Padres Overcome Giants

Padre teammates Bip Roberts and Benito Santiago hear the whispers each day in the clubhouse. They listen to the rumors, asking friends and reporters if they know the latest. They share the same apprehension.

Roberts and Santiago, who helped lead the Padres to a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the San Francisco Giants at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, each wonder if these could be their final two weeks in a Padre uniform.

Roberts, who survived trade rumors last year, has endured a trying season with injuries. But even missing 43 games this season, Roberts is batting .288 and leading the team with 25 stolen base. He equaled his career-high with four hits Saturday, the third time this season he has accomplished the feat, and started both of the Padres’ rallies.

“I really doing enjoy playing here,” Roberts said, “and I’d love to stay here. But you never know how baseball is. I know I can be traded, and they’ve talked about me before.

“The way I feel is like this, if Roberto (Alomar) can be traded, anybody can be traded.”

Roberts figures the best way to ensure his security is by playing every day. He has been injured three times this season, the latest occurring Aug. 16 when he suffered torn knee cartilage and underwent arthroscopic surgery three days later.

“Right now, I’m just happy that I’m healthy enough to play again,” he said. “I just have to prove I can play. And prove I can play hurt.

“You learn a lot more through the bad times, and that’s what I’ve done this year.”

Staying healthy never has been a problem for Santiago. The only time he has been hurt was last season when he sustained a broken forearm when hit with a pitch by Giant reliever Jeff Brantley. Santiago already has played in 142 games this season and has caught 100 innings more than any catcher in basball.

Santiago got his 79th RBI of the season in the fifth inning, equaling his career high set during his rookie season in 1987. Tom Pagnozzi of the St. Louis Cardinals has the next highest total among National League catchers with 51.

But this has been the most traumatic year of Santiago’s career. Padre fans have booed him. There have been obscene phone calls to his home. Strangers have even followed his family on the streets.

“It’s been a tough, tough year,” Santiago said. “The fans have been hard on me, but I don’t pay attention, I just bust my butt and concentrate on my job. I have the best year in my career, and it doesn’t feel like it. It’s like the fans don’t care.

“But I know, inside me, this is a good season. I’ve done everything I wanted to. They (the Padre front-office) wanted to see me produce, and I did that.

“When the season’s over, I know I’m going to feel good about myself.”

The season is most gratifying, Santiago said, because of what transpired during the winter. When Santiago sought a four-year, $17 million contract, the Padres laughed, and offered him $11 million. General Manager Joe McIlvaine said Santiago was not worth that much money and dared him to prove otherwise.

“He wanted to see what I could do, and I showed him,” Santiago said. “Now, let’s see what they have to say.”

The Padres are left in an interesting predicament. They must either sign Santiago to a long-term contract this winter or risk losing him to free agency after the 1992 season.

And although there have been no negotiations, Santiago’s asking price is expected to be at least $18 million over four years.

“We’re just going to listen to what they’ll have to say,” said Scott Boras, Santiago’s agent. “We’ve waited this long; we can continue to wait. We’re not going to come in demanding anything.”

The Padres, meanwhile, won their second consecutive game against the Giants, clinching their season series for the first time in six years. Greg Harris (7-5) pitched 6 2/3 innings for the victory, and Larry Andersen saved his career-high 11th game of the season.

The Padres scored a run in the third inning on Tony Fernandez’s two-out, run-scoring single, and then got their insurance runs in the fifth inning on RBIs by Santiago and Darrin Jackson.

The Giants closed to within one run on a solo homer by Mark Leonard in the seventh, and a run-scoring groundout in the ninth by Robby Thompson, but Andersen ended the game by retiring Terry Kennedy on a groundout.

The Padres were also buoyed by good news during the day when Ed Whitson pitched impressively before the game. He could be activated as early as Tuesday. Whitson has been on the disabled list since July 11 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow.

“I really have good pop,” Whitson said, “I should be ready to go. There’s no bite, no nothing. Really, I feel fine. I could go right now, but they want to be cautious.

“I’d like to come back and just pitch an inning or two out of the bullpen. The way I figured it, if I just throw to one hitter, it’s more than anybody else thought I could do.”