Greg Booker’s days as a player with the Padres weren’t always easy.

When he and Kristi married in 1981, Booker became the son-in-law of Padres general manager Jack McKeon.

The McKeons and Booker went back beyond that. Booker was raised in Burlington, N.C., and attended Elon University in the state. In 1981, McKeon drafted Booker out of Elon with the Padres’ 10th-round pick.

“That was the first time I heard it,” Booker said years later. “I was drafted because I knew Jack. For years after that, every time I pitched for the Padres, especially when I struggled, I heard ‘Booker’s only here because he’s McKeon’s son-in-law.”

Truth is, that was far from the truth.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Booker was a respected member of the Padres’ bullpen. He was a member of the Padres’ first National League championship team in 1984 – posting a 3.30 earned run average in 57 1/3 innings while being a shuttle reliever between the Padres and the minor leagues.

He shuttled between the Padres and Triple-A throughout his first four seasons with the Padres – returning each time with his “down home sense of humor” about a stride in front of him as he approached the clubhouse door.

As a rookie during that 1984 season, he returned to the Padres joking that he already had his return ticket to Triple-A Las Vegas.

Greg Booker, who passed away last Saturday at the age of 58 following a prolonged fight against melanoma, had two careers as a Padre.

In seven seasons as a player, Booker had a 5-7 record with one save and a 3.80 ERA in 153 games (four starts). He had been drafted as a starter, but transitioned to a reliever in his third professional season.

Booker returned to the Padres in 1997 as manager Bruce Bochy’s bullpen coach. Booker and backup catcher Bochy had spent many hours together as players in the Padres bullpen. In 2002, Booker became the Padres’ pitching coach, a position he held for less than 1 ½ seasons before being dismissed.

Bochy once described Booker as “the perfect teammate.”

During his last visit to San Diego several years ago, Booker joked that he and Darren Balsley were the only pitching coaches the Padres had had since the start of the 2002 season. “I set Bals up for a long run,” joked Booker.

Greg Booker was a good guy. He was friends with the likes of Bochy, Tony Gwynn and Tim Flannery – men whose time with the Padres crossed eras. Book always answered questions, sometimes with a touch of humor to his detriment.

He was dismissed as the Padres pitching coach on May 17, 2003 -- the same day as The Preakness. As he held an impromptu press conference outside the coaches clubhouse at Qualcomm Stadium, Booker looked up at the television screen over his head as the horses neared the gate and said: “You could enter a donkey in The Preakness, but that doesn’t mean he would win.”

Services for Greg Booker will be held Wednesday in Burlington, N.C. He and Kristi had four children and four grandchildren.

NOTEBOOK:

--After four-fifths of the first trip through the rotation, Padres pitchers had a 0.84 earned run average. That shot up to 2.63 after Matt Strahm allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings Monday night. The rotation’s WHIP soared from 0.84 to 1.67.

--Monday marked the first time in his career that Strahm allowed a game-opening homer or a home run on an 0-and-2 account. Honors for both went to Arizona lead-off man Adam Jones.

--CF Franchy Cordero had his first two hits of the season Monday after entering the game in a double switch.

--SS Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first Major League homer Monday night – making him the second-youngest player in Padres history to homer. Hall of Fame second baseman Roberto Alomar was four days only than Tatis when he hit his first Major League homer. The 20-year-old Tatis is also the fourth-youngest position player (and fifth-youngest overall) to play for the Padres. Thanks to AJ Cassavell for this nugget.