BASEBALL : Optimism Evaporates Quickly in Atlanta

The Cincinnati Reds might be April’s hot story, but it’s Atlanta that is burning--the hopes of the Braves and their touted young pitching staff incinerating faster than you can say William Tecumseh Sherman.

Unless there’s a swift and dramatic change, owner Ted Turner might scorch both Russ Nixon, the manager, and Bobby Cox, the general manager, tossing in Mike Fratello, coach of his Atlanta Hawks, as kindling.

Turner may have created the Goodwill Games, but the concept goes only so far. A 1-8 record after Saturday’s loss to the Reds isn’t likely to create harmony.

This was to be a fine season for the National League West’s perennial cellar dwellers. In addition to promising pitching, the Braves had remodeled the lineup with the $5.7-million signing of free agent first baseman Nick Esasky and the acquisitions by trade of third baseman Jim Presley and catcher Ernie Whitt.

It may still happen, but more than the pre-weekend madness of 1-8 has been the disturbing method.

Consider:

--The Braves were outscored 70-28 in the nine games, allowed 10 or more hits in eight of them and opposing players collected three hits or more 14 times. The staff earned-run average was 7.63, and of the 28 times Nixon went to the bullpen, 17 times the reliever came on to allow at least one earned run.

--The potential ace of the rotation, John Smoltz, is 1-7 since participating in last summer’s All-Star game and 0-2 this year, the opposition hitting .444 against him. The potential relief ace, Mike Stanton, had a 14.54 ERA based on seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings after giving up only four earned runs in his final 44 innings at Richmond and Atlanta last year.

--Esasky was six of 35 after Saturday with no extra base hits, no runs batted in and was responsible for 15 of the 63 strikeouts the Braves had accumulated in 303 at-bats. Dale Murphy, seeking to shake two bad seasons, had nine strikeouts and seven hits in 34 at-bats, with one home run and four RBIs.

--Whitt, batting .150, had thrown out only two of 18 base stealers and was exchanging oral jabs with his pitchers because of it.

“I don’t see why some people can hold runners on and others can’t,” he said. “It should be an adjustment easily done. The pitcher should know when the runner goes and cut his release time accordingly.

“I think I’ve made only one bad throw. It’s not like I’m throwing rainbows down there, but it’s a definite concern and something has to be done.”

Said Pete Smith: “Nothing against Ernie, but he doesn’t have one of the strongest arms in the world. At the same time, we as pitchers could do a better job of holding people on.”

Said Nixon, of the staggering start: “I never thought it could be this bad. I mean, I still think this could be a great club. I really had no idea.”

The status of the manager and general manager was considered uncertain going in. What might save them is that no one seems to be paying attention. Or cares. Atlanta apathy?

The Braves were the only team in baseball not to draw a million each of the past two years. They averaged 13,917 in 1989 and 9,284 for the first five dates of 1990.

On Monday, two days after the Dayton Dynamo and Atlanta Attack drew 8,653 for an indoor soccer game there, the Braves and Reds attracted 6,484.

Strange Twists: Juan Samuel, the Dodger leadoff man, appears to have responded aggressively to the center-field assignment.

But Devon White, the Angel center fielder, continues to resist the leadoff role, irritating management with his lack of selectivity.

Then there’s Philadelphia’s Len Dykstra, who once was considered a center-field candidate for the Dodgers and remains among the leadoff possibilities for the Angels if White is traded. Tim Raines of Montreal and Junior Felix of Toronto also are Angel candidates.

Dykstra has heard all the rumors. “The Phillies have been good to me,” he said. “They gave me the chance to play every day. I’m not saying I want to be traded, but if I had to be traded, the Angels and Dodgers would be one, two on my list.

“I grew up in Garden Grove. There were many times I rode my bike to Anaheim Stadium and found ways to sneak in. I’m moving back to Mission Viejo next winter. It (a trade) would complete the homecoming.”

The Angels and Phillies make a perfect trade match. The Angels have a surplus of the commodity the Phillies require--pitching.

A package is a possibility, although Dykstra said he talked with Philadelphia General Manager Lee Thomas in spring training and was told he would not be traded. Dykstra said he thought that if the Phillies traded anyone it would be Von Hayes, netting at least two starting pitchers in return.

Dykstra, on the other hand, is more than a leadoff man and center fielder. His fiery personality is capable of igniting an unemotional team. A veteran Angel, reflecting on that the other day, said: “Of all the players I’ve heard mentioned in trade rumors, Lenny is the one I’d most like to see come here. We have a lot of guys who care and want to win, but they keep it to themselves. We need someone to come in and break some bats, rattle some bones.”

