Baseball : Blue Jays Have Been Inconsistent in Attitude and Performance

The Toronto Blue Jays’ season of turmoil has lacked only a call for the Canadian Mounties.

“Any time there’s distractions and dissension, things get magnified. There’s tension. A lot of ugliness comes out when you’re not winning.”

Jesse Barfield said it while sitting at his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Anaheim Stadium the other night.

The Toronto right fielder has been doing a lot of sitting lately.

From the disruptive attempt to make a designated hitter out of the American League’s Most Valuable Player, George Bell, in spring training to the recent benching of Barfield, there has been considerable tension and ugliness for a team that won 96 games last year, 99 in 1985 and 86 or more in each of the last five seasons.

The 1988 Blue Jays have won 5 of 8 games since the All-Star break, but they have not been over .500 since they were 9-8 on April 24.

“Injuries have hurt, but mostly the attitude of the players hasn’t been one of pulling together,” catcher Ernie Whitt said of the first-half troubles.

Said Barfield, when asked about the Blue Jays’ attitude:

“Inconsistent is the best word. At one point it seemed like we were going through the motions, and that showed up in our work habits.

“Practice makes perfect. It carries over into the games.”

The 1988 season has seen the role of the general manager questioned, the status of the field manager scrutinized almost daily, the players distracted and divided to the point that they look in a mirror and see scapegoats rather than themselves.

Barfield said the turmoil surrounding the attempted move of Bell to DH in spring training set the tone, upsetting the chemistry, and now there’s controversy regarding Barfield’s role.

He has not played regularly since late June. Rookie Sil Campusano is in center, with Lloyd Moseby having moved to right. Barfield isn’t happy. Neither are some teammates.

Whitt, in fact, said Barfield is being “crucified” by the team and “phased out.” He described Barfield as a proven streak hitter who is not being given the chance to produce what might be a job-saving streak.

The Blue Jays contend that Barfield has had his chance, which is not to say he won’t get another.

It’s a strange situation. Two years ago, Barfield hit 40 homers and drove in 108 runs. He was considered one of the game’s best defensive outfielders. Now, though only 29, his defensive skills are said to have deteriorated at the same pace as his offensive skills.

He has 7 homers, 26 runs batted in and a .205 batting average. He has been the subject of a number of trade rumors, and there is no indication as to when he will play regularly again, though the club is still working with him. The Blue Jays are attempting to have him open his stance in response to the opinion of General Manager Pat Gillick that Barfield has failed to adjust to inside pitching.

Barfield thought about that as he sat at his locker the other night and said, “What, is Pat a batting coach now?”

He smiled, shook his head and said he has made many adjustments in his career. He said his current problems started during the second half of last season when wrist and knee injuries eroded his strength and timing and caused him to hit only 9 homers after he had 19 at the All-Star break. He had surgery for both injuries during the winter, believes he is 100% physically, but is still looking for his timing, aware he can’t find it on the bench.

“Hitting is like dancing,” he said. “You’ve got to be fluid. Right now my steps are off a little. The problem is that I’m the type hitter who has to play. The year I hit 40 homers, I had the worst April of my career. I’ve always been a streak hitter.”

Bell, Barfield and Moseby once made up baseball’s best outfield. They drove in 314 runs and hit 101 homers last year. They are currently on a pace projecting to 43 homers--4 fewer than Bell hit last year--and 181 RBIs. Barfield’s pace has come to a halt. Would he be surprised if he is not in the lineup on a regular basis again soon?

“Yes, but the communication hasn’t been real good,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on right now except that Moseby is the right fielder. If that’s the case, the best thing for me would be to go elsewhere because I know I have productive years left. I know I’m still an everyday player.”

The three-day suspension of Jim Rice--for his shoving incident with Boston Red Sox Manager Joe Morgan after Rice was lifted for a pinch-hitter Wednesday night--will cost Rice about $28,022 based on his $1.7-million a year salary.

For the Red Sox, however, it’s not the money that matters. The move solidifies Morgan’s position. He urged the suspension and, for the most part, was supported by the players, whom he said he would treat equally.

Some felt that predecessor John McNamara didn’t do that.

“Mac had his favorites, he always had his guys he talked to,” first baseman-outfielder Todd Benzinger said. “If you could call that a double standard, I guess it existed. Joe will go up and talk baseball with John Trautwein and Roger Clemens. It doesn’t matter. He made it clear that the only difference between players in the clubhouse is the amount of money we make, and he doesn’t care about that.”

The Red Sox would love to trade the struggling Rice, but his salary, escalating to $2 million next year, makes it impossible. In the meantime, the signing of Larry Parrish, released by the Texas Rangers, gives the Red Sox a first base-DH option. Parrish was batting .190 with 7 homers and 26 RBIs in 68 games with the Rangers. He has 7 hits, 2 homers and 7 RBIs in his first 18 at bats with Boston.

The most impressive aspect of the Red Sox resurgence under Morgan has been the re-establishment of their dominance at Fenway Park. They have won 15 straight in Boston and will play 19 of their next 30 games at home, making it tough for Massachusetts’ Governor and Presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis to leave for the campaign trail.

Dukakis called McNamara to express sympathy after his firing and to remind him that he once delivered a speech in which he said:

“I have the second toughest job in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The toughest is John McNamara’s or any manager of the Boston Red Sox.”

Jay Buhner, a 23-year-old outfielder, was one of four prospects the New York Yankees said they would not trade. That was April. The reality of a long season convinced them that they needed one more left-handed hitter. Thus, thinking primarily of 1988, Buhner was traded to the Seattle Mariners Thursday for first baseman-DH Ken Phelps, who has one of the highest home-run-per-at-bat ratios among active players.

“You look at the great Yankee teams; they’ve won championships with left-handed hitters taking aim at the short porch (in right field),” Yankee Manager Lou Piniella said.

Phelps came to the Yankees with only 5 career hits in 32 at-bats in Yankee Stadium, but 4 were home runs. Piniella predicted that Phelps would be in the lineup against 3 of every 4 right-handed pitchers his team faced. To accomplish that, he will have to move first baseman Don Mattingly or DH Jack Clark to the outfield, benching Dave Winfield, who had no homers and 8 RBIs in his last 26 games until hitting two homers, one a grand slam, and driving in 5 runs in a 6-5 loss to Kansas City Saturday night.

Mattingly has won three straight Gold Gloves for his defensive skills at first base.

“I told Lou that I gave my outfield glove away in spring training,” he said. “I haven’t played out there since 1984 and never thought I’d have to use it again. The outfield was never easy for me. It was always work.”

The likelihood is that Clark will replace Winfield and Rickey Henderson once a week, allowing Phelps to DH, and that Clark himself will come out of the lineup once a week. It’s a typically combustible situation for the Yankees, with a number of proven hitters craving their at-bats down the stretch.

With Chili Davis and Jeffrey Leonard gone, the San Francisco Giants have looked to former Dodger Candy Maldonado as a power complement for Will Clark.

But Maldonado, who drove in 170 runs the last two years, has only 1 home run since May 20 and 7 for the season, along with 47 RBIs. In the first 11 games since the All-Star break, he is 10 for 30 with 2 RBIs.

“It’s more mental than anything,” said Maldonado, who did get the big hit in Saturday’s 6-5 win in St. Louis. “I’ve been put in a home run role and I’ve never considered myself a home run hitter. I’ve got to start using the whole field again, driving in runs any way I can.

“I mean, it really hurts not to produce because I’ve come to appreciate the opportunity the Giants have given me.”