THE WORLD SERIES : MINNESOTA TWINS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS : Notebook : One Day Later, Lawless Says the Homer Is His Biggest Thrill

On the morning after, Tom Lawless still found it hard to comprehend what happened to him Wednesday night when he hit a three-run home run to help the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Minnesota Twins, 7-2, in Game 4 of the World Series.

Lawless said he had received many telegrams from well-wishers but had not read them yet.

“I haven’t had time,” Lawless said before Game 5 Thursday night.

With almost a day to let the meaning of only his second homer sink in, Lawless was asked if any other moment in his 10-year major league career compared to Wednesday night’s shot off the Twins’ Frank Viola.

“No, but I got a hit here in ’85 off Steve Carlton that drove in two runs, and we won the game,” Lawless said. “It was a game we needed to win late in the season to win the division. “As (Wednesday night’s) game went on, I kept thinking that this will always be the biggest moment of my career. This will stay with me and my family forever.”

A few of the Twins were irked by Lawless’ home run celebration, which included a long look at the hit, followed by a bat flip. Lawless said he was not trying to show up the Twins.

“I figured I’d get criticism after I saw the replay of what I did,” Lawless said. “But I can assure you it wasn’t anything planned or premeditated. There was no way I’d ever thought I’d hit it. There’s nothing I can do about it. They can try to knock me down if they want to.”

The Twins were not in a particularly forgiving mood toward Lawless, especially since his team had criticized Giant Jeffrey Leonard’s style in the playoffs.

Said Kent Hrbek: “It’s a great moment to hit a home run in the World Series, but when the ball goes out three inches above the fence, you don’t stand there and watch it.

“Guys who have got some time and hit some home runs, that’s one thing. A Tom Lawless doing it is another.”

Said Don Baylor: “I guess he’s had a lot of time to practice. If I was a pitcher, the next time up in a World Series, I’d hit him right here (Baylor pointed to his temple).”

Added Gary Gaetti: “He put on a pretty good show for the TV audience. It looked like he’s done it a lot, but I don’t think that’s the case. He was stylin’. Why not milk it? That was one of the best I’ve seen. As good as Jeffrey Leonard. No, it was better.”

Neither team will work out today in Minneapolis before Saturday’s Game 6.

Said Twin Manager Tom Kelly: “We’re not going to get back (to Minneapolis) until 4 a.m., and then we have a day game, so I’m giving them a day off. They hadn’t had a day off yet in the playoffs. We’ve worked out every day. Why have (the players) come out just to take a couple ground balls, take 15 swings and then answer questions from you guys for an hour.”

Said Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog: “I don’t see much sense in working out. We’ve been there already. We aren’t going to field any better . . . just because we work out one more day.”

Add Herzog: He had considered the possibility of going fishing in Minnesota today, but apparently he thought better of it when he called a friend and heard it was snowing.

“I guess that doesn’t matter any for the game,” Herzog said, referring to the domed stadium.

Gaetti, who had a hit taken away from him by Ozzie Smith during a potential Minnesota rally in the fifth inning of Wednesday night’s game, said of Smith’s play in the hole: “You see him do it on ‘This Week in Baseball’ all the time, but when you see it in front of you, it’s unbelievable. He has his own style, and it’s so right for him in this park.

“I’d have him show me how to do a flip, but I’d probably end up rolling on the ground.”

Going into the three games in St. Louis, Twin pitchers Les Straker, Viola and Bert Blyleven heightened the anticipation over their first 1987 at-bats with a side wager: $100 to the man producing the best plate appearance.

Going into Thursday’s finale, Straker (0 for 2) and Viola (0 for 1) had combined for three strikeouts, which, in Kelly’s mind, made Blyleven the heavy favorite for the $100 payoff.

“I don’t see how Bert can lose,” the Twin manager said. “All he’s got to do is take one good swing. He doesn’t even have to hit the ball; all he has to do is look good.

“Right now, Lester and Frankie are tied for last. There ain’t no second place.”

Then, Blyleven went out and proved Kelly right. He went 0 for 1 in two trips to the plate, striking out in the third inning before laying down a successful sacrifice bunt in the fifth.

Maybe with the $100, Blyleven can buy new gloves for his infielders.

The first pitch of Game 5 was delayed 11 minutes to accommodate President Reagan’s news conference, which caused Kelly to wonder: Why couldn’t the President have waited until today, a World Series off-day?

Then Kelly remembered.

“I figure he’s off (Friday),” Kelly said with a grin. “When does he take off for Camp David? Noon? He could do that (the news conference) tomorrow, but it’s his off-day.”

Kelly shrugged.

“He’s the boss.”

Kelly has been described as “an outdoorsman” away from the baseball field, an image he’d like to clarify. He says he likes the outdoors only if he’s riding, training or grooming a horse.

Don’t ask to take him hunting or fishing.

“I almost shot myself in the foot once,” he said. “I was hunting in Arizona with (former big leaguers) Jim Slaton and Rick Auerbach, in the desert there, and I was running after a rabbit. I had cocked the hammer and was running with the gun pointed down, and it went off right there (he points half an inch away from his right foot).

“I said, ‘That’s it, right there.’ I walked back to the car and stayed there.”

Times staff writers Ross Newhan and Mike Penner contributed to this story.