Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 56

SSZE33 fGEBZl DETROIT FREE PRESSWEDNESDAY, OCT. 10. 1984 1 1D Gwynn remains a secret V''' -mm far toftt By GENE GUIDI Free Press Sports Writer SAN DIEGO The Padres were one out away from completing their stunning comeback against the Cubs. From his position in right field, Tony Gwvnn found! i im em pwo, Willie Mays mi Pit Photo Tony Oliva Iftt File Phot Yastrzemski, 1Mt FIM Photo Brett himself staring across Jack Murphy Stadium toward the left field bleachers. "I thought about all the hours I spent in those seats when I was a student at San Diego State," Gywnn led the National League in hitting with a .351 average.

His manager, Dick Williams, compares him favorably with Rod Carew. BUT GWYNN might as well be playing in Guam for all the attention he gets. Because he's based in a city that's three time zones away from the media mills in the East, all those two- and three-hit games go virtually unnoticed outside San Diego. The only name players on the San Diego roster, such as Goose Gossage, Steve Garvey and Graig Nettles, built their reputations long before they got to the Padres. Gwynn said the lack of notoriety doesn't bother him.

"I'm just happy for what's happening to San Diego," he said during a World Series workout. "People used to call us losers, and that hurt. We all struggled together and now we should all celebrate together. We all contributed." Gwynn, 24, isn't fond of comparisons to Carew. "Carew's done it over so many thing." After this season, Gywnn no longer has to prove that he's more brilliant than brittle.

Gwynn played in 158 of the Padres' 162 games and batted 606 times more than in his two previous seasons combined. Three straight three-hit games early in June helped boost Gwynn to the National League batting lead, and he held onto the top spot from June 1 1 until the end of the season. A good portion of his 2 1 3 hits meant something, too. His batting average with men on base was more than .400. Gwynn lives to hit line drives.

He showed up at Jack Murphy Stadium at 8 a.m. last Sunday not too many hours after the Padres had tied the Cubs at two games apiece the night before and immediately began taking batting practice. "I enjoy things for a little while and then it's time to move on," he said. "I'm happy about the ball club beating Chicago, but you can't live in the past. This is a new series, and you've got to start all over again." years," he said.

"How can people put me in the same class when this is my first full year?" Gwynn, 5-foot-ll, 206 pounds, starred in baseball and basketball at San Diego State. The San Diego Clip--pers thought enough of his basketball skills to draft him in a middle round. But he knew he wouldn't last long in the NBA, so he signed with the Padres in 1981. Gwynn, a left-handed batter, has. been a .300 hitter from the first day he started playing baseball for money.

There was a snag, though; he seemed to be injury-prone. The Padres liked what they saw when they called him up from their Hawaii farm club in 1982, but both his wrists were broken that year his left one in August and his right one playing winter ball in Puerto Rico in December. "I HEARD the talk that I was always getting hurt that I'd never make it through a whole season," Gywnn said. "So before anything else, I had to prove that I could get through the season without breaking some Gwynn said. "I TonyGwynn iirito a roT at rha Sari Diego's Tony Is the first National Leaguo batting champion to appear in the World Series since Tommy Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1963.

Here's how batting champs have fared In World Series play since 1950: 1953: Carl Furillo, Brooklyn, Season Ave. Series Ave. 1954: Willie Mays, New York Giants Season Series 1954: Bobby Avlla, Cleveland, Season, Ave. Series 1 956: Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, Season .353, Series, 1960: Dick Groat, Pittsburgh, Season Series 214; 1963: Tommy Davis, Los Angeles," Season Series 1965: Tony Oiivai Minnesota, Season Series 1966: Frank Robinson? Baltimore, Season Series 1967: Carl Yastrzemski, Boston, Season .326, Series 1980: George Brett, Kansas City, Season Serjes .375. vy oa a yai i vi tut; fans' struggle then when all the team did was lose and lose.

It was pretty bad most of the time. I'd root so hard for them, but they were mostly a joke." No one's laughing at the Padres any longer, though. And Gwynn one of baseball's best-kept secrets is a big reason. Bevacqua: Out, but no apologies Thurmond regrets fastball By GLEN MACNOW Free Press Staff Writer SAN DIEGO Kurt Bevacqua pondered the questions for several moments. Everyone wanted to know what happened on the Mad Dash.

How did he get. i 1 ssr. i 4 I f-K fx- By JOE LAPOINTE Free Press Sports Writer SAN DIEGO Big deal. So the Padres lost by a run to the Tigers Tuesday night in the first game of the World Series, i It's a best-of-seven-game series, right? Last week, in the first game of the five-game National League playoffs, they lost the opener, 13-0, to the Chicago Cubs. Compared to that immoral defeat, this was a moral victory for the Cub-Busters who plan to "Mow Down Motown," right Mark Thurmond? "We weren't embarrassed by any said Thurmond, Tuesday's losing pitcher in San Diego's 3-2 defeat.

