"And on the 10th pitch, he walked.

Miguel Tejada made a lasting first impression with his new club, watching or fouling off nine pitches from Florida Marlins right-hander Chris Volstad before taking his base in his debut plate appearance with the Padres. A few minutes later, trying to make something happen while teammate Chase Headley was caught in a two-out pickle between first and second, Tejada drew a throw and was tagged out in a rundown between third and home.

The first grounder he fielded for the Padres was his first at shortstop all season, and it was handled cleanly, like the many thousands of 6-to-3's the ageless Tejada had been doing all his life. A life that, in one major league sense, took a 180-degree turn Thursday.

"One of the best days of my life," Tejada said. "Yesterday I was in last place. Today I'm in first place."

Think of this. With one phone call, Tejada essentially made a 58-game turnaround. He left an abysmal Baltimore Orioles club 38 games under .500 - 33?1/2 games behind the division leader - to a San Diego team 20 games over .500 and 3?1/2 games in front of the NL West.

"I think I can help," Tejada said. "I'm looking for a team I can help, a team that can be winning."

It's a team, to be sure, that's gotten along quite nicely over four months with the talent it assembled in spring training. Whatever newcomer was brought to the party to liven up the offense had to be a team guy, though, and those among the Padres who've played with Tejada swore by him."