man has averaged 31 home runs and 108 runs batted in over the past four seasons.

“He’s wearing the same color I’m wearing . . . and I’m glad,” said Bruce Hurst, who faced Carter when he was pitching in Boston. “He used to come into Fenway Park and just tear the place down.”

While Carter is picking Gwynn’s brain about Dodger pitchers, the Dodger pitchers will be picking the brains of people such as Jay Howell, who played against Carter in the American League.

“They’re going to be really leery,” Clark said. “He’s such a dangerous hitter that they will be very careful what they give him.”

OK, so maybe he won’t see as many fastballs as he might like.

In truth, position in the batting order will have a lot to say about that. Carter and Clark will undoubtedly bat fourth and fifth, the fourth guy getting many more pitches to hit than the fifth. Manager Jack McKeon has not made up his mind yet, but Carter’s speed makes him a logical choice to bat ahead of, rather than behind, the slower Clark.

In any case, Carter himself seems totally delighted with everything about his new league, team and home.

“Hey,” he said, “from what I’ve heard, only about 40 billion people would like to move to San Diego.”

And . . .

“I hear Jack Murphy Stadium is a great place to hit.”