Return trip to Eugene would suit Riddoch just fine.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

Greg Riddoch said he doesn't plan too far in the future these days, but he is eyeing another return to Eugene.

"I don't do the 10-year plan anymore, I do the six-month plan," the 62-year-old Riddoch said. "Then I see how I like it after six months and make a decision."

Despite a rough finish on the field, Riddoch said he enjoyed his return trip as manager of the Eugene Emeralds after three decades away from the job. He said the San Diego Padres have asked if he'd like to return next season, and he gave them an early indication that he would do that.

"I'll probably end up coming back," Riddoch said. "There are two main reasons why I'd come back. One is the San Diego Padres; I have a love for the Padres and I've spent seven years there. The other reason is this community. Who would not want to come to a place like this and work in the summer? We've got friends here, we love it, and the fans are good."

Riddoch managed the Ems in 1975-76 and again from 1978-81 and led the franchise to its last two Northwest League titles in 1975 and 1980. From there he went on to a career in major-league baseball that included a stint as manager of the Padres from 1990-92.

Riddoch served as a third-base coach for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and worked in player development for the Rangers and Brewers before managing Spokane to the Northwest League title in 2005. After taking last year off in his hometown of Longmont, Colo., he and his wife, Linda, returned to Eugene this year.

"I had a good time," said Riddoch, who is the winningest manager in franchise history with a 261-246 record. "The buses kill me a bit. You jump on the bus and go eight hours and then eight hours back, it's not as easy as it used to be. But I love the flavor of this community. It is a sports-minded community. Linda and I always used to say if there was any other place we could live it would be Eugene. It's a nice place, and I would plan on coming back unless they have other plans for me. The Padres asked me and I said the way I feel now I would do it again."

Riddoch is currently a part-time employee of the Padres, and he spends much of the offseason making public-speaking appearances and giving hitting instructions across the country. He has helped corporations with staff development and supervision of personnel while also giving baseball and softball hitting lessons two days a week.

The Padres asked him to manage at their instructional league in Peoria next month, but he had to turn down the offer because of his other duties.

Riddoch said he has talked to the Padres about the possibility of becoming a full-time employee and working throughout their minor-league system prior to the start of the Northwest League season.

"Because of all my stuff, my public-speaking business, when you are speaking to corporations around America you book some of those a year in advance so I can't just dump contracts I signed with Hewlett-Packard or National Farmers Union insurance company, you just can't dump stuff like that," he said. "So I said, I can either go full-time or we'll just piece it together with my two different professions, speaking and batting instruction and all that stuff. I'm not quite sure what they are going to do with that. They would like me to go to spring training, then maybe travel to their Triple-A team, Double-A team, both Single-A teams once and then go to Arizona one time at the end to see what is there. Then come up here, have the draft, and do it again."

Riddoch said one tough part of coaching is leaving his two sons and grandchildren.

"Sometimes its hard when you talk to the grandkids and they say, `Papa, when are you going to come home and pitch and when are you going to take me fishing,' ' he said. "Your heartstrings start calling for your grandchildren. Sometimes you are in a double bind, but they are in school now and I can get up and feed them, help them with homework, and take them to school."

Riddoch's respect among managers in the league was evident when they voted him co-manager of the year despite Eugene's 34-42 finish. Eugene president and general manager Bob Beban, who joined the franchise in 1982 - the year after Riddoch left - raved about his first season working closely with Riddoch.

"Nod a bad day, not a single bad day," Beban said. "He's so optimistic. He's hard-working, smart, he has a good way with the kids. He's very organized. He recognizes what needs to be done for us to win and he also understands what it takes to develop players. I think he and Frank Funk are the two best managers we've had since I've been here. I think he likes it here, and we love having him."

Eugene fans did not see as much of Riddoch late in the season as he turned over some of his duties to hitting instructor Jose Flores, who served as third-base coach throughout the final homestand. Riddoch said he is trying to help the 34-year-old Flores get experience as a coach.

"He made out some lineups, managed games, and in between innings we'd talk about what count we should hit-and-run," Riddoch said. "It is a situation where I am training another kid and he's very talented, a diamond in the rough. I started when I was 27 and they said `Here's your team, you're the new coach.' I learned the hard way and I don't want his way to be as hard as mine was, but I want to pass on the things I learned to him."