Clark Downplays Problems He Had With Padres Last Year

Suddenly last Friday, disharmony filled the Padre clubhouse.

Benito Santiago ripped Manager Greg Riddoch. Garry Templeton, traded earlier in the day to the New York Mets, criticized Riddoch. Shortstop Tony Fernandez and Coach Rob Picciolo nearly got into a fight.

It was almost like last year.

It was as if the Padres knew Jack Clark was on his way to Southern California.

Clark arrived at Anaheim Stadium Tuesday and was on the field more than four hours before he and his Boston Red Sox teammates were to play the California Angels Tuesday night.

First, batting coach Richie Hebner pitched extra batting practice to Clark. Then, John McLaren, the bullpen coach, threw some pitches.

“You got any left?” Clark asked McLaren at one point, referring to the baseballs in the bucket on the mound.

“Got plenty left,” McLaren replied.

And Clark hit some more. For more than 20 minutes, he worked damage control on his stance and overtime on his swing.

This year, he has more questions than answers. Entering Tuesday’s game, he was batting only .208, with only four home runs and 15 RBIs. He had only three hits in his past 30 at bats.

Outside of a grand slam on opening day in Toronto, there have not been many memorable moments for Clark. He thinks his problems are more mechanical than mental. He explained that he has made changes, but all the wrong ones.

“I’m making some other ones now,” he said.

At that moment, Tony Gwynn and the rest of the Padres were in Chicago, on their way to a 7-1 victory over the Cubs. Clark wasn’t concerned with that. He said he hasn’t really paid much attention to the Padres this season.

He was aware, though, of the Santiago-Riddoch argument. And he thinks Riddoch has changed since he has become a manager.

“Personally, I liked Greg a lot,” Clark said. “I told him I’d try to do everything I could to help him. He had done things to help me through some tough times.

“What makes people change when all of a sudden they become manager is a very strange thing. I’ve had a lot of different managers over the years, I’ve had coaches become managers . . . and the friendship, loyalty and trust goes out the window. I don’t know why. It just has to do with the privacy of the position.

“I wanted Greg to succeed. He deserves a chance as much as anybody. He did a lot for a lot of guys.”

But it was Clark who called Riddoch a “snake” last winter.

“Because a lot of people were fired who did not deserve to be,” he said. “All the little guys . . . (former Padre assistant trainer) Larry Duensing, (former Padre trainer) Dick Dent. They’re probably two of the best trainers in baseball, or right at the top. And a lot of front-office people.

“Jack Clark was going to get a good job and a good contract. A lot of other people just didn’t deserve to get hammered. They were friends as much as Greg Riddoch was a friend over the years I was there.”

Several former Padres have ripped Riddoch since leaving San Diego, and Clark thinks Riddoch’s approach is part of the reason why.

“His psychology background over the years, he delves into people’s minds and family problems,” Clark said. “He works with players on real personal level and kind of uses it against them later on. I don’t think guys really appreciate it.

“That psychological profile (stuff) . . . now he needs to have somebody else come in and re-evaluate him on the same level, because I don’t think things have happened the way he preferred them to. Now he’s in a tough position because he generated that himself.”

Despite his feelings, Clark said he didn’t necessarily want to leave at the end of last season.

“I was looking forward to going back (to San Diego),” Clark said. “It would have been a good place to be. But baseball doesn’t always work that way.”

According to Clark, his problems with Gwynn, Riddoch and anyone else were nothing that couldn’t have been overcome.

“We had a great bunch of guys,” Clark said. “Just because a few guys didn’t see eye to eye on everything from the way to play the game to whatever happens in the world economy . . . 99.9% got along well. (Ed) Whitson, (Benito) Santiago, (Roberto) Alomar, (Luis) Salazar, Carmelo (Martinez) . . . they were a great bunch of guys.”

Clark blamed himself and Gwynn for causing the situation that Padre management knew it eventually had to fix.

“It’s probably as much my fault and Tony’s fault for letting the media drag it out of us,” Clark said. “We left it open for that type of trouble. We didn’t put it to rest.”

Still, Clark said he has no regrets about anything that happened in San Diego. He said he would do nothing differently.

“I wish their guys the best,” he said simply.

There are enough other problems for him to worry about now, anyway. He has had difficulty adjusting to being a designated hitter. He has been going so badly that Thursday he finally asked for a day off. He got three.

When he returned to the lineup Sunday, Manager Joe Morgan dropped him from the fourth spot in the batting order to the seventh position.

“I stayed with Jack as the fourth hitter for a long time because I wanted to give him every chance,” Morgan said. “I don’t know . . . maybe I stayed with him there too long.”

The fans in Boston, well aware of his $2.9 million salary this year, have started to boo him. His Boston teammates see his frustration, watch him work, and wait for the day he picks up the club and carries it with him toward an AL East title.

“Jack’s failure is not a lack of caring, not a lack of work, and not a lack of effort,” teammate Mike Greenwell said. “It’s simply a lack of luck.”

Clark remains optimistic and waits for the slump to give him a break. He talks about what a humbling game baseball is. Soon it will be time for the Red Sox to take batting practice, and after that it will be time for Clark to see about jump-starting his season.

“I’ve just had a bad two months,” Clark said. “Today is the only day that really is important.

“Today could be a good day for me.”