Internal Strife at the World Series

By Tom Callahan

Indoor baseball has finally made it to the World Series, along with the Minnesota Twins (ne Washington Senators) and St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals' once again coming through dire circumstances is a drama without suspense, but the Twins are a thorough surprise. Over 84 fall classics, only the 1973 New York Mets lost more games along the way (81 to 78). In both instances, first at Cincinnati and now Detroit, the playoff victim was Sparky Anderson, who has penned a small couplet on upsets: "It ain't no fun when the rabbit's got the gun."

Tom Kelly, the major leagues' youngest manager at 37, inherited a ! considerable legacy from the Twins' old owner, Calvin Griffith: a powerful first baseman, Kent Hrbek; a complete third baseman, Gary Gaetti; a reliable left-handed pitcher, Frank Viola; and a little, round outfielder, Kirby Puckett. Through the ingenuity of young General Manager Andy MacPhail, 34 -- two storied baseball names, Griffith and MacPhail -- scrappy Outfielder Dan Gladden was added, along with a pair of heavy-duty relievers, Juan Berenguer from San Francisco and Jeff Reardon from Montreal. Greg Gagne has been a joyous shortstop, and Rightfielder Tom Brunansky a force at the plate. Still and all, Homerdome or away, the critical ingredient may have been the calm manner of Kelly.

The Cardinals, fresh from a record eighth seventh-game victory in ten lifetime opportunities, have now run or limped their way to three World Series in six seasons. "It seems when they get things going," sighed the San Francisco pitcher Mike Krukow, "they're a carousel. They just keep chiming in runs." But knowing they took the season and the playoffs largely with pitching at the end, Cardinals Base Stealer Vince Coleman cautions, "You have to establish a hitting game before you can establish a running game."

Manager Whitey Herzog, 55, scratching his head of straw, would be happy if he could just establish a lineup. Healthy pitchers are so precious that rather than take them out entirely, he sometimes stows them in rightfield. Third Baseman Terry Pendleton has all but joined First Baseman Jack Clark on the casualty list that has made Jim Lindeman and Jose Oquendo famous. "I don't know how we got this far," Herzog keeps saying the farther they go. Their most remarkable comeback was against themselves -- rather, against the memory of the 1985 World Series. On the verge of a six-game victory over Kansas City, the Cardinals were deprived by an umpire's incorrect call at first base. Coming completely unhinged, Ace John Tudor punched a fan (the electric kind) the next day with his pitching hand, and St. Louis suffered the sort of loss that figured to be lasting. "We drew on our tradition to make it back," says Shortstop Ozzie Smith, "but that doesn't mean I'm in favor of every tradition. There should be instant-replay officials at the World Series."

Commissioner Peter Ueberroth has been frowning at the traditional champagne celebration of the victorious. The winner of this Series is warned to curb its winos or risk losing the liquor license forever. When pro football banned those unseemly scenes in 1973, a Miami tackle named Manny Fernandez was particularly indignant. He whined, "I don't drink champagne because it's too tough on my stomach, but I'd like to pour it on somebody," prompting Red Smith to mutter, "For barbarians like that, Dr Pepper's too good."

With reporting by Lawrence Mondi/St. Louis