PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : A Helmet to the Boss’s Head Leaves Santiago $300 Behind

The sign now hangs above the left side of the dugout bench where Padre Manager Greg Riddoch sits: “Hard Hat Area.”

Inside Riddoch’s office, below his desk, is a yellow bicycle helmet, complete with a horn and rear-view mirror.

And the wallet inside catcher Benito Santiago’s pocket is $300 lighter.

That was the aftermath Wednesday from the beaning Riddoch took Tuesday night when Santiago threw his helmet into the dugout in frustration, inadvertently hitting Riddoch in the head and forcing him out of the game.

“Really, I feel all right,” said Riddoch, who was provided the sign from Chairman Tom Werner and the helmet from pitcher Ed Whitson. “I’m out of the iron lung. . . . I got a lot of calls from people saying they heard I was in the hospital for observations and a CAT-scan.

“I felt a little dizzy, a little sick to my stomach, but that’s it. I was just dazed. I just felt faint. It was just one of those unfortunate things that happened.

“I don’t remember anything that happened really, except seeing a blur out of the corner of my eye.”

Riddoch, however, said he never was unconscious, only woozy, after the helmet struck his right temple and slammed his head against the back wall. He went into his office, he said, and watched the final three innings on TV.

Santiago apologized to Riddoch after the game, but he decided to bring Santiago in for another meeting Wednesday. He fined Santiago $300, and later had a five-minute team meeting to ask his players to show a bit more prudence in venting their frustration.

“Of course, I feel bad; I didn’t do it on purpose,” Santiago said. “I didn’t throw my helmet trying to hurt somebody. I apologized already. It was bad luck, a bad night; it’s bad, what can I say?”

Santiago acknowledged that he was fined to the tune of $300 for his temper. “He (Riddoch) didn’t want me to tell you,” Santiago said, “but what the hell, I got fined already. What else can they do?”

Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, said he has every intention of trading outfielder Shawn Abner, but after contacting all 25 major league teams, he still is searching for an interested party.

“We’re trying to accommodate him,” McIlvaine said, “but you have to have teams that are interested. The only other option is to put him on irrevocable waivers and get $20,000 for him. But right now he’s a player worth much more than $20,000.”

The Padres appear close to signing their No. 1 draft pick, pitcher Joey Hamilton of Georgia Southern, to a bonus worth about $325,000. Their negotiations took a step forward when first baseman Joe Vitiello, the selection before Hamilton, signed Tuesday with the Kansas City Royals for $345,000. . . . Padre first baseman Phil Stephenson finishes his rehabilitation assignment Saturday in double-A Wichita and will soon join the Padres, said McIlvaine. “He’s ready to come back,” McIlvaine said. Stephenson probably will replace Abner or catcher Brian Dorsett on the roster. . . . Mark Davis, the Padres’ former Cy Young Award winner, will spend the next 30 days in the minor leagues pitching for the Kansas City Royals’ triple-A club in Omaha, Neb. Davis, who went on the disabled list with a torn fingernail, is being sent to the minors to become a starter again, Royal Manager Hal McRae said. “I don’t know what role we’ll have him in when he comes back up,” McRae said, “but we just want him to be useable again. He needs to get that confidence up.” . . . The Padres will play the final game of their three-game series against the Dodgers at 7:05 tonight. Greg Harris (1-1) and Mike Morgan (9-5) are the scheduled starters.