Gwynn Is Left Seething After ‘Sick Joke’ Is Pulled

Right fielder Tony Gwynn started to sit down on the bench Saturday before the Padres’ 11-5 loss to the Atlanta Braves, then looked up, stared at the object and began to shake with rage.

He can put up with clubhouse gags as well as anyone. He has been teased this year about everything from his weight to his laugh.

But this was not the least bit funny.

Hanging from a coat hook, with a rusty chain around its neck, was a figurine of himself. The arms were cut off. The legs were cut off. The noose was tight.

“It shocked me, absolutely shocked me,” Gwynn said. “I can’t believe someone would do that.”

He added: “It’s like someone’s testing me. This whole year, it’s been like a test. People want to see me fail. They want to see me come down.

“Well, they can damn well do what they want, they’re not bringing me down.”

Whoever was responsible for the grotesque act surely couldn’t have been pleased with Gwynn’s performance Saturday in front of the crowd of 12,802 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Gwynn ended his slump by going three for five, driving in three runs to equal his season high, made a running catch in the outfield and ran the bases with reckless abandon.

“In my view, it was a sick joke,” Gwynn said after the game. “It seems like somebody is trying to make me the center of attention.”

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said: “I was standing by the batting cage, and Tony said to me, ‘Is somebody trying to tell me something?’ I didn’t know what he was talking about. I walked over, I took it down and threw it away. Where something like that would come from, I have no idea.”

But Gwynn’s performance Saturday sent a clear message. Go ahead and taunt him . . . tease him . . . torture him . . . but the man is going to keep on hitting.

“I may not hit with power, and I may not have the best arm in the world,” Gwynn said, “but what I do, nobody does better.

“And I’m not embarrassed to say that.”

In the first inning, Gwynn drove in Bip Roberts from second with a one-out single to left that tied the game. He went to second on Jack Clark’s fly ball to center and to third when Ron Gant’s throw got away from second baseman Jeff Treadway, and scored on Joe Carter’s bouncer up the middle.

In the third inning, with Roberts on third and Roberto Alomar on second, Gwynn hit a one-run single to center, scoring both runners, and later scored himself on Benito Santiago’s single.

In the sixth, he saved a possible run when he ran down Andres Thomas’ long fly ball that was headed into the right-center gap, preserving the Padres’ 5-4 lead.

But just as everything has gone this season, Gwynn’s heroics all went for naught when the Braves scored five runs (three unearned) in the eighth, putting not only the game away but perhaps Padre second baseman Roberto Alomar for at least awhile.

David Justice led off with a single, and Mark Lemke followed wit another. Padre Manager Greg Riddoch lifted Derek Lilliquist and brought in Greg Harris to face catcher Gregg Olson. All Olson wanted to do was lay down a sacrifice and move the runners into scoring position.

Instead, Olson laid a bunt in front of rookie third baseman Paul Faries. Faries was slow getting to the ball, and when he threw to first, it was off-line, causing Alomar to drift into the path of Olson. The ball sailed past both of them, Alomar dropped to the ground and Justice and Lemke scored while Olson went to third.

Alomar immediately left the game, was examined by Dr. Steve Copp and diagnosed as having a sprained ligament in his left elbow. His status is listed as day-to-day, although it’s possible that he could be out as long as a week.

The Braves then made sure that there would be no comeback when Thomas drove in another run with a single, and Lonnie Smith capped it off with a two-run homer. The result was a five-run inning, the most yielded by the Padres in an inning since July 19 at St. Louis.

And for the 11th time in 14 games, the Padres (63-75) went down in defeat, falling to within 5 1/2 games of last place and making it a season that will go down as one of the most frustrating in the franchise’s history.

Really, Gwynn said, it’s a tribute to himself that he’s even been able to survive, batting .309 with 67 RBIs, four shy of his career-high of 71 set in 1984.

“I’ve never gone through a year like this, believe me,” Gynn said. “I’d like to get everything that happened to me this year and throw it all in toilet and just just shove it in the trash can.”

Gwynn’s troubles actually started during the winter meetings, when he said he upset after having become the seventh highest-paid player on the Padres. But instead of receiving sympathy, he was chastised by management and fans.

In the spring, he was the subject of the first trade rumor of his career when a New York tabloid reported that he was headed to the Mets in exchange for third baseman Howard Johnson and pitcher Ron Darling.

The season started off quietly and controversy-free, but along came May, and the next thing he knew, third baseman Mike Pagliarulo was accusing one of his teammates of being selfish.

Pagliarulo never mentioned names, but Gwynn believed he was talking about him. After the ensuing team meeting, he was sure of it when nobody came to his support and he was left to fend for himself.

“I got a feeling, I don’t know why or who,” Gwynn said, “that someone upstairs is not happy with the way I’m playing, with what I’ve done.

“It’s like every year I’ve got to convince somebody I can play this game, and I’m getting tired of it.”

The Padre ownership vowed three months ago that it would sit down with Gwynn and his agent, John Boggs, and talk about possibly restructuring Gwynn’s contract. They have yet to even call.

Sources close to the situation say that ownership is awaiting to address the issue at the end of the season, particularly after contract negotiations with first baseman Jack Clark are resolved.

Still, Gwynn waits, saying that he wouldn’t even be surprised if he’s traded away before the opening of spring training.

“I really don’t know what will happen,” Gwynn said. “That’s OK, too. Whatever happens happens. I’m not worried.

“In the long run, I’ll have my shot too (free agency after the 1992 season). And I’d be lying to say I’m not looking forward to that opportunity.”