SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S TWIN BILLYS : Bean(e)-Counters Find Two in Toledo : But Goal of Billy Beane-With-the-E Is to Make It to Detroit--and Stay

It’s more than two hours before game time late in the afternoon, and a steady rain is falling at the Lucas County Recreation Center, home of the Toledo Mud Hens, triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Inside a cramped, steamy clubhouse, Billy Beane and Billy Bean wait to see if that night’s game against the Rochester Red Wings will be played.

William Lamar Beane III, 26, is a right-handed outfielder from San Diego. William Daro Bean, 24, is a left-handed outfielder and first baseman from Santa Ana.

What is it like to have a teammate with virtually the same name?

“It’s been easier than what you’d expect,” said Beane with an E about playing with Bean without an E. “Of course, there are always a few stand-up comedians for P.A. announcers. Everywhere we go, they always make some kind of joke about it. I’ve had a couple of phone calls in my hotel room for him, and he’s had a few for me.”

That could pose a problem, because Billy Beane, Mt. Carmel High School class of 1980, is married--to the former Cathy Sturdivant, a three-time All-American tennis player at UC San Diego. Billy Bean, a graduate of Santa Ana High School in 1982 and Loyola Marymount in 1986, is single.

Luckily for him and his marriage, Billy Beane has not had any women calling his hotel rooms looking for Billy Bean.

“It could get me in trouble,” Beane said. “But Bill’s a pretty clean-living guy, so that’s good. It might be different if he was a rabble-rouser.”

“Cheers” is on television, and a stereo is playing in the background. A teammate is grunting, practicing a samurai routine with a bat. And Billy Beane-With-the-E, as he is known to his teammates and Manager Pat Corrales, sits in his fourth home clubhouse in two years. Obviously, Beane has more to worry about than a case of mistaken identity.

Depending on how you choose to look at it--and the man himself isn’t sure--Billy Beane is one of the luckiest or unluckiest baseball players in recent years. Consider this case of Beane-ball:

--Made his big league debut in September, 1985, with the New York Mets. Was traded to Minnesota during the winter of 1986. Later that year, the Mets won the World Series.

--Went 5 for 5 with a walk, had a career-high 4 runs batted in and hit his first major league home run in the ninth inning off the New York Yankees’ Ed Whitson on April 29, 1986. Still, he was in the minors for most of 1987 before being recalled on Sept. 2. He wasn’t eligible for the postseason roster, and the Twins won the World Series.

--Was traded to Detroit in the spring of 1988. Opened the season with the Tigers but was optioned to Toledo on April 30. The Tigers have been in first place most of the year.

He has been with three first-class, successful baseball organizations. But talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time . . .

“I’ve been able to somehow avoid making the World Series,” Beane said. “It’s a double-edged sword. It’s great to play for a winner, but when you’re with a winner, positions are already established. It’s part of the game. Maybe if I was with a losing club, I would have had more time in the big leagues, but that’s not been the case. I’ve been fortunate and unfortunate.”

If the Tigers win the AL East, they most likely will enter postseason play without Beane. Since he arrived in Toledo, he has hit just .226 (through Thursday) with 7 home runs and 32 RBIs. It’s his lowest average since 1982, when he batted .211 at Jackson (double-A).

“Concerned is a good word,” said Joe McDonald, the Tigers’ vice president for player procurement and development. “We’re obviously not going to hide our disappointment. We thought Billy would do better. He’s an accomplished triple-A hitter. I’m sure this season is as big a disappointment to him as it is to us.

“But there’s a month to go. His future with the organization really depends on the next month. I hope Billy recognizes August for what it is. The dog days of the season are in August, but this is a team game played by individuals. You can’t let the team’s play (the Mud Hens were 49-70 through Thursday) affect your own play. His role in the organization will not be determined by me, it will be determined by Billy and how well he plays.”

Beane, who still lives in San Diego, was drafted by the Mets in June, 1980. One of the Mets’ three first-round draft choices, he was picked 23rd. Darryl Strawberry was first.

Since then, Strawberry has become a full-fledged star. Beane has played with six minor league teams and three major league clubs.

