Sale of Padres Strikes Favorable Reactions

Baseball fans and civic leaders reacted favorably Thursday to the sale of the San Diego Padres to Orange County businessman George Argyros, and hopes were raised again that the new owner will sign free agent outfielder and batting champion Tim Raines.

Bob Smedley Sr., owner of Smedley’s Baseball Inn in the Gaslamp Quarter, represented the reaction of most fans who heard about the sale early in the day. As expected, the change in the club’s ownership was the main topic of discussion all day Thursday at Smedley’s tavern, where baseball nostalgia and talk is always on tap.

“Joan Kroc . . . she just isn’t interested in baseball like Ray (Kroc, who purchased the Padres in 1974) was. This can’t be anything but a good move for the team. I guess we now stand a good chance of signing Tim Raines and ending higher in the standings this year. Things are looking up,” said Smedley, who noted that the club has been embroiled in controversy since Dick Williams quit as manager at the beginning of spring training in 1986.

However, the possibility of Raines, who was the National League batting champion last season, being in the lineup anytime soon is anything but certain, noted U.S. Atty. Peter K. Nunez, a longtime Padres and Boston Red Sox fan.

“My recollection of Argyros is that he has shown some unwillingness to spend money to make the Mariners a contender,” Nunez said. “I certainly hope that doesn’t happen here. Will he change and become a free spender, or will he follow the consensus of opinion among the owners that (players’) salaries are way out of whack? I hope he’ll change because this club needs a lot of help.”

In the six years that Argyros--whose business interests are concentrated in real estate development in Southern California--has owned the Mariners, his teams have never finished higher than fourth in the American League West. He has gone through five managers.

Coast Distributing owner Leon Parma, a major San Diego sports booster who chaired the task force that lured the 1988 Super Bowl for San Diego, described the deal as “a very good surprise for San Diego.” Parma, who has known Argyros “socially” for several years, described him as an experienced team owner who will be a “much more resident-type owner than he’s been with the Mariners.”

Argyros’ business style suggests that he would “bring in competent people and let them run the team,” according to Parma, who had been unaware that Argyros was bidding for the Padres.

Parma suggested that the sale by the Kroc family marked “the end of an important era in San Diego sports. . . . Ray Kroc kept the Padres in San Diego and instilled a new spirit in the team.” Parma credited Joan Kroc and Ballard Smith with carrying on the effort started by Ray Kroc.

Argyros “has a reputation as a good manager,” according to San Diego-based real estate industry consultant Sanford Goodkin. “He’s known for hiring competent management and letting them do their job.”

Goodkin, who met with Argyros two weeks ago in Orange County, recalls that Argyros once told him he had acquired the Mariners “because there were only 26 major-league baseball teams and he wanted one of them.”

The bulk of George Argyros’ real estate development has occurred in Orange County, but he is believed to have been funding some relatively minor real estate developments in San Diego.

Goodkin suggested that Argyros will become even more active here once the acquisition of the Padres becomes final.

Distraction Gone

The team’s sale will remove one “big distraction” from the players and should help them concentrate on playing the game and winning, said Bob Bell, owner of the San Diego Sockers.

“It’s good for the players, believe me. It’s good that all this was finalized before the season started. He (Argyros) will see the need to produce a winner,” said Bell, whose Sockers have been indoor soccer champions the last five years in a row.

In a prepared statement, Mayor Maureen O’Connor said that she was particularly pleased by the “welcome news that the Padres are staying in San Diego,” and paid tribute to the Krocs.

“I am excited by Mr. Argyros’ desire to reestablish a winning tradition with the Padres,” O’Connor said in the statement. “The city has the best baseball fans anywhere in the country and deserves a top-notch organization. The sale brings to an end an important era in local sports history. I would personally like to thank the late Ray Kroc, Joan Kroc, Ballard Smith and the entire Padre organization for an exciting decade of baseball in San Diego.”

Lease Negotiations

Deputy City Manager Jack McGrory said that Thursday’s sale is not expected to affect negotiations between the Padres and the city over a proposed 13-year extension of the team’s contract to remain at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The current contract expires at the end of the 1988 season.

The two sides are in the final stages of talks that began in December, McGrory said, adding that he believes the negotiations will be “wrapped up in a couple of weeks.”

“What we’ve been told is that the new owner is going to want to review the final contract, but wants the negotiations to proceed as scheduled,” McGrory said. “There shouldn’t be any interruptions.”

Although the Padres’ sale was a much-discussed topic in sports circles Thursday, Stadium Authority member George Mitrovich predicted that, by Opening Day, fans’ interest will shift away from the front-office change and back toward the team’s on-field performance.

“The average fan probably doesn’t care that much about who owns the team, unless he believes that management is being intrusive in how the team is run or performs,” Mitrovich said.

“How much money are you willing to commit to build a successful team? That’s the ultimate litmus test every owner faces from the fans’ perspective,” Mitrovich added. “Mrs. Kroc and her husband demonstrated that they were willing to spend money to have a winning team. To the extent that the fans care about this sale, that’s what they’ll be looking for from (Argyros). If the team is winning, they’ll be happy.”

Times staff writer Greg Johnson contributed to this story.