Padres Are Thirsty for More Success

Long lacking the respect and tradition of a neighbor named Shamu, the San Diego Padres discarded their bad baggage last year.

They stared down the dreaded Dodgers on the last weekend of the regular season and won the National League West Division for the first time since 1984.

“I think most of us have mixed feelings about the way the season ended,” third baseman Ken Caminiti, the league’s most valuable player, said.

“We felt real good about going into Los Angeles, sweeping the Dodgers [in three games] and winning the division, but we were disappointed to get swept in three games by St. Louis [in the divisional playoff]. I think that’s a motivation for us now. We want to take it to the next level.

“We’re not an underdog. We’re not going to catch anyone by surprise. Teams are going to be gunning to beat the division champion, but we’re confident we can win again. We’re a better team. We have the same nucleus, but we made some important acquisitions, and several of us figure to be stronger physically.”

The Padres have a new leadoff man in second baseman Quilvio Veras and a new, left-handed starting pitcher in Sterling Hitchcock. They will have the right-handed power of left fielder Greg Vaughn available for a full season.

Caminiti, who batted .326, hit 40 homers and drove in 130 runs despite a torn rotator cuff, has shown typical disdain for the prognosis that he would not be ready until July and is expected to start the season.

Tony Gwynn, who hit .353 and won his seventh batting title despite a partially torn Achilles’ tendon, expects improved consistency after postseason surgery, as do the top two pitchers, Joey Hamilton and Andy Ashby, who had arm operations.

“Our biggest concern was the health of our club, where guys like Cammy, Tony Gwynn, Ashby and Hamilton would be at going into the season,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “We think they’re ready. We think they’re healthy.

“We feel good about ourselves, and we should. The fans expect more this year, and they should.”

In what has been a peaceful spring for baseball, the Padres have produced the two longest story lines:

* the attempt to trade left fielder Rickey Henderson;

* the attempt to sign or trade Japanese flamethrower Hideki Irabu.

Irabu, determined to sign only with the New York Yankees, has returned to Japan, insisting he will either sit out the season and become a free agent next year or sign with an independent team--such as that halfway house known as the St. Paul Saints.

San Diego General Manager Kevin Towers isn’t closing the door on the Irabu pursuit but takes a pragmatic stance.

“We obviously feel he’d improve our pitching, but we won without him last year,” Towers said.

“He has the ability to be a No. 1 guy, but so do Hamilton and Ashby.”

Henderson became expendable when Vaughn, acquired in a July 31 trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, was re-signed for three years.

The two left fielders created a peaceful co-existence as the Padres pursued a division title in August and September, but “we can’t expect that to work over a full year,” Towers said.

The Angels came close to dealing for Henderson two weeks ago, but that is now dead. The Texas Rangers retain interest, but Henderson seems certain to open the season as San Diego’s fourth outfielder, a potential time-bomb.

His contract calls for $5,000 per plate appearance between 301 and 600, and he can’t accrue them if relegated to the bench. Although he has gone with the flow this spring, Henderson now says he is tiring of San Diego’s inability to trade him.

“We wouldn’t have won last year without Rickey [and his .410 on-base percentage], but we might not have won if we hadn’t gotten Vaughn [who hit 10 home runs in two months with the Padres],” Towers said.

“I think Rickey has a lot of play left in him, but I have to look at the long term. We need the right-handed power in the middle of the lineup.

“Vaughn and Cammy give us two guys who have hit 40 in a season and are up there with any two boppers in the division. With Wally [Joyner] and [Steve] Finley, we have four guys who can hit 20, and they’re not all-or-nothing type hitters.”

Coming off the division title, Towers said his objective was to get younger and quicker overall and to add balance to the rotation.

Thus, right-hander Scott Sanders was traded to the Seattle Mariners for southpaw Hitchock, and relief pitcher Dustin Hermanson was traded to the Florida Marlins for Veras, 25, who stole a league-leading 56 bases as a 1995 rookie but was handicapped by hamstring injuries last year and lost his job to Luis Castillo.

The Padres recently traded veteran Jody Reed, meaning they are counting on Veras to regain his ’95 form and become Reed’s successor at second and Henderson’s at leadoff. The Reed trade created consternation in the clubhouse.

Said Finley: “I hope Quilvio makes me eat my words, but the way I feel is the way most guys in this clubhouse feel, which is that Jody is the better second baseman. Period.”

Chemistry was a San Diego weapon last year, so perfect, Gwynn said, that it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

“Everybody knew what they had to do and did it,” he said. “My big concern was to see if that had changed, but I don’t sense that it has.”

Perhaps, but the Veras/Reed flap seems to intrude on that chemistry. Henderson is another potential blowup. And the Padres let a respected veteran, pitcher Bob Tewksbury, leave as a free agent.

Newcomer Hitchcock (13-9) joins a rotation of Hamilton, Ashby and Fernando Valenzuela. Only the Dodgers, at 3.46, and Atlanta Braves, at 3.52, had better earned-run averages than the Padres’ 3.72 last year. Irabu would have been a key addition. Now Sean Bergman will come out of the bullpen to be the No. 5 starter.

“Sean has 15-win stuff,” Towers said. “He just needs confidence.”

New ownership provided the team and community with a shot of confidence in the aftermath of Tom Werner’s decimating regime.

“The Dodgers have always been able to walk their talk,” Towers said. “They have the tradition. Now I think we’re slowly headed in that direction, developing a tradition of our own. We have the ability to open some eyes.

“The Dodgers may have the best pitching in baseball, but any one of four teams can win the division, and I don’t think we’re anyone’s poor stepchild any more.”

Gwynn, who suffered through the lean years as a last link to ‘84, agreed.

“We finally did what we had to do last year and we did it by finally beating the team that has always been our archrival,” he said.

“It’s another year and you wipe the slate clean, but we have a history now, we’ve done it, and hopefully that might help us down the road.

“Last year Finley and Caminiti carried us. They had monster years. The rest of us have to get healthy, stay healthy and contribute a little more than we did.

“If we all step up, we might be better than we were last year. There’s an excitement that had been missing for a lot of springs. We think we can win again.”

‘96 NL West Standings

*--*

TEAM W-L GB Padres 91-71 -- DODGERS 90-72 1 Rockies 83-79 8 Giants 68-94 23

*--*

PADRES’ FINAL GAMES

* Swept Dodgers in season-ending, three-game series in Los Angeles to clinch National League West Division.

* Swept St. Louis, 3-0, in five-game playoff series.