Padre Bats Are Silent, but Clark Is Anything But

First baseman Jack Clark berated and chastised the Padre ownership Friday for their contract proposal to him and threatened to leave the club if granted free agency at the end of the season.

“That’s like Roseanne Barr singing the national anthem,” Clark said of the contract after the Padres’ 4-2 loss to the Phillies Friday. “It doesn’t make any sense.

“It’s ugly.

“It’s disgusting.

“It’s disgraceful.”

Clark, who went one for three in front of 30,020 at Veterans Stadium, was offered a one-year contract for about $2.5 million, with a one-year option, according to sources. Clark, it is believed, is seeking a three-year deal for about $9 million.

“It was a slap in the face,” Clark said. “I didn’t expect that from these Hollywood businessmen. They should have more class and respect for me and (agent) Tom Reich. I don’t want to play their game of tic-tac-toe.

“The whole thing has been a waste of time. I’m going to tell them not to waste their money for stamps, or a phone call, or a fax. I’d rather just wait my time out, wait for second-look free agency, or this or that, than go through all this crap.

“I’m tired of all the lies, the battles, the wars. I’m not going to play a damn game with these guys.

“I want to see if they’re even serious about doing something for this team or if they think this is just a toy.”

Clark also questioned the new Padre ownership’s commitment to winning and accused them of being more worried about the budget than acquiring talent.

“I hear how they want to get a center fielder and get talent and take care of their own players,” Clark said. “Instead, all they’re thinking of are getting new colors and new uniforms, you know, like that will fix everything.

“How come we didn’t go after Willie McGee like the (Oakland) A’s did. We just watched him get away.

“I think they invested in something they didn’t think would cost as much, and that’s the problem. That’s all I keep hearing about, their damn budget.

“And I don’t know if I want to be involved in something like what’s going on now, where they’re more concerned about what they’re going to do in the front office, and going through years where they’re not committed to doing the right thing.”

The Padre ownership indeed is evaluating all facets of the front office, and according to sources, there could be a housecleaning of the entire baseball operations, involving everyone from Jack McKeon, vice president/baseball operations, to the minor league and scouting departments.

Tom Werner, Padre chairman, has not commented publicly on his front-office evaluations and was unavailable for comment Friday regarding Clark’s accusations.

It was two weeks ago, sources said, when Werner and vice-chairman Russell Goldsmith told McKeon to begin contract negotiations. McKeon made the first offer a few days ago, a proposal which was sent to Reich, and one which they believe came directly through the ownership.

“I don’t believe Jack (McKeon) was responsible for this,” Clark said. “He has better sense than to do something this stupid.”

McKeon, who is in Philadelphia and attended Saturday’s game, refused to comment publicly.

Clark, who earns $2 million this season, is in the final year of his three-year contract and is not eligible for free agency, but only arbitration. Yet he is part of the Collusion III class, and he’s awaiting damages that could rule him a second-look free agent within the next two months.

If he’s declared a free agent, he’s expected to receive an offer from the Philadelphia Phillies, who attempted to trade for him a month ago, and possibly the Angels, particularly if Clark’s ex-manager, Whitey Herzog, joins the organization, as rumored.

The Padres, according to sources, are concerned about Clark’s physical health, which has caused him to miss 43 games and 50 starts this season and 344 games in his past seven years. Clark has missed three weeks this season with a strained back, one week because of a fractured cheekbone and two weeks because of a strained right hamstring.

He vows to maintain an off-season conditioning program and says that even with his rash of injuries, there are few players who can put up his numbers, anyway.

Clark has hit .272 with 20 homers and 50 RBIs in just 257 at-bats this season. His replacements at first--Phil Stephenson, Jerald Clark and Joe Carter--have hit six homers with 21 RBIs in 175 at-bats.

“I understand I’ve had some setbacks this year. I know how many games I’ve been out,” he said. “But I know what I’m capable of doing. Look at my numbers; they’re better than a lot of guys who have played all year. I’m still in my prime. I’ll be a young 35 next year. I’ve got plenty of good seasons left.

‘I guess all those 20-home run seasons and the 1,000 RBIs I’ve got are a mistake, huh? I guess I’m invisible, and I really didn’t do that. I guess it was somebody else.

“Come on, the ball that hit me in the cheek didn’t go all the way through my face and destroy me. I’m still intact. It didn’t cave in my senses.

“That’s why, first of all, I’d have to be an idiot to sign what they offered me. And second, they’re idiots for even sending it to us.

“I mean, I didn’t even know we had an offer until I called up Tom. He wasn’t even going to call me because it was so embarrassing.”

Perhaps the aspect of Clark’s contract offer that’s particularly perturbing to him is that everyone else seems to be getting big offers these days but him. There are the four-year, $15 million contracts signed by Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark of the San Francisco Giants; Jose Canseco’s five-year, $23.5 million pact with Oakland; Don Mattingly’s five-year, $19.3 million deal with the Yankees; and now Lenny Dykstra’s three-year, $7.3 million contract signed this week with the Phillies.

“I don’t know what it is, whether I have a hex on me, or a curse,” Clark said, “but it sure seems to be following me. Things have changed, they’re handing money out on silver platters. But not for me.

“Well, that’s going to have to change, because I will stand for what I believe. They should know that by now.”

Clark was a free agent after the 1987 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, but the only offer he received was a two-year, $4 million deal from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. Major League owners later were found guilty of colluding to deny employment to free agents.

Although Clark returned to the lineup Friday for the first time in nine games, it was not enough to help the Padres’ dismal offense, which has scored two or fewer runs in seven of eight games.

The Padre pitching was able to keep the Phillies in check until the eighth inning, but after Atlee Hammaker surrendered a leadoff single to Randy Ready and a walk to Von Hayes, Manager Greg Riddoch called upon Greg Harris.

Harris was able to get cleanup hitter Dale Murphy to foul out to Clark, but John Kruk, another former Padre, hit a double into the right-center gap, scoring Ready and Hayes to win it.

Padre Notes

The Padres will wait until Monday to call up infielders Paul Faries and Joey Cora from their triple-A Las Vegas club, Padre Manger Greg Riddoch said. The Padres have yet to decide whether or not they will call up outfielder Thomas Howard, instead waiting to see how outfielder Darrin Jackson’s sprained left shoulder responds to treatment. . . . There turned out to be more action in the Padres’ Spanish-speaking broadcast booth than on the field Wednesday during the Padres’ 2-1 defeat to the New York Mets. Eduardo Ortega and Gustavo Lopez Moreno and Guastavo Lopez Jr. were found in a fistfight during the 1 hour, 44-minute rain delay, disturbing Met General Manager Frank Cashen, who inquired about the incident. Ortega was replaced by Mario Zapiain on the air Friday. . . . The Padres missed out on the opportunity to acquire outfielder Wes Chamberlain, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top prospect, when the Phillies lost Wednesday night, 12-2, to the Dodgers. The Padres and Phillies each put claims on Chamberlain after Pirate General Manager Larry Doughty mistakenly put him on the irrevocable waiver wire. But when the Phillies lost, it dropped them .004 percentage points behind the Padres in the standings, giving them first crack at claiming him. “We knew it was a mistake when he came across the wire, and jumped at it,” said Jack McKeon, Padre vice president/baseball operations. “We even called the league office to make sure it was true. Boy, he would have been a hell of a player to get.” Instead, the Phillies grabbed him along with outfielder Julio Peguero, 23, and a player to be named later, and shipped off Carmelo Martinez to the Pirates.