LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES : A’s Make Strong Statement : McGwire, Henderson Turn On Power in Win

In the great power outage of the 1988 World Series, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, the celebrated Bash Brothers, were less than electric, and Dave Henderson didn’t prove to be the alternative source.

Henderson went 6 for 20 in the five-game wipeout by the Dodgers, but failed to homer and drove in only one run.

McGwire was 1 for 17 with one homer and one run batted in, and Canseco was 1 for 19 with one homer, four RBIs (all coming in his first at-bat of the Series).

The Oakland Athletics returned to postseason play here Tuesday night with a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the opening game of the American League playoffs.

And while the Bash family insisted that as individuals they are not trying to erase the memory of last October, McGwire admitted that, at least subconsciously, it’s one more motivation.

“We didn’t finish off what we set out to do last year,” he said, “and I think that’s still with us. I think if we stay within ourselves and don’t try to do more than we’re capable of, we can complete the job this time.”

McGwire and Henderson, at least, got off to impressive starts, supplying that missing power of a year ago in a victory that demonstrated that the A’s go to work with more than a tape measure.

The Blue Jays had taken a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Henderson got one back in a hurry, opening the Oakland half with a home run off Dave Stieb.

The Blue Jays led, 3-2, in the sixth when McGwire hit Stieb’s first pitch of the home half into the left-field seats for a 3-3 tie, touching off the decisive three-run rally.

McGwire, however, attempted to deflect the spotlight later, saying Rickey Henderson provided the big hit when he broke up a double play later in the inning, leading to the two runs that snapped the tie.

“That changed everything. It was a routine double play. The game would have been tied still,” McGwire said.

“Rickey has been playing like that since the first day he got here. He’s happy to be home and happy to be with a team of this ability.

“People look at us and think we’re a power team, but we do a lot of other things as well. We steal bases, move guys over, take guys out at second base. You don’t win 99 games hitting home runs every game.”

Rickey Henderson gives the A’s a dimension at leadoff they lacked last year, but there is still something catalytic about the home run, the potential that rests on one swing.

“Any time the other team scores I think it’s important to come right back and score. It demonstrates that you’re going to keep the pressure on and stay in it,” Dave Henderson said. “I think that was the importance of my homer.”

Said McGwire, of his:

“Stieb had been throwing a lot of breaking balls and I thought he’d try to sneak something hard by me.

“He’s got a nasty slider, but he got it over the middle of the plate and I got a good look at it. I could tell when I got back to the dugout that the team was pumped up.

“We were tied again against a good pitcher, and we have the feeling we’re tough to beat in the late innings.”

Dave Henderson and McGwire had tuned up impressively for the playoffs, driving the A’s through the stretch.

Henderson, the center fielder, had 18 RBIs in September and a .433 average with runners in scoring position, closing out a see-saw season in which he hit 15 homers and drove in 80 runs.

He came in with a .286 career average for the playoffs and a .356 World Series mark.

“I don’t consider myself the new Mr. October,” he said in response to a question. “I just want to be known as a pretty good player who doesn’t back away from the pressure of a challenge.

“I always seem to hit better in the second half, and that’s when the playoffs and World Series always seem to be scheduled.”

McGwire, the first baseman from USC, led the league with eight home runs in September, then hit another Sunday, his 26th birthday.

Seven of McGwire’s last 10 hits have been homers, which is characteristic of a season in which he hit 33 to rank third in the league and drove in 95 runs to tie for 10th, but batted only .231.

“It’s been a rocky year for me, in some ways my most difficult,” McGwire said. “I know I’m not a .231 hitter, but my power numbers have been up near the top (despite missing more than two weeks in April with a back injury) and I feel good about that.

“The strange thing is that when I came up in 1987 (and set a rookie record with 49 homers while batting .289), the average was overlooked. Nobody wanted to talk about it. This year, it was the average that got all the attention.”

Not from everyone, however.

“Mark’s offensive responsibility is to produce runs, and when you get over 30 homers and 90 RBIs, you’re doing that,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “If you look at his season overall, you’d have to say it was a good one, but Mark considers himself a complete hitter, so he’s not satisfied.”

McGwire, who joined Canseco as the only players in major league history to hit 30 or more homers in each of their first three full seasons, said he has been confident that the hits would begin to fall--or soar.

“I feel pretty good about the way I’m swinging now,” he said, “and I consider this the start of a new season. The statistics don’t matter now, nor does what we did in last year’s World Series. It’s a new year, a new team.”

The results were the same for Canseco, however. The most famous Bash Brother struck out three times and has gone hitless in his last 22 postseason at-bats.

Canseco, too, said he is not thinking about last October’s frustrations, but La Russa said: “I think he and Mark are motivated to beat the band, but they’ve got to work with discipline. Jose had a couple good at-bats early, but then he was trying to hit one out.”

McGwire and Henderson each did, meaning that in the first playoff game of the new October, the bashers were well represented.