PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Myers Says Management to Blame for Poor Attendance This Season

While the Padres’ owners bemoan the $10 million they could lose this season, bullpen stopper Randy Myers says it’s time for the organization to stop complaining and search for ways to increase their sagging attendance.

“Instead of trying to cut salaries,” Myers said, “maybe the owners should try to come up with ways to bring in more than 15,000 a night. Come on, with the kind of attendance we’re getting, they should open the gates and let people in for free. You’d make more money just just by concessions.

“You can either cut losses by cutting your merchandise, which is your ballclub, or promote the product where more people will come. I think they find it easier just to cut salaries.

“They talk all the time about San Diego being a small market, but I see other teams getting more than 15,000.

“How much promoting can we be doing when you’re getting the kind of crowds we’re getting. We got 13,000 against Pittsburgh on a Friday night. What kind of promoting is that?”

The Padres’ average attendance of 22,272 a game is the fourth-lowest in the National League, and 4,200 fans a game below the league average.

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Third baseman Gary Sheffield became the first Padre player in four years to win the National League Player of the month award Wednesday when he received the honor for August.

Sheffield batted .361 for the month with six doubles, 10 homers and 26 RBIs. He also had an astronomical .732 slugging percentage.

The last Padre player to win the award was Tony Gwynn in July 1988.

Sheffield, who is in pursuit of the triple crown, says the feat can be accomplished if he’s close the final days of the season.

“I just want to try to stay close,” he said, “because if I do, anything can happen. If it came down to the last couple of games, I have confidence that I can hit a ball out of the park if I have to, or get a couple of singles to do it.”

Said Cardinal Manager Joe Torre, who led the league in hitting and RBIs in 1971: “He’s got his confidence, and when you have that, you feel like you can do anything. I went through it in 1971. You know you’re going to hit a line drive somewhere, it’s just a matter of whether it’ll get caught.”

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Padre reliever Larry Andersen, who’s 39 years old, felt mighty proud of himself Wednesday.

For the first time in his life, courtesy of teammates Mike Maddux and Rich Rodriguez, he learned how to tie a tie.

“After 39 years,” he said, “I figured I might as well start learning. I may have to wear a tie in my next line of work.”

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Second baseman Kurt Stillwell, who so badly wanted to show his appreciation to the Padres for signing him as a free agent in the off-season, said he never dreamed this season would turn out to be the most miserable in his career.

“I’ve been trying to help the team win all season,” Stillwell said, “but the irony is that the best way I can help now is by going on the DL.

“I’ve never had a season like this. It’s been ridiculous.”

Stillwell has played in only 98 of the Padres’ 132 games this season because of a wide assortment of injuries, the latest being a strained groin and back that has landed him on the disabled list.

“Really, this is the epitome of my year.”

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Padre reliever Gene Harris, who joined the team Tuesday night, said he is fully recovered from the stress fracture in his left leg. It was the injury, he said, that caused him to go AWOL for a week from the triple-A Las Vegas team.

“I was just concerned, so I left,” Harris said. “They wanted me to see the doctors in Las Vegas, but I wanted to see a specialist--someone who knew what they were talking about.”

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Padre first baseman Fred McGriff, who leads the National League with 31 homers, hit the two longest homers in the league in August.

McGriff hit a 473-foot against Pittsburgh on Aug. 28, and a 458-foot shot Aug. 6 against Houston at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. McGriff now has three of the longest homers in the major leagues in the season, and five of the top 15.

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Cardinal outfielder Ozzie Canseco, twin brother of Jose Canseco, finds himself the center of attention these days after his brother’s trade to the Texas Rangers.

“Even if I played in the major leagues and hit 30 homers every year,” Canseco said, “I’d still hear about Jose Canseco. I accept that. You have to. It’s just the way it is.”

Cardinal fans, however, hope family resemblance is more than skin deep. After spending last season in Japan, Canseco batted .266 with 22 homers and 57 RBIs in 98 games.