Angels Are Matched Against the Awesome A’s in Home Opener Tonight at Anaheim Stadium : Oakland Has Power, Is Looking for Glory

Tony La Russa showed up for batting practice wearing the wrong color uniform shirt Monday. His opening-day faux pas probably will mean a $5 fine from the Athletics’ kangaroo court, but the Oakland manager said he plans to fight the ruling on the grounds that he was concentrating on Seattle’s lineup while dressing.

If La Russa was driven to distraction by the Mariners’ batting order, look for another American League manager to walk onto the field in only a towel after contemplating the A’s hitters during a pregame shower this season.

Consider the lineup La Russa plans to throw at right-handed pitching most of the time this year (with 1987 batting averages, home runs and RBIs):

--Carney Lansford (.289, 19, 76)

--Jose Canseco (.257, 31, 113)

--Dave Parker (.253, 26, 97)

--Mark McGwire (.289, 49, 118)

--Terry Steinbach (.284, 16, 56)

--Don Baylor (.245, 16, 63)

--Dave Henderson (.235, 8, 26)

--Tony Phillips (.240, 10, 46)

--Walt Weiss (.462, 0, 1)

OK, maybe some managers won’t even bother to get out of the shower.

The A’s, whose first four batters in the lineup totaled more than 400 RBIs last season, will be at Anaheim Stadium for a series this weekend. Oakland’s Storm Davis will face right-hander Kirk McCaskill in the Angels’ home opener tonight at 7:05.

Weiss is a rookie with just 32 days of major league service, and Henderson played sparingly after the first month last season. But if those nine players just match last year’s home run totals--even if no one else on the team hits one out all year--that’s 175 homers, more than were hit by half the teams in baseball in 1987.

Last year, Oakland hitters knocked the ball out of the park a club-record 199 times. Only 13 players who were members of last year’s opening-day roster were on the team that debuted Monday, but the A’s haven’t exactly lost their punch. Gone are starters Reggie Jackson, Dwayne Murphy, Alfredo Griffin and Mike Davis. Swinging in their place will be guys such as Parker, Baylor, Henderson and Weiss . . . not exactly a power shortage.

This kind of potential run production makes a starting rotation of Dave Stewart, Bob Welch, Curt Young, Storm Davis and Steve Ontiveros look downright respectable.

Stewart, who signed a two-year contract extension after he won on opening day, won 20 last year. Welch was 15-9 with a 3.22 earned-run average for the Dodgers. Young was 13-7 for the A’s. Davis was 1-1 after he came over in a trade with San Diego. And Ontiveros, who was moved from the bullpen to a starting role last June, finished the season 10-8.

The bullpen, anchored by veteran Dennis Eckersley, who saved a team-high 16 games in 1987, is adequate. The defense, especially in the outfield, is a weakness, but that hasn’t deterred a lot of experts from picking the A’s to win the American League West.

Bay Area fans are already talking World Series.

La Russa winces, then manages a nervous smile. He is quick to point out that excelling in one area of a multidimensional sport does not mean a world championship.

“Check around the league. There’s other teams with powerful lineups,” he said. “Maybe we have a few more guys who can hit the ball out of the park, but the team that wins this division will be the team that keeps their opponents from scoring.”

Walter A. Haas Jr., the team owner, and Sandy Alderson, the vice president of baseball operations, made every effort to transform their big swingers into big winners.

The presence of Weiss made Griffin, one of the premier shortstops in baseball, expendable. So the A’s traded Griffin and reliever Jay Howell to the Dodgers for Welch and left-hander Matt Young in a three-way deal involving the Mets.

In the nine games that Welch lost last year, the Dodgers averaged 1.7 runs. The A’s figure that he would have won 20 for them easily. He already is on the right track. Welch threw seven shutout innings against Seattle in the second game of the season and picked up the victory.

The A’s also traded for Parker, once one of the most feared hitters in the game and still a pretty scary figure at the plate. They acquired a similar, if older, type in free-agent Baylor. They traded for Storm Davis last August and signed free agent outfielder Henderson, catcher Ron Hassey and second baseman Glenn Hubbard in the off-season.

They wheeled and dealed and came into the season with a favorite.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

The A’s have gone back to the club’s original logo, which was designed in the early 1900s for the Philadelphia Athletics. You know, the one with the elephant balanced on top of a huge baseball like a scene out of “Dumbo.”

Maybe it’s supposed to signify the titanic dimensions of their home-run potential. Or maybe it’s symbolic of their desire to end up atop the baseball world next fall.

