Gwynn Becomes Weighty Issue in San Diego

In the shoe store that passes as Tony Gwynn’s locker at Jack Murphy Stadium, there are about 25 pairs of various designs.

For Monday’s opener of a three-game series with the Dodgers, the first meeting of the season between the National League West rivals, Gwynn selected black hightops--no style points, he conceded, but soft and cushioned to protect his ailing right heel.

The Padres’ right fielder has been hampered since early April by a condition that is part bruise, tendinitis and inflamed bursa sac.

The condition has affected all aspects of his play. In addition, his usual affability has been soured a bit by insinuations that it has lingered because he is overweight.

“What’s new?” he said. “I worked hard hard in the winter to get my weight where I wanted it coming into spring training--225.

“But whenever I struggle offensively it’s because I’m too fat. It seems to come up every year here.

“Put my name in the lineup and let me go play. That’s all I ask.”

Gwynn had two hits Monday, but the Dodgers returned to sea level--and sanity--with a 10-2 victory.

In the aftermath of the high-altitude trauma of Colorado, they are now tied with the Padres for the division lead.

There is a half season to play, and the Padres are optimistic.

Wally Joyner, their leading run producer, broke his left thumb on June 18, and the Padres lost 19 of their next 23 games before sweeping a four-game series from San Francisco this weekend.

Joyner will return after the All-Star break, and it appears that Gwynn, the six-time batting champion whose average dipped to .320 on June 17, has regained his stroke and will be able to cope with the injured heel and the talk that goes along with it. Gwynn has batted .404 over the last 12 games. He is at .337 for the season and needs only eight more hits for 2,500.

“It’s been frustrating because I know I could have contributed more if I’d been healthy, but I’m not making excuses,” he said.

“I mean, more than anything I was just taking bad hacks for a while, but I’m spraying the ball around now and feel good about my swing again. . . .

“I can live with it and it’s not over yet.”

Gwynn will also have to live with the heel. He resisted the disabled list because there was no guarantee that three weeks would produce a change.

It will take a winter of rest, he said, saying it affects him most in the field and on the bases, the aggravation mounting late in games.

He has come out of some games in situations in which he felt the Padres would benefit from a fielder or base runner who is 100%--or the game is out of hand, as Monday’s seemed to be when Gwynn left after six innings.

But even that has created some media sniping, Gwynn said--suggestions that, at 36, at his weight, he can’t play every day.

He reacted with some heat recently when asked about the Padres’ reluctance to renew or consummate spring talks regarding his 1998 contract option, saying the club had doubts about his ability to perform at 38.

Gwynn said he has gained 42 pounds in the last 10 years but he considered the club’s position “a slap in the face.”

He said he didn’t have to justify himself, that no one has been as consistent the last 15 years and that his weight has been an issue even while playing at San Diego State.

Gwynn shook his head.

Fans at Jack Murphy, he said, even showered abuse when the contract issue was revived on the last homestand, but a crowd of 40,344 applauded warmly Monday night when it was announced that Gwynn will make his 12th All-Star appearance and ninth as a starter.

Manager Bruce Bochy had suggested to Gwynn that he might benefit by taking the three days off, but Gwynn said:

“I want to win the division as much as anybody, but if the fans vote you in, you’ve got to go.

“It’s still an honor. I still feel good about it and I don’t feel I have to apologize [for his comparatively subpar season].”

As he noted, it’s not over yet, and he doesn’t see either the Dodgers or Padres running away it.

“I think the Dodgers have the most talent in the league, but they’re kind of a strange club [in their inability to mount a consistent streak],” he told broadcaster Ross Porter on Monday.

“Would you say that’s a chemistry problem?” Porter asked.

“I would,” Gwynn said. “I’m an outsider looking in, but for some reason they don’t seem to play that well together.”

They did Monday, adding a bit to the weight Gwynn has been feeling.