NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : PADRES UPDATE : Astros’ Travels Are Making Bigger News Than the Team
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SAN DIEGO — The Houston Astros are getting used to the routine. Every city they’re in, they find reporters, cameramen and microphones waiting.
“No one cares about our team,” Astro Manager Art Howe said, “everybody just wants to know about our trip. That’s all anyone cares about.”
Although the Astros’ journey across the continent is in the early stages, everyone is fascinated on the effect it will have on them. They are in the 12th day of the longest scheduled trip in the major leagues since the Philadelphia Phillies spent 28 games on the road in 1944.
The Astros’ trip is 26 games in 28 days. It spans 9,186 miles, encompasses nine flights, nine cities and a change of five time zones.
The trip came about when Astro owner John McMullen lured the Republican National Convention to Houston. It apparently didn’t occur to him that there might be some hardship involved for his club, which he recently sold. The sale has yet to be approved.
“I give myself complete credit for the Republican convention coming here,” McMullen said, “and nobody here has ever said thank you to me. All I’ve done is take heat for some convoluted travel schedule.”
Certainly, it has led to some unconventional practices. For instance, each player will be paid $1,622 in meal money, $150 in laundry money, and their girlfriend or wife will be allowed to fly first class to Chicago for four days next week.
It also has led to some scam artists telephoning the Astros in their hotel, trying to grab a piece of their lucrative meal money, which actually is paid in three installments. Someone was posing as David Justice’s brother in Los Angeles, asking for money.
“It really hasn’t been bad so far,” Howe said, “but it’s early.”
Just who have been the game’s best pitchers since the 1991 All-Star break?
Try John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves, who’s 25-8.
Smoltz is closely followed by teammate Tom Glavine (24-10); Kevin Tapani (23-8) of Minnesota; John Smiley (22-7) of Pittsburgh and Minnesota; Jack McDowell (22-11) of the Chicago White Sox; Greg Maddux (22-14) of the Chicago Cubs; and Bill Gullickson (21-12) of the Detroit Tigers.
Although Padre catcher Dann Bilardello is on the disabled list and may be out the rest of the season, the Padres were yielding a 2.39 ERA when he was behind the plate. It’s the lowest ERA of any catcher in the National League.
Meanwhile, the Padres have a 3.76 ERA when Benito Santiago is behind the plate and a 3.39 ERA when Dan Walters catches.
Walters leads the Padres in throwing out potential basestealers--15 for 33, 31.3%. Santiago has thrown out 16 of 53, 23.2%; and Bilardello has thrown out six of 17, 26.1%.
The Padres and Colorado Rockies have decided to share an instructional league team in Arizona this fall, according to sources.
News from the National League West race:
--Believe it or not, the Atlanta Braves’ 3 1/2-game lead is their largest since Aug. 21, 1983.
--While the Cincinnati Reds boast of their bullpen, they have been outscored 97-65 after the seventh inning this season. Yet, they have outscored their opponents after each of the first seven innings.
--There’s no reason to look further than the disabled list to see why the Braves have overtaken the Reds for the division lead. The Reds have had 11 players on the disabled list this season, including virtually their entire starting lineup. The Braves had had only five disabled players, with David Justice being their only regular who has missed time.
--Red owner Marge Schott found herself in midst of the latest squabble between players and management when she elected to have the team fly to Atlanta on the day of the game Tuesday instead of Monday. They flew commercial, arriving only six hours before game time.
“Most of the guys on the team feel we should have flown in Monday,” player representative Norm Charlton said. “Why didn’t we? I don’t want to sound like a whining ballplayer who makes $1.1 million a year, but I think everybody knows.”
--Atlanta outfielder Ron Gant remains in a miserable slump, with only one homer in his last 150 at-bats. He has only one homer since June 16 after hitting 10 homers in his first 239 at-bats. He’s in a 36-for-186 (.200) slump with only seven RBIs since the All-Star break. His two-year streak of being a 30-30 man probably will end since he has only 11 homers.
“It’s pretty frustrating,” Gant said, “but at least we’re winning. I’ve been thinking about way too much instead of just reacting to the pitch. I’m at the point now where I’m just going to go back and go about do what I was doing before.”
--Smoltz has allowed only four earned runs in his last six starts, yielding a 0.68 ERA.
The Padres have placed general admission tickets for Saturday’s Beach Towel night game on sale on a reserved seat basis beginning at 9 a.m. today at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
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