The World Series : Minnesota Twins vs. St. Louis Cardinals : Notebook : Pendleton Is On, Clark Is Off Cardinal Roster

There is disappointment for Terry Pendleton, but at least his name remains on the St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series roster.

Jack Clark’s name is now missing, just as his bat has been. The Cardinals took Clark off their Series roster Friday because he has been to the plate only three times since Sept. 9 and still can’t run.

Clark has recovered from the sprained ankle that sidelined him, but tissue tears behind the bone have left him virtually immobile. The man who hit 35 homers and drove in 106 runs during the regular season was replaced by pitcher Lee Tunnell, who has a 4-2 record.

The Cardinals now have nine pitchers, but it wasn’t so much a choice between Clark and Tunnell as a choice between Clark and Pendleton, the third baseman who is prevented from playing in the field or batting right-handed by a pulled chest muscle.

Pendleton still can run and bat left-handed, which he will do as the designated hitter against Bert Blyleven in Game 2.

Clark said he was frustrated by the duration of his injury but understood the move.

“It’s definitely disappointing,” Clark said. “But I knew it would happen sooner or later. I was surprised that I was on the roster for the playoffs.

“I’ve missed five weeks, and Terry has been playing. His timing is a lot better than mine. There’s nothing I can do. Injuries are beyond my control.

“There’s no good time for an injury to happen, but September has to be the worst if your team is in the race. It hurts that much more having to sit and watch. I probably need a month off to get this thing 100%.”

Said Pendleton: “It’s still very disappointing to come this far and not be able to do everything I can, but at least this is something. I was under the impression last night that I wouldn’t be on the roster, then Whitey (Manager Herzog) called me in this morning and told me I’d DH Sunday. I have a chance now to contribute. I know how badly Jack must feel.”

Left-hander Frank Viola of the Minnesota Twins is accustomed to the madhouse that is the Metrodome. Tonight, amid the racket accompanying his start against St. Louis in Game 1 of the World Series, there will also be the distant echo of wedding bells.

John Viola, 23, his younger brother, is getting married in East Meadow, N.Y. The reception should begin about the same time Viola is throwing his first pitch.

“They’ll be standing on the bars watching the TVs,” Viola predicted.

The Twins’ ace was going to be the best man originally.

“We planned the date about a year and a half ago,” he said. “We were out of the race, on our way to finishing sixth (21 games behind the Angels). Who could have expected us to turn it around this quickly?”

Viola and his family made a video tape at a local TV station Thursday night that will be shown at the wedding reception.

The message?

“Love,” Viola said. “He’s gone through a lot as a younger brother, and I wanted him to know what he means to me.”

How did the Twins turn it around so fast? Viola cited continued maturity on his and his teammates’ part, the development of an outstanding defense, and, foremost, the arrival of relief ace Jeff Reardon.

“We had lost so many games in the late innings that it was sickening,” he said. “It was like the whole attitude changed from the first day Jeff walked into the clubhouse. I told (pitching coach) Dick Such that if we played as well as I thought we would, I’d have my best season. I knew that I didn’t have to pace myself to go nine innings any more, that I could go as hard as I could for as long as I could.”

Viola won 17 games and another in the playoff. He knew Reardon was behind him, but there was more to it. He has confidence in the breaking pitches first taught to him by Johnny Podres and he has control of his emotions.

“I have a quick temper,” he said. “My biggest problem was that I was too concerned with the team. You can get tired of losing. If things didn’t go right, I took it personally. I finally understand that I can only control what I do. The change in the attitude here helped.”

After some concern, Twin fan Mark Dornfield and his “Frankie Sweet Music Viola” banner will be in the right-field bleachers tonight.

Viola, according to Dornfield’s statistics, has a 15-0 record with four no-decisions when he has started with the banner present.

Dornfield, the assistant manager of a local bowling alley, had been unable to buy tickets for tonight’s game. Viola read about the situation and gave him two of his own.

“He’s been good for me, and it wasn’t like he asked for them,” Viola said.

General Manager Andy MacPhail of the Twins has asked Patty Blyleven and the other players’ wives to tone down the whistle-tooting they did during the American League playoffs. Bert’s wife, Patty, bought the whistles for the wives.

MacPhail said he didn’t want a repeat of the incidents that occurred in Detroit during the playoffs, when some wives had beer dumped on them and vendors were selling peanuts to throw at the whistle blowers.

Patty said she was willing to make concessions but considered the whistles good luck. She recalled that in 1979, when her husband was 1-0 with a 1.80 earned-run average in two appearances during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ World Series victory over the Baltimore Orioles, the wives tooted more than whistles.

“We had cow bells, eagle horns, you name it,” she said. We really made some noise and nobody gave us problems. We got on top of the dugout in Pittsburgh and danced, and nobody cared. We were there to have a good time. I’m hoping those same feelings can flow through here.”

Minnesota first baseman Kent Hrbek read a rip into statements by St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog during the National League playoffs.

Herzog said it was a shame when a team like Detroit wins 98 games during the regular season and the team that wins 85 (Minnesota) goes to the World Series. He added: “It’s happened before and it will happen again. It’s just the way it is.”

Hrbek took it personally and said: “It’s a shame that the Cardinals only score one run a game.”

He also said: “All I know about St. Louis is that they have an arch down there and some speed. Speed, speed, speed. It don’t help when you’re sitting in the dugout.”

In making the decision to take Jack Clark off their roster, Herzog said he still can’t understand why teams aren’t allowed to carry 25 players as the rules permit and that teams should be allowed to make changes during a playoff and World Series if a roster player is hurt.

Herzog reflected on the Cardinals inability to replace Vince Coleman in 1985 and said of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth:

“He told me two years ago that the rule would be changed, but they haven’t got around to it yet. They’re too busy with marketing and (campaigning against) chewing tobacco. It’s amazing.”