PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Shipley Back in Big Leagues After Almost Giving Up Game

Shortstop Craig Shipley, who was divorced from his wife during the winter and wondered if perhaps it might be time to do the same with the game of baseball, arrived Friday afternoon in San Diego ready to resume a career that never really got started.

“There were some personal things in my life that happened,” Shipley said, “and it told me it might be time I realize there are more important things than the game.

“There were times in the last year that I didn’t know if I was going to play again. There were times when I almost said, ‘Hey, I’m ready to hang it up.’ But I had to give it one more shot. But I was at the point where if somebody had offered me a job, I would have taken it.”

Shipley, the first Australian to play in the major leagues since Joe Quinn in 1884-1901, missed most of the past two seasons in the New York Mets’ minor-league system with injuries. He played in only 48 games in 1989 with right knee and ankle injuries. And in 1990, he had only three at-bats. He had an operation on his right shoulder in April and underwent another operation in October to repair a rotator cuff.

He became a six-year minor league free agent at the end of the season and was contacted by six or seven teams. Yet when Joe McIlvaine left the Mets to become general manager of the Padres, Shipley knew where he was headed.

“It didn’t take too much to see what was going to happen,” he said. “I’m just grateful Joe gave me another shot. I know I’m not going to play every day here. That’s obvious. But if I’m just here a week or two, it’s all worth it.”

The Padres purchased the contract of Shipley, who batted .300 in triple-A Las Vegas, to assist shortstop Tony Fernandez, whose swollen right thumb has hampered him when facing left-handed pitchers. Fernandez, who had a cortisone shot in his thumb Thursday afternoon, is expected to play today but probably will be off again Sunday against left-hander Frank Viola. Fernandez, a switch-hitter, is batting .263 with only one RBI against lefties this season. He is three for 22 this month against lefties.

It hardly was news to Padre infielder Tim Teufel. He could have told you all along that Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rob Dibble did it on purpose. But after Dibble hit Chicago Cubs outfielder Doug Dascenzo with the ball as Dascenzo ran to first base on a sacrifice bunt Tuesday, Dibble finally admitted to beaning Teufel.

“I hit Tim Teufel (in 1989),” Dibble told a Cincinnati radio station, “and I shouldn’t have done that because I was told to do that (by Manager Pete Rose). But other than that, I’ve never intentionally hit a guy.”

Teufel was sought out by reporters all day Friday asking for his response, and frankly, Teufel has no more sympathy for Dibble today than he had two years ago.

“That kind of blatant action,” Teufel said, “especially with his arsenal, you could end somebody’s career. That’s not right. It’s a game. That’s all this is, is a game you play against other men.

“You wonder why does he do this? In truth, he doesn’t need to do it. He’s intimidating enough without outbursts like that.

“And when he wants to hit you, man, he doesn’t miss.”

The Teufel incident started, he said, when pitcher David Cone hit a double off Dibble that was misplayed by left fielder Kal Daniels. And Dibble, as Houston shortstop Eric Yelding can tell you, can’t stand giving up hits to pitchers.

“I was four for four that day,” Teufel said, “but none of my hits were off Dibble. I guess it didn’t matter. He just drilled me.

“It wasn’t that he was upset with me, but by his own team’s play. It’s taken more than two years, but I guess now he finally admits it. I wonder what took so long?”

Padre pitcher Atlee Hammaker, who’s on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis, pitched in his first simulated game since early June, throwing 47 pitches pain-free. “I felt good,” Hammaker said. “I’m ready to go.” The Padres are expected to have Hammaker throw at least one more simulated game, however, before they make a decision. . . . Padre starter Ed Whitson, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow, said Friday that he’s seeking clearance to begin throwing on the side Tuesday. He has a call into Dr. James Andrews, who performed the surgery in Birmingham, Ala., seeking approval. . . . Lost in the shuffle of Bip Roberts’ game-winning home run Thursday was the fact that it broke the streak of 16 consecutive solo homers hit by the Padres. The last homer with runners on base was June 26 when Fred McGriff hit a two-run shot against Scott Scudder of the Cincinnati Reds.