Joyner Happy to Be Merely a Piece of Padres’ First-Place Puzzle

In 1986, Anaheim Stadium became Wally World, as rookie Wally Joyner batted .290 with 22 home runs and 100 runs batted in.

He followed that up with 34 homers and 117 RBIs his second season.

With that success, though, came a great deal of pressure.

“It was difficult with the Angels,” Joyner said. “Playing this game is hard enough and then you have to play it and be successful every time out, and when you’re not, their expectations seem to get higher the better you play or the better years you put in.”

Now Wally’s World is San Diego. The fans wearing balding headpieces aren’t as noticeable as they were in Anaheim, but the first baseman, 36, has made himself at home.

“Over here, I’m a piece of the puzzle, and every piece to the puzzle isn’t more important than the other,” Joyner said of the Padres. “We have pitching, we have defense, we have hitting and they all fit together very nicely to make a real good team.”

San Diego is not only good, but right now, the Padres are the best in the West. Their 57-32 record was the best 89-game record in franchise history, and the team was represented by five players at the All-Star game in Colorado.

Joyner wasn’t one of them, even though he was hitting .313 with 48 RBIs before Friday.

“When I was with the Angels, when I first came up in ‘86, I was a piece to the puzzle that fit very nicely,” he said. “They had a lot of veterans on the team that were very good and future Hall of Famers. I came up with the enthusiasm and the excitement that helped take some of the stress away.

“I’ve learned a lot in my years with those veterans that I have hopefully brought over here to be successful.”

After six seasons with the Angels, Joyner spent four seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He was traded to the Padres before the 1996 season and signed to a contract that will expire after this season. This opens up questions about Joyner’s future in San Diego.

Issues surrounding a new stadium and the expiration of other key players’ contracts make the future more unpredictable.

“[Joyner] is such a stable influence in the clubhouse,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “He does a good job at first base, and I think he is one of the best defensive first basemen in the game.

“Obviously, I would like to have Wally back. He’s done so much for us and I really believe that he’s a guy that is overlooked. He didn’t make the All-Star team and he’s not really talked about when you talk about first basemen, but he does such a great job and again, it’s so important what he does on the field and off the field. If it’s up to me, he’d definitely be back here.”

No matter what happens in the coming months, Joyner says he has no regrets.

“It has been fun,” Joyner said. “I’ve had a great career and played on some great teams and met some great ballplayers and made some friends. If someone were to ask me, ‘If I could do it all over again, what would I like to do?’ it would be this. I’ve been able to enjoy playing the game and enjoy what I have been doing and doing it well and making a living doing it. I wouldn’t wish to do anything else.”