Templeton Not Ready for Bench : Baseball: Veteran knows he is on the Padres. However, he is uncomfortable with his utility role.

Thwack! Ground ball.

“Get it, Bip!” Garry Templeton yelled.

Thwack! Ground ball.

“Forget it!” Templeton yelled.

The sun was bright and the Padres were getting ready for their final exhibition game. A few minutes passed. Templeton’s turn in the batting cage finished.

“I’ll take some grounders at third,” he said to nobody in particular.

He grabbed his glove and trotted away.

Introducing Garry Templeton, utility man.

After a spring of uncertainty, after being stripped of his role as Padre captain and spending weeks wondering when he would be cut, Templeton found out late Saturday night that he had made the team. He found out from reporters, who approached him after learning that catcher Brian Dorsett was the Padres’ final spring cut.

It came down to cutting an infielder or a catcher, and Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said the team wanted a balanced roster. He said it didn’t come down to contracts--Templeton has a guaranteed contract this season for $500,000--or options left. The Padres were looking for balance, and Templeton, 35, is a switch-hitter.

“The only thing I know is it took me 15 years to make the club,” Templeton said.

That’s what his teammates razzed him about Sunday. After 15 seasons in the major leagues, Templeton had to scuffle to make the grade this spring. Pitcher Ed Whitson found out Templeton had made the team Sunday morning, from the veteran. Bip Roberts heard it from Ed Whitson.

“I’m very happy for Garry,” Roberts said. “Obviously, he wasn’t given anything. He earned everything he has. It’s hard to knock someone who earns everything.”

Templeton was left feeling a bit, well . . . what?

“It’s kind of hard to explain how I feel,” he said. “I’m not overly happy. I’m not sad. I guess I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. All the things I went through, all the things people said about me. I had the feeling that I wasn’t wanted on this team, then all of a sudden you make the team.

“I don’t know. It’s a weird feeling. Tough to explain.”

Still, he said he would prefer to play every day.

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told (the Padres),” Templeton said. “If it is in the best interest of the Padres and in my best interest, I’d go somewhere else and play every day. But that’s strictly up to them.”

Templeton talked to McIlvaine late Saturday after learning of his status.

“He congratulated me,” Templeton said. “He said, ‘I know it’s been a tough spring on you mentally, but I know you’re a pro’s pro.’ I told him, ‘Hey, life is tough. This world we live in is tough. What I went through doesn’t mean that much when you think about what is going on in the world.”’

Now Templeton will attempt to put everything behind him and concentrate on plugging holes. Shortstop, third base, who knows, maybe even in the outfield. Wherever the Padres need him.

Is he bitter?

“I don’t know if that’s the correct word,” he said.

Does he feel wanted?

Templeton paused.

“I don’t know.”

It didn’t quite go as planned. It rained at times. It was chilly. Bruce Hurst missed eight days with a viral infection, Craig Lefferts missed two weeks with bronchitis and Roberts, Tony Fernandez, Darrin Jackson and Shawn Abner all missed time with the flu.

But spring training for the Padres finished with Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Seattle. The Padres now will turn their attention to Tuesday’s opener.

“We got all of the fundamental things done that we wanted to,” Manager Greg Riddoch said. “We didn’t in the fashion we wanted to, though, because of the sicknesses and rain.”

Said McIlvaine: “All things considered, mentally the players are ready to begin. Physically, I think they could use a few more at bats and innings (pitched).”

Three Padre starting pitchers have been consistently erratic this spring, as evidenced by their earned-run averages: Ed Whitson, 4.91; Hurst, 4.67; and Greg Harris, 6.17. As for the starters, only Eric Nolte’s--0.75--is encouraging. Still, Riddoch and McIlvaine say they are not concerned.

“Not in the least,” McIlvaine said. “Pitchers work on things in the spring. . . . I haven’t looked at a statistic all spring.”

Hurst still has not recovered from a virus. He says it still is in his head, chest and throat.

“I’m spitting all the time,” Hurst said. “Next to (Shawn) Abner, I’m the world’s grossest human.”

The Padres finished spring training with a 15-12 record and, heading into Tuesday’s opener, here is who’s hot:

--Center fielder Shawn Abner, who had a home run and two singles in four at bats Sunday, is now hitting .366 in his last 11 games.

--Left fielder Jerald Clark has six runs-batted in in his last four games.

--Right fielder Tony Gwynn, who was given the day off Sunday, finished spring training with a .429 batting average.

--Catcher Benito Santiago has a five-game hitting streak.

--Templeton has hit .357 in his last 14 games.

As for who’s not hot, see pitcher’s statistics listed above.

Padre Notes

Pitcher Andy Benes worked five no-hit, no-run innings Sunday. He struck out five and walked two. . . . The Padres decided Sunday to place first baseman Phil Stephenson (knee) on the 60-day disabled list. They did this after first officially adding infielder Marty Barrett, outfielder Mike Aldrete and pitcher Mike Maddux to the roster, because a club must have 40 men on its major league roster before placing someone on the 60-day disabled list. . . . Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said he had a long talk with catcher Brian Dorsett Saturday night and that it was decided Dorsett would go to triple-A Las Vegas. Previously, Dorsett had said he wasn’t sure if he would report. “He’ll be OK,” McIlvaine said. . . . Shortstop Tony Fernandez bruised the tip of his right thumb when hit by a ground ball in the third inning. Harold Reynolds reached first on the error, and Fernandez left after the inning. He was scheduled to leave then, anyway, and Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said he should be fine for Tuesday’s opener.

Pitcher Bruce Hurst left 20 tickets Saturday night for relatives and friends who traveled 1 1/2 hours from his hometown of St. George, Utah. “Beer sales were down, I guarantee that,” said Hurst, who is Mormon. . . . The Padres will work out under the lights in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium tonight at 7:30. . . . Pitching matchups for the opening series: The Padres’ Ed Whitson against the Giants’ John Burkett Tuesday; Bruce Hurst vs. Bud Black Wednesday; and Andy Benes vs. Scott Garrelts Thursday. . . . Outfielder Shawn Abner ordered a pair of cowboy boots from a salesman visiting Cashman Field. It’s been a productive spring for Abner--in addition to the boots, he got a new dog, Booger, in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago. It’s a French Mastiff--the breed seen in “Turner and Hooch.” Which was the better acquisition, the boots or Booger? “The boots,” Abner said. . . . Pitcher Rafael Valdez, optioned to Las Vegas two weeks ago, has some soreness in the back of his right--pitching--shoulder and will likely open the season on the disabled list.