PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Gwynn Becomes 10-and-5 Man Sooner Than He Anticipated

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn had been talking about July 19, 1992, for the past six months. It was the date circled in red ink on his calendar in the Padre clubhouse. He already had a celebration planned.

That was the magical date, Gwynn believed, when he’d have the ultimate power as a major league player. He would be in the major leagues for 10 years, all with the Padres, which would prevent the Padres from ever trading him without his permission.

In baseball lingo, it’s called being a 10-and-5 man.

Much to Gwynn’s surprise, he learned Friday that he already missed the momentous occasion.

Gwynn actually became a 10-and-5 man before the All-Star break, back on July 8, according to Arthur Shack, counsel for the Major League Players Assn.

“I sweated it out for an extra week for nothing?” Gwynn said. “Oh well, I would still jump up and down if I could.

“I don’t know why I didn’t double-check the date before. It was just stupid, I guess. I was going to buy a bottle of champagne, and everything. Even though I don’t drink champagne, I was going to just sit there and stare at the bottle.

“I guess now I’ll just go back to the room and play Nintendo like it was any other night.”

Gwynn becomes the second Padre player in history to be a 10-and-5 man. Padre pitcher Ed Whitson became a 10-and-5 man last season. Twenty-three other players also have the privilege of rejecting trades.

“In today’s game,” Gwynn said, “I’d much rather be a 10-and-5 guy with a three-year (contract) extension than being a free agent without a contract.

“I’m right where I want to be. I love it here. I have no complaints. I don’t want to go anywhere, and at least at this point I don’t think they want me to go anywhere.”

Considering his status, will Gwynn now speak more freely? Perhaps vent frustrations that he never has in the past?

“Just because I’m a 10-and-5 guy doesn’t mean I’m free to say what I want,” Gwynn said. “I think everybody thought I’d just go off in the paper. Hey, I’ll be the same person I’ve always been.

“Being a 10-and-5 guy doesn’t give you the right to just go off. You can’t say everything you want. You still have to watch what you say about things.

“But to tell you the truth, it’s a good feeling.”

How times have changed: When the Padres were in Montreal a year ago at this time, they were discussing a four-player trade that could have changed the structure of the team.

The Padres were offering outfielder Bip Roberts and starter Ed Whitson to the Expos for pitcher Tim Burke and outfielder Dave Martinez.

Whitson, however, soon sustained an elbow injury that ended his season and ended all trade talks.

Ironically, all four players are gone anyway.

Roberts is in Cincinnati. Whitson’s career is over. Burke is in New York with the Yankees. And Martinez is in Cincinnati.

At the All-Star game, President Bush sat behind bullet-proof glass and left in the middle of hte fifth inning. At Friday’s Expos-Padres game, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sat in the crowd and stayed the entire game.

Expo third baseman Tim Wallach was visibly upset at the release Thursday of veteran catcher Rick Cerone: “To me, it makes absolutely no sense. We really became a team on that (West Coast) road trip, and now they’re fiddling with that. Cerone caught, and we won. He knew the hitters. He had a sense of humor. He got along with everybody. He played on good teams--the Yankees, Boston--and was respected for that. He understood winning. He’s going to come back and beat us a game this season.

“Just watch.”

Expo shortstop Spike Owen on the attendance surge at Olympic Stadium: “This is my fourth year here, and I’ve been here when we’ve been in first place and had 30,000 people in the stands, but it didn’t feel like this.”

Said Wallach: “This is like old times.”

If the Expos are to make a push for the division title, they figure they must make advantage of the next three weeks when they play 15 of their next 18 at home.

The Expos also are going to have to buck history. They’ve played better than .500 after the All-Star break only once in the past eight years, in 1987.

Padre statistical corner: Third baseman Gary Sheffield is only three RBIs shy of the Padre club record for third baseman, set by Graig Nettles with 65 RBIs in 1984. . . . The Padres are 27-8 when Sheffield drives in a run, and 14-3 when he homers. . . . Gwynn is without a stolen base since May 9, and has only three for the season. He never has stolen fewer than seven bases in any of his 10 seasons.