Just a Pinch Before He Goes : Padres: Pinch-hitter Greg Gross takes one more swing at the big leagues.

By BOB NIGHTENGALE

Feb. 28, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

YUMA, Ariz. — They eye him curiously in the clubhouse. They look at the nameplate above the locker. Still, they are puzzled.

“I think there’s a lot of people right now wondering what the hell I’m doing here,” said the gray-haired man, wearing Padre uniform No. 30. “I’ve had a few guys come up to me already and tell me that their daddy took them to see me play growing up. I don’t think they had any idea they’d be at the same spring-training camp with me.”

Greg Gross, six months shy of his 39th birthday, and nearly 17 months since he last played organized baseball, is attempting to make one final comeback.

It hardly is in the grandeur style of Jim Palmer. Most of the players--much less reporters--still don’t recognize him. But here he is, refusing to let the game escape his grasp without paying his final respects.

“I love this game so much,” Gross said, “I can’t leave it alone. It’s not the money. It’s not the attention. It’s just being around this game.

“And I’m not going to cheat myself from playing as long as someone will let me.”

Just listen:

What position will you be filling?

“The bench. I’ll just swing a bat and go sit back down. I’m not planning to take anyone’s job.”

What kind of money will you be making?

“I don’t even have a contract. All they’re doing is paying me meal money. If I make the team, then we’ll talk.”

What kind of guarantees or promises have been made?

“Absolutely none.”

Simply, Gross is asking for an opportunity, and the Padres are obliging.

It was in mid-January, said Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, that the Padres decided in January to bring Gross to camp instead of Fred Lynn.

Sure, Gross has hit only one homer since 1978.

He has driven in more than 16 runs in only one of the past 11 seasons.

And the Padres are the only team in two years to express interest in Gross.

“But there’s something about him that’s special,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “You talk to him for 10 minutes, and you know he’s a guy you want on your club. He still looks good, and I really think he’s a guy who can help us.”

It was on the advice of Larry Bowa, Philadelphia Phillies coach, that Riddoch made the recommendation to invite Gross to camp. Bowa pitched batting practice to him during the off-season, and the more Bowa watched, the more he believed that Gross might still be an asset.

This is a guy, after all, who trails Manny Mota by only seven on the all-time pinch-hit list with 143. And considering that the Padres don’t have any other veteran left-handed hitters, why not give him a try? With Phil Stephenson suffering from torn knee ligaments that make him questionable this spring, the Padres could have an opening.

“It came down to between Gross and Lynn,” McIlvaine said, “but I think Gross better fits our needs. The great thing about him is that if he makes our team, he wouldn’t be taking the place of any of our young outfielders. He could just hit without taking the field.”

If pressed, of course, Gross could fill in at left field. Maybe, also at first base. But not for more than a couple of innings.

“It’d be pretty dangerous to leave me out there for much longer than that,” Gross said. “I don’t know who’d be more nervous, me or the Padres.”

Gross, who was selected the 1974 Rookie of the Year by The Sporting News, actually has some historical ties to San Diego. It was Sept. 10, 1973, at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium when he obtained his first major league hit. And it was in 1977 in San Diego when he got his career 1,000th hit.

Although he never made the All-Star team or won any awards, there were plenty of proud moments in his career. He played in two World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies. He had three pinch-hits in the 1980 National League playoffs against the Houston Astros. And he once led the National League in pinch-hits with 19 in 1982.

Of course, when your power-production makes Bip Roberts look like Babe Ruth, it’s no surprise that Gross never made more than $350,000 in a season. He never once even had a contract squabble. He just showed up at the ballpark every day, put on his uniform, and prepared himself for every possible situation.

“I sat out last year and didn’t like it a bit,” Gross said. “I kept thinking somebody would call, but with the lockout, no one wanted to take a chance. So I treated it like I was hurt, and preparing for this year. I was discouraged, but I wasn’t going to give up.

“I started taking financial planning courses, but my heart wasn’t in it. You know something, if I stayed in that, I would be taking exams this week.

“But this is what I wanted. One more chance. Just to be associated with the game again.

“It might sound corny, but my dream is to be in San Diego on opening day, bring my family in from Pennsylvania, and have them watch me play.

“To me, that’d the greatest achievement of my career.

“What a way to go, huh?”