BASEBALL : A’s Seeking a Three-Peat in AL; Canseco Has 50-50 Goal

Having fulfilled his unprecedented goal of 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 1988--and completely recovered now from the wrist injury that sidelined him during the first half of 1989--Jose Canseco has set a goal of 50-50.

And the right fielder’s team, the Oakland Athletics, have set a comparably imposing goal.

Call it, as the Lakers did, Three-peat .

They are attempting to become the first team in either the American or National leagues to win three consecutive pennants since the Charles Finley A’s of 1972-73-74.

In baseball’s era of parity, the A’s last year became the first team since the New York Yankees of 1977-78 to win two in a row, then went on to sweep the San Francisco Giants in the earthquake-interrupted World Series.

Is parity yielding to dynasty?

The possibility is there, Canseco said.

“If we just use our potential, it will be difficult to beat us,” said Canseco, sitting at his locker after an early workout in this short spring.

“We don’t really have a veteran team. We have a lot of young superstars who are still learning to play. We work hard because we don’t want to be a team that just idles.

“We want to be a team that continues to improve. We don’t want to be great. We want to be better than great, and we can be.”

The message is emblazoned on a T-shirt that third baseman Carney Lansford distributed to his teammates the other day. The message: “Contentment (expletive deleted)! Stay Focused.”

The manager loves it, of course.

The A’s won 104 games in 1988, fell victim to the implausible Dodgers in the World Series, then came to camp last spring to hear Tony La Russa talk about the continuing need for hunger and the avoidance of comfort and self-satisfaction.

La Russa had done his homework during the winter, talking with and reading the published works of such people as Pat Riley, Chuck Knox, Dick Williams, Vince Dooley, Bill Walsh and Reggie Jackson on the difficult task of repeating and staying motivated.

The A’s responded, winning 99 regular-season games despite injuries that might have demoralized teams of less dedication, confidence and talent.

Did La Russa give in to comfort after the ensuing playoff and Series victories? It doesn’t seem that way.

He reread Riley’s book on his success with the Lakers. He talked to Don Nelson, coach of the Golden State Warriors and a former member of the Boston Celtic dynasty.

“It’s hard to keep winning, but it’s not impossible,” La Russa said the other day.

“The Lakers do it. The 49ers do it. I told our guys that I believe we can be a better team than last year and that I believe we’re going to have to be.”

The A’s will have to be better, La Russa said, because four other American League West teams--the Angels, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins--are also capable of winning 90 games each, and a fifth team, the Seattle Mariners, is vastly improved.

And La Russa said they can be better because they will have Canseco and Rickey Henderson from the start; veterans Lansford and Dave Henderson are still in their prime, and younger players such as Mark McGwire, Walt Weiss, Terry Steinbach and Canseco “have gone through a testing ground the last few years and keep emerging.”

“I believe we’ll pitch like heck and hit like heck, and I know there’s one thing we’ll do outstandingly, and that’s play defense,” La Russa said.

He is confident about all of that despite the departure of three free agents: Dave Parker to the Milwaukee Brewers, Storm Davis to the Royals and Tony Phillips to the Detroit Tigers.

Parker, at 38, drove in 98 runs as the designated hitter. He was the A’s most productive left-handed batter and a clubhouse leader.

“Dave was very good for us in that department, but that’s the least of it, because we’ve got a bunch of guys who can lead,” La Russa said. “The important thing will be replacing his production. I’ve got to put a premium on picking the right guy to take those at-bats.”

La Russa said he has quality choices, starting with Ken Phelps and Ron Hassey and possibly including Felix Jose. He also has enough depth to put Lansford and Dave Henderson in that role on occasion, providing them with the partial rest they didn’t receive in the first half last year, when Canseco was injured and Rickey Henderson was still with the New York Yankees.

Mike Gallego, who La Russa said has Gold Glove capability, will replace Phillips at second base, and a long-touted farm product, Lance Blankenship, will be given the chance to replace Phillips’ valued versatility.

Davis was 19-7 as the No. 4 pitcher behind Dave Stewart, Mike Moore and Bob Welch, but he had a 4.36 earned-run average and averaged only five innings a start.

