By John Maffei
June 22, 2004

SAN DIEGO--Two days before his professional debut, Matt Bush—whom the Padres picked first overall in the 2004 draft--was arrested on multiple misdemeanors in Peoria, Ariz.

Bush, who signed with the team last week and worked out with the big club last Tuesday in Petco Park, was in Peoria, practicing in preparation for the opening of the Rookie-level Arizona League season that starts Tuesday.

The 18-year-old shortstop was arrested about 1 a.m. Sunday and released Sunday about noon. He was suspended indefinitely by the Padres, pending the club's investigation of the matter.

A spokesman for the Peoria Police Dept. said Bush tried to enter a bar near the club's spring-training site, was denied access, tried to force his way in, got into a scuffle with a bouncer, was arrested, but not charged for trespassing, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault.

Bush, who played at Mission Bay High, was the area player of the year in San Diego after hitting .447 with 11 home runs. Bush was named a first-team All-American by Baseball America.

"We're conducting an internal investigation to determine what type of disciplinary action we'll take," Padres general manager Kevin Towers said. "We're very disappointed. The type of person we bring into the organization is important. We want positive role models, so this isn't a real good early indicator.
"We've all made mistakes, but these charges are fairly serious. It's not like he missed curfew. This is quite disturbing."

Towers said that checking Bush's background before the draft, the organization wasn't aware of any problems in the player's past.

"My job is to bring talent into the organization to represent the San Diego Padres in a positive manner," scouting director Bill Gayton said. "We've never had an incident like this before."

Gayton said he an area scout Tim McWilliam did a background check on Bush and found nothing disturbing in his past.

Towers said Bush tried to suit up and workout Monday and was told he could not. The Padres plan to fly Bush back to San Diego today where he'll have a physical.

"The physical is fairly routine," Towers said. "All our players undergo a physical within 90 days of signing. We feel this is the right time for Bush. We just want to see what we find. He will not play competitively until this is cleared up."