Rookie Kruk Leads Cheers and Padres in Victory Over Cubs

CHICAGO —  What kind of guy is John Kruk? He walked out to play left field in the ninth inning and about 10 Bleacher Bums gave him a standing ovation. The previous inning he sang along with some of their obscene cheers, and they thought this merited applause.

What kind of guy is John Kruk? He’s a left-hand hitter who swings better against left-handed pitchers than he does right-handed pitchers. Baseball logic says this is absurd, but then, Kruk admits he’s loony. His average against lefties is .450 (9-for-20).

What kind of guy is John Kruk? When he first came here to Chicago, he saw Lake Michigan and asked someone, “Which ocean is that?” This was back in May. On Wednesday, he said, “Oh, I know it’s Lake Michigan now. Originally, I thought it was the Mediterranean.”

What kind of guy is John Kruk?

After his performance in Wednesday’s 7-5 Padre victory over the Cubs, he’s the kind who will play every day.

“Yes, I’ll try to start him every day,” Manager Steve Boros said. “I’ll try to. I don’t want to ruin my defense or take out a starter who’s hot, but I’ll really try to start him every day.”

So when the Padres play St. Louis Friday, it’s probable that Kruk will be in the lineup with Marvell Wynne on the bench. The next day, Wynne might be back in there with Kruk playing first base for Steve Garvey. And the next day, Kruk might be in left field for Kevin McReynolds, just as he was Wednesday.

“Is that right? That’s nice. That’s good to hear,” Kruk said. “I was thinking I’d need three or four hits to stay in there regularly.”

Wednesday, he got three.

He had two RBIs, including one in the seventh that tied the score at 5-5 after the Padres typically had bungled a lead and looked to be headed for their sixth straight loss. .

In the eighth, Garvey led off with a single against Ray Fontenot, and Bip Roberts pinch-ran. Bruce Bochy, pinch-hitting for Terry Kennedy to force Cub Manager Gene Michael to bring in a right-handed reliever (Dave Gumpert), bunted Roberts to second.

Then, Wynne, a Chicago native, followed with an RBI double to left-center. He took third when Gary Matthews missed second baseman Ryne Sandberg with the relay. Gumpert then threw a wild pitch, and Wynne--who couldn’t clearly see if the pitch was wild or not--got a late start but still managed to score standing up, even though Michael disputed the call.

The ball had skipped wide of catcher Jody Davis and he had run back for it and flipped it to Gumpert, who covered home plate. Wynne chose not to slide, stepped on the plate before Gumpert could tag him and then bowled Gumpert over. Imagine--throwing a crucial wild pitch and then getting flattened.

Goose Gossage retired six consecutive batters in the eighth and ninth innings (he struck out the side in the ninth on nine pitches ) in recording his 16th save. It was the first time he’d had a 1-2-3 inning since July 6, when he did it to the Cubs in San Diego. Gossage threw mostly sliders Wednesday.

“I don’t have a fastball anyway, you know,” Gossage said. “No, I had a good slider and fastball, too. That last inning, it was breaking so well, there was no way I couldn’t go to it. . . . My greatest years I’ve ever had, I’ve always had my slider. Now, I’m a junk baller or something. Now, I am. But we got ‘em out.”

Cub broadcaster Harry Caray announced the game from the left-field bleachers and was having a grand old time early in the game as he sipped beer in the afternoon sun. The Cubs jumped ahead, 2-0, off starter Andy Hawkins. One of the RBIs belonged to Cub pitcher Scott Sanderson, who doubled in a run in the second.

Tony Gwynn’s RBI single cut the deficit in half, and then Tim Flannery and Kruk had RBI singles in the fifth--Kruk’s RBI putting the Padres ahead, 3-2.

But Hawkins got careless in the fifth, giving up a two-run homer to Sandberg. The Cubs led by one. Jody Davis hit one near Caray in left field, except the ball kept carrying and ended up leaving the stadium (measured at 398 feet). Caray had brought a fishing net out to left field with him and tried, unsuccessfully, to snare Davis’ homer.

Here’s how he described it:

“Holy Cow, what a blast! I couldn’t get my net up in time. We lost the microphone! We lost some equipment! I tried getting my net up, but couldn’t do it! Holy Cow, there was no need for me to say, ‘It might be; It could be gone!’ There was no doubt. It’s in the street. It traveled 398 feet I’m told, the longest ball hit by a Cub this year. I don’t think I could’ve even reached high enough with my net!”

Caray then said that kids were camping out on the street behind left field, waiting for more gopher balls. But they never came.

