DOUBLY VALUABLE : In Addition to His Victories, Moore Is A’s Connection in Bid to Sign Langston

More than Jose Canseco or Mark McGwire or Dave Stewart or Dennis Eckersley, Mike Moore may represent the pivotal building block in the Oakland Athletics’ attempt to construct a dynasty in baseball’s age of parity.

And it goes beyond an impressive ability reflected by Moore’s 19 regular-season victories and the seven strong innings he delivered as the A’s defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-3, Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven American League championship series.

Moore represents the A’s link to Mark Langston, a close friend since they pitched together for the Seattle Mariners.

Langston is expected to conduct a California gold rush after leaving the Montreal Expos as the most attractive free agent in this winter’s crop.

Will he be lured to Oakland, near his former hometown of Santa Clara?

Or will he opt for the riches of Southern California, joining either the Angels, Dodgers or San Diego Padres?

Moore refused to discuss any aspect of his relationship with Langston Wednesday, saying it had nothing to do with the playoffs.

Stewart wasn’t so hesitant.

Would he want Moore to try to influence Langston’s choice?

Would he recommend that General Manager Sandy Alderson sign Langston and not worry how the other Oakland pitchers react if Langston doubles what any of them are making?

Yes to all of the above, Stewart said.

“I like to win, and Mark Langston represents winning,” Stewart said.

“If our rotation isn’t the best in baseball now, and I think it is, adding Langston would remove any doubt.”

Moore helped that process when he came from the Mariners as a free agent last winter and signed a three-year, $3.95-million contract, becoming the A’s highest salaried pitcher.

Stewart, paid a comparatively modest $950,000 in the first year of a two-year contract, said he didn’t resent Moore receiving a higher salary and wouldn’t resent Langston receiving higher yet.

“I can live with that if I receive the same courtesy when my time comes,” the A’s ace said. “It’s his turn now. When mine comes, the financial options will be greater because of what Langston gets.

“I’d be excited if he came here.”

If leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson has represented a final piece in the A’s lineup puzzle, Langston would represent the same to a pitching staff that led the league in earned-run average at 3.09 and a rotation that was devoid only of a reliable left-hander. Of the four right-handers, Moore and Storm Davis won 19 each, Stewart 21 and Bob Welch 17.

“I know what Mark could do for us, but this isn’t the time to think about it,” Moore said Wednesday, when it was the Blue Jays who again had reason for wishful thinking.

Stewart set the tone Tuesday when he held Toronto hitless over the final four innings of a seven-inning stint in which he allowed five hits and three runs.

Moore worked seven innings Wednesday. He allowed only an unearned run and three hits, emulating Stewart by working four hitless innings before leaving with a small blister on his index finger.

While the A’s have done some customary bashing and Henderson has ignited the attack and angered the Blue Jays with his base-stealing zeal, it has also been business as usual for the A’s starting pitchers.

No other team better exemplifies the adage: “Go as hard as you can for as long as you can.” It’s the philosophy here.

With a bullpen that features Dennis Eckersley, A’s starters completed only 17 games. Six American League teams had more. No team in either league won more games.

“We’ve made them very aware of what we expect,” pitching coach Dave Duncan said of the starters. “They realize how good the bullpen is and that’s made it acceptable to them.

“There have been many times we’ve taken out a guy pitching a shutout because we thought it was in the best interest of the pitcher or the club.

“We don’t ask them to take it a game at a time. We ask them to take an inning at a time.”

Moore completed six of 35 starts. He had the rotation’s best earned-run average (2.61) and restricted the opposition to a .219 batting average.

He had been scheduled to go after his 20th victory Sunday in the regular-season finale and pitch Game 4 of the playoffs Saturday in Toronto.

But he was scratched Sunday and rescheduled for Game 2, replacing Bob Welch, who had shown signs of fatigue recently and will now pitch Saturday.

In parts of seven seasons with the hapless Mariners, Moore was 65-96. His best season was 1985, when he went 17-10.

Was he disappointed at losing the chance for 20?

“This game was more important,” he said. “As I told Dunc, I had 11 chances to win 20 and lost them. I don’t think 19-11 is a bad year.”

It became that much better Wednesday as the 29-year-old right-hander found a groove in the middle innings after he came in “overthrowing everything.”

“I wasn’t nervous,” he said, “but I don’t think I threw 10 balls over the plate warming up. I was struggling with my mechanics. I had trouble finding my rhythm.”

There was no evidence of that in Moore’s demeanor, however. He is the coolest of the A’s starters. “I need music. I need laughter,” Stewart said of his own pre-start requisites. “Mike’s approach is different. He walks around as if it’s just another day. You don’t even know he’s pitching.

“On the bench and in the clubhouse, he talks, he laughs, he comes in every three innings and changes his undershirt. He says to me, ‘Stew, my mechanics are all messed up,’ and he’s laughing.

“He says he doesn’t have a clue out there, he’s searching.

“I say to him, ‘keep searching.’ ”

Said Duncan: “Mike has a very positive frame of mind. He never varies much. I can’t wait to see how he reacts if we win the World Series. I want to see if he gets excited.”

There were no World Series dreams in Seattle, but Moore said he seldom became frustrated or depressed because “I knew the ability was there.”

Now, however, Duncan has taught him a forkball that provides a change-of-pace to complement his fastball. Now, too, he knows he can survive a mistake in the Oakland Coliseum that might have been critical in the Kingdome. “My confidence level is way up,” he said. “I know that if I make 30 to 35 starts with this club I’m going to win a lot of games. It’s fun coming to the park now.”

The A’s wouldn’t mind if Moore made that same little speech to a friend and former Mariner teammate named Mark Langston.