There is a theory that the departure of personalities such as Roger McDowell, Randy Myers, Wally Backman and Dykstra have cost the New York Mets their abrasive and aggressive flavor.

Dykstra said he agrees with that and also finds it amusing that the Mets, concerned about Keith Miller’s play amid overall defensive shortcomings (they committed 14 errors in 11 games), are again in the center-field market, having traded three center fielders in the past two years--Samuel, Dykstra and Mookie Wilson.

“The Mets have shown bad judgment,” Dykstra said. “When you’ve got pitching like that, wouldn’t you try to get a defense that can catch the ball?”

Dykstra, in the meantime, is off to his best start. He entered a weekend series in St. Louis with the NL’s second-best batting average.

“I’m not thinking about the rumors or anything else,” he said. “I’m just trying to concentrate on playing, being consistent all year. I learned a lot playing every day during the last two months of last year and went home and wrote down some things I needed to do.”

One was to bulk up, get stronger. The 5-10, 165-pound Dykstra suddenly went to 190.

“I lifted some weights and took some real good vitamins,” he said. “I feel a lot stronger. I just hope I can keep it on. I’ve already lost six pounds in a week. I mean, it’s hard because your diet changes so much during the season with all those TWA specials.”

Doc on the Mend: After Dwight Gooden allowed 14 hits and 10 runs in the 7 2/3 innings of his first two starts, both winless, there was a suspicion that the Mets’ ace might have been tipping his pitches.

No indication of that, however, when Gooden bounced back Thursday to go seven strong innings in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs, whose shortstop, Shawon Dunston, said:

“I didn’t see him tip nothing. He was throwing a 95-mile-per-hour fastball on the inside corner. If he keeps that up, the only tipping is going to be the other team tipping their caps to him.”

The Cubs almost always do.

Gooden has a 19-3 career record against them, winning seven in a row.

Evoking memories of Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell attacked the New England media the other day, saying, “It’s very tough to deal with those guys because you’d like to wring their necks. I would wring their necks if the law permitted it.”

This all started because of the few base hits ringing off Greenwell’s bat. He was seven of 37 with no RBIs through Friday, compounding Boston’s pitching woes.

While Roger Clemens was 3-0 with a 4.12 ERA entering a weekend series in Milwaukee, the rest of the Boston staff was 2-4 with a 5.64 ERA, and there was no indication of immediate help for the three-deep rotation of Clemens, John Dopson and Mike Boddicker.

“I started looking (for pitching) last June,” General Manager Lou Gorman said. “I understand the fans’ frustration because I’m as frustrated as anyone.”

Similarly, the Texas Rangers are getting nothing after Nolan Ryan and Kevin Brown. The Rangers, through Friday, were 5-0 in games Ryan and Brown started, 0-6 when others started. Last year, they were 36-24 in the Ryan and Brown starts, 47-55 otherwise.

A solid start has served to defuse the always combustible New York Yankee environment. It’s April, Pascual Perez has pitched 11 innings without allowing an earned run and Dave Winfield, one of George Steinbrenner’s favorite punching bags, says: “What’s starting to happen here isn’t luck. Some very positive signs are emerging. There is emotion in the clubhouse. There is a unity that I haven’t seen for quite a while. We have the offense and pitching to do it as a team. There are no great pitching stars, but a lot of good, solid guys.”

The torrid start of Red shortstop Barry Larkin would seem to suggest batting tips from Manager Lou Piniella, the former Yankee manager and hitting instructor, but Larkin, 22 of 39 through Saturday, said he couldn’t adapt to Piniella’s style.

“I tried it, but I couldn’t use his philosophy,” Larkin said. “It wasn’t something I was comfortable with. It’s more a long-ball swing and I’m not a home run hitter.”

Have Piniella and San Diego Padre Manager Jack McKeon turned over new leaves?

Piniella, who played for McKeon in 1973 in Kansas City, wrote in his 1986 autobiography that McKeon is “a champion second-guesser. I didn’t like his manner, his tone of voice, his sarcasm, and the feeling was mutual. He didn’t like me very much. I couldn’t play for the man.”

Two years later, McKeon wrote in his own book that Piniella was “the most selfish player I’ve ever seen. In my first spring training, I lectured them every morning on baseball. A couple of veterans thought it was a waste, but mainly it was Lou Piniella. He’s the one who undermined me.”

In response to questions this week, Piniella said he respects McKeon, and McKeon said: “We don’t have any problems. I’d like to think we can see past whatever happened 17 or 18 years ago.”