Instead, the Padres tied it with a two-run, two-out rally in the seventh. Flannery started it with a bunt. Fontenot, the pitcher, had an easy play on it, but he couldn’t grab it and was charged with an error. Gwynn’s subsequent double scored Flannery, and then Kruk came through with an RBI.

Boros said he has confidence in Kruk, even if the kid is a little strange . He’s the team prankster. He’s always walking around with his cap on backward. He averages a pizza a night. He’s got a belly on him. His Triple-A Manager last year nicknamed him “Jake” after the character John Belushi portrayed in the movie, “The Blues Brothers.”

Said Kruk: “I have a good time. Some people mistake it for being a jerk or something or being just goofy. But I’m not. OK, I’m goofy, I guess. They say ‘You’re a rookie and you should be seen, not heard’ or ‘Look at the rook, goofing off.’ But I just like to have fun.

“When the game’s being played, I play as hard as I can. But there’s times when you’ve got to laugh. I was leading the chant for the bleacher bums one inning. They were saying some dirty things, but I just like to have fun. They started a cheer and I was just being the conductor for it. I can have a good time.

“I don’t know if it’s called being a free spirit or just being weird. Whatever. If you can’t laugh, you might as well not be alive.”

Teammate Gene Walter called over, “The fans love you here, Jake.”

Kruk--who does have that Belushi belly--said: “Yeah, I’m pretty big up here, man.”

Padre Notes Dave Dravecky returned, but now Eric Show has left. Dravecky had gone back to San Diego Monday to have his sore left elbow examined, and it was decided that he would miss his next start Saturday in St. Louis (LaMarr Hoyt will start a day early). Dravecky flew back here to meet the team Tuesday night. But, Show--who also has a sore elbow--has flown back to San Diego to again be examined by Dr. Cliff Colwell. Show is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list today, but he will not. The Padres still aren’t sure when he’ll pitch again. . . . Marla Collins, the Cub ballgirl who was fired Tuesday, will film an hourlong interview on the Playboy Channel. Rumors are that there will be a Marla Collins calendar and Marla Collins posters on the market soon. . . . John Kruk calls Graig Nettles “Pops” because he’s so old. But really, Kruk said he admires Nettles. “It’s just amazing, what he tells you on the bench,” Kruk said. “He’ll sit there and tell you what every pitcher’s throwing before he throws it. It’s amazing. Just by the way a pitcher holds his hands in his glove or the way he holds his glove. It’s amazing. He says if you watch a pitcher long enough, you can figure out what a pitcher’s always gonna throw by the end of the game. I watch, and I don’t know nothing about what they’ll throw. He’s a smart man. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a manager some day. He’s been playing 100 years.”

PADRES AT A GLANCE

Scorecard

SECOND INNING

Cubs--With one out, Cey singled to right. Dunston doubled to left, Cey scoring. Sanderson doubled to left, Dunston scoring. Mumphrey grounded to first. Sandberg flied to center. Two runs, three hits, one left.

THIRD INNING Padres--Templeton singled to right. Hawkins sacrificed. Flannery flied to left. Gwynn singled to left, Templeton scoring. Kruk singled to right, Gwynn taking third. Nettles flied to right. One run, three hits, two left.

FIFTH INNING Padres--Templeton doubled to left-center. Hawkins reached first on Sandberg’s error, Templeton taking third. Flannery singled to center, Templeton scoring with Hawkins taking third and Flannery second on the throw. Hawkins was picked off . Gwynn grounded to second, Flannery taking third. Kruk singled to center, Flannery scoring. Nettles grounded to second. Two runs, three hits, one error, one left.

Cubs--With one out, Mumphrey singled to right. Sandberg homered to left-center, his 10th. Matthews flied to right. Durham grounded to second. Two runs, two hits.

SIXTH INNING Cubs--With one out, Davis homered to left, his 12th. Cey struck out. Dunston singled to center. Fontenot struck out. One run, two hits, one left.

SEVENTH INNING Padres--With two outs, Flannery reached first on Fontenot’s error. Gwynn doubled to left-center, Flannery scoring. Kruk singled to center, Gwynn scoring. Nettles struck out. Two runs (unearned), two hits, one error, one left.

EIGHTH INNING Padres--Gumpert took the mound . Garvey singled to left. Roberts ran for Garvey. Bochy, batting for Kennedy, sacrificed. Wynne doubled to left, Roberts scoring with Wynne taking third on Matthews’ throwing error. Templeton struck out. Wynne scored on a wild pitch. McReynolds, batting for Lefferts, walked. Flannery flied to right. Two runs (one unearned), two hits, one error, one left.