WORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK : Rain Could Threaten Game 3

Rain headed toward the Bay Area on Friday, bringing the possibility of more problems for the troubled World Series.

The National Weather Service forecast showers all weekend and predicted the storm might last into early next week. Game 3 is still tentatively set for Tuesday.

Whenever the Series resumes, Dave Stewart will pitch Game 3 and Mike Moore will pitch Game 4 for Oakland. The were the winning pitchers in the first two games.

A’s Manager Tony La Russa said Bob Welch would start Thursday, if a fifth game is necessary.

For the Giants, Don Robinson is scheduled to start Game 3 and Scott Garrelts Game 4.

Commissioner Fay Vincent said he will meet with San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos over the weekend to get the mayor’s opinion about playing Game 3 on Tuesday.

“His advice to me is going to be very important,” Vincent said. “I hope by Sunday or Monday this community will be in a state where it will be appropriate and not indecent for baseball to be played in Candlestick Tuesday night.”

In a report to Vincent and other officials, Commander Isaiah Nelson of the San Francisco Police Dept. said the recovery process was proceeding well in San Francisco.

“Most important,” Vincent said, “he told us it was his judgment today that the Police Dept. would be in a good position to meet the needs of baseball on Tuesday.”

Both teams tried to focus as much as possible on baseball Friday. Each team held a workout at its ballpark, and the sessions were a little more lively than those a day earlier, the first time they came back to the field after Tuesday’s earthquake.

At Candlestick, after almost two weeks of clear skies and calm conditions, wind swirled the infield dirt.

“How in the world are we ever going to get ready at this rate?” Will Clark asked during a tame round of batting practice.

Even with bad weather moving in, both teams said they would stay in the area, rather than going elsewhere to train.

Immediately after their workout, the Giants visited a downtown shelter to hand out gifts to families left homeless by the earthquake.

Most players brought autographed pictures, pennants, balls and bats.

“It’s a way of trying to put something back into the community,” pitcher Kelly Downs said. “We’re all trying to do our part to help.”

The club actually planned to visit three shelters, including one in the Marina District, the hardest-hit community. But paper work at that shelter and another on the itinerary limited the Giant players to visiting only the Moscone Center, normally a convention hall.

About 1,100 people, many of them families with children, have lived there on and off since the quake hit.

Manager Roger Craig broached the idea of the visits with the players in a brief clubhouse meeting before the workout and the response was unanimous.

Before the teams practiced, players from both clubs met with Don Fehr, head of the Major League Baseball Players’ Assn. He updated them on the construction at Candlestick Park and the precautions being taken.

While the Giants practiced, several workers in hard hats climbed on scaffolding to the overhang. That was in Section 53 in the upper deck in right-center field, where the quake caused a six-inch crack in the concrete.

It will not be certain until Monday whether Candlestick will definitely be ready. At that time, city officials will decide whether to certify the stadium as safe, although it is expected to get approval.

The Giants offered to give Series ticket-holders a refund if they didn’t want to return to Candlestick Park next week, but only 50 people responded.

Travel plans, not fear of damage to Candlestick Park, was the reason most people gave for returning the tickets.

Team spokesman Matt Fischer said the small response caused the club to scrap plans to redistribute the tickets in a phone lottery that had been scheduled for Monday.

There were lines of fans at Candlestick seeking to purchase tickets, and ticket brokers said people are still asking for tickets. However, prices have dropped.

Ralph Cicurel, owner of the St. Francis Hotel Theatre Ticket Agency, said: “I was selling them from $135 to $500, depending on the location. Now I’m selling for between $100 and $250.”