THE WORLD SERIES : OAKLAND ATHLETICS vs. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS : Trying or Not, Giants Finally Wake Up A’s Sleeping Giant

As Jose Canseco noted later: “The one thing you don’t want to do is wake up a sleeping giant.”

Canseco was speaking of himself, not the San Francisco Giants.

Those Giants remained in a semisomnolent state Friday night as the World Series finally resumed with the Oakland A’s breezing to a 13-7 victory and 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven event.

Hitless in his last 23 World Series at-bats and approaching a Series record for futility, Canseco got his first wake-up call in the first inning when Scott Garrelts threw consecutive pitches near his head.

He got another from a female fan behind the A’s dugout who kept yelling profanities at him.

With his adrenaline flowing, Canseco ended his drought when he ripped a first-inning single that helped produce a quick 2-0 lead.

Then, with the Giants trailing only 4-3 in the fourth, he hammered a three-run homer off Kelly Downs to help build a lead that proved insurmountable.

Canseco smiled later, called the lead-expanding homer the most satisfying aspect of his satisfying night, and said of the Giants:

“They tried to intimidate me and I tried to intimidate them. I guess I came out on top.”

Intimidate?

“Why the hell would we be throwing at him when he hasn’t been hitting?” Giant Manager Roger Craig asked later. “No one was under instructions to throw at him or pitch him inside. Scotty was just rushing it.

“He can say what he wants, but we weren’t throwing at him.”

The A’s had one out and one on in the first when Garrelts threw the two pitches near Canseco’s head. Canseco took a step or two forward and was cut off by catcher Terry Kennedy and umpire Vic Voltaggio.

Canseco pushed Kennedy away, but elected to let his bat talk and returned to the batter’s box, where he promptly singled to left, his first Series hit since his grand-slam homer off Orel Hershiser in Game 1 of the 1988 Series.

“Garrelts really got my adrenaline going and sparked our club I think,” Canseco said. “I was really determined and motivated to have a good at-bat.

“I mean, I don’t think he was throwing at me as much as trying to establish the inside part of the plate, but what upset me was that you don’t do that above the waist.

“I’ve seen too many guys hit in the face. I’ve seen too many guys eat out of a straw for four or five months, lose 40 or 50 pounds and get nothing from the pitcher except a half-hearted apology. It’s too dangerous. It shouldn’t happen at the major league level.”

The Series record for consecutive hitless at-bats is 31, set by Marv Owen of the Detroit Tigers in 1934-35. Canseco, eight away, said he wanted Marv to keep the record but didn’t consider it a monkey on his back.

“I went 40 at-bats without a hit in my rookie year,” he said. “If I can survive that at 21 with no experience, I can survive anything.

“But I felt confident I’d get a hit tonight, and I had a lot of adrenaline flowing after that first inning. You’re much faster, much quicker and have a clearer vision when your adrenaline is flowing like mine was.”

The flow was at full force in the fourth, when Canseco lined a sidearm slider over the fence in left-center.

“I thought it was going to be a two hopper off the fence,” he said of the comparatively low shot, “but I hit it so hard that it just took off.

“Downs had thrown that sidearm slider to me in Oakland. When I saw him drop down again, I knew it would be the slider.”

After exchanging forearm bashes with teammates at the plate, Canseco tipped his cap in the direction of the woman who had been riding him behind the dugout.

“When you’re one of the top players in the league,” Canseco said matter of factly, “half the fans love you and half hate you.

“I’m used to them getting on me, particularly in opposing parks, but it’s usually kids who’ve had too much to drink. The elderly ladies usually like me.”

Canseco said that this particular woman was between 50 and 60.

“She yelled so many profanities at me that I finally told her to shut up,” he said of his triumphant return to the dugout. “The guy with her yelled that I was the one who should shut up. I just shook my head.”

A’s Manager Tony La Russa said later he was surprised that the fan wasn’t removed from the park and that her nasty remarks were what woke up Canseco.

La Russa also said that if Canseco displayed the same discipline during the season that he did Friday night he would hit .350.

Canseco shook his head and said, “that’s why I’m human and not a robot. There’s times I swing at bad pitches. There’s times the pitcher deserves the credit. I felt good coming in tonight. I think the trip to Arizona was a good idea. We had good weather and faced live pitching from our instructional league staff. There was no reason not to be ready.”

It had been 10 days since Game 3 was initially postponed by the earthquake that rocked the Bay Area. Canseco’s wife, Esther, was still not prepared to return to Candlestick Friday night, but Garrelts helped remind Canseco of where he was and why.

And of the hit that followed, ending his personal drought, the awakened giant said later, “I was going to stop the game and ask if I could keep the ball, but I didn’t want to create another scene.”