PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK Gwynn, Clark Share Quest For NL Batting Title, Respect

They met in 1986, and for the past six years, have formed a mutual admiration society.

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn and San Francisco Giant first baseman Will Clark.

“I remember meeting him in spring training that year,” Gwynn said. “I said, ‘Man, that’s the prettiest swing I’ve ever seen.’ He said, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gwynn.’

“From that day forward, we struck up a relationship.”

The two have competed against one another each of the past six years, were in a batting race together, and share hitting secrets each time they meet.

“You have a lot of respect for a guy who plays the game hard every day like he does,” Gwynn said. “When you’ve got Will Clark on your team, you know all the bases are covered. The man’s a winner.”

Said Clark: “Believe me, there’s no one I respect more than Tony. No one knows the hard work he puts in every day. He makes that team very good.”

Although Padre reliever Mike Maddux is eligible to come off the disabled list Monday, Manager Greg Riddoch said that his return will be delayed.

Maddux, who’s still trying to build up arm strength in his tender right elbow, likely will be activated April 24 against the Cincinnati Reds.

Clark still was shaking his head, and muttering under his breath after the incident in the sixth inning when Cory Snyder brought a new meaning to the term suicide squeeze.

Clark was on third base in the sixth, with Snyder at the plate, when third base coach Wendell Kim called for a suicide squeeze. Clark started running down the third-base line, and instead of seeing Snyder square off to bunt, he swung away, sending a single up the middle.

Clark actually looked back at Kim before crossing the plate, wondering what in the world was going on.

Was he scared?

“That’s the easy way of putting it,” Clark said. “Petrified was more like it. It was the first time I’ve ever been in a situation like that.

“Thank God he hit it up the middle, or it could have been ugly. We were making fun of him when he got to the dugout, saying thank goodness he can’t pull a fastball.”

Al Rosen, Giant general manager, remains miffed that his club is being picked no higher than fifth this season.

“Obviously, I think much more highly of our club than some of the writers do,” Rosen said. “There’s no way this is a fifth-place club. I can’t believe some of the teams that people are picking to finish ahead of us.

The Dodgers for instance. They lost power when they lost Eddie Murray, their pitching won’t be as strong without Tim Belcher, Mike Scioscia has lost something with age, and have you seen their infield?

“People get overwhelmed by names, but it’s different when you see the teams actually playing. There are good teams in this division, but everybody’s got holes and everybody’s in the same boat. One injury to a star player can make all the difference.”

The Padres gave a day off to third baseman Gary Sheffield and center fielder Darrin Jackson, and paid the price. Gary Pettis, starting in place of Jackson, was hitless in four at-bats. Tim Teufel, playing in place of Sheffield, was two for four, but made an error and committed a baserunning blunder. “I don’t want to wear these guys out,” Riddoch said. “I’m going to make sure guys get in there to keep them fresh. It’s a long season.” ... Catcher Benito Santiago had his first multiple-hit game of the season, going two for four, and raising his batting average to .121.