"I don't think there's any doubt" thrown out running for third base? stood silent, but pointed to a sign hanging above his locker. It said: "If I hang around here another 20 years, I'll get my act together." 4 i 4 I UPl Photo i in the seventh inning, with the Padres trailing, 3-2. With no outs, he hit a double off the right field wall. Bevacqua rounded second just as Tigers right fielder Kirk Gibson picked up the ball. But then Bevacqua lost his footing, and the Padres' designated hitter stumbled.

He regained his balance as Gibson relayed a throw to second baseman Lou Whitaker. Whitaker threw to third and Bevacqua was easily tagged I Free Press Photo by MANNY CRISOSTOMO Padres catcher Terry Kennedy takes a breather at first base after his single in the sixth inning Tuesday night. Padres get a bit of Morris magic Bottom of the sixth, Tigers 3-2. Graig Nettles punched Jack Morris second pitch over second base. Terry Kennedy ripped a single to center field.

Nettles stopped at second and Luis Sa-lazar ran for him. i With the crowd roaring for a rally, Bobby Brown swung and missed at a 1-0 pitch, then failed to bunt at 11, And at2-2, Morris fanned him, Morris struck out Carmelo Martinez on a 2-2 pitch and Garry Templeton on a 1-2 ending the inning. The lead was preserved. Gibson had stealing on his mind Kirk Gibson is called out by umpire Bruce Froemming in the fifth inning Tuesday night as Padres shortstop Garry Templeton makes the tag. Gibson, who wanted to steal second, was picked off first base by pitcher Mark Thurmond and thrown out by Steve Garvey.

Base runners serve notice the Padres can come back. "Our team's not down by any means. We need to come back tomorrow. We could've won tonight. We had a couple of chances to crack 'em and we didn't." THURMOND SAID he threw "way too many pitches" in his five innings of work.

He gave up seven hits, three runs and three walks. He struck out two and gave up the game-winning hit a two-run homer to Larry Herndon on his 110th pitch. "I wish I hadn't thrown a fastball over the plate where he could extend his arms," Thurmond said. "I should've thrown a change or something else. My job was to hold the lead and I didn't.

The guy just hit a home run. I had a base open. Dan Quisenberry says that's where offensive history is made in the middle of the plate." When Herndon hit the ball with an "inside-out" swing that sent it to the opposite field, Thurmond didn't think it would reach the seats. "It was like a two-iron, it had underspin, it rose," he said. Thurmond said he was impressed by the pitches the Tigers took as well as the ones they hit.

"They showed me a lot by taking a lot of pitches that were close," Thurmond said. "The umpiring was good." THE FIRST batter Thurmond faced, Lou Whitaker, gave him a preview. After working the count to three balls and two strikes, "I threw him five or six pitches right on the black of the plate, inside and outside," Thurmond said. Whitaker kept fouling them off. "Then I threw one right over the plate and he smokes it to left-center" for a double, Thurmond said.

out by Marty Castillo. "What can I tell you?" Bevacqua said. "It's tough to change your mind once you're past second. You can't just turn around and go back." BEVACQUA, NOT a fast runner, had no triples and no stolen bases in 59 games this season. The Tigers said his attempt to stretch the hit into a triple was ill-advised.

"The rule," Whitaker said, "is that you don't slide into third when you're behind." But Padres third base coach Ozzie Virgil said he had no doubt Bevacqua would be safe. "I sent him all the way," Virgil said. "If he doesn't stumble, he makes it easy. The right fielder was just picking up the ball when he rounded second." Padres manager Dick Williams agreed. "I know there's a saying, 'Never make the first out at third or but he makes it if he doesn't stumble," Williams said.

"It was unfortunate for us, good for them." Was Bevacqua injured? "No," Williams said. "Just his pride." Champ still likes Detroit SAN DIEGO You still would "They've picked people off 11 times, and Garvey has only thrown one of them out," he said. "But tonight he got both of us. "Sparky just wants us to let them know we're going to run, regardless. When we go, we just go for second.

Same thing with Alan. You've got to give him (Thurmond) credit." Trammell echoed the thought. "We're instructed, when a lefthander lifts his foot, to go," he said. "If he goes to the plate, we're home free. If he doesn't, we're dead.

"That's the way it goes." As it turned out, those pickoffs didn't hurt the Tigers, but could have cost them two runs. After Trammell was picked off, Lance Parrish and Larry Herndon delivered two-out singles. After Gibson was picked off, Herndon hit the homer that won the game for the Tigers. ready," he said, "because we'll come back (and run). "We were just going to run as soon as he picked his leg up.

He showed me something; give him credit." Thurmond thought the Tigers were trying to take advantage of his reputation as an easy man to run on. "I'm aware the scouting report on me is I have a very average move," Thurmond said. "But I've tried to improve it a little and I've had better success lately. "I wanted to show them my move isn't as bad as they say. "After watching the games against Kansas City, I knew they were going to try to run on us.

