European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 17, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday August 17,1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 baseball Roundup provincialism colors series fantasies by Steve Wilstein Oakland Calif. A in the Northern part of the left coast where miracles happen As often As rain bows this summer s baseball fantasy is a Bay Bridge world series Between the Oakland athletics and san Francisco giants. Back East in the City there s talk of a subway series Between the new York mets and Yankees though the players and most fans would skip the subway an commute Between the boroughs via car. It s not unusual for californians and new yorkers to think the world revolves around them and to Dis miss the rest of the nation As so much space betwee the oceans. Remember the famous new yorker mag Azine illustration of a shrunken View of the country West of Manhattan in this baseball season though a Little myopia on the part of san Francisco Bay area and new York fans May be justified. They really do have decent chances of keeping the world series at Home and All four teams have Strong map candidates Jose Canseco of the athletics will Clark of the giants Darryl Strawberry of the mets and Dave Winfield of the Yankees. The greater likelihood however is a Cross country series Between two of the teams but it s just As Likely that none of the four will even reach the world series. Detroit Boston Minnesota Montreal Pittsburgh los Angeles Houston and Cincinnati All might have something to say about How the season ends up an there Are More than a few other map candidates. The first step is the division Pennant races where the biggest Lead in either league is owned by the athletics. Such is the Karma of the a s this year that eve when they lose they Don t lose. They dropped one to the California Angels 6-4, sunday but stayed 8 a commentary games ahead of Minnesota which fell 9-6 to the Yan Kees. The twins though shaved that to 8 with Mon Day s Victory Over Detroit. San Francisco moved within 3 a games of the Sud Denly vulnerable los Angeles dodgers in the National league West with a 20-hit, 15-4 ego Booster for giant fans before dropping a 1-0 contest monday that put the giants 4 i games in arrears. Houston sits betwee the giants and dodgers 3 games out. In the no East the mets stretched their Lead to 5 games Over Pittsburgh and 6 a Over Montreal with a doubleheader sweep of the expos. Though the a s and mets have the Best records i their leagues no one on either team is ready to chill the Champagne or warm up the presses for playoff tickets. However it would take one of the great collapses four time approaching Boston s 14 a game slide in 1978, and the 13 a game drop by the dodgers in 1951 to derail the athletics. Don t count on it. Oakland manager Tony la Russa does t want anyc9mplacency to set in or get any gloating remarks pinned up m the twins locker room. So he keeps astern face with such pronouncements As anything less than a 15-game Lead on sept. 1,1 would Call  he amended that after the loss to California which ended a six game winning Streak. I re thought that he said. When we get 40 games Over .500, then i la Start feeling comfortable. I m not sure a 15-game Lead on sept. 1 will make me feel comfortable. When we get 40-Over, then i la know we got a helluva shot. That should be our next  no place like Home botox will have to win it on Road by Ben Walker a baseball writer Boston they Are baseball s homeboys these Boston red sox. Fantastic at Fenway ruffians on the Road. But hey that s How the Minnesota twins won the world series. I Don t know if it s magic or what. You get the feeling you re not going to lose Here Mike Greenwell said while the red sox set an american league record with 24 straight victories at Home. In baseball where mental is As important As physical believing is seeing. Players who think and expect to do Well often do. Boston s Streak ended sunday when Detroit went on an 18-6 rampage. But the red sox still own the Best Home record in the majors at 40-19, compared to 26 32 on the Road. We wish we could play All of our games Here but every team wants that said Rookie infielder Jody Reed who is batting .331 at Fenway Park and .268 elsewhere. Well just have to do better on our next  the twins kept telling themselves the same thing last year. In the end they did t need to they went 56 25 at the metronome to win the Al West and then won All six Home games during the playoffs. Some Good things happen and Confidence builds Minnesota Ace Frank Viola said. We played confidently at Home last year and went out every game and thought we d do  Viola won 19 straight decisions at Home Between May 22, 1987, and june 27, 1988. Most other Minne Sota pitchers did better at Home even in a hitter s Paradise. Gary Gaetti the map of the playoffs hit 100 Points higher at the metronome than on the Road last year and most twins batters enjoyed similar Success. But Why does it happen after All this in t the nil or Aba where the Home team dominates. In the big leagues even Atlanta can win two out of three at Shea stadium which happened recently although the new York mets 38-19 Home record is second Best to the red sox. In Boston s Case blame the Fenway phantoms. You can Tell