It Wasn’t Pretty But Padres Get By Langston, Angels

It won’t show up on anyone’s highlight film, and there were times Monday when even Little Leaguers were covering their eyes and running for cover, but at last, the Padres were playing a game.

Of course, when there are six errors, two wild pitches, a passed ball and cat-calls from the stands, and the game is still in the fourth inning , liberties are conceded when calling it baseball.

“Hey, no one said we were going to be perfect,” said Padre outfielder Shawn Abner, who had plenty of troubles of his own. “It’s the first spring-training game, I thought you’re supposed to play that way.”

There were few people around to argue. Just 2,057 fans showed up for the Padres’ spring-training opener at Desert Sun Stadium, leaving few who bothered to celebrate the Padres’ 9-2 victory over the Angels.

“That was the weirdest part,” Padre catcher Mark Parent said, “having no fans there. That’s kind of disappointing, actually. The bad part about that is that you could hear everyone of them yell at you.”

So, uh, just what did Parent hear?

“When I was trying to pick off the guy in the second inning,” he said, “some guy yelled, “Benny (Benito Santiago) would have gotten him.’

“I turned around and said, ‘I’m not Benny, you (jerk).”

Padre pitcher Bruce Hurst--who allowed five hits and two runs in three innings--said he was rounding third base to score in the second inning when some fan yelled, “Unhook the trailer, will ya?”

When there wasn’t such friendly interaction between the players and the fans, there was plenty of bantering on the field.

The irony of Mark Langston making his Angel debut Monday certainly was not lost on the Padres.

This was the pitcher who proclaimed the Padres to be his first choice when he went on the free-agent market. Padre President Dick Freeman and Jack McKeon, vice president/operations, drove to Los Angeles to meet with Langston and his agent in November, and each side adjourned the meeting wanting to work out a contract that would put Langston in a Padre uniform.

“I know we were his first choice, he said that all along,” McKeon said.

Yeah, but that’s what Mark Davis was saying, too.

So when the Padre players got a glimpse of Langston in a halo uniform instead of brown pinstripes, they weren’t bashful reminding him of his early intentions.

“We let him have it,” Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn said. “We said, ‘Hey, I thought you wanted to pitch for us. What was all of that junk you were feeding us about pitching in the National League?’ ”

Langston just laughed, pleading no contest. And while Langston was in a good mood, Padre infielder Bip Roberts figured this was as good a time as any to ask for a favor.

Sure, this was only spring training, but Roberts still wanted to rid himself of this one particular blemish that’s been nagging at him all winter. Roberts, you see, had this nasty little streak going when Langston was on the mound. In his last four at-bats against Langston, he had struck out every time.

“I told him before the game, ‘Hey, you’ve got that streak going against me, throw me a fastball so I can hit it, will you,’ ” Roberts said. “But the way I was feeling when I went to the plate, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to hit anything.

“I was just so nervous all morning. I was walking around, and said, ‘Wow.’ When I went to the plate, my knees were shaking and everything.”

Roberts’ nerves dissipated the moment he swung and hit a ground ball to Angel shortstop Kent Anderson. Roberts was out at first, but hey, the streak was over.

“It just felt so good to put the ball in play,” Roberts said. “Once I got over that, the day went great.”

Roberts, who was playing shortstop in place of starter Garry Templeton, went two for four with a stolen base, joining Roberto Alomar (three for three with three RBIs) and Gwynn (two for four with three runs scored) as the hitting stars of the day.

“I surprised myself, I really didn’t think I’d be able to do what I did after one week,” Gwynn said, “but what burns me is that I struck out. I was hoping I’d get by without striking out that first day. I don’t care about the rest of the spring-training games, it’s just that when you strike out in the first game, it does something to your psyche.”

No one will ever accuse Game 1 of being pretty, but certainly, it represented what the Padres hope to accomplish once the real season starts:

--There was strong pitching, with just two hits being allowed after the third inning.

--The top of the lineup was getting on base and scoring, going seven for 11 with five runs.

--And they were capitalizing on all of their opportunities, scoring six unearned runs.

“Hey, you can say whatever you want,” McKeon said, “but we still have a chance to win them all, don’t we.”

After all, isn’t spring training all about optimism, anyway?