Padres Brawl and Have a Ball Beating the Mets

NEW YORK â€”  There were scratch marks around Greg Harris’ neck, and a bruise on his right shoulder. Abrasions were on Mike Dunne’s forehead. Phil Stephenson’s eye was red, with a contact lens missing.

Surveying the scene in the Padre clubhouse, Padre third baseman Mike Pagliarulo took a swig of beer, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and proudly proclaimed, “This is what it’s all about, baby.

“Did you see us out there today? I haven’t had this much fun in years. Yeah, baby, I think things are going to be all right.�

The Padres (21-22), this same bunch of guys who were apprehensive a week ago just raising their voice in the clubhouse, found themselves in the middle of a genuine, old-fashioned, brawl Sunday afternoon, and loving every minute of it.

The boxscore will reveal that the Padres defeated the New York Mets, 8-4, in front of a sellout crowd of 47,876 at Shea Stadium, but the eighth-inning brawl--triggered when Harris hit Met shortstop Kevin Elster in the back with a fastball--symbolized their metamorphosis.

“We were out there today as a team,� Pagliarulo said. “Everybody was fighting for the same cause. It wasn’t just one guy, it was 25 guys, all risking their bodies for the good of the team.�

Yes sir, you had Harris kicking and fighting while being choked by Met outfielder Darryl Strawberry. You had Padre catcher Mark Parent and Met third baseman Howard Johnson grappling. You had Stephenson and Met catcher Mackey Sasser squaring off. You had Padre coaches Sandy Alomar and Greg Riddoch corralling Met pitcher John Franco. You had Padre outfielder Bip Roberts grabbing ahold of Met second baseman Gregg Jefferies.

And somewhere in the middle of that mess was Joey Cora, all 5-feet-8, 150 pounds of him, ready to take on the world.

“I don’t like to fight,� Cora said, “because I’m not big enough do that kind of stuff. But when I made all those errors Saturday, and everybody picked me up, it was time for me to go help them.

“Someone could have busted me up pretty good, but that was the risk I had to take.�

Who could blame the guys for having fun. You’ve got to remember, this is the Padres’ first brawl since July 7, 1987, when Padre pitcher Eric Show beaned Cub outfielder Andre Dawson in Wrigley Field.

“The only thing I regret is that Jack (Clark) wasn’t here,� Pagliarulo said. “He would have loved this. He would have smoked someone.�

Clark, though, was back in San Diego, undergoing an operation at Scripps Hospital to repair his fractured left cheekbone. He would have been proud to see his boys in action, particularly the way they have come together as a team in New York.

Twice, the Padres took leads Sunday against the Mets.

Twice, the Mets came back, the last on a seventh-inning homer by pitcher Dwight Gooden, his first in two years.

But instead of succumbing, instead of saying it must be in the stars, the Padres put together their most explosive inning of the season, scoring six runs in the eighth inning. Joe Carter drove in two runs on a bases-loaded single, and Stephenson scored three more on a bases-loaded triple before scoring himself on Garry Templeton’s single.

The Mets were finished. They knew it. The Padres knew it. And certainly, Elster knew it.

When Elster stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth to face Harris, who came on in relief of Ed Whitson (4-3), he still was annoyed by his bases-loaded strikeout in the fifth inning. It was his strikeout that killed the Mets’ rally in the fifth, and now, he had come to the realization that it cost them the game.

Little did anyone know just how wild Harris would be. His first pitch was a slider, about two feet off the plate. The next pitch was a fastball inside. It also missed by another two feet.

But this one caught Elster right in the middle of the back. Elster dropped to one knee, hesitated, then tossed aside his batting helmet while running toward the mound.

Harris gestured with his hand, as if to say, ‘Come on,’ and lowered his body to the ground as Elster came in swinging. Both benches emptied, bodies started piling, and the bullpen ran into join the action.

“Now I know how Craig Lefferts feels running from the bullpen,� Padre reliever Mark Grant said. “I don’t think I could do it. I was tired just getting there.�

The Padres’ main focus in getting to the mound was just rescuing Harris, who had bodies atop of him, and Strawberry’s hands around his neck.

