Roberts Plays With the Pain : Padres: A chewing out from teammate Garry Templeton has motivated the young third baseman to play with the small hurts.

The pain sent shivers of concern up and down his body Tuesday, causing tears to drip from his eyes.

Padre third baseman Bip Roberts bit his lower lip, put a bulky brace on his right knee, wiped away the tears, and ran back onto the field.

Roberts, who developed swelling in his right knee that just won’t seem to go away, knew he probably shouldn’t be going back onto the field. It’s only spring training. Why take a risk?

Maybe a year ago, Roberts mused, there would have been no doubt what he would have done. He’d inform trainer Dick Dent that maybe it’d be best he sit this one out. He’d tell Padre Manager Jack McKeon all about it.

And there he’d be, sitting on the bench with street clothes, watching his teammates play without feeling the least bit of remorse.

But on this day, Roberts didn’t say a word. Not to Dent. Not to McKeon. Not to any of his teammates.

He came back on the field and took batting practice, just like everyone else.

He went out to the field and shagged balls, just like everyone else.

He came off the field, but before heading into the clubhouse like everyone else, he was pulled aside by McKeon.

Roberts wasn’t going to be playing

But this was McKeon’s decision; not Roberts.

And, as Roberts will tell you, it makes all the difference in the world.

“People can give all the reasons they want about my turnaround last year, but if you want to know the truth,” Roberts said, “Tempy (Padre shortstop Garry Templeton) is the one most responsible. He got me going because of an incident in LA, and ever since that, I’ve had this drive and determination that I never had before.”

It was a game in late June at Dodger Stadium. Roberts’ ribs were hurting, and he was lying on the trainers’ table icing a sore ankle when Templeton entered the room. Templeton asked what was wrong, and Roberts told him, saying he wouldn’t be able to play that night.

Well, Roberts might as well have said that he bleeds Dodger Blue by the way Templeton reacted. Templeton chewed him out, telling him that he plays with pain every day of his life, and you don’t see him bailing out of the lineup. If Roberts wants to be somebody in this game, Templeton said, a commitment better be made.

“I’ll never forget that, he chewed me out but good,” Roberts said. “I was hurting pretty good, but he got me so upset, crying and everything, that I went out there that night and didn’t feel a thing. There was no pain.

“He turned on a switch for me, and I’ll always be grateful to him for that.”

It indeed was like a different player suddenly transformed out of the same body. This was a guy who had made just 18 starts and was batting .278 at the time of the incident. But after a few choice words by Templeton, Roberts batted .307, starting 60 of the Padres’ remaining 74 games.

“I really got on him,” Templeton said, “and I know I got him pretty upset. I told him the difference between the majors isn’t that big, and if you want to hang around here, you better play with some pain.

“Look at him now, from that moment on, he’s been the best player on the team.”

Roberts, who said he aggravated his knee by playing on the hard infield at their spring-training complex in Yuma, is expected to be back in the lineup today.

“We want him ready for opening day,” McKeon said, “that’s my concern. There’s no sense in taking any risks now.”

Padre outfielder Tony Gwynn laughed when he first heard it. Then, he started thinking about it. And he started getting worried.

“It’s not so funny, any more.”

The hottest rumor in New York has Gwynn being traded to the New York Mets for third baseman Howard Johnson and pitcher Ron Darling.

No one knows how it started, or if it has the least bit of substance considering it’s been denied by the Mets and Padres, but it’s out there lurking.

“My brother heard it at Dodgertown,” Gwynn said. “So he called my mother. My mother called my wife. And she called me.

“When I first heard it, I just laughed. But then I drove around in my car, and thought about it hard. I’m not counting anything out.

“Really, there’s nothing I can do but just wait and see.”

The Padres will open the 1990 season in just five days on Monday in Los Angeles, but to many in the Padre clubhouse, the most important date on their minds is Friday, April 13.

That is the day their former teammate, Dave Leiper, will undergo open heart surgery.

“That’s the most important thing right now,” Padre catcher Mark Parent said. “There’s a lot of us worried about him in here. You realize there’s more important things in life than baseball.”

Leiper, who spent 2 1/2 seasons with the Padres before being released in December, suffered heart palpitations again three weeks ago while working out in the Oakland Athletics’ mini-camp. He was taken to a Phoenix hospital when it was discovered, he said, what was described to him as an extra passageway to his heart.

“They have to take that out,” Leiper said. “They could zap it electrically, but the surest thing is to open me up and get it. I’ll be out of the hospital in five or six days, but it’ll take a while for the sternum to heal.

“I could probably get by if I keep taking medication, but later in life, they said, something could happen.

“I’d just as soon get it over with now. They said the first available date was Friday the 13th, and asked if I minded. I said, ‘Nah, I’m not superstitious. Just get me in there.’ ”

The Padres plan a visit to Leiper in the hospital the following day in Redwood City, Calif. As fate would have it, they’ll be in San Francisco that weekend for a three-game series against the Giants.

“I told Leip we’ll all be there,” Parent said. “Nothing’s going to keep us away from seeing him.”

Padre Notes

Padre chief executive Jerry Kapstein came to Palm Springs Tuesday night to meet with Manager Jack McKeon and Bill Beck, assistant to the vice president/baseball operations. McKeon still has not talked with anyone in the prospective ownership group. . . . Considering that 10 men will be owners of the Padres if the sale should go through, the joke in the clubhouse was that perhaps a bumper sticker should be made: “Honk, if you own the Padres.” The Padres (8-2) won their sixth consecutive game Tuesday, defeating the Angels, 11-3. The Padres, who also overcame a deficit for the sixth consecutive time, were led by rookie outfielder Jerald Clark, who went three for four with a two-run homer. . . . Ed Whitson was the winning pitcher, yielding five hits and two runs in five innings. “I love pitching here,” Whitson said, “because they use that red clay on the mound. I told our people a couple of years ago that if they’d order that clay, I’d pay for it. But I’m still waiting.”