Klesko Powers Hot Padres

Ryan Klesko, a one-time beach bum who turned into a slugger, is riding a monster wave.

Klesko just finished the hottest month of his baseball career, one that helped bring the San Diego Padres back to respectability. He did things to baseballs that Ken Caminiti used to do in his marquee days in San Diego.

Fellow Padres and opponents use words like “punish,” “pound” and “unbelievable” every time the 6-foot-3, 246-pound left-hander hits a home run.

The first baseman hit 11 of them in May on his way to driving in 40 runs, a team record for RBIs in a month. The old record was 38 by Caminiti in August 1996, when he was on his way to the NL MVP award.

Klesko’s four two-homer games were one shy of the big league record for a month, and his consecutive two-homer games on May 21-22 were the first for a Padre since Caminiti did it in September 1995.

“That type of month has helped the team win and that’s big,” said Klesko, the No. 3 hitter who leads the Padres with 14 homers, 51 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and 39 walks. “It wouldn’t really mean a whole lot if we weren’t playing well.”

Klesko, whom manager Bruce Bochy likens to a big kid, found time to have some fun.

Before last Sunday’s game against Arizona, he put on a leather jacket and black helmet and rode a motorized scooter around the basepaths, entertaining the thousands of fans ringing the outfield for photo day.

“He’s a very loose player,” Bochy said. “He flat out plays as hard as anybody I’ve seen, but he has fun doing it.”

Klesko had never driven in more than 22 runs or hit more than 10 homers in a month during his previous seven-plus seasons.

And he’s largely unimpressed with his own numbers, a byproduct of the years he spent with the Atlanta Braves, who were more concerned with winning than stats. He played in three World Series, winning one.

That said, he’s clearly in his element. Klesko, who grew up north of San Diego in Orange County, is in his second season with the Padres after joining them in a six-player trade with Atlanta in December 1999.

“It’s a great opportunity to come back home to Southern California and play in front of my family and for a great manager,” Klesko said.

Bochy thinks Klesko can have an MVP-type year.

“He’s a big, strong guy who can run, and he can flat out punish a baseball,” Bochy said. “He can draw a walk, steal a base.”

Klesko was hot in spring training but was bothered by a bruised left knee early in the season.

“I felt like I had the perfect swing in spring training, and all of a sudden I lost it for a couple of weeks,” he said. “But I stuck with it. My knee got healthy and I started driving off my back leg and started feeling better.”

Klesko’s most impressive homer was one that didn’t count, a batting practice shot in Houston estimated at 500 feet. One that did count was his line shot to straightaway center field against the Astros on Tuesday night.

“That might have been the hardest ball I’ve ever seen hit,” Padres pitcher Kevin Jarvis said.

Cleanup hitter Phil Nevin, the other half of San Diego’s power duo, said: “It’s hard to walk up to the plate after watching Ryno hit balls 500 feet.”

Klesko still doesn’t hit great against lefties, but he doesn’t sit against them as he often did in Atlanta and last season. Playing every day is a big reason for his increased productivity and blossoming versatility.

His 10-game hitting streak ended May 24, but he walked three times, stole a career-high three bases and scored twice as the Padres moved into sole possession of first place in the NL West for a day.

“You’re talking about a class athlete,” said Bochy, impressed that Klesko can run so well despite his size.

Klesko surprised the Padres when he stole 23 bases last year, his first double-digit season since the minors.

Klesko, who turns 30 on June 12, signed an $18.75 million, three-year extension last season that runs through 2004. He is the only position player given a no-trade clause by the Padres, who hope to be in their new downtown ballpark in 2003.

“He just seemed like the right guy to tie up,” general manager Kevin Towers said. “He’s still young and he’s somebody we felt was going to be important to this franchise as we move into our ballpark.”

And then there’s Klesko’s personality.

“He seemed comfortable from the day he got over here,” Towers said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ryan Klesko stressed out. I think he’s happy to be back on the West Coast.”

And why not, especially since he lives near the beach. Klesko used to ride along with SWAT teams several years ago because he was interested in law enforcement, but he now sticks to safer outdoors activities.

He hasn’t surfed as much as usual this season because of the sore knee, but he swims, snorkels and just bought a kayak.

“He’s got so much energy,” said Bochy, who’s gone fishing with Klesko and appears with him in a local ad for a motorcycle dealership. “He keeps himself busy. He’s not one to sit still.”

Klesko, noted for yakking with umpires and baserunners while in the field, doesn’t mind being called a big kid.

“You’re going to have so many ups and downs over the long season, you might as well take the pressure off and have as much fun as you can out here,” he said. “I think that helps you play better because you’re more relaxed.”