The Padres Grow Up a Little in Their 6-4 Victory Over Pirates

PITTSBURGH —  Baseball players are often told they are men playing a boy’s game, and they find this demeaning because they know baseball is indeed a man’s game, a mature game.

Children simply could not play the game at this level, where slumps don’t mean mommy and daddy will scream at you, but mean that you might be benched and could lose your job, your livelihood. And because this is a job, a rather insecure one at that, there is much pressure involved, pressure that can break a man.

Fortunately, the Padres have men, not children on their team. During their 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, people such as Terry Kennedy, Tim Stoddard, Al Bumbry and Tim Flannery showed their maturity in many subtle ways.

For instance, Kennedy has been known to pout, to put on a sad face for the littlest of reasons, such as his inability to hit the baseball. It does no good to throw batting helmets and get flustered. You try too hard then, and you’re an easier out.

Manager Dick Williams noticed this childishness, and Kennedy, himself, a seasoned player in his sixth full season, also noticed. Williams moved Kennedy from the all-important cleanup spot to a mundane No. 6 position in the batting order. He did this so Kennedy would relax.

Kennedy didn’t at first, and he struck out in the first inning. His next time up, there were runners on first and second with one out (the Padres leading 1-0), and he told himself to relax, to wait for a pitch he’d like to hit, not one the pitcher would want him to hit. He did and shot the ball into right field to drive in a run.

It was a simple adjustment, really, but he’d shown proper maturity.

“It’s just a long season, and sometimes I forget it’s a long season,” Kennedy said of his recent pouting period. “One day, one week . . . It won’t make much difference in the end. Wherever Dick wants to hit me, fine. I wasn’t hitting before . . . It’s a fact.

“Have I matured? Yeah. What can I do about it (the slump)? . . . It bothers me, yeah. But I can’t . . . I don’t know, I just have a different attitude now. Your priorities change as you get older. I think I’ve found out what’s important is not hitting . . . It’s not as important as my family and my family’s health and providing for them.

“Yeah, I still get mad, but I don’t bust helmets like I used to. Or bust chairs. It doesn’t accomplish anything. When I’m not hitting, I hurt. But it doesn’t drive me up a wall anymore.”

At this point, Kennedy gave credit to Goose Gossage. Gossage, it seems, had once said after a pressurized baseball moment that it didn’t matter if he failed because he’d still be in Colorado with his family the next day. Kennedy realizes now that even if he does strand baserunners or strike out, his wife Teresa and his daughters Suzanna and Sarah still will be on his side. That’s enough to him.

As for Stoddard, he realized long ago that it does no good to get down on yourself. He had been pitiful as a relief pitcher this spring, and on the first road trip this season, he had given up an embarrassing game-winning homer to Atlanta’s Dale Murphy.

And Stoddard had come to San Diego with a big contract, too, so he had supposedly flopped already, relegated to the last pitcher on the roster.

But then he came in Wednesday night and threw two important innings of relief. Suddenly, Williams is complimenting Stoddard.

What is this?

But Stoddard says he was never worried, that he had deserved to be the last pitcher and could then accept it.

“Whomever is pitching good will get the work,” Stoddard said. “ . . . I knew I’d be fine . . . Before it’s over, I’ll pitch 50 to 60 games and get 80 innings, and that’s that. I can’t worry about one game, two games. I know I can pitch. And, you know, I will have more bad outings before the year’s over. There’s no reason to get down, though . . . If I throw great in the spring and then am a mop-up pitcher, then you don’t feel great. But if you’re bad, you work your way up and pitch when you can pitch. That’s what happened.”

Finally, there’s the Flannerys and the Bumbrys of this baseball world. People are upset that Alan Wiggins is in a drug treatment center, worried that the Padres will have no offense. And, consequently, Flannery, Wiggins’ replacement, is given little credit.

He does not mope, though. He plays on. On Wednesday night, he hit a two-run double to left-center field, the most important hit of this game.

Bumbry, 38, used to be a starter for Baltimore, but adjusted his priorities, knowing he’d be a role player with the Padres. Every time the Padres face a new team, Bumbry asks teammates and coaches about the other players because he’s never played in the National League before. He wants to be prepared, just in case.

So Carmelo Martinez hurts his elbow, and Bumbry plays in two games against the Pirates. On Tuesday night, he was 3 for 5. On Wednesday night, he was 3 for 5, including an RBI.

“Tonight, I contributed more because we won,” he said. “That’s my role, to help us win.”

And, naturally, Gossage came in and ended the ballgame. After retiring 23 of 24 batters coming in, he struggled a bit, giving up two singles and a walk. But, he was not concerned, because he knew he shouldn’t be.

Colorado would still be there in the morning.

Padre Notes Carmelo Martinez sat out again Wednesday night with his sore right elbow, but he should be ready to play Friday in Chicago . . . Tim and Donna Flannery named their new baby boy, Daniel Earl.