Notebook : Afraid, Perhaps, They Would Lose Him, Royals Couldn’t Say No to Bo

The mini-press conference that had formed near the batting cage before Tuesday night’s All-Star game was interrupted by Rich Levin, press aide to Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, and Phyllis Mehrige, the American League’s publicity director.

Levin and Mehrige tapped Kansas City Royals General Manager John Scheurholz on the shoulder, politely pulled him aside and requested that he resist from talking about football at the All-Star game.

Football?

Scheurholz, of course, was being questioned about Bo Jackson’s decision to sign with the Raiders, creating a mid-season disruption for the Royals.

“We just have to deal with it,” Scheurholz said. “We didn’t want to just throw up our hands. We didn’t want to say, ‘No, you can’t play football,’ because that might have soured him completely on baseball. This way (by allowing him to play both), we may be able to prevent him from just walking away. This may be the best way for him to find out that he doesn’t really want to play football.”

Providing the Royals fail to reach the playoffs, Jackson will join the Raiders in early October. Had the Royals hoped to send their strikeout-prone rookie to a winter instructional league?

“No,” Scheurholz said. “We felt the best thing after the pressure of this year would be for him to get away from baseball, go relax, go fishing, find a hobby. He did.”

The Baseball Writers Assn. of America voted Monday to name its American and National League Rookie of the Year awards the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award. Robinson was the first recipient of the National League rookie award in 1947.

The Oakland A’s, seeking to replace underrated second baseman Tony Phillips, who suffered a broken wrist when hit by a Mark McGwire line drive in batting practice Saturday, are reportedly close to acquiring the Cleveland Indians’ talented Juan Bernazard.

The A’s have also been negotiating with the Chicago White Sox for left-hander Floyd Bannister, but the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are also in that high-salaried sweepstakes.

A’s sources indicate that Ron Cey--.221 batting average, 4 home runs, 11 runs batted in--may be close to drawing his release.

American League Manager John McNamara was reared in nearby Sacramento, got his coaching start with the A’s, later coached with the San Francisco Giants and secured tickets for about 40 friends and relatives.

A happy homecoming? Yes and no.

McNamara’s son, Mike, a Marine Corps 1st lieutenant, sailed Tuesday morning for what McNamara called “destinations unknown,” though McNamara acknowledged that he knows the destination.

The lieutenant will be gone for six months.

“I’ll miss him,” McNamara said with a trace of melancholy. “He’s my pal.”

Tony Gwynn on Wade Boggs:

“I look at Wade Boggs as being the kind of hitter I’d like to be. He’s a lot more patient than I am. But I don’t compare myself to anyone. I’m just Tony Gwynn. I eat chicken sometimes, but not every time.”

As expected, Oakland’s Mark McGwire drew the loudest and longest ovation during pregame introductions. McGwire, the major league home-run leader with 33, brought the Coliseum crowd to its feet for a raucous welcome that was interrupted only when A’s teammate Jay Howell was introduced.

Howell, who has 15 saves but is also 2-3 with a 4.46 ERA, punctured McGwire’s ovation by bringing with him a fair amount of boos from A’s fans not totally satisfied with Howell’s work as a reliever.

A good share of San Francisco Giant fans were also in attendance. Loudest boos of the night went to Pedro Guerrero and Orel Hershiser, the contingent from the hated Dodgers.

Sign in the outfield bleachers: “MARK 33:62?”

No Biblical passage there, although the message does have historical connotations. The reference is to McGwire, his current home run total and the target figure that would move him past Roger Maris in the baseball record book.

For the second consecutive year, Mike Witt of the Angels was chosen but did not serve in the All-Star game.

By keeping Witt out of Tuesday’s game, McNamara did Gene Mauch a favor. Witt pitched seven innings Sunday and had complained of discomfort in his right arm after arriving in Oakland. Witt has been bothered by tendinitis throughout this season.

By sitting out the All-Star game, Witt will make his next start on five days’ rest in Milwaukee Saturday.

Dave Winfield of the Yankees saw a lot of action and wound up in two tough situations. The only player to play the whole game, Winfield doubled to open the second inning but was trapped off second for a double play when Cal Ripken lined to first. In the ninth, Winfield walked and was sacrificed to second but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on an attempted double play.

Phillie second baseman Juan Samuel, who did not start, set a record by making seven putouts. The most putouts for a second baseman previously was five by Frankie Frisch in 1933. Samuel also tied Bill Mazeroski’s 1958 record with nine total chances.