Padres Should Never Be in a No-Gwynn Situation

Bits and pieces . . .

Getting Tony Gwynn’s signature on a contract extension will be a double dose of both goodwill and good sense for the Padres.

Unlike fellows such as Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla, Gwynn has paid some dues in terms of high production at low, by today’s standards, compensation. You don’t need to light a fire under him to get him into gear.

This man should always be a Padre, and this extension will make that a strong likelihood . . .

On the other hand, we have the case of one Benito Santiago. He has twice gone to arbitration and seems to be seething because his most recent experience was a loss.

Negotiations here will go absolutely nowhere because Santiago’s camp is asking for $17.5 million for four years and the Padres are offering $11 million. That gap will not be bridged.

Bitterly, Santiago has said he will definitely go to free agency after the 1992 season. The Padres, in contrast, would like nothing better than to see him finally put together the kind of offensive numbers he needs to force them to up the ante to a level which is now unreasonable . . .

San Diego State is seriously considering new starting times for football next fall: 6 p.m. in September and 4 p.m. later in the year.

This should be applauded, particularly the 4 p.m. start.

From fans’ point of view, they would have time to do “daytime things,” go to the football game, go to dinner and still get home at a decent hour. It’s called getting the best of everything.

From an exposure point of view, football followers east of Blythe will get SDSU scores in their Sunday newspapers. And there is much more chance of getting a particularly good game, such as UCLA or Miami or BYU, on national television.

It’s time to make the switch and not be intimidated by that ill-fated move to 1 p.m. starts a few years ago . . .

Of all the award winners at Tuesday night’s Salute to the Champions banquet, I was most impressed by Urban Miyares.

Huh?

No, I had not heard of him, either. However, he is a blind skier who was honored as Disabled Athlete of the Year. His acceptance speech was a delightful blend of whimsy, warmth and sincerity.

You need a motivational speaker, this is your guy . . .

Garry Templeton’s guaranteed 1991 contract does not provide him quite the leverage you might expect in terms of possible trade negotiations.

Given that he is borderline to make the Padres, his options would seem to include accepting a trade elsewhere or sitting it out and pocketing the guaranteed $500,000.

The hang-up is that he is reluctant to go elsewhere unless he earns more than the $500,000. Not surprisingly, other interested clubs, such as Texas, are reluctant to pile money on top of money, especially for a player who might be jobless in six weeks.

The bottom line is that Templeton must play in 1991 if he hopes to play in 1992, thereby totally erasing his leverage . . .

Showdown week in the West Coast Conference for USD basketball has certainly been a comedown. The Toreros had Loyola Marymount tonight and then the biggest game in a few years, Saturday night’s battle for first place with Pepperdine.

Alcala Park would have been jumping.

However, the Toreros stumbled and bumbled through last week’s trip to USF and St. Mary’s while Pepperdine just kept rolling along.

USD has a nice club, but it goes absolutely nowhere if it does not win the WCC Tournament March 2-4 at Santa Clara. It suffers from both last week’s pratfall as well as early-season losses to the likes of Cal State Northridge and Eastern Washington.

The problem with the Toreros is that they know where they want to go, but they’re not dressed for it . . .

Major Soccer League thinkers and shakers should rethink this outdoor notion, especially if a poll of American sports fans by Associated Press is to be taken seriously.

World Cup soccer ranked 75th out of 114 sports in terms of spectator popularity . . . and that is soccer at its highest and presumably most marketable and interesting level. Forget the idea of selling outdoor in this country. It won’t go, period.

Also note that minor league hockey, on a most unpopular spectator sports survey, ranked as slightly less unpopular than arm wrestling but more unpopular than full contact karate, fencing and daredevil jumping acts. I guess the Gulls have to feel pretty good about their following . . .

Parting thought: Remember the names Marty Barrett and Jim Presley when the Padres do something they have not done for a while, which is pleasantly surprise.