THE WORLD SERIES : MINNESOTA TWINS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS : Notebook : Did Cardinal Owner Win on Playing Field but Lose Elsewhere?

It was reported Tuesday that Gussie Busch, the beer magnate and owner of the Cardinals, lost an estimated $150 million in Monday’s stock-market plunge.

Quipped Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog: “Yeah, I bet he’s really . . . worried.”

Add Herzog: Because he is widely known as a fisherman, Herzog said that several people have called and asked him to go fishing at one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes on the day off before Game 6.

“We got to get there first,” Herzog said. “I’m not going to go there just to fish. I’ll fish here. We got our work cut out for us. And if we get there, we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Are some of the Minnesota Twins using corked bats?

That question was thrown out to Herzog during a free-form pregame interview.

Herzog pondered the question with a serious expression, then said: “Yeah, there are corked bats being used in this series.”

Then, he broke up laughing.

“Nah, I don’t know. But, you know, there are a lot of balls jumping off the bats.”

Minnesota Manager Kelly was asked if he had offered pitcher Les Straker, who had not been up to bat since 1983, any batting tips.

Kelly’s advice? “Don’t swing.”

Kelly said he would vote for Toronto’s George Bell over Detroit’s Alan Trammell as the American League’s most valuable player.

“That’s just my opinion,” Kelly said.

What about a Twin player for the award?

“We just all try to do it together, row the boat together,” Kelly said. “We don’t go for that leadership bull.”

After his first game at Busch Stadium, Minnesota’s Gary Gaetti said the ballpark seemed strange.

“The turf is kind of weird. It’s hard in some place, soft in others and dead in others,” the Twins third baseman said.

Gaetti went 0-for-4 as St. Louis beat the Twins Tuesday night.

“It took me a while to get used to the surroundings,” he said.

The first two games were played in the Metrodome, considered one of the toughest places for first-time visitors.

Tommy Herr snapped an 0-for-21 streak in World Series play with a single in Game 3 Tuesday night. Herr, who had been hitless in 10 at-bats this season, got a sixth-inning single in St. Louis’ 3-1 victory over Minnesota.

Herr had been 8-for-51 in World Series play in 1982 and 1985.

Tim Laudner, moved up in Minnesota’s batting order for Game 3 of the World Series, extended his streak of reaching base to five before striking out in the seventh inning.

Laudner got four hits, including a home run, and a walk during his streak. Laudner batted .191 during the regular season and was 1-for-14 in the playoffs.

Laudner singled and doubled in his first two at-bats against John Tudor in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory.

“He did hit my bat a couple of times,” Laudner said.

Laudner batted ninth in the first two games and was moved to seventh Tuesday night.

St. Louis pitchers stretched their streak of shutout innings to 24 at home during postseason play Tuesday night before Minnesota scored. John Tudor held the Twins scoreless until the sixth in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory. Tudor and Danny Cox pitched consecutive shutouts as St. Louis won the final two games of the National League playoffs at Busch Stadium.

“It’s always great to be home,” Tudor said. “It’s nice to look up and see blue skies.”

The crowd of 55,347 for Game 3 of the World Series was the largest for any event at Busch Stadium. It surpassed the 55,331 that all three games of the NL playoffs drew this year to see the St. Louis Cardinals. The crowd was also the largest to see a World Series game since Game 2 in 1984 when 57,911 watched Detroit at San Diego.

John Tudor retired the first six Minnesota batters Tuesday night, the first time in 12 World Series games that a pitcher has opened with two perfect innings.

Kansas City’s Charlie Leibrandt did it in Game 6 in 1985 against St. Louis. Tudor’s streak ended when Tim Laudner led off the third inning with a single.

Vince Coleman got the key hit for St. Louis in Game 3 of the World Series and said he felt lucky to be participating. Coleman missed the 1985 World Series after the automatic tarp at Busch Stadium ran over his foot. He was 1-for-11 in this Series against Minnesota before his two-run double in the seventh inning rallied the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory.

“It was a bitter pill to swallow missing the ’85 Series and not being able to contribute,” he said. “I consider myself fortunate that in my third year in the majors I’ve had the chance to be in two World Series. Some players are in the majors 15 years and they don’t make one series.”

Minnesota’s Les Straker, who committed a key balk in the American League playoffs, made the 17th balk in World Series history Tuesday night in Game 3.

Straker was called for not stopping in his set position during the second inning with St. Louis’ Willie McGee on first base. Straker got out of the trouble without a run scoring.

Second base umpire Ken Kaiser called the balk. During Game 2, Cardinals Manager Whitey Herzog complained that Twins’ pitchers were not stopping in their sets. Herzog reiterated his point prior to Game 3.

Straker made five balks during the regular season. He also balked with the bases loaded in Game 3 of the playoffs against Detroit, the only postseason game the Twins have lost.

There wasn’t much happening on the ice, so St. Louis left wing Gino Cavallini was a little confused when fans watching the Blues skate against the Winnipeg Jets started cheering.

Then it all came clear--baseball.

“Baseball has been around here a lot longer than we have,” Cavallini said, adding that the players were surprised at first when the crowd suddenly burst into applause. “We knew something was up when one of our guys froze the puck and got an ovation from the crowd.”