“Darryl is the most remarkable athlete I’ve seen in my life,” Beane said. “I’m not lying at all when I say this: To watch Darryl play, or to play with him, your jaw drops because he’s so talented.

“But anytime you’re drafted and make it up to the big leagues, you’re a success. I was drafted as a high school kid. . . . I haven’t played up there as long as I’d have liked at this point, but I’m still playing.”

But he hasn’t been playing that well. His low average is an indication that he hasn’t felt good at the plate much of the season.

“Sometimes it just happens,” he said of his season-long slump. “It starts with the mechanics and then gets in your head. Once it gets in your head, it’s hard to get out.”

Where is it now?

“I think it’s a combination right now, which is the worst to have,” he said. “But there’s still some of the season left, and there’s nothing to say a great month can’t turn it around.”

Said McDonald: “He’s having a problem with the breaking ball away, as so many hitters do. He’s primarily a low-ball hitter, but he’s having problems with pitches with velocity that have some run to them--for example, high and away pitches.”

Beane grew up in the Met organization with a small dose of major league ball in 1984 and 1985 (13 games total), matured with the Twins with another taste of big league ball in 1986 (80 games) and 1987 (12 games), and is now trying to find a home with the Tigers.

The trades, he said, haven’t bothered him.

“Sometimes it’s good to have a change of scenery,” he said. “You travel around the country anyway--just changing uniforms isn’t that big a deal.”

The trade to Detroit this spring came as good news.

“I was real happy about this trade,” he said. “In Minnesota, I could see the writing on the wall. I just wasn’t getting an opportunity there. Before they traded (Tom) Brunansky, the Twins probably had the best outfield in the league. Detroit platoons--a lot of people get playing time. So I thought the opportunity would be better there.”

It might have been, were it not for the emergence of Luis Salazar. Beane stuck with the big club when spring training ended and was originally to platoon in left with Pat Sheridan. But Salazar went from being a fringe player to a Tiger MVP candidate, and Beane was dispatched to Toledo.

The Lucas County Recreation Center is only about 1 1/2 hours south of Tiger Stadium, but the two worlds are as different as a plush Rolls Royce and a stripped-down Yugo. The month Beane spent with Detroit had more of an effect on him than any other time he spent in the major leagues. Trouble is, experiences such as that make the minors all the more frustrating.

“A lot of people think Sparky (Anderson, the Tiger manager) is just a showman, but he’s so smart,” he said. “Just being able to experience that . . . the guys in Detroit are just incredible. They’re the best bunch of guys I’ve ever been around in my whole life. Even if I never again get called up to Detroit, I wish them nothing but success because the people there are that great. Sparky molds a team that gets along, and there’s nothing like it. You have to be there to believe it. That’s why they win. You look at the names on that lineup and say, ‘Who are these guys?’ It’s because Sparky knows how to mold a team together.”

Whether he will be recalled by the Tigers when the major league roster limit expands to 40 players on Sept. 1 is questionable. Because of his statistics, Beane is not getting his hopes up. The Tigers will be in a pennant chase, and they will be looking for role players for the final push. Beane may not have a role with Chet Lemon, Larry Herndon and Salazar ahead of him. But he refuses to be discouraged.

“You make your own breaks,” Beane said. “If you do well enough, they can only keep you down for so long. Right now, I’m struggling, so I really don’t deserve to be up there. You hear a lot of guys crying about not getting up there, but if you play good enough, you’re going to get up there. Sometimes there are a couple of speed bumps in the way.

“I still love playing this game. It’s the best job in America. I get paid well, I get six months off a year, I have a whole day off to spend with my wife, and I get to golf all winter. I haven’t had a job in I don’t know how long. You can watch all the ‘Bull Durham’ movies you want, but I’m very happy in my job.”

Outside, the rain was still falling. Inside, some Mud Hens were getting restless.

A card game was started in the middle of the small Toledo clubhouse, and Beane accepted an invitation to play.

Someone started dealing. On the back side, the cards were orange--with a bright blue Tiger logo imprinted on them.