Garry Templeton Gliding Into His New Life Off the Field : Baseball: Former Padre, Cardinal shortstop keeps busy to make transition easier.

“This way,” Garry Templeton says, veering toward his right after answering the door. “We might as well sit in here. This room never gets used.”

Templeton never walked so much as glided, and his silky smooth moves are as graceful as ever. Even in retirement, as he walks into the living room of his custom-built, 6,500-square-foot house, he covers ground more smoothly than the Porsche that sits in his garage.

It is 11 on a bright, sunny morning and, on any other given May day, the only room Templeton would be concerned with would be the clubhouse his team happened to be using.

When baseball is your life, May is games and ballparks and who’s pitching tonight.

It is not leather sofas and easy chairs and free days.

When the Mets gave him those cold, hollow words last November--he didn’t fit into their plans --his future suddenly included spending more time in his living room. This after 15 years, 2,079 games, 7,721 at-bats, 2,096 hits and a lifetime batting average of .271.

How do you say goodby?

“The adjustment has been easy, simply because I keep myself somewhat busy,” said Templeton, a graduate of Santa Ana Valley High School. “Running, golf, going to the kids’ practices and games. I participate in a lot of stuff, and that keeps me busy.

“The only time it really bothers you is when you have a lot of time to yourself and you watch the ballgames on TV.”

It was In St. Louis in 1979 that Templeton became the first switch-hitter in major league history to collect 100 hits from each side of the plate in a season--one of the proudest accomplishments in his career. He went on to play five seasons for the Cardinals and established himself as one of the game’s best shortstops.

But he played in his only World Series in 1984 with the Padres, spent some of his happiest years in baseball with the Padres and has made San Diego home for himself and his wife, Glenda, and their three kids--Garry II, 13; Gerome, 10, and Genae Nicole, 7.

Ask him whether he considers himself a Cardinal or a Padre, and the answer comes quickly.

“A Padre,” he said. “The majority of my career was spent right here in San Diego. I came up a Cardinal, but I spent 9 1/2 years with the Padres. How could anybody say I’m a Cardinal?

“I wanted to retire a Padre but, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Some things came about. I’m just happy I had the opportunity here.”

Templeton was part of the out-with-the-old movement when General Manager Joe McIlvaine and Manager Greg Riddoch embarked upon their first full summer together with the Padres last year. He had harsh words for Riddoch, and his parting was one of the few things about Templeton that hasn’t been smooth.

“I don’t have any regrets, but maybe one day they’ll give me a call and say they want me to come down so they can give me a retirement party,” Templeton said. “I always hoped I’d retire a Padre and that I’d have a place to fit in somewhere in the organization.

“When the new management came in, they had heard bad things about me that I felt weren’t true. A lot of things happened that year. There was a lot of helter-skelter.”

And as so often happens when a veteran is told to hit the road, the hurt initially overshadowed the memories.

“To be honest, yes, there was some hurt,” Templeton said. “I spent some beautiful years in San Diego, and I met some beautiful people.

“Jack McKeon, Mrs. (Joan) Kroc (former Padre owner), they knew what kind of person I was. There was some hurt. One thing I learned from all those years of playing, there are a lot of business decisions made. You have to go with the flow and hope something better comes out of it.

“I got over the hurt, but I still felt I didn’t get proper treatment from the Padres. I did a lot of good things for the organization.

“It’s over now, so I’m just sitting back with the kids and having a good time.”

He works out with former major leaguers Ruppert Jones and Marvell Wynne regularly, throwing, catching and hitting in the batting cage located somewhere beyond the pond in the back yard of Templeton’s four-acre estate.

“I’m not in great shape,” Templeton said. “Right now, I’m about 10 pounds over my playing weight. I just do it because I’ve been doing it practically all of my life. A lot of it is working out just to work out.”

The Giants offered Templeton a triple-A contract in April, but he said he declined the invitation because they wouldn’t pay him the money he wanted. He also said he has an offer to play in a Mexican League but is still thinking about it.

He is not, however, desperately sitting by the telephone.

“If I was working out to get back into the game, I wouldn’t be 10 pounds overweight,” he said.

Besides, he’s got plenty of work as a hitting instructor for his kids’ Little League teams.

“When I go to Little League games or Pony League games, people will ask me to talk to their sons about the mechanics of pitching or hitting or fielding,” he said. “And a lot of neighborhood kids come here and hit in the cage. I pitch batting practice. I throw all of the batting practice because it’s easier to see what the kids are doing.

“A lot of (parents) are scared to come up and ask me, but I tell them, just ask. That’s something I know I’m good at--helping and teaching kids and working with younger players. I’m not going to charge them.”

Coaching or managing is something Templeton said he would like to do sometime in the future. He also said some friends have offered him some business opportunities, but financially he can afford to be choosy.

“I haven’t made any decision yet even though my wife is trying to kick me out of the house,” he said, smiling. “She’s not used to seeing me this much. She’s telling me to go out and get a job.”

Instead, he is in the middle of a monthlong stint baby-sitting his 2-year-old nephew, playing some golf and enjoying his first free summer in two decades.

Some uncles Templeton hadn’t seen in several years dropped by over Memorial Day weekend for a barbecue. And in April, he, his brother-in-law and a friend took his van to Texas and spent 10 days with his parents.

“I had the greatest time,” he said. “That’s how I picked up those 10 extra pounds. I haven’t been able to lose them yet.”

He said the Padres called and invited him to participate in opening day festivities honoring past Padre All-Stars but that he had already committed to the Texas trip.

In fact, he has not even visited San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium this summer. He came close when the Mets were in town, but one of his sons had a Pony League game.

But he does keep in contact with several of his friends in the game, he said, particularly with Ed Whitson, Andy Benes and Bip Roberts. However, he has not even watched an entire baseball game on television and, were it not for Jones coming over and flipping his television to baseball, he doesn’t even know if he would have seen any.

“I’ve caught the Cubs on TV for a few innings, and the Mets and Padres,” he said. “Usually for a couple of innings.

“But you know, I’ve watched over 2,000 games in person. When you watch them on TV, it seems like the game is long and boring.”