NOTEBOOK : PADRES UPDATE : Trip to the Dentist Takes a Bite Out of Bip’s Time

Bip Roberts is in a slump in the culinary department.

Roberts was not in the lineup Tuesday night thanks to a trip to the dentist earlier in the day to have a temporary cap put on a tooth and to have root canal. It seems he broke the tooth Friday night while eating chicken.

This was no relation to the time he got sick after eating seafood in June in Cincinnati and also had to be scratched from the lineup.

Roberts said his chicken Friday night was so hot that he had to use a fork. He bit into the chicken on his fork hard and, goodby tooth, hello dentist.

“It was rough, man,” Roberts said of his trip to the dentist. “He said it was a little unusual because he had to shoot me so many times.”

In other medical news, first baseman Phil Stephenson, who was designated for assignment by the Padres Friday, was placed on the 60-day disabled list Tuesday--retroactive to Friday.

Stephenson, who has avascular necrosis (Bo Jackson’s injury) in his right knee, said the Padre team doctors have recommended surgery. He said he will get a second opinion today and, if surgery is the route he decides to go, will have it done later this week or next week.

“It’s been a long year mentally,” said Stephenson, who first injured the knee last year. “Physically, it’s been tough enough, but mentally, to just watch and see situations where I could have helped . . . it gets kind of frustrating.”

In still more medical news, pitcher Atlee Hammaker will report today to double-A Wichita to begin a rehabilitation assignment. Hammaker, who has been out with elbow tendinitis since June 14, said he thinks he will start either Friday or Saturday.

“I just want to throw as soon as I can,” Hammaker said.

Hammaker has had a chance to see the Padre organization close-up this summer. After fracturing a finger in an off-season weightlifting accident and opening the season on the disabled list, he went on a rehabilitation assignment to single-A High Desert, then went up to triple-A Las Vegas before rejoining the Padres. Now he gets a trip to double-A.

“I’ve come full circle,” he said.

Tony Gwynn spent some time before the game giving a tour to a young friend, Rigo Montana. Gwynn met Montana, who has cancer, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation in April when he delivered a video game to Montana’s house. Montana attended Monday night’s Padre-Houston game, and Gwynn invited him for a clubhouse tour and to watch batting practice from the dugout. “He looks great,” Gwynn said. “Those are the kinds of things that lift you up.” . . . Gwynn will be the host of a celebrity golf tournament Nov. 4 at Rancho Santa Fe Farms Golf Club. Proceeds will benefit the Casa de Amparo Children’s Crisis Center, a shelter for neglected and abused children. Gwynn is making no predictions as to how he will play on that day, though. He said he hasn’t golfed since spring training in 1989. “I shot a 120 and threw my clubs in the garage,” he said. “Now I’ve got to go out and embarrass myself again.” . . . Tonight is recycling night, with the first 10,000 youngsters 14 and younger who bring 12 or more aluminum cans getting in free.