Tuesday, March 25, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
PEORIA, Ariz. -- In addition to having the perfect name for a minor-league baseball player, Homer Bush also possesses all the tools to advance to the next level.
His mission this year with the Las Vegas Stars will be to refine those tools so he will be in a position to compete for the starting second base job with the San Diego Padres next spring -- albeit a year late.
Bush was to have challenged Jody Reed and Luis Lopez at second base this spring, but a broken leg six weeks into his first triple-A season last year ended his season and any hope of starting the 1997 campaign in the major leagues.
"That put me back a step," Bush said of the broken right fibula he suffered on May 17 while attempting to steal second base in a game against Calgary at Cashman Field. "I wasn't even able to compete (this spring) because they didn't know if I was going to come back healthy or not. The Padres wanted to go with experience and they definitely had experience with (Quilvio) Veras and Reed and Lopez at the time."
With Bush's health still a question mark last winter, the Padres traded pitcher Dustin Hermanson to the Florida Marlins for Veras, then traded Lopez to Houston and Reed to Detroit.
"The whole year was tough on me," Bush said of 1996. "I felt like I had a shot to at least get some kind of time at the big-league level. For that, it was tough for me to swallow but I take it in stride now, I'm looking forward and not looking in the past."
Come the spring of 1998 -- if not sooner -- Bush will get his chance with the Padres, according to Stars manager Jerry Royster, but his real opportunity will start April 3 when he opens the season at Las Vegas.
"This is a big year for him, especially with the expansion draft coming up," Royster said of Bush. "The Padres need him to do well, and he needs to do well. We've got to get him to look a lot like a major-league player ... and I think he's very capable."
Although Bush was impressive during his short stint with the Stars last season, hitting .362 in 32 games, Royster said the Padres want to see the 24-year-old improve his on-base percentage. While he hit safely in 28 of the 32 games in which he played last year, Bush drew only three walks in 120 plate appearances.
"The makeup of his game is lacking a couple of things," Royster said. "Right now, his on-base percentage is one-dimensional, and that's by a hit. His walks-to-strikeouts (ratio) isn't very good and hasn't been good over the years."
Bush has walked only 73 times in 1,920 at-bats during his six-year professional career -- but once he gets on base, he gives opposing teams fits. Although he stole only three bases in 32 games in 1996, he averaged 34 steals a season from 1993 to 1995.
"That's what the Padres need from me -- they need me to walk more, get on base more and get my on-base percentage up," Bush said. "That's my goal this year. There's not any more years for me to try to get these things done -- this is how they want it and this is going to have to be the year."
Based on his brief stint in the major-league camp this spring, Bush said he expects to enjoy the same kind of offensive success he had with the Stars before the injury.
"I feel like I'm going to pick up right where I left off -- that's the kind of spring I'm having," he said. "If it happens where I start off a little slow, I'll pick it up in the end, if anything negative happens like that. But I don't think that I'll be overmatched or anything like that."
As far as the injury is concerned, Bush said there is only minor lingering pain as a result of playing on the hard infields at the Padres' minor-league complex.
"It gets a little sore at times with this hard surface out here, but it only lasts for a little bit," he said. "I was told that if you have to break a bone in your leg, (the fibula) is the one to break because a lot of times, there aren't (any long-term adverse effects).
"In terms of my speed, I feel like I'm almost right at 100 percent -- or a little bit better. During the off-season, I did yoga and I took a six-week agility course, which helped my leg a lot."
Off the field, Bush was aided by the Padres, who put him on the 40-man major-league roster after his injury -- which meant Bush earned the major-league minimum salary of $110,000 even though he wasn't playing.
"Financially, it really helped me," Bush said. "Now I don't have to worry about the bills being paid, I can just go out and play baseball so I can come back."
With Royster's help, Bush hopes soon to be able repay the Padres' generosity by fulfilling his promise as their second baseman of the future.
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