Padres Now Try to Win Over City

The bumper sticker read, “Stadium? Already got one. Need a library.”

Talk about a sign of the times for San Diego.

This should be the best of times for the San Diego Padres. Not only have they dug themselves out from under the rubble left by the Tom Werner regime; not only do they have the best record in the National League West; not only are they heading into the final days of the regular season with a shot at the best record in the league . . .

But they are doing all this in a time of great distress for their two biggest rivals. The Chargers, their chief rival for the sports dollar in San Diego, are trying to dig out from under rubble of their own, their Super Bowl team of 3 1/2 years ago only a fond memory. And the Dodgers, the Padres’ perennial rival in the NL West, have fallen into chaos.

All that has left the Padres center stage. So why do people keep worrying that the team will be on the next stage out of town?

Because despite the success and opportunity, this is a team heading into uncertainty.

For one thing, four of its key players--pitcher Kevin Brown, third baseman Ken Caminiti, first baseman Wally Joyner and outfielder Steve Finley--are eligible for free agency after the World Series.

If the free-agency issue were the only uncertainty, things would be fine. Owner John Moores and team President Larry Lucchino have long since demonstrated that all they have in common with Wayne Huizenga is the National League. The Padres of 1998 will not be the Florida Marlins of 1997. Nobody is going to dismantle this team.

Moving it, however, may be another story. A story nobody likes to talk about, but one that must be considered if the team fails to get voter approval on the November ballot measure to authorize the use of public money for a new, downtown, baseball-only park.

Staying in their current home, Qualcomm Stadium, formerly known as Jack Murphy, is not an option, according to Lucchino, and has not been an option since the stadium was expanded to meet NFL standards for last year’s Super Bowl.

“We were the third party,” Lucchino says. “We were bystanders in the football issue. We were evicted. There is no way we could be competitive and financially stable in a football stadium that seats 70,000 plus. [With baseball, football and Division I football] it’s crowded, congested and would not work long-term.”

What will work, according to Lucchino is a $200-million, baseball park, part of a proposed $413-million hotel-entertainment complex, to be built adjoining the San Diego Convention Center a couple of Greg Vaughn homers away from the harbor. The Padres will put up about $100 million of that but will undoubtedly recoup some of it in a naming fee.

“This will be one of the great ballparks of the Western world,” said Lucchino, obviously not thinking small.

But then Lucchino ought to know. It was he, as president of the Baltimore Orioles, who was the major force behind Camden Yards. The Orioles’ new park recaptured the warmth of old-time baseball parks, combining it with new technology.

And now, Lucchino wants to do the same thing in San Diego. He envisions a 41,000-seat park that will reflect the area’s traditional Spanish architecture.

Sounds great--until you get to the bottom line. The voters are being asked to approve the use of funds from the city’s transit occupancy tax, putting the burden largely on hotel taxes. If there were a glitch, however, money would have to come from the general fund.

Just ask officials in Oakland, which has taken a heavy financial hit in its deal with the Raiders, about financial glitches.

“There will be no tax increase,” Lucchino said. “None of that. This is a historic crossroads for the city and for baseball. This is the catalyst to transform downtown San Diego and keep baseball until at least 2024.”

And if not? If people, like the ones who slapped that bumper sticker on their cars because they are worried that the city is trading books for balls, should have their way and the issue is defeated in November, then what?

There was a rumor floating around that Lucchino, in a closed-door meeting with some of his front-office staff, said that if the measure fails, the club might move to northern Virginia, Lucchino’s old backyard.

Is that merely speculation or a real possibility?

“We are trying not to address it,” Lucchino said. “That would be ham-handed. I think people know what is at issue without having to make threats or dire predictions.”

And yet the Padres have brought out the heavy hitters, literally, in a bid to get this measure passed that sounds an awful lot like a threat.

In a brochure for the new park, Hall of Famer Ted Williams, a San Diego native, is quoted as saying, “It would be a sin if [the city] doesn’t build a first-rate, big-league ballpark.”

And Tony Gwynn, the Padres’ eight-time batting champion and a man popular enough in San Diego to be elected mayor, says in the brochure, “My dream is to finish my career with the Padres here in San Diego. The ballpark will make that dream a reality.”

Lucchino insists that the team will not make another run at the voters with a new ballot measure if it loses this one.

The timing of this measure could be great for the Padres if they can keep the season going and make it to the World Series for only the second time in their history. The election will be held only a few days after the end of the Series.

But if the momentum is reversed and the Padres exit the playoffs early, more than just their possible new home could be affected. They have lost $40-$50 million since buying the Padres in late 1994 from the Werner group, which had dumped players in order to cut expenses, and Moores and Lucchino may not be so willing to shell out the big bucks it will take to keep their free agents.

“It’s affected in a general way because we must have the financial wherewithal,” Lucchino said. “We might not have the capacity to sign players. We are still not financially stable. Baseball, like any business, has to stand on its own feet to make it.”

This Padre team is already assured of being remembered as the club that won more regular-season games than any other in franchise history.

What it desperately wants to avoid in the next month is being remembered as the team that lost an election, a ballpark and, perhaps ultimately if Moores and Lucchino are not bluffing, a city.

* TURNAROUND: The Padres’ Greg Vaughn is close to joining 50-homer club. C5

* DODGERS WIN: Adrian Beltre’s homer gives Dodgers 3-2 win over Padres. C5