Terry Pendleton

Padre catcher Benito Santiago walked through the stadium tunnel Monday afternoon when he started to pass the Atlanta Braves' clubhouse. He slowed, stopped, and wondered if should turn left and enter the visiting clubhouse. Santiago, knowing the Padres and Braves had trade talks several weeks ago that have since ended, smiled weakly. The way Padre fans have been treating him lately, he feels like the enemy, anyway.

Terry Pendleton, picked up as a free agent during the off-season, was released Wednesday by the Cincinnati Reds. Pendleton was the National League most valuable player and batting champion in 1991 with the Atlanta Braves, for whom he played in three World Series. This year, he was batting .248 with one home run, 17 runs batted in and two stolen bases. Pendleton, 37, had a $350,000 base salary and received a $1,851 bonus for every game he played in or $3,395 for each game he started.

POSSIBILITIES: A key player in this year's World Series, the Atlanta Braves' Terry Pendleton, could have been an Angel. . . . In 1990, Anaheim needed a third baseman, and among the choices were free agents Pendleton and Gary Gaetti. The Angels, who were only mildly interested in Pendleton, went with Gaetti for $11.4 million. The returns? Gaetti has hit .237 in two seasons; Pendleton might win his second National League Most Valuable Player award. Terry vs.

The National League reinstated Cincinnati Red third baseman Terry Pendleton from the 15-day disabled list Thursday, four days after he fouled a ball off his foot and broke a toe. The league took the unusual step after the players' association questioned the move. Pendleton was upset that the Reds put him on the disabled list and talked to his agent, Jim Bronner, setting the process in motion.

Terry Pendleton, the National League's most valuable player in 1991, will be let go by the Atlanta Braves, the team said Tuesday. The Braves will not offer Pendleton salary arbitration for next season, making him eligible for free agency. Pendleton, 34, has been with the Braves since 1991. "He's not in our plans for next year," Brave spokesman Jim Schultz said. Schultz said Pendleton's age and the high salary the team would have had to pay to keep him contributed to the decision.

A rib injury prevented Terry Pendleton, then with the St. Louis Cardinals, from playing in the 1987 World Series, but he became familiar with the Metrodome. Local knowledge, the Atlanta third baseman said, gives the Twins a built-in advantage. "It's not a horrible dome, but I'd rather be starting in Atlanta," Pendleton said. "It's hard enough to find the ball here, much less go get it."

Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench said it's not fair to criticize Toronto catcher Pat Borders too harshly for the base-stealing liberties taken against him by the Oakland Athletics and Braves. "If the pitcher holds (a runner), you've got 1.5 seconds to get him, and that's between catching the ball, transferring it (to the throwing hand) and throwing it," he said. "If the pitcher doesn't hold him, you've got nine-tenths of a second.

The phone starting ringing Sunday in the press box at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The folks in Atlanta were getting nervous. Hal Morris of the Cincinnati Reds had gotten three hits in his first three at-bats and needed one more to take the batting title away from the Braves' Terry Pendleton. Then Morris, batting in the seventh inning, hit a line drive that started slicing toward the left-center gap.

The National League reinstated Cincinnati Red third baseman Terry Pendleton from the 15-day disabled list Thursday, four days after he fouled a ball off his foot and broke a toe. The league took the unusual step after the players' association questioned the move. Pendleton was upset that the Reds put him on the disabled list and talked to his agent, Jim Bronner, setting the process in motion.

Terry Pendleton's most difficult experience was the birth last week of his second child, who was almost two months premature and was supposed to have a twin. Terry Jr., 5 pounds 3 ounces at birth, is healthy despite the death of his sibling earlier in his mother's pregnancy. Catherine Pendleton carried both babies until her son was born last Friday. "I would say it's the toughest thing I've ever been through, and now it's a big sigh of relief and serious happiness.

