Clark Says He Wants to Return : Padres: Slugger, who will be awarded second-look free agency, apologizes for ripping organization, Gwynn.

First baseman Jack Clark, after being informed that he soon will be granted free agency, revealed Sunday night that he still wants to return to the Padres, apologizing for his previous comments ridiculing the organization.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s so close now,” Clark said from his home in Danville, Calif. “It’s like a breath of fresh air, getting a new life. The only thing left is finding out where I’m going to be playing next year.

“But if I have my choice, and all things being equal, it’ll be an easy decision. My first priority is to be in San Diego. Despite everything that’s happened there, and all the changes that have been made, it’s still the place where I want to play.

“I know I’ve said some things I shouldn’t have said. I know I’ve done things maybe I shouldn’t have done. And I apologize. I’ve told (Padre chairman) Tom Werner that.

“But you’ve got to understand, a lot of things were said under frustration, and now, for the first time in years, I’ll finally be playing with a clear mind.”

Clark is one of 16 major league players who will be ruled a second-look free agent in a six-to-eight-week period that is expected to begin in January, according to Don Fehr, director of the Major League Players Assn. It is part of an agreement reached between the owners and the Players Assn., settling collusion damages that will total $280 million.

The other players who will be made second-look free agents are pitcher Charlie Leibrandt, Atlanta; pitcher Larry Andersen, Boston; outfielder Chili Davis, Angels; pitcher Jack Morris and catcher Mike Heath, Detroit; pitchers Danny Darwin and Dave Smith, Houston; pitcher Juan Berenguer and Gary Gaetti, Minnesota; pitcher Dennis Martinez, Montreal; pitchers Dave LaPoint and Mike Witt, New York Yankees; outfielder Dave Henderson, Oakland; and outfielder Brett Butler and pitcher Mike LaCoss, San Francisco.

The second-look free agents have the option of retaining their current contracts or signing with another club, voiding their deals. Clark, who earned $2 million last season, already has been offered arbitration by the Padres, which according to several agents, likely would result in a salary of about $2.5 million to $2.8 million.

“Obviously, that’s not going to do it for me to stay there, and they know that,” Clark said. “That’s only a one-year contract, and no free agent in my position would stay for that.

“They could have had me a lot cheaper if they had signed me earlier, instead of playing all their political games. But this is still where I want to be. I want to come back. I just want a guarantee from somebody I can trust.”

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, confirmed that the ruling likely would force the Padres to offer Clark a contract in lieu of arbitration if they expect him to stay. Yet, it’s premature, he said, to discuss possible negotiations.

The Padres previously offered Clark a one-year contract for $2.5 million with an option year at $2.5 million. Clark angrily rejected the offer, chastising the organization for making it.

“I hope everybody in San Diego knows what I’ve been going through,” Clark said. “And whatever I’ve said is not an attack of their organization, city or community. It’s the politics of the game that make you go crazy, and I admit, I’ve gone crazy at times.”

At times, Clark’s actions, including public criticism of right fielder Tony Gwynn, have made him as popular in town as Saddam Hussein. And his incessant talk of collusion has grown as tiring as watching another Diane Feinstein or Pete Wilson political commercial.

“I know people are probably sick and tired of me talking about it,” Clark said, “but it’s been a constant distraction for me since ’87. It’s like I spent my whole career going through the back roads, hills, canyons and crevices, and then rise to a place where the sun don’t shine.

“I’ve felt like a piece in a Monopoly game. I’ve felt like Park Place. I’m a valuable piece of property, but they can trade me, release me, do whatever they want. Now it’s my turn to decide my fate. I don’t turn 35 until this week (Saturday). I still have a couple of good years left. I think I’ve got a couple of MVP years left.

“I want this game to be fun again. I look around and see the game, and it’s just not like it was before all the collusion happened. The product’s gotten worse. You hear people calling this team a dynasty, or this team being labeled the next Big Red Machine, and I just laugh. It’s a joke.

“I’m from the old school, I play this game with a lot of emotion. When I heard people say I got thrown out of the San Francisco game on purpose, because I live close to home, I wanted to punch them. When I threw that base that day, it was out of emotion, out of frustration, nothing else.

“Just like the last few days of the season when (Manager) Greg Riddoch left me on the bench, I got mad. I want to play every day. I hate sitting, just like I hate losing.

“People blame the Padres’ problems this year on the feud between Jack Clark and Tony Gwynn. That’s a bunch of crap. We had a lot of other problems than people worrying about how the first baseman and right fielder were getting along. Why do you think they made all the coaching moves and had all the firings in the front office?

“I think we can turn it around. I think we can be respectable.