PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Gwynn’s Family Likes Clark, but It’s Not ‘You Know Who’

You won’t find the kids playing in the stands at the ballpark, nudging mom for cotton candy between innings. You won’t find mom chatting with the other wives, exchanging the latest gossip.

No, that’s Alicia Gwynn and her two children sitting at attention during the games, making sure pop’s kept in line.

Alicia, Tony Gwynn’s wife of 10 years, is at every home game and a majority of the road games. The kids, Anthony, 8, and Anisha, 5, get to go on the road frequently when school’s out, beginning with this trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati. And there they sit, watching mom chart pitches when dad’s at the plate.

“Alicia’s not like a lot of baseball wives,” Gwynn said, “that want to socialize and do this or that. She wants to watch the game. And she and the kids keep me in check pretty good.

“They see exactly what I’m doing. When I go home and look at video tape, they already know what I did wrong on this swing or that swing.”

Perhaps, they might be a bit too observant. Consider this conversation, when Anthony was six years old, Alicia recalled.

“We were watching the game on TV in New York,” Alicia said, “and Tony called. Anthony jumps on the phone and says, ‘Dad, was your arm hurting or something? That was a terrible throw.’

“Tony said, ‘What, no hello, Dad. No, how are you doing dad? Come on, can’t you say hello before busting my chops?’ ”

So, considering Tony’s hitting accomplishments, surely he must be everyone’s favorite to watch, right?

“No-o-o-o,” Tony said. “Everyone else has got another favorite besides me.”

For Anthony, there’s no one more fun to watch than Will Clark of the San Francisco Giants.

“That’s his man,” Gwynn said. “I went to a Little League game the other day, and there he was, trying to impersonate Will Clark. I couldn’t believe it.”

And Alicia?

“Will Clark used to be my favorite too,” she said. “Now, though, I might be changing to David Justice (of the Atlanta Braves). I sure like watching that swing.”

And, just who does Gwynn enjoy watching the most?

“That’s easy, Pedro Guerrero (of the St. Louis Cardinals),” he said. “He’s my favorite. He’s kind of in the mold of a guy that’s misunderstood. But you look at him, and he’s a guy who can hit 25 home runs. He can drive in 100 runs. He can hit .300. He’s not afraid to hit the ball wherever you pitch it.

“There’s not too many guys who can do what he can. Man, I wish I could hit with him.”

And just what’s so wrong with watching Tony Gwynn day in and day out?

“Nothing,” Alicia Gwynn said, “but Tony is what you call, uh, a Punch-and Judy hitter. I think Tony would be the first to tell you he’d like to put up the numbers of a Will Clark some day and have that kind of power.

“But this is what got him here to the big leagues, so why change?” It was quite tempting to give the ex-Padre player of the week award to Cleveland Indian third baseman Carlos Baerga. His three home runs in a series against the White Sox in Chicago were the most by an Indian player this year in any single park, including Cleveland.

Yet, it was too difficult to bypass Toronto Blue Jay outfielder Joe Carter, who wins the award for the second time this season.

Carter, who was traded in the off-season, hit five home runs with 12 RBIs in his past seven games, batting .464 with 10 runs scored. When teams set up their protected lists for the expansion draft after the 1992 season, Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said they will be required to protect all players with no-trade provisions in their contracts. Thus, right fielder Tony Gwynn, first baseman Fred McGriff and pitchers Bruce Hurst and Larry Andersen will be among the 15 players protected. Clubs have been told, however, that minor-league players with three or fewer years of experience will be exempt from the draft . . . If the Padres trade outfielder Shawn Abner, as expected, look for them to call up Jim Vatcher from triple-A Las Vegas. Vatcher is hitting .280 with 12 doubles four triples and 10 home runs . . . Tyson Kimm, the son of Padre third baseman Bruce Kimm, has decided to accept a baseball scholarship to Creighton after being drafted by the Seattle Mariners . . . The Kansas City Royals have decided to convert former Padre Mark Davis into a starter when he returns from the disabled list.