Baseball : He Has a New Team, but Maldonado Has Same Old Problem

Showing respect, Candy Maldonado, referring to Dodger Vice President Al Campanis, always said that Mr. Campanis would tell him to be patient, work hard and he would get his chance.

Now, referring to Al Rosen, the San Francisco Giants’ president and general manager, Maldonado is saying that Mr. Rosen has told him to be patient, work hard and he will get his chance.

Not a lot has changed for Maldonado, except the uniform.

He was the fourth outfielder with the Dodgers, and he is the fourth outfielder with the Giants.

From left to right for San Francisco, it’s Jeff Leonard, Dan Gladden and Chili Davis.

The Dodgers traded Maldonado at the December meetings, acquiring reserve catcher Alex Trevino after Steve Yeager had been traded to Seattle for reliever Ed Vande Berg.

There were rumors initially that the Giants, desperate for starting pitching, were going to trade Davis to Kansas City for Bud Black or Mark Gubicza, which would have created a full-time position for Maldonado.

It hasn’t happened, although the Giants still seem desperate for starting pitching.

In fact, Manager Roger Craig announced the other day that relief ace Scott Garrelts, who was 9-6 with 13 saves in 74 appearances, will switch to the rotation this year.

The move stems, in part, from Craig’s conviction that former relief star Greg Minton, who saved only four games last year but has lost 26 pounds since the end of the season, can return to form.

Of Maldonado, Craig said: “We have nothing going right now (in the way of a trade), but he’s the safety valve if we make one.”

He added, however, that he knows little about Maldonado and will use the exhibition games for evaluation.

Platooning primarily with center fielder Ken Landreaux or pinch-hitting against left-handed pitching, Maldonado hit .225 in 213 at-bats last season and .268 in 254 at-bats the year before.

A Dodger official who requested anonymity said that the club became discouraged by Maldonado’s lack of aggressiveness.

“As a young player attempting to convince the club that he should play regularly, he always seemed to be a little too comfortable,” the official said. “There was more style than substance. He’d make unnecessary throws, for example, that seemed designed only to please the crowd.”

The 25-year-old Maldonado had batted .335, .301 and .319 in parts of three seasons at Albuquerque, but Campanis said at the time of the trade that he had obviously failed to fulfill those credentials, adding that the trade might benefit Maldonado by removing the pressure of the Dodger expectations.

Maldonado caught his breath after a recent San Francisco workout and said it is unfair to evaluate his major league performance because he hasn’t played regularly.

He said he told the Dodgers last year that he wanted to be with a team that would allow him to play regularly, that he had paid his dues in Triple-A and the winter leagues.

“The fans in Los Angeles may have read about my minor league stats but they never really had the chance to see me play,” Maldonado said.

How will it be different in San Francisco?

Maldonado said he isn’t certain. He said being traded for the first time was a shock, that it left him feeling as if he is starting from scratch, but that he feels accepted by the Giants.

“The first step is to put aside Dodger Blue and put the Giants in my heart,” he said.

An attempt by Craig to provide the Giants with discipline includes a ban on drinking during flights.

Joe Altobelli tried a similar ban with the team in 1979 and generated a rebellion. Players rolled their “illegal” bottles down the aisle of the plane in open defiance.

Frank Robinson, another former Giant manager, said of Craig’s edict: “It won’t work. They’re going to complain about it, and he’ll eventually change it. You have to treat men like men.”

A ban on beards by Cleveland Manager Pat Corrales left pitcher Tom Waddell a bit cynical about the timing.

“They didn’t have it when (Bert) Blyleven was here,” he said.

That was San Diego General Manager Jack McKeon slamming the door behind Dick Williams.

Commenting on Steve Boros, who has succeeded Williams as Padre manager, McKeon said: “He has a tremendous knowledge of baseball and tremendous communication skills. In many ways, he’s the opposite of Dick Williams.”

The Milwaukee Brewers saved $375,000 in 1986 salary by trading Ted Simmons to Atlanta for backup catcher Rick Cerone. The Braves, in turn, plan to use Simmons as a pinch-hitter and reserve first baseman.

There is also the possibility that Simmons will occasionally get a start at first, which would put a reluctant Bob Horner back on third.

“I don’t like that idea at all,” Horner said. “I don’t want to bounce back and forth.”

Here’s the reason: In 85 games at first base last year, Horner had no errors in 950 chances and hit .278 with 23 homers and 71 runs batted in.

In 41 games at third base, however, he hit only .243 with 4 homers, 15 RBIs and 11 errors.

Simmons, before his departure from the Cactus League, had been asked about Cincinnati’s refusal to sign former Milwaukee teammate Rollie Fingers because of Fingers’ refusal to shave his trademark mustache.

