BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : NATIONAL: San Francisco vs. St. Louis : Notebook : Giants’ Rob Thompson Is Considering Off-Season Surgery

San Francisco second baseman Rob Thompson said Sunday he is considering off-season back surgery.

Thompson, 25, has a bulging disk that has affected some nerves, giving him pain in his back and right leg. He said the injury has bothered him all season and flares up when he plays on artificial turf.

“There are stages when I’ve played day in and day out and I get some pain,” Thompson said. “But once you get out there between the lines, the adrenaline is flowing and that takes over.”

Game 6 Tuesday night in St. Louis will feature a rematch between Game 2 pitchers John Tudor of the Cardinals and Dave Dravecky of the Giants.

Dravecky won the battle of left-handers last Wednesday, beating St. Louis, 5-0, by allowing just two hits. Tudor pitched eight innings and allowed 10 hits, including home runs to Jeffrey Leonard and Will Clark.

“I hope I could take things from that game,” Dravecky said, “but the bottom line is going out and establishing a game plan from the start and trying to stick to that. Really nothing different, just try to keep things simple.”

Said Tudor: “I’m going try to keep them from scoring, whether Dave Dravecky is pitching or Jose Uribe is pitching.

Before Game 5, fans at Candlestick Park watched a scoreboard video on the history of the Giants franchise.

As you might expect, the moment that drew the biggest response was the announcer’s call on Bobby Thomson’s memorable homer in 1951: “The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant . . . “

Giants catcher Bob Brenly, who homered in the 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in Game 4, said he has been having trouble sleeping during the NL playoffs.

“But it’s easy to get up in the morning,” he said. “I didn’t get to sleep until 2:30, 3 o’clock last night, but when the alarm went off I had no trouble getting out of the sack.”

When asked what he dreamed about, Brenly replied: “I visualized every pitch . . . ‘Big Daddy’ (Rick Reuschel) beating the Cardinals.”

San Francisco left fielder Jeffrey Leonard has found his playoff groove. He has four home runs in four consecutive games to set a playoff record.

When asked what the ball looked like to him at the plate, Leonard said: “It looks pretty big, like a softball.”

Mike Aldrete has been pulled from games this year for defensive reasons. In Game 4, he made a diving catch in right field.

“I don’t really rate my thrills in numerical order, but I take a lot of satisfaction in a play like that,” he said. “I’m the kind of player who is taken out in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning for defensive reasons.”

San Francisco Giants Manager Roger Craig has watched the American League playoffs with great interest.

“I try to watch as much as I can,” he said. “I’d say both teams have a lot of power.”

Does he have a favorite?

“It would be nice to go back and play the Tigers,” said Craig, who was pitching coach for Detroit in 1984. “I have a lot of good friends back there.”

The infamous Candlestick Park winds claimed another victim Sunday when St. Louis first baseman Dan Driessen was almost toppled by a beach ball half his size.

The gusts seems to increase in the fourth inning of the National League playoff game between the Cardinals and San Francisco Giants and umpires and grounds crew members had difficulty removing streamers let loose during the Giants’ four-run inning.

Near the end of the fourth, Driessen was startled when the beach ball blew at him from behind while Jeffrey Leonard was batting. Play was stopped as the ball was retrieved and Driessen was given time to gather himself.

The scene was reminiscent of the 1961 All-Star Game when Stu Miller was blown off the Candlestick Park mound.

Jazz vocalist Bobby McFerrin sang the national anthem before Game 5 in 2 minutes and 10 seconds, but that’s not even close to the record for the longest rendition.

Dave Nightingale of the Sporting News, one of the official scorers in the NL playoffs, keeps track of such things. He said the postseason mark belongs to Pearl Bailey, who used anywhere from 2:52 to 4:52 during the 1974 World Series.