Sports at Lunch, Larry Bowa

This time Larry Bowa made it past May 28 without being fired. Back in 1988, when Bowa was in his second season as the Padres' manager, he came out with his first book, "Bleep!" But the team started 16-30 and he was fired on a road trip to New York as the second month of the season was ending.

Bowa, now the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, wrote a second book this year with MLB.com writer Barry Bloom entitled, "I Sill Hate to Lose.” Bowa has weathered several rumors during the season about an imminent dismissal, but he was still the manager when the Phillies came to San Diego for their only trip of the year.

Bowa's team swept three games from the Padres to remain in the race for the National League East division title with the Atlanta Braves. San Diego was so good to him, the fiery manage known for confrontations with umpires and his own players showed his affable side during a question-and-answer period at the Hall.

"Winning is a passion for me," Bowa said. "Maybe sometimes it hinders me and gets me in trouble. I just hate losing. I'll do anything to win a baseball game. With some players the perception is it shouldn't be like that. My dad always told me when you put on that uniform, if you don't go full out for three hours then you might as well get another job."

As a player, Bowa was a fixture in the Phillies lineup that included teammates such as Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt. The Phillies were perennial playoff participants or contenders in those days, including a World Series title in 1980. As a manager, Bowa is trying to return the franchise to its glory days.

"I take the game seriously and sometimes people say I rub them the wrong way," Bowa said. "If I have to change the way I do things, then it's time for me to move along. As long as I have a uniform in that locker room, I'm going to give it everything I have."

Bowa was asked if he thought his old teammate in Philadelphia, Pete Rose, would ever make the Hall of Fame. Bowa said Rose at one time had many players and writers on his side, but once he admitted he had been lying for years about not betting on baseball, he said he thinks many veteran players won't ever vote for him once his case goes to the Veteran's Committee.

Bowa was also asked what he would change about baseball if he could.

"I changed two things," he said. "I don't like the DH. And I don't like giving college players $8 million before they've ever seen a Major League pitch. I say give them their bonus in increments. If they make it to the Major Leagues the first year, you give so much money. Then give hem more after the second. What's their incentive when they have all that money without putting on a Major League uniform?"

Bowa, who signed a $2,000 bonus in 1966, hates more about baseball than just losing. He hates to see players not live up to their promise.

"I can honestly say I did everything you could hope to do in baseball," Bowa said. "I just hoped to play in the Majors for one year, but then I played one, then two and eventually 17 years. I won a World Series. I'll never have to sit back in a rocking chair and wish I had done this or that."