Padres See No Relief on Horizon

Padre Manager Greg Riddoch, after watching another lethargic performance by his team, which lost 3-0 to the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, sat motionless in his chair Sunday afternoon.

His eyes revealed fatigue. Wrinkles darting across his face unveiled the pain and anguish he has endured since the start of the baseball season.

The Padres, losers of nine of the past 12 games, enter the All-Star break with no hope of recovery. There will be no pennant race in San Diego. The only anticipation will be Tony Gwynn’s bid for a fifth batting title, and considering his .358 batting average, even that has left little suspense.

“We’re not playing well at all,” said Padre starter Dennis Rasmussen, who appeared disgusted by his team’s performance. “We’re lucky to be where we are. Things aren’t going our way, and it all adds up to a bunch of losses.”

The Padres, who raised everyone’s hopes by having a share of first place as late as May 10, have fallen apart. They find themselves 10 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, and 13 games back in the loss column. The Houston Astros have only four more losses than the Padres.

The Padres certainly have been burdened by injuries. Their pitching staff has been among the league’s worst. And the bottom of the order has been dreadful, with nine different players already having been tried at second base and third base.

But it doesn’t seem to matter. No one seems to care.

Riddoch, after one full on the job as Padre manager, senses the end is near. There won’t be any changes at the All-Star break, like a year ago when he replaced Jack McKeon. It’s almost a certainty he’ll last the season.

However, there is absolutely no indication that Riddoch will be invited back once the season ends and his contract expires.

“I don’t have the faintest idea whether they want me back,” Riddoch said. “I really don’t. If they want to fire me, it’s their prerogative. What am I going to do.

“I know I can do other things than manager. (Padre chairman) Tom Werner has made me feel that whether I manage or not, I’ll continue to be part of the Padres. I didn’t need to sign anything. It was just his word. I can trust him.

“But our relationship is also such that if there needs to be a parting of the ways, so be it.”

There’s increasing speculation in the baseball industry, however, that the decision already has been made to fire Riddoch at the season’s end. There even are whispers in the front office that Riddoch is gone.

“That’s not true,” McIlvaine said. “I’ll deny that vehemently. I’m open-minded. I’m going to give him every opportunity.”

So just how has Riddoch performed in the eyes of McIlvaine?

“It’s hard to judge the first half with all the injuries and everything,” he said, “so you can’t be too severe on him. I think he’s done a pretty good job, but he still has a longs way to go. And he knows that.

“It hasn’t been easy for him, but he’s hung in there. I think he has a chance to get better.”

Riddoch says he refuses to worry about his job status. He believes in himself and what he is doing. Yet, he also knows that he’s on the hot seat, and every move will be thoroughly scrutinized in the next three months.

He also will have the dilemma of having to discipline and gain the respect of players who wonder if they’re playing for a lame-duck manager.

Yet, Riddoch winced, and laughed aloud when asked if he would consider asking for a contract extension before the end of the year.

“Why should I?” he said, “I’d just be disappointed. You know, as well as I know, they wouldn’t give me one.”

Said McIlvaine: “I’m not big, firm believer in long-term contracts, to tell you the truth. Things can shift very quickly.”

If the Padres are to save Riddoch’s job, they would have to excel in the second half, and play much better than a team muddling along at .500. Riddoch and McIlvaine each believe that will happen, knowing it’s impossible to have as many injuries they sustained in the first half, using the disabled list 11 times.

The Padres made their first moves of the second-half in an attempt to bolster their team, particularly their bench, by optioning catchers Tom Lampkin and Brian Dorsett to triple-A Las Vegas. They plan on recalling first baseman Phil Stephenson and catcher Dann Bilardello, hoping to improve on their .155 pinch-hitting batting average.

The Padres then will have used 41 different players this season, just one shy of their franchise record set during their expansion season in 1969.

Yet, at a time when the Padres are healthy, they’ve plunged into their worst skid of the season, with just seven hits the past two days against the likes of Don Robinson and John Burkett. Robinson allowed two hits, the second-fewest of his career, and it was Burkett’s first career shutout.

“Maybe if I shut them out, maybe I’ll have a chance to win,” said Rasmussen, 3-4, who allowed six hits and three runs in seven innings. “We need to kick ourselves in the butt in the second half and get going.”

The Padres, who were without an extra-base hit, didn’t even show the slightest hint of a rally until the ninth inning, when they touched third base for the first time.

Fred McGriff led off the ninth with a single, and Jerald Clark followed with another. But Benito Santiago struck out, throwing his bat toward the dugout while his teammates ducked for cover. Third baseman Scott Coolbaugh, who’s in a one-for-17 slump and batting a season-low .223, grounded to second, advancing the runners. Pinch hitter Darrin Jackson was then walked, loading the bases for Tim Teufel.

Teufel, celebrating his 33rd birthday, tried to check his swing, and instead hit a dribbler down the first-base line. First baseman Will Clark stepped on the bag, ending the game, and the Padres’ first-half.

And perhaps nothing more exemplified the Padres’ befuddled first half than when Teufel was wished a happy birthday.

“Yeah, it’s right around the corner,” he said.

“It’s July 7th, isn’t it?” said the well-wisher.

Teufel: “Yeah, what day is that, anyway ?”

Well-wisher: “It’s today.”

It’s been that kind of first half.