Attitude and Ability Keep the A’s on Top

It’s two hours before game time Wednesday night and the Oakland Athletics’ clubhouse is abuzz.

Dave Henderson cuts up. Something about a new glove that teammate Lance Blankenship is using has Henderson laughing.

“I gotta get one of these,” Henderson says, before flipping it back to Blankenship.

Reporters mill about waiting for a quote from Rickey Henderson or Jose Canseco or Manager Tony La Russa.

Off in a quiet corner sits Mark McGwire, trying to put into words what it’s like to be the defending world champions.

“A lot of teams have been shooting at us the last couple of years,” said McGwire, the A’s power-hitting first baseman. “So that’s not new. (But) their comments about trying to improve themselves to beat the A’s are different. In the past, team’s have wanted to improve to win the division.”

That’s flattering, according to McGwire.

After the A’s 7-5, 12-inning victory Tuesday night, Angel outfielder Chili Davis spoke in almost reverent terms about the defending champions.

The A’s take the field with such confidence, Davis said, as if they know they’re going to win each game.

McGwire says that’s nice, but that confidence can only take a team so far. Superior hitting, fielding and pitching figure prominently.

“I know we have to play at a certain level every day,” McGwire said. “When we take the field there are some teams that want to beat us very badly.”

Count the Angels and Kansas City Royals among them, two teams expected to contend with the A’s for the American League West title.

It’s only April, barely two weeks into the season, but already the A’s (6-1) are out in front. The battle might prove to be for second place.

“Everybody knows somebody will pick us up,” McGwire said. “That’s a big key as far as winning goes.”

Wednesday night, Scott Sanderson pitched a six-hitter, allowing one run, in six strong innings. Canseco hit a 2-2 pitch from Mike Witt over the center-field fence for a two-run homer that gave the A’s a 3-1 victory over the Angels.

Tuesday, an outstanding diving catch by shortstop Walt Weiss on Rick Schu’s ninth-inning pop foul, a home run by McGwire and strong relief pitching by Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley did the trick in a 7-5 victory.

“I like the A’s depth,” La Russa said. “I’m not going to compare our depth (with the Angels or Kansas City). We have enough depth to play 162 games and win a lot of ballgames.”

Wednesday, La Russa shuffled the lineup, moving McGwire to sixth in the batting order and inserting designated hitter Ken Phelps in the cleanup spot.

All the better to take advantage of Phelps’ .294 career average against Angel starter Kirk McCaskill. McGwire is batting only .143 against McCaskill.

“Phelps has hit quite a few bombs (actually three home runs) off McCaskill,” La Russa said. “McGwire hasn’t hit so many bombs.”

Still, the A’s continue to win, while McGwire struggles at the plate.

“I’m doing fair,” he said of his .179 batting average with three home runs and seven RBIs.

“I don’t think it (a short spring training) bugged me. The only way to get in hitting shape is to take game at-bats. You have to have live at-bats. I have to let things happen, that’s the way I look at it.”