Sandy Alomar Seeks Reasons for Dismissal

Sandy Alomar could hear the crowd noise. He watched the long line of cars pulling in and out of HoHoKam Park. He even imagined Harry Caray singing during the seventh-inning stretch.

But instead of standing in the Padres’ third-base coaches’ box Monday against the Chicago Cubs, Alomar was standing in a patch of dirt by a chain-link fence three blocks away, hitting fungoes to 18-year-old kids dressed in Cub uniforms.

“It’s just nice to be around somewhere,” Alomar said, almost in a whisper.

Alomar had been with the Padre organization for six years, coaching third base since 1986. He was the one responsible for bringing his two talented sons--catcher Sandy and second basemanRoberto--to the organization. Little wonder why he figured he’d be with the Padre organization for the rest of his life.

His reward?

He was fired by Manager Greg Riddoch and swept away in the massive Padre housecleaning during the off-season, and now, five months later, he still would like to know why.

“I don’t understand it,” Alomar, 47, said. “I was close to Greg (Riddoch). “Greg and me, we used to go have lunch and dinner a lot of times. I saw a little bit of a change. He changed the way he was dealing with people. I guess everybody has their own way.

“But I want to let people know I wasn’t a threat to Greg. I never had any intentions to manage. I was asked at one time to manage the (triple-A) Las Vegas ballclub, but I said no because I never had intentions to be a big-league manager. I didn’t think I could be.

“I certainly didn’t create any problems.”

Alomar’s future appeared shaky the moment Riddoch became manager at the All-Star break and fired hitting coach Amos Otis. The speculation was that Alomar would be next. Yet, when Alomar asked Riddoch on several occasions late in the season whether he’d be fired, Riddoch told him that the decision belonged to the owners.

“Hey, I’ve been in this game too long to know better than that,” Alomar said. “You know the owners don’t have a hand in that. It’s the general manager or the manager.

“I just wish he would have told me.”

Said Riddoch: “I had a good relationship with Sandy. But any time you have a new manager, you get him people that he wants to be with. That was the case here. I wanted people conducive to my personalty. It’s not a rip on him.”

The dismissal of Alomar and Otis leaves the Padres without any minority coaches on their major league staff, and considering that the Padres have six Latin players on their 40-man roster, Alomar believes the Padres are making a big mistake.

“How they’re going to handle all of the Latin players,” Alomar said, “I don’t know. If people want to have good relations, they should have Latin coaches around. There’s Latin players who say they can trust one of their own rather than someone else.”

If nothing else, Alomar said, the job change to become the Cubs’ Latin coordinator and minor-league instructor will allow him more free time to visit Sandy in Cleveland and Roberto in Toronto.

“It’s too bad everything happened the way it did,” Alomar said. “It was like a family affair. Everybody was working out well, and coming through the organization.

“Now, it’s over.

Cubs Manager Don Zimmer has maintained all spring that he has no concerns about left fielder George Bell’s defensive deficiencies.

That might have changed Monday during the course of the Cubs’ 11-9 victory over the Padres.

Bell, in what surely must be one of the most comical displays of defense this spring, managed to turn a routine out into an inside-the-park homer; a single into a triple; forgot how many outs there were in the inning; and delayed the game for 10 minutes searching for a new glove.

When Bell slowly sauntered from the outfield to the dugout in the middle of the fourth inning, in quest for a new glove, Padre broadcaster Rick Monday aptly said: “He wants a new glove, and nothing has hit it yet.”

Bell, who was booed loudly when he came off the field, said afterward: “I like these fans. They help me hit.”

Zimmer, irritated about the line of questioning concerning Bell, said: “It’s no headache for me. I’ve seen so many things happen here in Arizona, with pop-ups in the wind, the sun. He’ll do a capable job in left field. Bet on it.”

This could turn out to be quite an expensive season for Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn if this trend continues.

Gwynn figured out Monday, after going zero for three, that he is batting 1.000 (10 for 10) with his wife, Alicia, in attendance, and .059 (1-17) when she has not attended a spring-training game.

“It might be time for her to start making reservations,” Gwynn said.

Gwynn, who is batting .235 since opening the spring with seven consecutive hits, blames some of his problems on the fact that the Padres left a batting tee back in Yuma.

He thought he could wait until the Padres returned to Yuma Thursday night to start using the tee again, but changed his mind Monday, and was out shopping for one after the game.

“I stink right now,” Gwynn said. “I can’t wait any longer.”

The Padres are eighth in the bidding order for Bo Jackson’s services during the 72-hour waiver period, but it appears unlikely that the Padres will make a claim.

“I can’t comment on it right now,” said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, “because he’s still a member of the Royals. “But obviously there are some serious medical problems there.”

Padre Notes

Padre pitcher Dennis Rasmussen, who has tendinitis in his left bicep, said Monday that he will pitch on the side Wednesday, and hopes to begin pitching in games early next week. “It’s so frustrating,” Rasmussen said, “because every time I throw it gets irritated. I really want to get out there.” . . . McIlvaine and the coaching staff met Monday night to make individual evaluations. Riddoch said that they will make their first round of player cuts Thursday morning before returning to Yuma. . . . Padre third baseman Jim Presley drove in three runs Monday, and now leads the Padres with eight for the spring. . . . Padre starter Mike Dunne appears to have pitched himself off the roster. Dunne, who has allowed eight hits and six earned runs in four innings in two “A” game appearances, was lit up again Monday in a “B” game against the Angels. He yielded four hits and four earned runs, and walked four batters in three innings. . . . Second baseman Marty Barrett went two for two with a double and two RBIs in the “B” game. He now has five hits with four RBIs in his past two games. “I think I’ve got my stroke back,” Barrett said. . . . The Padres are scheduled to play the San Francisco Giants at 12:05 p.m. (PST) today. Andy Benes and Calvin Schiraldi are the scheduled pitchers.