La Russa said he is confident that Scott Sanderson, signed as a free agent, can provide those same innings, with Todd Burns or Curt Young possibilities out of the bullpen.

Three-peat?

La Russa smiled and said:

“It’s going to be a hell of a race, but knowing our guys, how they like to compete and enjoy the feel of success, I’m confident they’ll take their shot. We have a very good team in a division of very good teams.”

Canseco left his renowned red Jaguar at home and rolled into camp Wednesday in a mere rental car--a red Jaguar, he said.

And he has been on a roll since, predicting that the full-time presence of Rickey Henderson--”the best leadoff man in baseball and the best ever”--may represent as many as 150 runs batted in for him, and refusing to back off his 50-steal, 50-homer prediction.

“I didn’t say I’d do it this year, though that’s not impossible,” Canseco said. “I said I’d do it sometime in my career, and I think I’m safe in that because I expect to play another 10 to 15 years.

“I’m not being arrogant. I hit 17 home runs and drove in 57 runs in a half-season last year with my wrist still hurting and my shoulder atrophied (from the layoff). I’m almost 100%. I may hit 60 homers some year, though it would be hard in our park.”

Canseco said the dimensions and heavy night air in Oakland are costing him a dozen or more home runs a season.

La Russa said: “The Oakland park takes away from Jose, but the Oakland team makes up the difference. I don’t want Jose to ever lose sight of what the people around him mean to him.”

Does his goal concern La Russa?

“Not at all,” the manager said. “My dad always taught me there was a value in setting goals. I’m not concerned as long as he keeps his focus, which he did when he got the 40-40. He ran in situations that helped the team.

“And Jose is the kind of player that you don’t go on record as saying he can’t do something, because he’s amazing. I mean, just because he’s never hit more than .307 doesn’t mean he’ll never hit .330. Sixty homers? He might hit 70. You can’t put a limit on what Jose might do.”

The proper response when a player says statistics mean nothing to him? Indigestion.

Statistics mean everything, as demonstrated again when some players began worrying about stats even before the collective bargaining talks produced an agreement.

In the players’ meeting on the day before the settlement, Orel Hershiser was among those pushing the union to pursue a change in the victory requirement for a starting pitcher.

The result: Starters only have to pitch three innings rather than five to gain a victory during the first 21 days of the regular season.

Hershiser told reporters in Florida that the change will prevent pitchers from trying to push and extend for a victory, risking a career-ending injury.

The change, however, has been met with criticism by many other pitchers who contend that by April 9 they will be ready to pitch more than three innings, and that the continuity and tradition of baseball statistics is more important than one or two more victories.

Nolan Ryan, 43, stepped off a plane in Florida the other day, stepped on the mound at the Rangers’ training camp, threw 25 minutes of batting practice and told the Dallas Morning News:

“Just because they shorten the training period shouldn’t entitle them to change the rules. I don’t want to win 20 games and have an asterisk. It’s an obligation of the players to stay in shape.”

Said the A’s Dave Stewart: “Five innings is a win, three innings is nothing.”

Charles O’Connor, general counsel and chief negotiator of the owners’ Player Relations Committee, will return to his New York and Washington law firm--Morgan, Lewis & Bockius--in June.

Commissioner Fay Vincent is expected to appoint an executive director of the PRC, a position vacant since the forced resignation of Barry Rona, before then.

O’Connor said he would like to retain a client relationship and stay on as general counsel of the PRC but added: “There is a need to have someone there in an executive position on a daily basis, and I have too many other commitments.”

While serving many masters who often didn’t seem to know what they wanted, O’Connor impressed the union, the media and most other observers with his poise during the recent talks.

The spotlight was new to him. In 21 years as a labor lawyer in the trucking, brewing, construction and public service industries, he never had to face daily news conferences.

The exposure, he said, often compounded a difficult task because perceptions that seemed clear at the bargaining table suddenly clouded as the media reacted to what were only bits and pieces of information and issues.

He laughed, however, and said the public’s reaction was amazing. He received an “incredible array” of solutions, including one from a former U.S. Senator and another from a federal judge.

“Nobody ever writes in the trucking business,” he said.