Will powerful Ryno return to form?

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:53 PM PST ∞

PEORIA, Ariz. ---- Ryan Klesko is tired of playing the scapegoat. Everywhere the Padres' left fielder went during the offseason ---- to his hunting ranch in Oregon, to his gym in Georgia, then back to San Diego for January workouts at Petco Park ---- he heard the talk. He heard that his 2004 campaign was for the dogs, and that if he had managed merely passable offensive production, it might have been sufficient to lift the Padres into the playoffs.

The thing is, Klesko doesn't see the same statistics others see.

"People can't point fingers and say, 'You had a bad year last year,' " Klesko said. "Did I have the year I wanted? No. But I put up pretty decent numbers for the way I started the season and considering I was coming off surgery."

When Klesko reflects on a tumultuous 2004, the All-Star break forms a clear line of demarcation between the bad Ryno and the good Ryno. Before the mid-July break, he missed 17 games with a strained oblique muscle, and even when healthy was a shell of his former self because of a loss of strength stemming from shoulder surgery ---- his first time going under the knife of his professional career ---- the previous fall.

Klesko batted less than .240 in May and June and finished the half with two home runs, an embarrassingly paltry total for a 6-foot-3, 225-pound slugger.

"The first half was terrible," he said. "It was like a nightmare."

After the break, as the right shoulder of the left-handed-hitting Klesko began to recover its lost life, his bat awoke accordingly. In 66 second-half games, he hit .310 with 19 doubles and 36 RBIs, and was positively scorching down the stretch with a .380 average after Aug. 31.

In all, his .291 average was his second highest in five seasons with the Padres, his .399 on-base percentage was the best for a full season in his career, and his 32 doubles were only two fewer than he had in his All-Star campaign of 2001 ---- despite 136 fewer at-bats.

"I could have easily looked at my numbers and said, 'God, look how bad this is,' and just given up," Klesko said. "By the end of the season I actually had some respectable numbers for the at-bats I had. ... The only thing that really hurt me was the power (categories)."

His late resurgence notwithstanding, the digit that most colored Klesko's season ---- and the one he just can't escape ---- is nine. That was his final homer tally following 10 consecutive years of at least 17 home runs.

"The reason Ryno stands out is because his home runs weren't there," Padres manager Bruce Bochy said.

As anyone who paid even passing attention to the Padres last season knows, Klesko's shoulder issues only partly explain his power outage.

The 33-year-old veteran joined fellow sluggers Phil Nevin and Brian Giles at the forefront of Padres hitters' frequent and sometimes withering attacks on their first-year ballpark, which quickly gained a reputation for containing deep drives. In one memorable game, Klesko launched three shots that he later insisted would have been homers in most parks, but was left with a double, two fly outs and a few choice words for Petco.

Even now, in the relaxed atmosphere of spring training, his peace with the ballpark seems fragile.

"(The Padres) built it," Klesko said. "They paid a lot of money for me and Giles and Nevin to come in here and drive the long ball, and to build something like that is their own fault. They can't blame us."

Klesko has made allowances for his surroundings by continuing to change his swing from long and violent to short and smooth, in an effort to reduce the loft on his balls.

"It's just going to die out there," he said. "You're shooting yourself in the foot trying to hit the ball in the air at home. You have to play with what you got. Obviously in Colorado you're not going to be looking to hit the ball on the ground."

With his shoulder at full strength and his body bulked up to almost 240 pounds, Klesko could more than double his homers this year. But he vows to concentrate only on the number under the Padres' victory column.

"People ask me what kind of year I'm going to have," Klesko said. "To tell you the truth, I want to win. We have to do whatever it takes to win."

PADRES NOTES ---- RHP Akinori Otsuka participated in his regularly scheduled bullpen session Tuesday after assuring Padres coaches that his tender shoulder was fine. ... RF Brian Giles reported to camp, a day before the rest of the team's position players are scheduled to arrive. The first full-squad workout is Thursday.

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.