American League / Ross Newhan : Tears and Cheers for Ron Davis

It has never been clear whether Ron Davis is the stopper or the plunger of the Minnesota bullpen.

He had 29 saves, a 7-11 record and a 4.55 earned-run average last season, but he also squandered 13 save opportunities.

He now has six saves, a 1-4 record and a 6.03 ERA. He has wasted another three save opportunities.

It has long been theorized that the 6-4 right-hander is more relaxed working the middle, serving as a setup man.

He did that with the New York Yankees for three successful seasons, pitching most frequently in the sixth and seventh innings, then yielding to Goose Gossage.

The Twins, however, don’t have that option or luxury. Davis must walk the high wire.

Last week, when Minnesota had more late setbacks than a villain in a B western, there were tears and cheers for Davis.

It should first be understood that the Twins are now established as one of the American League’s legitimate offensive powers.

They had collected 10 or more hits in 16 of their last 17 games going into a weekend series with Toronto. They had eight starters hitting .300 or better. The exception was first baseman Kent Hrbek, who is swiftly recovering from a slow start and is batting .381 over nine games up to Friday.

The resilient offense has been providing leads that the bullpen keeps squandering.

In a seven-game span, Minnesota went 3-4. Its pitchers allowed ninth-inning homers--seven in all--in six of the seven games. Of the 31 runs scored against the Twins in the seven games, 15 came in the ninth inning.

Manager Billy Gardner sighed and said: “You could be throwing guys batting practice and they wouldn’t be hitting the ball out of the park like they have.”

Said third baseman Gary Gaetti, frustrated by the bullpen’s inability to hold a lead: “It’s getting a little ridiculous. You don’t see us doing that to anybody and we have the best hitting team in the league. I haven’t seen those kinds of pitches when I’m up in that situation. I don’t see a ball I can crank out, and that’s what gets me.”

Fred Lynn kept seeing them and hit three ninth-inning homers against the Twins in Baltimore last weekend, two of them decisive, one off Davis.

The Twins then went to New York, where they blew an 8-0 lead Monday, the Yankees winning, 9-8, on Don Mattlingly’s three-run homer off the beleaguered Davis with two outs in the ninth.

Davis sat at his locker later and wept: “I’m a disgrace,” he said. “I can’t keep screwing up like this--for my sake or the team’s. It’s the lowest point of my life.”

Then he composed himself and said: “This is a first. I’ve never cried over baseball before. The only time I’ve seen it was when Goose Gossage gave up the home run to George Brett in the 1980 playoffs.

“Goose cried like a baby. No, like a person. Like a human being.”

The quotes appeared in the Minneapolis and St. Paul papers, obviously creating sympathy among fans. Davis, booed during pregame introductions on opening night in Minnesota this year, got a standing ovation from a crowd of 22,513 when he entered Thursday night’s game against Detroit in the ninth inning.

Ken Schrom had already yielded the now-traditional homer in the ninth--two, in fact, which cut a 7-1 lead to 7-4.

This time, Davis responded. He struck out Chet Lemon, yielded a double to John Grubb, then struck out Lance Parrish and Lou Whitaker.

“That was one of the brightest points of my career,” he said later of the ovation. “I’ve been in playoff games and World Series games, but I’ve never had an ovation like that.”

A first and last?

Bobby Valentine accepted a three-year offer to manage Texas only after Earl Weaver rejected the chance to succeed Doug Rader.

Of Weaver’s refusal, Ranger President Mike Stone said: “It wasn’t because this is a hockey-puck organization like people have written.”

Of course not.

Every organization has 13 managers in 14 years and fires a man whose contract was recently extended through 1987 in order to give a three-year contract to a man who has never previously managed.

Startling statistic dept.: The Boston Red Sox, with one of baseball’s strongest lineups, have loaded the bases 11 times this month and have yet to score in those situations. They’ve responded with three pop-ups, three strikeouts, three double plays, a ground-out and a fly-out.

A contract is a contract, but these are strange times calling for compromise measures.

The decision of Angel General Manager Mike Port to break with previous club policy and conduct contract talks with potential free agents before their current contracts expire is a reasonable and legitimate step that should enhance management and player relations.

As Port noted, however, there’s a flip side, a delicate balance involved.

“I have to have concurrence that if I say no to a five-year, $5-million contract in July, they won’t get down,” he said. “I have to know that they’ll still go out and do their job.”