National League Notebook : Giants’ Williams Is Catching On to Big Leagues

Earlier this week, when asked if Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies used to be his hero, San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Williams gave less than an All-American answer.

“Not really,” he said. “To be honest, I never watched baseball when I was growing up. Until I was drafted, I didn’t know which team was in which league.”

But after a double, a homer and four runs batted in during the first two games of the National League Championship Series--not to mention flawless fielding--at least one opposing player thinks Williams finally knows he’s in the major leagues.

“I think the biggest surprise for me the first two games has been Williams,” said Rick Sutcliffe, who will start for the Chicago Cubs against Mike LaCoss in tonight’s Game 3 at Candlestick Park. The series is even at one game apiece.

“We knew that he was a good defensive player,” Sutcliffe added, “but . . . early in the year when we faced him, and even in spring training, he chased an awful lot of bad pitches. Right now, he’s a much different player than he was back then. I think to begin with, our game plan was to pitch around (Will) Clark and (Kevin) Mitchell. We knew we had an idea on how to get Williams out. But right now, we’re not sure how to get him out.”

Giant Manager Roger Craig said: “We knew it was there,” referring to Williams, 23, who totaled 44 homers this year at triple-A Phoenix and in San Francisco. “He’s got the potential to hit as many homers as Mitchell, he’s that strong.

“I think once he gets a fresh start and plays all year, you’ll see a different hitter. He’ll drive in a lot of runs and hit a lot of homers and hit in the .270 to .280 range.”

For now, however, Williams will finish this postseason not forgetting his .202 major league average, nor the fact that late in the season, he was removed for pinch-hitters such as Mike Laga.

“I’m more laid back now, not as worried about things,” Williams said. “I’ve realized, I can still make everybody forget what I haven’t done.”

Giddy with their offensive success in this series’ first two games--a combined 28 runs on 44 hits--neither the Giants nor the Cubs held workouts Thursday.

But it wasn’t as simple as that.

Craig arrived at Candlestick Park for his news conference only to discover that his parking space had been taken by a certain 47-homer man.

“I couldn’t believe it, Kevin Mitchell took my parking space,” said Craig, who felt better when he discovered Mitchell was taking an hour of batting practice underneath the stadium.

“Kevin is unusual, he does things like that.”

Cub Manager Don Zimmer, meanwhile, didn’t cancel his off-day session until a couple of hours before it was scheduled. He wanted to cancel it earlier but became confused.

“I didn’t want to work out, but a couple of weeks ago (Cub General Manager) Jim Frey told me that it would be good for the press, and I said fine,” Zimmer said. “But then (Thursday) I asked the Giants if they were going to work out, and Roger said no. So I figured, I wouldn’t work out either, because I didn’t want to in the first place.”

Zimmer said he is looking forward to the Cubs facing Giant starter Mike LaCoss today. Not because they are enemies, but because they are a different kind of friends.

“We are close friends, but recently I squeeze-bunted on him and won a game that way,” Zimmer said. “After the game he was saying to me, ‘You dirty so-and-so, you’d better not squeeze on me again.’

“I just hope I get a chance to do it again (in Game 3).”