It’s Like Spring for Athletics : World Series: La Russa, Alderson take the A’s to Arizona for two days to find clear skies and a dry field.

The temperature on a hazy--and ultimately blustery--Wednesday afternoon here reached the high 70s.

Warm enough for Jay Alves, the publicity director of the Oakland Athletics, to wear shorts. A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson, showed more discretion, arriving in jeans, sun glasses and a casual shirt.

The return of the A’s to the Valley of the Sun created the sense of a calendar gone haywire. It was suddenly March in October, suddenly spring training again except for some significant differences, one of which was cited by Manager Tony La Russa when his team finished a workout of almost three hours.

“In spring training, it’s always in the back of my mind that we’re gearing up for six months,” La Russa said of the long season.

“It never left my mind today that we’re gearing up for two games.”

The A’s lead the San Francisco Giants, two games to none, in the best of seven Series that resumes Friday night at Candlestick Park. It resumes after a delay of 11 days caused by the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Northern California.

So, in gearing up again, in seeking the assurance of a dry field and comparatively warm weather, the A’s left Oakland on a charter flight Wednesday morning and are scheduled to return after working out again today at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, their spring base.

La Russa smiled when practice was over and said: “This worked out better than we had hoped. We even got the wind of Candlestick.”

For $25,000, the approximate price of their trip here, the A’s may have benefited in other ways as well. The Bay Area’s earthquake relief fund definitely did. Red Cross volunteers collected about $9,200 from an estimated crowd of 6,000 Wednesday.

An Arizona TV station announced that it will match whatever is collected in the A’s two days here. There is a possibility, Alderson said, that the club will charge admission to today’s workout in an attempt to generate even more proceeds. He also said that A’s players will soon announce a donation independent of that being made by the club.

The size of Wednesday’s turnout stunned the A’s and generated a sense of game atmosphere among some players, who speculated the club might benefit from it, a contention La Russa disputed.

“Maybe it’s just this crowd, but I think the spirit of the World Series is coming back,” said pitcher Dave Stewart, who will start Game 3.

Said first baseman Mark McGwire: “I think it surprised everyone that this many people came out to watch a practice. I couldn’t help but experience a little adrenaline flow. We haven’t played before this many people in almost two weeks.”

Is he convinced, then, that the A’s will benefit from the trip.

“If we win, we can say, ‘Yeah,’ but if we lose, people will ask, ‘Why did you bother to go down there?’ ” McGwire said. “We’ve been on a roller coaster for so long it’s hard to know what to think anymore. It’s hard to turn on and off.

“I mean, people ask me about momentum now and I have to think there isn’t any. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. It’s like going back to square one except we’re still ahead, two to nothing. We have to win two of five and they have to win four of five. If that’s momentum, we have it.”

The A’s scheduled the Phoenix flight after their workout Tuesday at the Oakland Coliseum was cut short by rain and a wet field. It was bright and clear when they left Oakland Wednesday morning, but the Arizona commitment had been made.

Among those believed to be chagrined was Commissioner Fay Vincent, but the A’s didn’t seek his approval, said Alderson, who added he is confident that everyone’s perspective--including that of his manager, coaches and players--will benefit by the decision to come here.

“We’re not going to coast into the World Series. We have a responsibility to play as well as we can, and that’s the reason we came,” Alderson said.

“And if nothing else, the atmosphere here definitely beats what we had in our own park yesterday. It’s refreshing and satisfying to have this many people come out to watch us work after 11 days off.”

Said La Russa, taking a different course: “It was a treat to have this many people here, but we weren’t trying to generate momentum by flying around the country. We had to get on the field, that was the key.

“The truth is, if we had been guaranteed a dry field and good weather in Oakland, we would have stayed.

“I mean, it’s a plus to see the crowd’s enthusiasm, but I’d have rather been in Oakland today and I’m sure the players would have as well.

“When you strip everything away, playing for a World Series championship is a once-in-a-lifetime proposition, and that alone will get everyone going and motivated again.”

There are those, of course, who believe the World Series has lost its meaning, that it has been delayed too long to be considered a championship test.

La Russa said he doesn’t feel cheated by the delay, that he still takes satisfaction in the opportunity to win the World Series.

“I think the club that wins may have a claim on being more deserving than any that’s ever played,” he said. “Do you have any idea how tough it is for these guys to practice like this? I mean, it’s Oct. 25 and we’re getting ready to play Game 3 of the World Series after going to camp in February.

“I’m very sensitive to what these players have been through. You keep pushing and pushing. You keep asking for more and more.

“Whoever can endure all of this and win four games may deserve more credit than any team ever, but my point is that I don’t care whether you give that credit or not. I know in my own mind it’ll be a tremendous achievement. Not only that, it’ll say a lot about what a team can do when pushed to the limit.”

In this final push, amid the long delay and the sorting of priorities in the earthquake’s wake, the challenge is more mental than physical, La Russa said.

“Baseball is a game of finesse and execution, and it’s tough maintaining that in this situation,” he said. “But the mind is a wonderful thing if you don’t give in to it, and I think the A’s and Giants will surprise everyone with how well they play.”

What the A’s did Wednesday was strictly spring training. Some batting practice. Some infield practice. A five inning intrasquad game that ended when catcher Ron Hassey suffered a slightly bruised right shoulder when struck by a foul tip.

The loudest cheers went to Jose Canseco, who is hitless in his last 28 World Series at-bats, but who put on a big exhibition in batting practice, as he has frequently done here in the spring. Among Canseco’s shots were two that cleared the left-field fence and a bank behind it.

“Jose plays to the crowd and I think this will definitely help him,” hitting instructor Merv Rettenmund said of the trip here. “He wasn’t swinging like this at home.

“Sure, it’s an imposition, but I think everyone understands and is happy to be here. It was almost like we were living at the Coliseum. It’s good to get away.”

La Russa said of the workout: “Good but not great. About as good as can be expected under the circumstances. Everybody is anxious to play.”

First, however, there will be one more workout in the park that is the A’s spring home and also home of the Giants’ Pacific Coast League franchise.

In fact, a billboard reading “Go Giants” was removed just before the A’s arrival Wednesday.

“Shows how fast you can get off and on the bandwagon,” Alderson said.