Clark Blames Gwynn for . . . Everything

Padre first baseman Jack Clark on Friday blamed Tony Gwynn for most of the club’s troubles this season, publicly chastising the four-time batting champion.

Before the Padres’ 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds, Clark also said he will demand a trade if he is forced into salary arbitration.

In what was nothing less than a character assassination, Clark said that unless the Padres trade Gwynn or alter his personality in the clubhouse, they will continue to be a losing organization.

It was the first time Clark made public his feelings about Gwynn. Clark berated Gwynn for being what he perceives as selfishness. He berated Gwynn for wanting his contract renegotiated. He berated Gwynn for allowing his wife to speak publicly about him. And most of all, he berated Gwynn for his recent comments in The Times and Escondido Times-Advocate that were critical of his teammates’ attitude toward him.

“It’ll be interesting to see how we’re supposed to react to Tony after all of this, “ Clark said, “how we’re supposed to involve ourselves with Tony, after he ripped us and took a hike.

“I could see if he directed it at just me, but he directed it at the team in general. How the hell are we supposed to feel after that? He could have come back and tried to explain himself, but he just said it and took a hike.

“I can handle it personally. Me and him don’t get along anyway. We never have. But to say that about everyone, especially the young teammates, how are they supposed to act?

“You hear all this talk about Mr. Padre, Mr. San Diego, and all that crap, I just want to laugh. I don’t think anyone’s going to respect him after this.

“He made his bed, now let him sleep in it.”

Gwynn, according to one of his teammates, telephoned to let them know that he indeed was directing his anger at a select group of players. The player did not want to be identified or specify the players Gwynn was talking about.

Gwynn, reached at his Poway home where he’s recuperating from a fractured finger, declined to comment.

Clark, who considered Gwynn a selfish player when they began playing together in 1988, said Gwynn’s contract is the root of his problems. Gwynn, who earns $1 million, was reduced to the seventh-highest-paid player on the payroll after the signings of Joe Carter and Craig Lefferts and the arbitration award to Benito Santiago.

Gwynn spoke about the contract during the winter but did not address it during the season. But Clark said that Gwynn was wrong to talk about it publicly, saying he receives no sympathy from his teammates.

“It shouldn’t be, ‘Poor little Tony making $1 million and batting .300,’ “Clark said. “That’s not something you should be pouting about. How about the kids in wheelchairs and those people? Should they feel sorry for him?

“Come on, give me a break.”

Clark also criticized Alicia Gwynn, Tony’s wife, for being quoted in a recent story in The Times.

“He let his wife do a lot of the talking for him,” Clark said. “It’s like, ‘Tony, do you put your foot down, or do you let your wife talk for you?’ Hey, maybe we should all get our wives involved in the decision-making process.

“The whole thing is a joke. It’s almost like every day we’re supposed to wonder what he feels about us or what his wife feels about us. . . .

“I don’t know what to think. Is he blaming us because he didn’t win the batting title (he finished at .309)? Hey, is it my fault? Is it our fault? Maybe he’s happy because we lost seven (actually eight) in a row?

“I don’t buy his crap of being upset after games we win, when he doesn’t have a good game. He says he does that because he gets mad at himself. That’s bull. . . . You win as a team, and you lose as a team.”

Clark predicted that as long as Gwynn is on the team without changing his approach, the Padres will never win another championship.

“There are very obvious reasons why this organization doesn’t win,” Clark said. “They’re not going to get rid of everybody in the clubhouse, but you know, there’s a (better) chance he’s going to be here than the rest of us.

“To me, this stuff should have been taken care of a long time ago, but they’ve just let it linger. They’ve kind of created their own monster. Guys have been running around here for the last two years running their own individual scams.

“There’s a right way to win, and there’s a wrong way to win. And I guarantee you, this isn’t the right way.”

On his own status with the Padres, Clark, in the final year of a three-year, $6-million contract, said he would force the Padres to make a trade if he is given arbitration as his salary option.

A month ago, Clark was offered a one-year, $2.5 million contract with a one-year option for $2.5 million. He angrily rejected the proposal and has not been offered another.

Although no other offer can be made until the Padres hire a new general manager, sources in the Padre hierarchy said it was unlikely one would be forthcoming, thus allowing Clark arbitration rights.

“If it comes to that, I’ll ask to be traded,” Clark said. “And if they don’t, I’ll stir up more (stuff). If they think that this something, they ain’t heard nothing yet.

“Right now, they’re playing their hand out, and I’m going to play my hand out.”

Clark could be holding all of the cards if he is declared a second-look free agent through the collusion hearings. That decision is expected in late October. He is scheduled to leave the Thursday after the regular season ends for New York to testify.

“That’ll give me some options,” Clark said. “I can pick and choose what other places I want to play. More that anything, it’ll give me the chance to get the type of deal I’m looking for.”

In another development in the brown pin-stripe soap opera, Pat Dobson, Padre pitching coach, has been granted permission by Padre Chairman Tom Werner to discuss employment with other clubs.

Dobson, Padre pitching coach for the past three seasons, has one year left on his contract for $75,000. But after several clubs recently expressed interested in interviewing Dobson for the same position, Werner gave permission.

If Dobson indeed leaves, he’s expected to be replaced by Larry Rothschild, the Cincinnati Reds bullpen coach, or Jon Matlack, the Padres’ double-A pitching coach in Wichita.