Show Believes He Is Back; Padres Aren’t

Eric Show stood alone in front his locker Monday night, watching his teammates hurriedly dress to catch the team bus, trying to gather his emotions.

It was difficult to express to awaiting reporters just what he was feeling. Heck, he really didn’t even know himself.

He had perhaps his best performance in 13 months as a starter for the Padres, but still, it wasn’t good enough, with the Padres losing, 4-3 to the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field.

Maybe in another time, it wouldn’t have mattered. It wouldn’t have diminished his feeling of satisfaction. But not on this night. Not in this city.

This is a place where Show once feared for his life. It got so bad the day that he hit Cub outfielder Andre Dawson in the face that he went two years registering under an alias when the Padres checked into town. He was Mr. Jones. This time, he startled his teammates by not even bothering to hide his identity, and registered under Eric Show, with anyone free to locate him.

“That’s what made it so hard,” said Show, who has not won at Wrigley Field since July 17, 1984. “After all I’ve gone through, I really wanted to win here. But what makes it so ironic is that this, of all places, is where I believe I’m back.

“I really believe I’m back.”

Yet, while Show talked, there was little enthusiasm. Yes, he’s a starter again for the first time since May 13. Yes, he’ll actually be able to contribute again after being buried almost two months in the bullpen.

But the doubts and uncertainty of his future squelched any enthusiasm he could generate, and when he left the visiting clubhouse Monday, he wondered if it would be the last time he’ll ever pitch in a Padre uniform.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be here,” Show said. “I want to stay, but I’m not sure how long they want me. They may not want me anymore.

“I’m trying not to worry about it, and really, there’s nothing I can do about it. I just want to contribute as long as I’m here.”

Jack McKeon, Padre vice president/baseball operations, was in Las Vegas on Monday night scouting the Padre triple-A club, but it’s been no secret that he has been shopping Show since May. He’s even publicly complained that there have been no teams interested.

But that has changed. Several teams have begun expressing interest the past 10 days, and after Monday’s performance, McKeon is expected to start receiving offers. Sources, in fact, anticipate that Show will be traded before his next scheduled start Saturday in St. Louis.

There were scouts from at least four different teams in the crowd of 31,523 specifically to watch Show. There were representatives from the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox.

Show’s pitching line--six innings, 10 hits, four runs, no walks, four strikeouts--might not have impressed many fans, but scouts on hand knew that he had pitched much better than his statistics.

“Eric threw the ball good tonight, real good,” said Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach. “He just didn’t get any damn breaks. Really, there shouldn’t have been more than two runs scored against him if we play (defense) like we should.”

Said catcher Mark Parent: “I think he really only threw one pitch we’d like to have back all night. But I knew he was going to have a good game by the way he was warming up. He seemed pretty keyed up for it.

“It was like he was saying, ‘I want to show these guys I can pitch.”

Show already has had a private meeting with Manager Greg Riddoch, discussing his future. But Riddoch offered no insight. He could not say that Show will be around the rest of the road trip, nor does he necessarily know that Show will be gone before the end of the season.

“Greg told me that he wants me,” Show said, “but whatever happens now is out of his control. It’s up to the others, and I get the feeling they don’t feel the same way as Greg.”

It perhaps would have been a sentimental moment if the Padres indeed could have gotten Show’s first victory as a starter since June 19, 1989, but the Padres blew most of their opportunities to make him a winner.

They were one for nine hitting with runners in scoring position; left the bases loaded once; turned a bases-loaded sacrifice fly into an inning-ending double-play when Jack Clark left third base too early; committed two errors; failed to turn a double play in three prime opportunities; and misplayed a fly ball.

Hello, nightmare. It’s the Padres again.

The Padres cut their three-run deficit to 3-2 in the fourth inning with a run-scoring single by Clark, and a groundout by Joe Carter. Incredibly, it was the first time since June 24 that the two Padre power-hitters had RBIs in the same game.

But in the bottom of the fifth, they were back to their usual tricks.

With one out, and runners on first and third, Dawson hit a fly ball to middle-depth left field. Carter settled under the ball, and the crowd held its breath, waiting for a play at the plate.

Instead, Carter dropped it.

The Padres threatened again in the sixth, loading the bases with one out for Parent, who lofted a fly ball to right field for an apparent sacrifice fly. Dawson’s throw to home was well off-line, and Jack Clark ran across the plate and was shaking hands in the dugout when he heard the crowd roar.

The Cubs appealed the play, saying that Clark left early from third. They looked for a call from third-base umpire Jim Quick. Out.

Third base coach Sandy Alomar began vehemently arguing. Riddoch ran out of the dugout protesting. Then the two of them spent the rest of their time trying to restrain Clark, who was trying to get his point across with Quick.

“He blew that one, he just blew it,” Clark said. “He said, ‘You left early.’ Hey, there’s no way. I saw Dawson back-pedal on the ball, and then catch it, before I even started moving. It was a horse . . . call.”

It’s the second time this season that Clark has been called out for leaving third base early, and ironically, the last time also was in Chicago, and it was Parent both times who lost the RBI.

“Where do they get these guys,” Clark said. “One year, everything a pitcher does is called a balk. And this year, it’s the tag-up thing, and they’re enforcing that.

“Now, guys balk about 90 percent of the time and nobody calls it. Before, they held the ball for four minutes, and it still wasn’t long enough. It’s weird.”

The Padres made one last-ditch effort to tie the game in the ninth when Thomas Howard hit a two-out double, and Tony Gwynn greeted reliever Mitch Williams with another double, scoring Howard.

Alomar came to the plate with Clark on-deck, but Clark was left standing there as Alomar struck out on an inside fastball, leaving Show to wonder if he’ll ever have another opportunity to win again for the Padres.

“I guess we’ll find out real soon, won’t we?” Show said.

Padre Notes

Padre outfielder Joe Carter, who played in his 266th consecutive game Monday, still is unsure whether he has a broken big toe on his left foot. The toe is too swollen for X-rays, but Carter was told that the bone probably is cracked. “I’m just going to keep playing, whether it’s broken or not,” Carter said. “What am I going to do? I’m not going to sit out, that’s for sure.” . . . Third baseman Dave Staton, considered by many scouts as the top prospect in the Padre organization, is being converted into a first baseman. Staton, 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, was promoted last week to the Padres’ double-A team in Wichita. He tore up the California League while playing at Riverside, batting .287 with 19 homers and 62 RBIs. . . . The Padre coaching staff is hopeful that the New York Yankees have set a precedent. When Stump Merrill became manager, the entire coaching staff received raises that boosts their pay to the minimum player salary of $100,000. Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, is the highest-paid coach on the staff at $75,000 a year. . . . The Padre pitching staff, which yielded 80 homers in the first 60 games, has allowed just two in its past 11 games.