TWO FOR THE TWINS? : World Series Champions Get Little Respect, Fewer Endorsements

Still operating with what appears to be a two-man staff of starting pitchers as they prepare for the difficult task of repeating as division, league and World Series champions, the Minnesota Twins paused to reflect.

The Metrodome din subsided.

The northern lights dimmed.

Then what?

“Well, you see a team win the Super Bowl or NBA championship and you see guys doing things nationally,” right fielder Tom Brunansky said. “But with us, it’s almost like people still don’t believe we won.”

Or as first baseman Kent Hrbek said before a recent workout: “It’s as if half the people in the United States still don’t know where Minnesota is.”

What Hrbek and Brunansky were saying is that the winning remained a private party, basically confined to the Twin Cities.

There was the anticipated run on club owner Carl Pohlad’s banks, of course, as six Twins jumped to $1 million or more in salary and the payroll, previously among the bottom third of the 26 major league teams, soared to among the top third.

Otherwise?

Otherwise you could throw a homer hankie over the number of book and commercial offers the Twins got.

It was as if Madison Avenue had joined the cartographers’ search for Minnesota and then froze even before any of the 10,000 lakes did.

Hrbek filmed a regional commercial for a soft drink, Manager Tom Kelly can be seen plugging the Sporting News, and Kirby Puckett recently made a commercial for a credit card that characterizes how it is for these Twins: “You don’t know me but . . . “

In other words, the victors’ spoils have been primarily in the area of self satisfaction.

Frank Viola, the most valuable pitcher and player of the World Series, wasn’t really surprised or frustrated.

“We’re not a major media center like New York or Los Angeles,” he said. “And you don’t just change a losing image by winning once. I certainly don’t see (the commercial void) as a major catastrophe. It will allow us to keep our minds on baseball.”

Said Hrbek: “The Twin Cities had as much fun this winter as any city in the world. The fans were happy, and I was happy. I got what I wanted out of it. We won. The rest is secondary.”

Brunansky agreed.

“We’ve probably earned some respect throughout the league, but on a national scale people still may not regard us as champions,” he said.

“I don’t care what the perception is. I don’t care what skeptics say.

“Come the second (home) game of the season, I’ll have the only thing that matters. I’ll have the ring.”

How else can the Twins feel about it?

“We gained respect in Minnesota, that’s all I can relate to,” third baseman Gary Gaetti said. “It doesn’t matter what the rest of the country thinks. We won.

“How people perceive us depends on the media. If the media calls us Twinkies and makes fun of the dome, there’s nothing we can do about it except what we would do anyway, which is try and win again.

“I think there have been enough negatives brought up that it will help drive us through the season.”

Those that paint 1987 as a fluke tend to dwell on those negatives, pointing out that a team that finished sixth in the American League West with 91 losses in 1986 advanced to the 1987 playoffs with only 85 wins, the third-lowest victory total by a division winner.

They also cite:

--The Twins’ 29-52 road record.

--Their pitching staff’s 4.63 earned-run average, the highest ever for a division winner.

--That they were outscored, 806-786, and got almost half of their wins, 40, from just three pitchers, Viola, Bert Blyleven and Jeff Reardon.

--The combined .185 batting average of catchers Tim Laudner and Sal Butera, who threw out only 30 of 140 opposing base stealers.

Now, in an era of parity, with 10 different teams having won the last 10 World Series and with 16 different teams having won the 20 division titles of the last five years, the Twins may be hard pressed to prove that it wasn’t a fluke--let alone repeat.

With those negatives shrouding their 1987 success, the Twins confront a significantly improved division with virtually their same cast, having in fact:

--Lost a leader and offensive threat in designated hitter Don Baylor, who signed with division rival Oakland as a free agent.

--Seemingly failed to address their pitching shortage.

Considering it all, the specter of complacency, at least, shouldn’t be a factor in the bid to repeat, though the Twins feel they have more than just that going for them.

They talk about:

--A Gold Glove defense that ranked first in the major leagues on the basis of fielding percentage.

--The potency of Hrbek, Gaetti, Brunansky and Puckett in the middle of the lineup.

--The presence of a bullpen stopper in Reardon.

--A swaggering confidence at home--they were 56-25 in the dome last season.

--The belief that their young nucleus can continue to improve, surpass the 85 wins of last year and eventually, perhaps, provide the foundation for a dynasty.

