PADRES : Weather Ruins Maddux’s Chance

Wednesday would be the day. Mike Maddux could hardly wait.

Bruce Hurst was sidelined with a virus and would have to miss his scheduled start. So Mike Roarke, Padre pitching coach, informed Maddux on Tuesday night that he would start Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants.

Not bad for a guy who reported to Yuma without a contract and has been working in the minor league camp.

So Wednesday morning dawned, and it wasn’t exactly “Field of Dreams.” It started raining shortly after Maddux had breakfast. The sun finally came out, and the game was pushed back 25 minutes to 1:30 p.m. Then, about 12:30, a hailstorm moved through Yuma, and the Padres had to cancel only their second game here in 22 years.

Just what Mike Maddux needed. Another day of hard luck.

“The fact that they were thinking about me was nice enough,” Maddux said. “I came down here with no promises.”

The brother of Chicago Cub starter Greg Maddux, Mike is in his 10th season in professional baseball. The right-hander has pitched a total of 248 innings in parts of five major league seasons--in Philadelphia from 1986-1989 and with the Dodgers in 1990. But he developed bone chips in his right elbow and had arthroscopic surgery after both the 1989 and 1990 seasons.

He became a free agent last October, but nobody was interested. Desperate, he heard that Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, and Ed Lynch, director of minor leagues, would be at a luncheon for Las Vegas Stars players and media in February. He has lived in Las Vegas for 15 years, and decided he would crash the luncheon.

He introduced himself to McIlvaine and Lynch. The next day, he got a phone call. Come on out to Yuma, Maddux was told. We’ll give you a chance.

And that is all a baseball player can ask. A chance.

And then it hails.

“I was an hour from going out there,” he said in a deserted minor league clubhouse. “It’s disappointing we’re not playing, but you can’t control the weather.

“I was excited. I was really excited to get out there. It would have been a good opportunity for me to go out there today and pitch effectively.”

Maddux said he has been happy with his stuff this spring. Most importantly, he said, he isn’t feeling any ill effects of the bone chips.

“Hopefully, I’ll get rescheduled,” Maddux said. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said Maddux will likely pitch either in a “B” game this morning or sometime in this afternoon’s game against the Cubs.

Already, the Padres are having trouble coming up with a fifth starter. Already, they have been behind in their work because of bad weather this spring. Wednesday, they got very little work done because of the rain and hail.

And three players who have been out sick all week were penciled into the starting lineup Wednesday--shortstop Tony Fernandez and outfielders Shawn Abner and Darrin Jackson.

“What a pain this spring has been,” Riddoch said. “Of all the springs, when you’re really trying to find out a lot, we’ve been shot in the foot for a few days. There isn’t much you can do with it except roll with it and go.”

Speaking of ill Padres, pitcher Craig Lefferts is back from bronchitis. He lost 10 pounds and is weak, but he is throwing again.

“I’m throwing every day until I can get into a game,” Lefferts said. “It’s clearing up pretty good. I have asthma, so it hit me a lot harder. But I’m at the point now where I can start getting back and doing things.”

Riddoch said Hurst also had bronchitis Tuesday, but Wednesday Hurst said it was only the flu. Hurst threw for about 10 minutes Wednesday but said he doesn’t know when he will be able to return to the rotation.

Given Hurst’s illness, Riddoch said Ed Whitson is the leader to pitch opening day April 9 against San Francisco.

“I’d say right now he’s probably got the inside track,” Riddoch said. “He’s healthy. I’d be comfortable with Hurst or Whit. Either one--they’re both experienced veterans.”

Padre Notes

Andy Benes is scheduled to start this afternoon’s game for the Padres, and Mike Harkey will start for the Cubs. . . . What do Padres do during rain delays? Pitcher Larry Anderson was stalking through the clubhouse with a cup of coffee in one hand and a fly swatter in the other. Drink, swat, “seven.” . . . If the field isn’t dry enough to play an intra-squad ‘B’ game this morning, Manager Greg Riddoch said he may ask the Cubs if they want to play more than nine innings this afternoon. . . . The Padres are slumping offensively, hitting only .209 in their last four games.