Terry Pendleton has come full circle in search of a ring. The Atlanta Braves' third baseman has played on four World Series losers, and he longs for a final at-bat with a championship on the line. "This is a great opportunity, and I've got to be ready," he said. "I've got to bounce." At 5 feet 9, 200 pounds, Pendleton resembled a bouncing ball as he jogged onto the field at Dodger Stadium for practice Tuesday. The Braves face the Dodgers today in the first game of the National League playoffs.

First, Moises Alou made peace with the Houston Astros. Then, he helped the Montreal Expos defeat them. Alou, facing a possible suspension for his part in an ugly brawl with the Astros on Monday, hit a pair of two-run homers Tuesday night to lead the Expos to a 7-4 victory at Montreal.

Terry Pendleton will get another chance to win a World Series ring with the Atlanta Braves. The NL East leaders, trying to strengthen their bench, acquired Pendleton from the Florida Marlins for minor league outfielder Roosevelt Brown. Pendleton, a third baseman who played in two World Series with the Braves, was the NL's most valuable player in 1991. Pendleton, 36, hit .251 with seven homers and 58 runs batted in 111 games for the Marlins this season.

Terry Pendleton heard the whispers. At age 25, an off year is called a slump. At 35, it's a crisis. Pendleton turned 35 on Sunday. To observe the impending landmark before Saturday night's game, a Florida Marlin trainer wrapped each of Pendleton's ankles with what seemed like 35 feet of adhesive tape. "You don't have to remind me," Pendleton said of how fast time is encroaching. It is easy to wonder what Pendleton is doing on the Marlins, current bottom feeders in the National League West.

Baseball's hot stove boiled over Friday, with more than two dozen deals that put Terry Pendleton, Jim Gott and Bud Black in new places and the hint of other major moves involving Randy Johnson, Larry Walker and Bill Swift. Faced with two midnight EDT deadlines tied to salary arbitration, teams scrambled to settle contracts. The result was another massive shopping spree, as if the long off-season had been compressed into a few days.

Terry Pendleton, the National League's most valuable player in 1991, will be let go by the Atlanta Braves, the team said Tuesday. The Braves will not offer Pendleton salary arbitration for next season, making him eligible for free agency. Pendleton, 34, has been with the Braves since 1991. "He's not in our plans for next year," Brave spokesman Jim Schultz said. Schultz said Pendleton's age and the high salary the team would have had to pay to keep him contributed to the decision.

Terry Pendleton, picked up as a free agent during the off-season, was released Wednesday by the Cincinnati Reds. Pendleton was the National League most valuable player and batting champion in 1991 with the Atlanta Braves, for whom he played in three World Series. This year, he was batting .248 with one home run, 17 runs batted in and two stolen bases. Pendleton, 37, had a $350,000 base salary and received a $1,851 bonus for every game he played in or $3,395 for each game he started.

It was the eighth inning of Game 7 of the World Series. The score was 0-0 when Atlanta's Lonnie Smith led off with a single to right field. The batter was Terry Pendleton. Pendleton smashed a drive to deep left center, where it caromed off the wall for an extra-base hit. It should have won the 1991 Series for the Atlanta Braves. The fleet Lonnie Smith, who once stole 68 bases in a season, could have scored easily from first--except that he inexplicably lost sight of the ball.

He joined the Atlanta Braves in 1991 and became one of the leading architects of the three consecutive division titles and 296 victories during that span. Terry Pendleton helped stabilize the infield, provided leadership in the clubhouse, won the National League's most valuable player award in 1991, had a similar season in '92 and battled back from a struggling start last year to finish with numbers only slightly down from his two previous seasons.

At the time, they were simply a couple of nice plays that brought a ripple of applause from the Atlanta Braves' fans at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. But it developed that Atlanta third baseman Terry Pendleton's glove work in the second inning kept intact a no-hitter for Kent Mercker, who won, 6-0. Pendleton, a three-time Gold Glove winner, took potential hits away from the Dodgers' Raul Mondesi and Jose Offerman. "Ah, they were just routine," Pendleton said. "Just kidding."