For Will, There’s a Way to Enjoy This Tour : Notebook: The political columnist stopped by the ballpark to say hello to Tony Gwynn and Orel Hershiser, two of the subjects in his latest book.

Men at work:

Political columnist George Will was sitting on the bench in the Padre dugout before Tuesday’s home opener, dressed in a sport coat and necktie.

Padre pitcher Mark Grant walked past, stopped and looked.

“You’re out of uniform,” Grant said. “You don’t have a bow tie on.”

They both laughed.

It has taken six attempts, but Will finally is enjoying a book promotion tour.

He was in San Diego Tuesday pushing “Men At Work,” his sixth book. He was able to get to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium by late afternoon to say hello to Tony Gwynn and Orel Hershiser--two of the book’s four main subjects, along with Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony La Russa--and appear on Jerry Coleman’s pregame radio show.

“This is fun,” he said. “Most book tours are a grind.”

While several players sat in the clubhouse and watched Will on Roy Firestone’s ESPN talk show (taped earlier), Will was in the Padre dugout talking to Gwynn and then watching him hit.

On a local radio talk show earlier in the day, Will said Gwynn was the best all-around player in baseball.

At the stadium, Will continued his praise.

“Put Tony in Fenway Park, and he’d bat .440,” Will said.

Gwynn, whose first hit of the season was a single to right off Dodger starter Tim Belcher Tuesday, said he has a copy of the book but hasn’t read it yet.

“I’ll probably read it on the (upcoming) road trip,” Gwynn said. “I guess it’s good. George is a really good writer and a good person. I had a lot of fun working with him.”

Hershiser said he had started the book but had not finished.

“I think he’s outstanding,” Hershiser said. “I admire the man for his analytical talent and the way he expresses himself. He has an amazing vocabulary and a knack for using all of the right words in all of the right places.

“I’ve learned a lot about a game I thought I knew a lot about. It will be interesting for people to learn so many things about baseball that they have taken for granted or maybe never knew existed.”

Will is scheduled to travel from San Diego to the Bay Area today for more promotional work. So far, he said, he has received good reaction.

“Jack Clark said he’s even going to read it,” Will said.

He was smiling.

“I like the way it sounds,” Clark said. “He’s writing it from a different arena that people haven’t been tuned in to. Some people say baseball is too slow, but it’s a fast game relative to everything that happens.”

Add Will: Gwynn said he has already been kidded about being in the batting cage in the early morning hours, something Will wrote in the book.

“That’s not exactly true,” Gwynn said, laughing. “Ten-thirty or 11, maybe. . . . “

Will on home openers: “All the real baseball fans come on the second day, after all of the suspenders and yuppies have gone.”

Gwynn’s obsession: Will’s 16-year-old son, Geoffrey, has attended Gwynn’s hitting school over the Christmas holidays the past two years.

“You get so many names and faces that you don’t remember them,” Gwynn said. “You remember swings.”

Swings?

“We worked with (Geoffrey) on the angle of his bat,” Gwynn said. “He was wrapping the bat behind his head. We tried to straighten it out. He’ll probably be a pretty good little hitter.”

Book tour mania: The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by former Padre and Giant pitcher Dave Dravecky, who is also on a tour promoting his new book.

Dravecky, whose comeback attempt from cancer ended last season, was supposed to sign books before tonight’s game. That has been rescheduled because Dravecky’s wife, Jan, is ill.

That didn’t prevent some warm reunions between Dravecky and some former colleagues, though. He and Padre Manager Jack McKeon embraced in the hallway outside the San Diego clubhouse an hour before the game. Then, McKeon kidded Dravecky about throwing out the first pitch.

“If you look good, I might sign you,” McKeon said.

Dravecky: “Well, I don’t have an agent.”

McKeon: “If you need an agent on your books, let me know.”

How-soon-they-forget-dept.: Early in Tuesday’s game, a note was flashed on the scoreboard referring to the Cubs’ victory over Philadelphia. Former Padre Marvell Wynne singled home the game-winning run. The scoreboard referred to “Marvelle.” Coincidentally, former Padre John Kruk was also included in the note--he doubled home Philadelphia’s only run.

Boo: You know Tony Gwynn received the loudest cheer during pregame introductions. But the loudest boo? It went to Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda. Second-loudest went to Dodger outfielder Hubie Brooks, whose eighth-inning home run Monday sent the Padres to a 4-2, opening day defeat.