Baseball Playoffs : American: Detroit vs. Minnoesota : AL Playoff Notebook : Tanana May Not Get to Face Twins

Sunday, it was champagne for Frank Tanana, the toast of Detroit after shutting out the Toronto Blue Jays in the climactic game of the American League’s regular season and Eastern Division race.

Now a bitter aftertaste?

There is the possibility that Tanana will not start in the best-of-seven playoff series against the Minnesota Twins.

Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson may stay with his three right-handers--Doyle Alexander, Jack Morris and Walt Terrell--against a team that was 59-60 against right-handers and 26-17 against lefties, of which Tanana is one.

In fact, Tanana was pounded for 9 earned runs in 6 innings of his two starts against the Twins on the way to a 15-10 record.

Anderson refused to go beyond Game 3 during a Tuesday press conference, but he later confided that Tanana would only start if the Tigers led going into Game 4.

“Frank won 15 games, I’m not going to overlook that,” Sparky said. “But I hate to go with a left-hander against this club.”

Except for first baseman Kent Hrbek, the Twins confront left-handers with an all right-handed hitting lineup.

Anderson said that Tanana’s primary role could be pitching in relief to get a key left-handed hitter. He added, however, that Tanana would probably start Game 4, providing Detroit leads.

Has his role been defined?

Tanana responded negatively, then added: “If he gives me the ball, great, if he doesn’t . . . well, naturally there’ll be some disappointment, but what can I do--cry, mope?

“C’mon. I’ve been around long enough that I understand it. You’ve got a club that’s been tough on left-handers and he’s got to do what’s best for his team.

“The good thing is that I’ve pitched well, that I’m in a groove, that I’m ready either way. I’m prepared to go with the flow and cheer my heart out.”

Tanana’s possible absence from the Tiger rotation would further frustrate Don Baylor, who was acquired by the Twins Aug. 31 to provide leadership and punch down the stretch.

Baylor, however, has batted only against left-handed pitching, platooning as the designated hitter with Randy Bush, who is expected to start against Alexander, Morris and Terrell.

In five weeks with the Twins, Baylor has 49 at-bats and 6 runs batted in. He has 13 singles and a double, his only extra-base hit.

The proud Baylor has always bristled at a platoon role. He opposed it with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. But he is hesitant now to make waves.

“We’re going to put nine guys on the field who have never been in a playoff,” he said, alluding to the Twins’ lineup tonight. “You try to go about it like it’s the regular season, but it’s not. Experience is important.

“I’ve been through it before. I’d like to be in there, but I’d be surprised if I am.

“I mean, I don’t know if they (the Twins) take into consideration what a guy has done against a certain pitcher in the past, but there’s not much I can do except hope to get a chance.

“I’m focusing on Tanana, whenever he pitches.”

Baylor has tried not to focus on anything beyond the playoffs. He is 38 and would like to play next year but has heard nothing from the Twins.

He smiled broadly when asked if he would like to return to the Angels, which had been his August hope, having basically forced his departure from the Red Sox because of a reduced role.

“I was ready,” he said. “I thought it was going to happen and was disappointed when it didn’t because I had some especially enjoyable years there and consider Gene Mauch one of the smartest managers I’ve ever played for. But I knew there wasn’t a chance once they signed Bill Buckner and brought up Tony Armas. There just wasn’t the room then to give everyone enough at-bats.”

It seems unlikely that Baylor could have prevented the slide that left the Angels in a tie for last in the American League West, and now he has a shot at the World Series ring that he failed to collect as a member of three previous division champions--the Angels in 1979 and ’82 and the Red Sox last year.

“The uniform changes, but you always have the same enthusiasm for the playoffs,” he said.

The banner has appeared sporadically since 1984 and consistently this year.

It is hung from the right-field bleachers at the Metrodome and reads: “Frankie Sweet Music Viola.”

Viola knows only that it’s prepared by a youth named Bob and that he is 15-0 when he starts here with the banner up.

Does he hope it’s there tonight when he starts the playoff opener?

“I’m a very superstitious person,” he said. “I told (Bob) that if he needed a ticket, I have one.”

And how superstitious is he?

“You got a couple days?” Viola asked.

He said he always eats pasta the night before he pitches, always takes the same number of warm-up pitches after the first inning and always follows the same ritual before starting a new inning: checking the outfield alignment, making sure the resin bag is in the same place and kicking the rubber four times.

Superstitions alone, however, haven’t accounted for his 17-10 record and 2.90 earned-run average.

Viola said that his consistency with a changeup and the arrival of relief ace Jeff Reardon have contributed to the best of his six major league seasons.

“I know that when I’m on, I’m as good as any pitcher in the league,” he said.