The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 279

C9 rKIDAY.JUI.Y20. I WO SI) 1 1 1 1 IS San Diego County I'hulus liv SHAN M. I IAFKKY Fur The Turn Pitcher Chris Haslock had really hot stuff the day he found a firecracker attached to his shoe. Teammate Greg Smith says Dave Staton wears eye black for luck; it might work Staton has moved up. WAVE FREE- Carl's Jr.

VALVOLINE LAKE RACER When You Buy 12 Qts. of Quality VALVOLINE Motor Oil. Mail-in offer $19.95 Value. See Store for Details. Red Wave players Bill Meury (right), Reggie Farmer sign autographs for a fan and hope the sign accurately reflects their prospects.

seen guys go up and down awful fast. If the timing is right, things could work out for me." He doesn't have a timetable. Hey, any game could be the springboard to a major league career. There are 141 games a year. Give yourself a time limit, you only set a clock on your dream.

Tick, tick, tick, poof. "It's a dream, a goal," said Farmer, who went to Madison High. "I'm not going to quit on it. I'll let it quit on me before I quit on it. Trades, strikes, so many things can happen for you to put a time limit to get to The Show." So they go game by game and month by month, and they hope for an opportunity.

Or, as the case may be, a camcorder. That's what Farmer was telling Tye Waller, the Padre roving minor league outfield and baserun-ning instructor, as they sat in the dugout. "Filming your at-bats, especially Please see WAVE, C9B up. Then Benito Santiago sustained a broken arm, and the aftershocks rumbled all the way down to Riverside. A couple of catchers were moved up a level, including Higgins, who went to Wichita.

McGee inherited his job in Riverside and got an opportunity. That's all these guys are looking for. A chance. Todd Dewey, another catcher, signed with Riverside in early July. Once, he was one of the best prospects in Atlanta's system.

He moved all the way up to triple-A at Richmond before breaking a couple of ribs in a collision at home plate. When he came back, he didn't hit well. Suddenly, he was on his way down. Now, at 23, he jokes about being the oldest player in the California League, the league in which Riverside plays. But he clings to his chance.

"Why sign again in A ball?" Dewey said, repeating the question. "The way I look at it, it's another chance to go up again. I've Vavofne9 All -Climate Motor Oil 10W40 $1.09 10W30 $1.09 20W30 $1.09 Super HPO Motor Oil SAE 30, 40 990 Continued from CI A minute earlier, a representative from Topps had walked by the sign on his way to hand out a pack of baseball cards to each player. This was last Wednesday. The temperature was well over 100 degrees, and there was a first-stage smog alert.

Out on the field, just before batting practice, Jack McKeon's stepping down as Padre manager earlier in the day dominated conversation. The voices came from all over. "What happened up there today?" a player asked. "A.O. former batting coach Amos Otis got released? He was my man." "Pepper is more important than ever, now." You see, Jack Maloof, formerly the roving minor league hitting instructor, had been promoted to Padre batting coach earlier in the day.

It was Maloof who last year ordered teams throughout the Padre farm system to play more pepper because a couple of the teams weren't hitting. News from above was interesting, but "You seen our new baseball cards?" outfielder Reggie Farmer asked. "First time I've ever seen minor league cards with action shots." These players' stories are as similar as their backgrounds are different. So young. So eager.

So excited. All have hopes of fame and glory and big paychecks. Most of them have cars. Most have a wife or a girlfriend. Their days are long, consisting of a lot of time sitting and waiting for another game.

They get up toward noon. They have lunch. They play video games or go shopping or watch television. They get to the ballpark by 3 or 4 and go to work. Games are usually finished around 10, so they go home, get something to eat and watch more television.

One thing about the minors: There is a lot of free time. This is why pitcher Chris Haslock found a firecracker attached to his shoe by glue and gum one day. And it is why infielder Steve Bethea bit into a brownie one day and ended up with a mouthful of coffee grounds. The names on the roster, aside from pitcher Candy Sierra, are unfamiliar. You wonder if one might be the next Roberto Alomar or Tony Gwynn.

Then you remember that the baseball people say there are two, maybe three, legitimate prospects per team in A ball. What it comes down to is that most of the Red Wave are in their big leagues right now. But don't tell them They have a vision, and it is focused especially on Wichita, home of the Padre double-A team and their next rung on the ladder. And while they're at it, they keep track of the Padres. What occurs in the major leagues sometimes has a domino effect throughout the organization.

This happened to Tony McGee. He was backing up Kevin Hig-gins at catcher in Riverside. He was frustrated. He had never been a backup player. Not many here have.

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