Padres Get Rid of Riddoch : Loss Brings Elimination

On the night the Padres ushered in their 14th manager in franchise history Wednesday, they lost a home game to the Houston Astros, 7-6, for the first time in a year and were officially eliminated from the National League West race.

Welcome aboard, Jim Riggleman.

Keep in mind, your predecessor started his managerial career 1-11.

That would be, of course, Greg Riddoch, who was fired earlier Wednesday by Padre General Manager Joe McIlvaine.

Riggleman’s first loss was hard to swallow, and oddly, the man who might wind up as the National League’s most valuable player was partly responsible.

In the ninth inning of a 6-6 tie, Padre third baseman Gary Sheffield lost a two-out chopper in the lights, and one batter later, Eric Anthony drove in the winning run with a single to center.

“Well, we lost the ballgame,” Riggleman said. “I’m not as happy as if we had won it. But I enjoyed it. The guys played hard.”

Before the game, with dozens of camera crews and scores of reporters following him around, Riggleman was better able to assess the day’s events and his feelings.

“It’s very exciting to be here,” Riggleman said before the game. “I have some mixed feelings, though. Whereas it’s a very happy day for me, there’s somebody else going out the door at the same time. I have a lot of feelings about that.

“These are great jobs we have here here as managers in the major leagues. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and (Riddoch’s) a good man who’s going to be out of that opportunity for a while. I’m sure he’ll be back in a uniform for somebody else in the very near future.

“This is a very talented ballclub. I will be evaluating it for the next two weeks, but this ballclub, with people like (Gary) Sheffield and (Fred) McGriff, Bruce Hurst, Andy Benes, and Randy Myers, there’s a lot of talent out there. I’m going to have a lot of fun just watching these guys for a while.”

Riggleman, who compiled a 139-145 record as the manager at triple-A Las Vegas the past two years, arrived at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after interviewing with Padre majority owner Tom Werner for the position Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Before the Padres hired him, Riggleman spent nine years in the St. Louis Cardinal organization as a coach and six as a minor-league infielder/outfielder. Combined, he spent most parts of 10 seasons at Arkansas, a double-A affiliate of the Cardinals.

Riggleman, who lives in Redington Shores, Fla., flew out to Southern California not knowing whether he would get the job or how many days he would be staying.

It will be at least one year and the remaining 12 games of this season, and the Padres have the option of picking up his contract for an additional season in 1994.

Time will tell, but Riddoch’s entire coaching staff has been retained so far.

“The decision hasn’t been made. I don’t have a closed mind on anybody,” said Riggleman at a press conference where he repeatedly acknowledged his mother, Virginia Hardister, who raised Jim alone after his father died when Jim was two.

The way things had gone this season, it seemed there was no better team than the Astros for Riggleman, or anyone for that matter, to begin his Padre managerial stint.

The Astros were winless in seven games this season at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and 9-43 over the last five years before Wednesday. The fourth-place Astros (73-79) are not nearly as bad as they were last year when they finished last at 65-97, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t seem to win here this season.

Wednesday was different. Before Riggleman could even locate a favorite seat in the Padre dugout, the one he was sitting in in the first inning became unlucky as the Astros’ Jeff Bagwell blasted a two-out two-run home run over the left-center field fence.

It was Bagwell’s 17th homer, giving him the team lead briefly in that category. Right fielder Anthony, a native San Diegan, also hit his 17th homer, a two-run shot to right in the fourth inning.

Anthony’s homer keyed a four-run Astro rally in the fourth as the visitors took a 6-1 lead and forced Riggleman to make his first pitching change 59 minutes after his first game began.

All six Astro runs were charged to starter Bruce Hurst, who lasted only 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.