they know How to play at their own Park. We seemed to have some trouble Detroit s Ray Knight said. The red sox played pinball with Detroit on Friday and saturday easily winning both As the scoreboard went tilt. Greenwell following Boston s left Field legacy of Williams Yastrzemski and Rice expertly fielded balls off the Green monster and often decoded Detroit run ners on Fly balls. The tigers meanwhile displayed several carols and were confused by the Tricky angles. It s not easy to play Here Greenwell said. It takes a lot of  the twins enjoyed a similar advantage last season especially in the postseason. Minnesota fielders accustomed to the strange Light ing spongy turf and baggy right Field Wall Felt Home at their dome. Detroit in the playoffs and St. Louis in the world series looked lost. Nobody knows Why we did t do better on the Road last year said twins manager Tom Kelly who held a team meeting in Spring training to talk about the club s dismal 29-52 Mark away from the metronome. We were losing 4-3 and 3-2. We were playing Good enough to  that s what Boston did during a recent swing to Detroit and Milwaukee. The red sox went 2-7, batted just .229 and fell out of a first place tie. There should be no reason you can t do As Well on the Road As at Home Boston manager Joe Morgan said. You Don t have As Many distractions and should be Able to concentrate  maybe. But the red sox Are hitting .313 with 50 Home runs at Home and .267 with 39 homers on the Road. That should be expected although Boston hit 88 Home runs on the Road last year and Only 86 at Fen Way. This is a hitter s Park and they have a team built to play Here Detroit manager Sparky Anderson observed after saturday s shelling. The red sox Hope to take advantage while playing their next nine games at Home. After that 23 of the final 36 Are on the Road. I talk about mental toughness and that s when you need it Morgan said. Well see if it  right now Oakland is 32 games Over .500, Best inthe majors. If the a s finish 40 Over Minnesota would have to win 37 of its remaining 46 games to beat  Russa would t mind taking his chances with that. The a s Are looking a Little ragged but show no Signor collapse. In fact there s a steely glint in their eyes As they speak with disdain about running away with the division. Canseco tried to take a Day off against the Angels to nurse a left hand that looks sort of chewed up with a half Dollar size popped Blister on his Palm and three huge callouses on his fingers. He had to play though in the sixth when Carney Lansford sprained his thumb. Canseco ignored the pain and singled to left. Sure it hurts but i m used to playing with pain Canseco said. My legs Are getting tired but that s not going to keep me out. I just get More massages and take  despite an off Day by Ace Dave Stewart against thenagels the athletics pitching staff is Strong and healthy with four Quality starters Good Long relievers and the big stopper Dennis Eckersley who leads the majors with 33 saves. I think we be got the Best pitching staff in the american league this year Stewart says. Many a s fans think their team is invincible. Newyork fans Are Only slightly less sanguine about their heroes. Giants fans however consider the dodgers Mere pretenders to the no West Crown their club won last year and keep predicting the dodgers demise. Bear in mind though that Many san franciscan think everyone in los Angeles is phony and logic May get clouded in the heat of a Pennant race. Baseball notes Clemens May miss a Start new York a Roger Clemens the key to Boston s Pennant Hopes will miss a Start for the first time in three years because of a Bac problem the associated press has Learned. A source close to the two time by Young win Ner confirmed the red sox plan to rest Clemens for about 10 Days. Instead of pitching against Oakland during the weekend Clemens would face California Early next week possibly on , 15-8, endured the worst and shortest Outing of his career sunday against Detroit. Heave up eight runs in Iva innings and lost his third straight Start for the first time  the game team doctor Arthur Pappas said Clemens had a slight muscle Strain in the left Side of his Back. Pappas said it was not known How Clemens Hurt himself and that he would be Given muscle relaxing medication. Sources said Clemens would be held out of the rotation for at least a week. The target Date for his next Start is aug. 24 at Fenway Park against the  taken his turn in the Boston rotation for every Start since the 1986  his last 14% innings Clemens has Given up 18 runs and walked 11. Clemens rec9gnized Fortis control had walked Only 37 in his previous 197 innings. Stieb leaving jays Toronto a Dave Stieb May get his wish and be traded from the Toronto Blue jays at the end of this season sooner if Genera manager Pat Gillick can Deal the disgruntled  told a Toronto Star reporter monday that he would try to accommodate the Trade re quest Stieb made through his agent Bob la Monte on the  Gillick said he is not siding with the 10 year Blue Jay Veteran against manager Jimy Wil Liams whom Stieb says is mistreating him. With the players that count on this team Jimy has an excellent relationship Gillick said. There will always be disgruntled players on Amajor league team. But Jimy is Okay to the ones that