“A lot of us haven’t hit our peak yet,” Brunansky said. “A lot of us had good years last year, but no one had a career year. Our best years are ahead of us. If we can stay together and avoid injuries, we should have some fun.”

Said General Manager Andy MacPhail: “I don’t think there’s a team in baseball that compares favorably to us. We’ve got Gold Glove winners in center field (Puckett) and at third base (Gaetti), and we should have had another at first base (Hrbek).

“We’ve got outstanding defense up the middle (with shortstop Greg Gagne and second baseman Steve Lombardozzi) and good defense at the outfield corners (with Brunansky and Dan Gladden).

“We are a very good defensive club and a very potent offensive club.”

Which leaves a significant area missing, or as the terse Kelly said when asked if his players will have greater confidence after their success of last year:

“Why wouldn’t they? But then, you’re only as good as your pitching.”

Minnesota’s starting pitching doesn’t appear very good after Viola and Blyleven, who is 37 and has yielded 96 home runs in the last two years.

The No. 3 starter is expected to be Les Straker, who was 8-10 with a 4.37 ERA after making his major league debut at 29 last year.

The candidates for the fourth and fifth starting roles include Charlie Lea, who has pitched in only 25 games--just one in the major leagues--in the last three years because of a shoulder problem, and a familiar pair of 43-year-olds, Joe Niekro and Steve Carlton. Niekro last season had a 7-13 record and a 5.33 ERA, and Carlton was 6-14 with a 5.74 ERA.

The Twins are also trying to recycle former Baltimore Oriole star Tippy Martinez to fill a comparable void on the left side of their bullpen. Martinez, 37, has pitched just 16 major league innings in the last two years because of shoulder problems.

MacPhail, whose acquisition of Reardon was the pivotal factor in the Twins’ success last year, acknowledged that the absence of pitching depth represents a potential problem but said that he will not break up his regular lineup now, when the farm system has an array of young pitchers who seem only a year or two away.

MacPhail said: “We’re looking for the one element that is in greatest demand, but we have the luxury of filling in for a year or two until we can replenish our staff from within.

“I mean, regardless of what Oakland and Kansas City have done (to improve themselves), I have to stay focused on what’s best for the Twins,” he said. “If a legitimate 10- to 15-game winner became available, we’d have to take a hard look, but it would probably cost us one of our everyday players and that’s not worth it.”

MacPhail’s manager has preached a philosophy of “doing the best we can with what we have,” and his players seem to be adhering to it.

Asked if he was surprised by the club’s failure to have dealt for a pitcher, Brunansky shook his head and said: “It’s tough to deal when clubs know that one more pitcher would make us almost impossible to beat. They’re going to be reluctant to give you that pitcher. They’re going to hold a gun to your head (during the negotiations).”

Said Hrbek: “I don’t think Andy has been sitting on his duff all winter. I think he’s tried to make a trade and is still trying. Everyone always wants that one more pitcher or one more this or that. I’m not going to worry about it. We got pitching when we needed it last year. We hit the ball well. We played good defense. What more do you want?”

Hrbek, of course, knows that it will probably take more. More than 85 wins, at least. He said there is room--and capability--for improvement.

“We didn’t have a great season, we had a great postseason,” he said. “I don’t think we’re proud of our record, but you get to the playoffs any way you can.

“Our mission last spring was to work hard and be in position by September to win the division. We’re on the same mission now, but I don’t think it’s a case of having to prove anything.”

Said Gaetti: “If we go out trying to repeat, rather than just playing ball, we won’t do what we want to do. The World Series is over. It’s in the past. We have to try to improve and do our jobs as individuals, then the team also improves. I don’t think any of us have reached our potential.”

The Twins kept free agent Gaetti away from the Dodgers with a three-year, $4.8-million contract. Puckett, Viola, Hrbek, Blyleven and Brunansky are also making $1 million or more in salary. Who needs to sell pizza or detergent?

“Unless you’re a Don Mattingly or Mike Schmidt, you have to pursue those things” Gaetti said. “They just don’t fall in your lap, and we don’t have a lot of players who are household names around the country.”

Even in their own clubhouse the Twins can be something of a mystery.

The boyish-appearing MacPhail laughed as he recalled what happened when he was summoned to the TV platform to be interviewed by Reggie Jackson after Game 7 of the World Series.

“Reggie turned to me and asked, ‘Who are you?’ ” MacPhail said. “Talk about bringing you right back to Earth. I mean, there’s a lesson for the entire team in that.”