“It was bad enough that Elster came to the mound,� Harris said, “but all these guys started coming at me from all angles. I didn’t even see what was going on because everyone was on top of me, and Strawberry had me around the neck. And I never even met Elster before today, but I sure got a warm welcome.

“But there’s nobody in the game I’m going to back up from. Nobody. If anyone wants to come to the mound, I’ll fight them. I’ll take on anyone. . . .

“It was ridiculous to think I was trying to hit him. Now, why would I be trying to hit him? We had a big lead. I just tried to throw a fastball in, and it got away from me.�

Said Padre Manager Jack McKeon: “Why in the world would we want to hit a .162 hitter (actually .173) with an 8-2 lead. The last time up, I walked the guy in front of him to get to him. You’re better off knocking Gooden down, he was hitting better than Elster.�

Elster, the only player who was ejected from the game, said: “The umpires have got to be stupid if they didn’t think he threw at me intentionally. I don’t mind getting hit, but I think he should have been gone, also.

“It took some guts for Harris to throw at me. I wish some of our pitchers would do the same thing.�

Yes, sir, it’s been one wacky, zany week. It began with Pagliarulo criticizing an anonymous teammate, which turned out to be Tony Gwynn. Jack Clark, who already was on the disabled list with an inflamed disc in his lower back, suffered a pinched nerve in his back while putting on his socks. The Padres laid out their differences in the players-only portion of a clubhouse meeting, with Clark, Pagliarulo and Templeton ripping Gwynn; Templeton and Clark ripping Show; Pagliarulo ripping catcher Benito Santiago; Gwynn lashing back; and no one standing up for Gwynn.

Pagliarulo and Gwynn had their own private meeting. Clark got hit in the face during infield practice by a ball thrown by pitcher Pat Clements. The Padres won two one-run games, and got bombed by 11 runs.

And there was Sunday.

“Without question, it was the weirdest, wildest, wackiest four days I’ve ever been involved in,� Gwynn said. “I’ve seen it all. And I’ve seen a whole hell of a lot.�

The meeting, along with the fact that no one stood up for Gwynn, deeply upset him. He couldn’t sleep Thursday or Friday nights, and for the first time in his life, actually felt uncomfortable sitting in the Padre clubhouse.

He since has spent the past few days contemplating what his teammates said. Certainly, he does not agree with the assessment made by some of his teammates. Never has he played selfishly in his life, he says, and he’s not about to start now.

But at least, for the first time he thinks they had the team’s best interest at heart, and that the purpose of the meeting was not to tear up his credibility as the league’s finest hitter.

‘It’s been tough, no question about it, it’s been real tough,� Gwynn said. “I went through the worst time in my life. There were things that were said that made me unhappy. I got my feelings hurt.

“The worst thing for me was to talk about it, I just had to think about it. I had to have time to look at everybody’s point of view, not just mine, but my teammates’, my wife’s, and (agent) John Boggs’.

“I had to ask myself, am I really like that? Am I really doing this? Maybe I should be more of a leader? Maybe I should talk more with the guys.

“This is me speaking now, nobody else, and in retrospect, the meeting was good. It got us focused. Whatever it was, something was missing, and now we got it back.�

“I came here, and I didn’t swing the bat well in these four games, but we won three of four games. And that takes precedence over everything else. I can say now that I feel good about myself, and I feel good about my team.

“Now let’s play ball and see if we can creep back into this thing.�

Padre Notes

Ed Whitson’s victory was his first at Shea Stadium since Aug, 31, 1984. “That was a whole lot of fun,� he said. “This is a strange place, and a lot of strange things happen here, so it’s nice to leave here feeling good for a change.� . . . Joe Carter on his day at the plate, ending a one-for-20 slump. “It was my wife’s birthday, and for some reason, it seems like I always hit a homer on her birthday. This is the fourth time I’ve hit one on her birthday. I felt good out there today, it’s just a shame the brawl had to take precedence over everything.� . . . After having four days of trade discussions with the Yankees, Padre Manager Jack McKeon said Sunday that the next move belongs to them. “They know what we want,� McKeon said, “it’s up to them to see if they’re willing to do it.