Said Simmons: “I thought Quantico was in Virginia and not Tampa.”

The Chicago Cubs are grooming Manny Trillo as either a late-inning replacement for or full-time successor to Ron Cey at third, meaning that shortstop Shawon Dunston could be flanked by two players--Trillo and second baseman Ryne Sandberg--who have each won three Gold Gloves.

“They catch the ball like we walk down the street,” Dunston said. “Nice and easy.”

Vince Coleman, who had been bidding for a salary of $400,000, was automatically renewed by St. Louis at a reported $150,000, which he called a slap in the face. Inevitably, a teammate slipped a bottle of Skin Bracer into Coleman’s locker.

A recent Times story dealing with Steve Yeager’s potential impact on a talented young Seattle pitching staff included quotes by former Mariner Vande Berg critical of pitch selection by his 1985 catcher, Bob Kearney. Vande Berg referred to Kearney as a rockhead.

Kearney has since responded by questioning Vande Berg’s thinking process. He told Jim Street in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that “Vandy’s a nice guy, but he’s not a guy who can stand out there and think. He’s got to get the ball and throw it. When you think long, you think wrong, it’s that simple.

“He comes in to pitch to one batter and takes a hike,” Kearney continued. “It’s nice to have a good arm, but you need to use your noodle a little bit, too.”

Add Yeager: He now has his familiar No. 7 back, shortstop Spike Owen having traded it to him for the No. 1 Yeager was given when he reported.

“You’re a hell of a guy,” Yeager told Owen. “I owe you a dinner.”

Already blessed with three of baseball’s best young hitters in Phil Bradley, Alvin Davis and Jim Presley, the Mariners have decided that second base is Danny Tartabull’s to lose.

Tartabull, the son of former major leaguer Jose Tartabull, hit 43 homers at Calgary last season. Dad hit a total of four in six big league seasons.

The Giants, responding to Tartabull’s status, are reportedly hungering for Harold Reynolds, the Mariners’ other second base candidate. Reynolds hit .363 at Calgary and .144 in 67 games with the Mariners last season. Seattle apparently won’t deal unless it gets left-hander Terry Mulholland, the Giants’ No. 2 draft pick in 1984.

The combination of Rick Dempsey’s age and a chipped bone in Floyd Rayford’s wrist has the Baltimore Orioles reportedly talking with Pittsburgh about catcher Tony Pena. The Orioles are also reportedly interested in a young Pirate catcher named Ruben Rodriguez, whose arm is said to be comparable to Pena’s.

Here’s more in the way of spring fever from Oakland General Manager Sandy Alderson, who wants Joaquin Andujar to become a role model for the A’s young pitching staff.

“Off the field he’s basically a generous, compassionate guy--and flamboyant,” Alderson told the Arizona Republic. “I think it’s important for us to be as supportive of Joaquin as we can be, and try to make sure that image comes across to the fans in the Bay Area.

“We are not going to try and change Joaquin’s personality. There’s no harm in a certain amount of flamboyance.”

Now in the last year of a contract he signed four years ago, the New York Yankees’ Ron Guidry earns $975,000. At least 21 major league pitchers earn more.

The Detroit Tigers refused to re-sign three pitchers who earned a combined $1,475,000 last season. Milt Wilcox has since signed with Seattle, Doug Bair with the Chicago White Sox and Aurelio Lopez with Houston. Their combined salaries now total $400,000.

The Cardinals, in a continuation of their blood feud with the New York Mets, have festooned their Florida clubhouse with newspaper and magazine articles in which the Mets are picked to win in the National League East.

Given particular prominence is the following quote by New York Manager Davey Johnson: “We want to dominate.”

The Tigers will go the Dodgers one better, using two coaches, Dick Tracewski and Boots Day, as spies in the sky, helping position the Detroit defense from a press-box vantage point. The Tigers were a surprising last in team fielding last season, the first time since ’47.

Manager Sparky Anderson said there was too much contentment and too little concentration. Catcher Lance Parrish implied that there was too much pressure.

“We had a thousand meetings,” Parrish said. “We had so many meetings it was ridiculous. We know what management expects. Just let us go out and play.”

A major test is scheduled Friday, when an arbitrator will hear a grievance filed by Joel Youngblood, who charges that the Giants recently reneged on a contract agreement when he refused to accept a drug-testing clause.

Youngblood claims that he has now been blackballed by clubs reading an incorrect implication into his reluctance to accept the testing clause.

The commissioner’s office, obviously concerned about the grievance, reportedly put pressure on the Giants last week to invite Youngblood to camp, which they did.

Youngblood flew out from his Connecticut home, met with club officials, then decided he would wait for the arbitrator’s ruling rather than work out with the club on a conditional basis, pending the decision.