Henderson was standing in front of his locker staring into the lens of a television camera before opening day. He started laughing after a question about the A’s and the World Series.

“It’s great to be considered a champion before you’ve won a game,” he said, shaking his head.

La Russa has been dealing with similar questions all spring.

“Expectations are just that,” he said. “We know, inside ourselves, that we have the capability of having a very good year, and that’s all that matters. That’s the only pressure that matters.”

La Russa, the man with the answering machine that says hello by announcing that Oakland will win 100 games in 1988, is excited about the season.

“Waking up with a chance to win--now, that’s fun,” he said. “I’ve gotten up a lot of mornings just hoping that my club wouldn’t embarrass itself.”

THE YOUNG

Watching Jose Canseco take batting practice is a special treat for any baseball fan. Former Angel Manager Gene Mauch, who has seen more than his share of strong men, used to ask reporters and photographers to move out of his line of view when Canseco stepped into the cage.

These days, Canseco is just another big player in the land of giants. He took one four-swing turn the other day and provided four souvenirs for the kids in the left-field bleachers.

Parker stepped in next and hit three over the fence in right, providing commentary for each:

“Bye.”

“Nice knowin’ ya.”

“Ciao, baby.”

La Russa hopes they get it out of their systems in batting practice.

“As long as our hitters take advantage of the fact that you can’t really concentrate on one guy, and don’t get caught up in trying to hit one farther than the last guy, we’ll be all right,” he said.

Canseco will look you straight in the eye and tell you that he has a 50-homer, 140-RBI season in him. You believe him, too.

If money is any kind of incentive, then look out in 1988. He’s eligible for arbitration after this season, and those kinds of numbers would be good for a couple million or so.

Canseco, 23, who is 6-feet 3-inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, already has a homer and three RBIs in three games. He’s playing right field instead of left and has pulled off a couple of nice running catches.

Canseco says hitting second makes him “more aggressive.” Gee, that’s good news for AL pitchers.

La Russa thinks the new lineup will mean better pitches for his young sluggers, but Canseco says that’s baloney.

“What, you think somebody’s gonna lay a fastball in to me because Parker’s behind me?” he scoffed. “A pitcher’s prime concern is getting out the guy who’s at the plate. If you saw as many 2-0 and 3-0 sliders as I do, you’d know that.”

McGwire, last season’s rookie of the year who hit only three homers in August and still set a record for rookies with 49, isn’t sure just how pitchers will react to the A’s new order.

“I’ve never played on a team with this much power before,” he said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how they pitch to us.”

Steinbach, whose rookie year was lost in McGwire’s shadow, is steady behind the plate and is a tough out. He hit .321 with men on base last year.

Youngsters such as Weiss, 24, and Stan Javier, 22, who will get some playing time in the outfield, realize they’ll see a lot of strikes.

The A’s youth movement also includes reliever Eric Plunk, 24, who began last season as a starter but finished as a short reliever. He is being counted on as a closer this year. Outfielders Luis Polonia and Doug Jennings, both 23, figure to get limited playing time.

YOUNG AT HEART

La Russa used 16 designated hitters last year, more than any other manager. The most celebrated was Reggie Jackson, of course, but Oakland DHs hit only .203 in ’87.

Baylor, who started last year as a member of the defending AL champion Red Sox, ended the season as a world champion Twin. He has 16 years of service in the big leagues and says he has at least one more good one to give.

Parker, who spent his first 14 years in the National League, will also spend some time at DH. When he’s in the field, it will be in left instead of right. He’s not complaining about that move, but he was pretty upset when the Cincinnati Reds agreed to trade him in December. The day the deal was announced, he ran out and bought an A’s hat to wear when television crews showed up at his house for interviews.

“I’m starting to feel comfortable with the new position,” he said. “I really haven’t thought that much about hitting in a new league. I guess I’ll have to be a little more selective. They don’t challenge you as much over here.”

Lansford, who may be the best defensive third baseman in the league, keeps getting better with age. His 10th season in the majors may have been his best. He tied his career best in homers and led the team in batting average.

Second baseman Phillips probably will step aside when Hubbard, who was hit in the face with a pitch this spring and suffered a broken cheekbone, comes off the disabled list.

La Russa hopes that he has the right combination and that it all adds up to a pennant. He feels good about it now, anyway.

“The team that wins will be the team that has good players who are playing good,” he said, smiling.