To Padres’ Gwynn, It Was Just Another .402 Game, That’s All

It is late Thursday afternoon as about a dozen reporters crowd the San Diego Padre clubhouse at Anaheim Stadium, creating an atmosphere more familiar to an All-Star game or October playoff.

Tony Gwynn winds through the maze of notebooks, reaches the center of the clubhouse, extends his arms, shakes his head in feigned disbelief and says, “Why is everybody here? What’s the big deal? It’s just another game, just another game.”

One of 162 on the hit parade that is Gwynn’s 1997 season, his career really, but different too.

An interleague opener that brought the Padres up the I-15 for a bit of history that failed to awaken Orange County.

With the Angels in a virtual tie for the American League West lead and Gwynn in pursuit of his eighth National League batting title (not to mention a .400 average), an announced crowd of 22,164, only about 3,000 more than the season average in Anaheim, attended the landmark game.

Perhaps, it was the pitching matchup of rookie left handers--Matt Perisho of the Angels and San Diego’s Heath Murray, both recently recalled from the minors. A lot like a March exhibition in Arizona.

Asked if this venture into interleague unknown was a handicap for one of baseball’s most studious hitters, Gwynn said:

“Good question. In this guy’s case I don’t even know his name. We’ve got some video [of Perisho] but that only helps so much.

“I’m a counter-puncher. All I can do is take what I see and try to do something with it.”

A 20-game hitting streak had ended Wednesday night, but the counter-puncher arrived with .402 average and a pace that projected to 255 hits, two less than George Sisler’s 1920 major-league record.

“I can’t remember a more consistent stretch,” the .357 career hitter said, a remarkable measure of the season’s first 2 1/2 months.

“You know that at some point there has to be a drop off, but I hope to keep riding the wave.”

How to stop a tsunami?

Manager Terry Collins was asked if his National League experience might provide an edge against Gwynn.

“No way,” Collins said. “I tried to get that SOB out for three years over there and nothing worked.”

One out into the first interleague game in Anaheim and the counter-puncher collected the first hit, a landmark within a landmark. Gwynn’s single--a line drive to right on which Tim Salmon made a stumbling bid--represented his 100th hit of the season, the earliest he has reached that plateau.

It was also the 2,660th of his career, tying Harry Heilmann for 55th on the all-time list.

Perisho swallowed hard and fought back. He struck out Gwynn in a three-run San Diego third and retired him on a fly to center in the fifth.

Generous scoring provided Gwynn with an infield single off left hander Mike Holtz in the seventh, but he grounded out against Troy Percival in the ninth as the Angels prevailed, 8-4.

With a two for five, Gwynn stayed at .402, but the interleague media crush served as another reminder of what September might be like if he’s still in the .400 hunt.

Between questions about that mystical pursuit and interleague build-up, June has been bad enough.

“The last two weeks have been ungodly,” Gwynn said, imploring reporters who surrounded his locker before the game to return in September.

“I mean, you can’t judge a season on 2 1/2 months,” he said of the .400 issue. “I have no idea in June how I’ll be swinging in August.

“I’d also be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to do it, to go into September with a chance and see how I’d handle it.

“I’ve talked to Rod Carew and George Brett, and they’ve said they had trouble with it. From what I’ve seen, I’m not sure I could handle it. I might have to be like Albert Belle.”

He said that with a smile, knowing it won’t happen. Gwynn is a class act, always accessible. His only previous .400 bid was disrupted by the 1994 player strike.

He was at .394 when it began on Aug. 12 and “never faced that media frenzy.”

Interleague makes it tougher. New pitchers, strike zones, ballparks. A wearying and convoluted schedule.

“I think it’s always tougher for a hitter facing someone he doesn’t know, because the pitcher always knows what he’s going to do,” Gwynn said.

“I know lots of guys are going to want to punch me out. They’ll see I’ve only struck out eight times or whatever and want to come after me.

“But I think that’s what the people want to see. It’s not so much team versus team or league against league.

“It’s the individual matchups--Greg Maddux versus Cal Ripken, Randy Johnson versus Barry Bonds--that makes this so interesting.”

Perisho, Holtz and the indomitable Percival did well enough in their interleague debut against the counter-puncher Thursday night.