PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Santiago Adopts Mark of Zero to Spice Up Back of Uniform

ST. LOUIS —  “Now, batting, double-nought 9, Benito Santiago.”

Well, that’s at least the way Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn was announcing it Friday in the Padre clubhouse upon seeing Santiago’s uniform number change.

Santiago, who has been wearing No. 9 since he became the Padres’ catcher in 1987, changed to No. 09 Friday, becoming what is believed to be the first player in baseball to have a 0 before another numeral on his uniform.

Is Santiago joining the computer age?

“What do you think, you like it?” Santiago said. “I always wanted two numbers, but I didn’t want to give up No. 9. I thought about it a month ago, and decided to go ahead and do it.”

It was a year ago, recall, when Jack Clark changed his uniform number from 22 to 00, but Santiago said this had nothing to do with Clark’s move.

“There are too many No. 9s out there,” he said. “But, hey, you think there’s another zero-nine out there? I don’t think so.

“What do you think, you like it?”

Padre pitcher Ed Whitson, who has been on the disabled list since May 27 with tendinitis in his right elbow, pitched on the side Friday and declared himself 100%.

“I feel like I’ve got a new arm,” Whitson said. “Well, either that, or I’ve got the old one back.

“I’m ready to go, I’m tired of sitting around on the bench.”

Whitson, who threw nearly 100 pitches off the mound, will pitch a simulated game Monday in St. Louis, and then is expected to rejoin the rotation when the Padres return home Friday. He likely will take the place of Adam Peterson or Jose Melendez, who will move to the bullpen.

“I’m throwing everything good, and there’s absolutely no pain,” Whitson said. “My control is not quite there, but as long as my arm feels like this, I don’t worry about my control.”

Said Padre Manager Greg Riddoch: “We’re all liable to go into a culture shock if we have a healthy rotation. Can you imagine having five pitchers with a chance to go six or seven innings each time?”

Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn has broken only a few bats this season, but considering his success this season, he already has given away three dozen bats to fellow teammates, peers, and yes, football players.

One of the most recent giveaways was to the outlandish Burt Grossman of the Chargers. It was Grossman who wrote columns during football training camp last year, and ripped Jack Clark and the gang for demeaning Gwynn.

Certainly, Gwynn hasn’t forgotten, either.

He signed the bat: “Thanks for everything.”

The Padre players and front office, after several private meetings, collected donations and sent a check to Dave Dravecky and his family.

“We wanted to do something special for him,” Padre pitcher Ed Whitson said. “He may not be with this club anymore, but he’s in all of our hearts.”

Dravecky, a former Padre pitcher, had his left arm amputated last week because of cancer. And even while undergoing cancer treatments, Dravecky sent a card and note recently to Milt May Jr., the son of Pirate batting coach Milt May, who was in a coma after an automobile accident.

“That’s what tells you what kind of guy he is,” Whitson said.

Padre pitcher Larry Andersen’s face, covered with sunflower seeds, can be found in an exhibit at the Del Mar County fair. “I’m sure that will be a big attraction,” Andersen joked . . . The Padres’ injury bug apparently is contagious. Cardinal first baseman Pedro Guerrero was scratched before the game with an irritated right forearm, and left fielder Rex Hudler left the game in the fifth inning with a strained left groin . . . Catcher Sean Mulligan, the Padres’ No. 4 draft pick from the University of Illinois, made his professional debut Thursday with a homer and double for Class A Charleston . . . The Cardinals still don’t have a victory from a No. 5 starter in 12 starts this season . . . The Padres will play the second game of their four-game series against the Cardinals at 5:05 p.m. today. Jose Melendez (2-2) and Ken Hill (6-4) are the scheduled starters.