Darrell Evans even ran, and he's not fast at all. So I knew they were going to run." True. But Gibson said the base stealing was intended to challenge first baseman Steve Garvey. By CHARLIE VINCENT Free Press Sports Writer SAN DIEGO Sparky Anderson sacrificed Alan Trammell and Kirk Gibson and two potential runs in Tuesday night's 3-2 victory over the Padres. He says he would do it again.

Trammell was picked off first base in the first inning by Padres starter Mark Thurmond, and Gibson was picked off in the fourth. "I don't know if my runners were confused by his move, but he sure confused me," Anderson said. "It would take a moron to run again after the first one and I did it. "It wasn't the players' fault, it was mine." Later, though, he said the Padres will have to respect the Tigers' running game, regardless 'of what happened in Game 1. "They'd better cock it and get know Champ Summers if he came to your front door.

Summers, 36, has the craggy face and the wavy hair that made him stand out from the 20-year-olds on the Tigers in the early years of the Sparky Anderson regime. That's when Summers played a little outfield and was a designated hitter and pinch hitter. He hit 20 home runs in 1979 and 17 in 1980, his best seasons in the majors. He was traded to the Giants during spring training in 1982. Besides having a perfect baseball name and a winning personality, Summers was a Vietnam vet.

He fought at Pleiku. He went over big at Tiger Stadium. "Detroit is my ballpark," Summers said. "I'm thrilled to go back." Tonipht's starting pitchers Petty wants to trade in old championship ring f. 1 I.

vHTfH 1 Petry, 18-8 in the regular season, has also overcome the notion that he is somehow seen as inferior to Jack Morris. In last four seasons Morris has a 70-47 record, Petry 62-45. "At one point I believed Jack overshadowed me," Petry said. "Sometimes you sit back and analyze, are you appreciated and like that. You just have to make up your, mind, who cares? You're supposed to win ball games and if you do that, who cares? Look at (Steve) Carlton.

He doesn't even talk, and look at all the recognition he gets. Your arm will do your talking. "Now I'm not concerned. We're both established enough that we don't have to worry about one another. We're teammates." Today he is concerned only about doing his part to earn the world championship ring.

Rivalries, egos and money are immaterial. Especially, he says, money. "As soon as I hear money talk, I scurry away somewhere else," he said, nervously pulling the Evansville ring off his finger and sliding it back on. "Right now I could care less. The ring's the most important thing.

If we get $60,000 or $70,000, you're only going to get to keep about half of it anyway. "But you'ft have that ring all your life." But Petry, once plagued by self -doubts and the belief his successes were not adequately recognized, no longer goes into a situation expecting the worst. "For instance," said Petry, who twice has visited a Detroit instructor in positive thinking; "when (Steve) Garvey's at the plate, instead of thinking, 'Oh, God, he's going to hit a home run', I think, 'He's going to hit a two-hopper to (Alan) Trammell and we're out of the "I'm a believer you can't think negatively. That's the way it was in Kansas City (in last week's American League Championship Series). I had such a strong positive picture in my mind that they couldn't beat me." HE PLANNED TO study the Padres' hitters in Tuesday's opener, then sit down with catcher Lance Parrish and plan strategy for tonight.

One thing he'll have going for him will be the presence of American League-umpire Larry Barnett behind the plate. "That," he said Tuesday, "will help my comfort level. I've had Larry (calling balls and strikes) a lot, and I think he's a good umpire. I'm not going to have to find out if the National League umpire's strike zone is high or low, inside or outside and that's just one less thing I'll have to worry about." Ed Whitson Psdres Dan Petry Tifjcrs By CHARLIE VINCENT Free Press Sports Writer SAN DIEGO There is, on the ring finger of his right hand, a piece of jewelry Dan Petry would like to discard. Five years ago, in appreciation of his contributions, the Evansville Triplets sent Petry a ring commemorating their American Association championship, though he finished the season with the Tigers.

"This is the only (baseball) ring I have," Petry said Tuesday, on the eve of his first World Series start. "And I decided I'd wear it until I get something better." Tonight he has a chance to help ensure that "something better" will be a 1984 world championship ring. Petry will start against San Diego's Ed Whitson in the second game of, tti6 Scries Petry is worried he doesn't know enough about San Diego hitters. Until' Tuesday night's opener, he had seen them only on television, "and television can be deceiving, he said. He knows enough only to be aware the cardinal rule is not to allow Padres leadoff man Alan Wiggins on base.

"If you walk him or he gets a hit, he'll try to steal second, and you've got a .350 hitter (major league batting champion Tonf Gwynn) up theiJ and before you know it it's 1-0." PITCHER: Dan Petry, PITCHER: Ed Whit- 25, right-hander. son, 29, right-hander; D'84 RECORD: 18-8, 084 RECORD: 14-8, 3.24 ERA. 3.24 ERA. POST-SEASON: 0-0, POST-SEASON: 1-0, 2.57 1.25 ERA. LIFETIME: LIFETIME: 53-58, 3.59.