Padres Not Sorry to Say Goodby to Candlestick : Baseball: This trip Padres’ last before Giants’ planned move to Florida. Score tied, 5-5, after 11 innings.

The Padres didn’t bring home any souvenirs Tuesday night at Candlestick Park. There were no last-second buying sprees. Really, there was little story-telling.

Judging by the Padres’ experience Tuesday, no wonder there will be few fond memories of playing at Candlestick Park for likely the final time before the San Francisco Giants move to St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Padres and Giants went into the 12th inning tied, 5-5. The Padres hit a franchise-record eight doubles in the game.

Perhaps the first inning was an omen what would lay ahead in the Padres’ final experience at Candlestick.

Padre shortstop Tony Fernandez, the game’s leadoff hitter, had just taken the second pitch for a ball when he put his head down. Giant catcher Steve Decker, attempting to throw the ball back to pitcher Dave Burba, threw the ball smack into the side of Fernandez’s head.

Fernandez went down like he was shot, and the Padre training staff immediately rushed to his aid. After several minutes, and a severe headache, Fernandez was able to keep playing.

He never envisioned he’d still be playing four hours later.

Little wonder Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn sat in the clubhouse before the game, saying he couldn’t come up with one fond memory about the place.

There was the time, he said, he went 0 for 7 against Vida Blue. There was the time he allowed Jack Clark’s wind-blown double to sail over his head, ruining pitcher Mark Thurmond’s one-hit complete game. There were all the timnes he sat freezing in the cold dugout.

“I can’t think of anything good that’s ever happened to me here,” Gwynn said. “I mean, nothing. But I’ll still take this place over Wrigley (Field), any day.”

Gwynn went four for five with two doubles for his 22nd four-hit game of his career, but it still was not enough to keep the game from going long into the night.

Who knows, perhaps it was just Candlestick’s way of saying good-bye.

Yes, it was a game that may be remembered for a long time in Padre folklore. After all, there’s no stiff winds at the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg.

“I think we’re all going to miss this place,” Padre pitcher Jim Desahies said. “I know everybody likes to gripe about it, but it has so much character.

“It’s almost like you’re stepping back in the ‘50s again. That’s why went to Lefty O’Doul’s after the game (Monday) just because I knew it might be the last time.

“I was talking a long time with the bartender, and I thought he was going to start crying. To me, losing the Giants and Candlestick is like San Francisco losing the cable cars.”

Said veteran reliever Larry Andersen, who came off the disabled list Tuesday and pitched two shutout innings: “You come here all these years and rag about this place and the dinky dugouts and pillbox bullpens. But it’s a park you really need because of its unique character. It’s like Wrigley Field, the league needs ballparks that aren’t all symmetrical.”

The Padres, trying to move into sole possession of second place, overcame a 4-1 deficit, thanks to Gwynn’s achievements.

The Giants still had a 4-2 lead into the seventh inning, then crumbled, partly because of strange strategy employed by Giant Manager Roger Craig.

Fernandez opened the seventh with a double down the left-field line. Gwynn followed with a double into right-center on an 0-and-2 pitch. Darrin Jackson sacrificed Gwynn to third, and Craig decided it was time for a pitching change.

Although first base was open, and the conventional strategy would be to walk McGriff, Craig decided to have left-hander Brian Hickerson pitch to him. Apparently Craig was unaware that McGriff is hitting .301 against lefties this season with 13 homers and 49 RBIs.

The Giants suffered the consequences when McGriff hit a sacrifice fly to deep center, tying the score. Worse, Hickerson remained in the game to face Benito Santiago, who’s batting about 70 points higher against lefties than righties.

Yes, again the decision came back to haunt the Giants when Santiago hit his 10th homer of the season over the center-field fence. Just like that, the Padres had a 5-4 lead.

Perhaps typifiying the Padres’ horrible memories of Candlestick, their lead vanished in the eighth inning. Reliever Tim Scott gave up a leadoff single to Matt Williams, who went three for four with four RBIs, and a sacrifice bunt to Robby Thompson. That brought up Steve Decker, who delivered a run-scoring single up the middle, tying the game.

Pardon Padre starter Doug Brocail, who made his major-league debut, if he’d just as soon dismiss memories of Candlestick. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings, surrendering six hits and four earned runs.

Brocail’s biggest problem was wildness, reaching a full-count on five of the first 13 batters he faced, and walking three in his stint. Who knows, if it weren’t for Williams, the results might have been different.