National League : Thon May Be Sent Back to Minors

Dickie Thon update: The Houston Astros’ shortstop, attempting to come back from a severe beaning last season by New York’s Mike Torrez, is encountering difficulty, and there is talk that the Astros may send him back to the minors for a while.

Thon, an All-Star in 1983 when he batted .286 with 20 home runs and 79 runs batted in, began the weekend batting .184, with no extra-base hits and two RBIs. In 49 at-bats, he has struck out 14 times. More and more, the Astros are playing Craig Reynolds at short.

“I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy season,” said Thon, whose vision in his left eye is 20-40, the result of permanent damage from the beaning.

“I’m seeing the ball, I’m just jumping at pitches. I don’t need anyone to tell me how to hit. I know how to hit. I just have to do it, and sometimes I’m too anxious.”

No rest for the weary: Kurt Bevacqua of the San Diego Padres, many of whom have had trouble sleeping on the road because of hotel renovation in a couple of cities, including Los Angeles, said: “Now, I know why it’s so tough to repeat (as champions). They keep sending construction crews to our hotels.”

One-man rotation: Rick Mahler of the Atlanta Braves is 7-1. In 19 starts made by other Atlanta pitchers, the Braves are 0-10, with nine no-decisions. The Braves are the only team in the league without a complete game.

The poor get poorer: The Dodgers, who were last in the league in run production in 1984, scored five runs or more in 59 games last season. At their current 1985 pace, according to Ron Lewis, editor of Baseball-for-Fans Publications, they’ll score five or more in just 32 games. The league average was 63 games last season.

No hands: The St. Louis Cardinals, the best defensive team in the league last season, went through a recent stretch in which they committed 15 errors in six games. Of the 31 runs scored against the Cardinals in that time, 28 were unearned.

Second baseman Tommy Herr, who made only six errors in 786 chances last season, made four in three games.

Said Manager Whitey Herzog: “I hope we’re not the 1984 Phillies.”

Better hands: Atlanta’s Rafael Ramirez, who has led the league’s shortstops in errors in each of the last three seasons, has made just two so far in ’85. One was on a line drive he dropped, the other when he had a ball kicked out of his glove on an attempted steal.

What a relief: Mark Davis, a 17-game loser as a starter for the San Francisco Giants last season, has not lost as a reliever since Candy Maldonado of the Dodgers beat him with a pinch home run the first weekend of the season.

In his last 11 innings, Davis has allowed just five hits and a walk, and has struck out 18. With 33 strikeouts, Davis is the only reliever in the top 10 in strikeouts.

Plenty of time for a hot dog: After an 11-minute rain delay, last Sunday’s game between the Padres and Chicago Cubs started at 1:31 p.m. in Wrigley Field. At 1:33, Jerry Royster grounded out. The second batter, Tony Gwynn, came to the plate at 3:10 p.m. Because of another rain delay, the fourth inning took 1 hour 26 minutes to complete. The game was finally suspended because of darkness.

On the next episode of “CHiPs”: Giant reliever Greg Minton, who reported to a recent game 45 minutes late, said he had been caught in traffic.

“Maybe Greg ought to just stay in the clubhouse,” Manager Jim Davenport said.

Said Minton: “If Davvy doesn’t believe me, all he has to do is call the Highway Patrol.”

Voice vote: After listening to fans in Wrigley Field chanting profanities at him, Padre first baseman Steve Garvey said: “That’s a first. I’ve had sections do that before, but never an entire stadium.”

Manage along with me: Cardinal players expressed amazement that Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda had sent Mike Ramsey in as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ 5-4 loss to the Cardinals Thursday night. With left-handed Ken Dayley on the mound, Ramsey, batting .154, was sent up to hit for Terry Whitfield, who homered in his previous at-bat.

Said one Cardinal: “If he (Ramsey, an ex-Cardinal) beats us, we deserve to lose.”

No fan of Twisted Sister: Lasorda recently appeared on MTV in an interview at Dodger Stadium with singer Glenn Frey.

Is Lasorda a closet music video fan? “I never watch MTV,” he said.

Mr. Clean vs. the Commissioner: Atlanta’s Dale Murphy is opposed to the mandatory drug-testing program announced by Commissioner Peter Ueberroth.

“It’s that kind of principle--guilty until proven innocent--that I’m really against,” Murphy said.

Look the other way: Davenport said he has seen Giant first baseman David Green, who last season with the Cardinals spent time in an alcoholic rehabilitation program, drinking beer on several occasions. But Davenport reportedly said he didn’t realize that might be a problem.

Green is hitting .080, with four hits in 50 at-bats.