BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Aching A’s Find White Sox Won’t Go Away

How best to describe the impertinent Chicago White Sox and their dogged pursuit of the Oakland Athletics in the American League West?

Chicago General Manager Larry Himes said the A’s are probably finding that his team is comparable to a migraine.

“They can’t shake us,” he said. “We’re like a bad headache. They wake up in the morning and we’re there. And aspirin won’t help.”

The White Sox have definitely been a pain to the A’s, who have always felt they can tolerate what anyone throws at them simply because they are better than anyone else.

Even now, the A’s still feel they can cope with a headache, but the pain from their own debilitating injuries is becoming acute.

It starts with the hamstring and back problems affecting the availability and performances of Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco.

Then, on a wet and substandard field in Chicago the other night:

--Shortstop Walt Weiss suffered a rib-cage pull and is day to day as the A’s weigh the disabled list. Teammate Terry Steinbach missed 24 games with a similar injury earlier this season.

--Center fielder Dave Henderson injured a knee that will require arthroscopic surgery and could sideline him for the rest of the season.

On a team of marquee names, the less flamboyant Dave Henderson is a quiet leader and clutch player batting .272 with 19 homers, 59 runs batted in and a history of being at his best in September and the playoffs.

“That’s the biggest loss of all the injured players we’ve had the last three years,” pitcher Dave Stewart said of Henderson. “On the field, in the clubhouse, big plays, big hits--he’s the most underrated player on this team in terms of impact.”

For now, rookie Darren Lewis is filling in for a player the A’s seem to consider irreplaceable, the captain of the outfield.

“We lose his leadership in that area alone,” Stewart said. “ ‘Hendu’ keeps guys on the ball. Darren’s not going to be able to tell Jose or Rickey to move, where to play. And even if he did, even if he knew when and how to do that, would they listen?”

A four-time Gold Glove winner, Kirby Puckett is being moved from center field to right by the Minnesota Twins.

He will platoon there for the rest of the season, then move permanently in 1991, providing the Twins find a full-time replacement in center.

“Kirby has had a pretty good career out there, but this might save him a few miles,” Manager Tom Kelly said.

What Kelly didn’t say is that the Twins have grown concerned about the number of balls falling in front of the deep-playing Puckett.

Puckett is taking it well.

“Hey, this will probably help my career,” he said.

“I’m not Devon White or Gary Pettis or one of those guys who plays shallow and still covers everything.”

Of his bid for a fourth consecutive National League batting title, which would be the longest streak since Rogers Hornsby won six in a row starting in 1920, the San Diego Padres’ Tony Gwynn referred to current leader Lenny Dykstra, saying:

“I think the pressure might get to Dykstra, but for me and Willie (McGee) it’s not first or foremost on our minds. We’ve done it before and know we can do it again.”

Obviously, the New York Mets’ Dave Magadan, now second to Dykstra and about 20 points ahead of Gwynn, is not first or foremost on his mind either.

A misguided campaign to re-name Anaheim Stadium in honor of Gene Autry, the Angels’ owner, has met justifiable opposition from Anaheim city council members Tom Daly, Miriam Kaywood and Irv Pickler.

Yes, Autry showed some courage in moving to Orange County in 1966, though it is worth remembering that Walt Disney had already done the research and surveys and was the real pioneer there, and that the Angels, dying in Dodger Stadium, had no other substantive offers.

It is also worth remembering that Anaheim, a city of 150,000 then, supplied the land and finances for the construction of the stadium and has received Autry’s gratitude through: (1) a suit that has cost the city and its taxpayers millions of dollars, and (2) an error-prone operation producing three division titles and 15 finishes of .500 or worse in the first 24 years there.

And, perhaps, more than all else, it is worth remembering that it was Autry who refused to rename his franchise the Anaheim Angels because he was afraid “Anaheim” might generate laughs on Madison Avenue reminiscent of those Jack Benny got when he linked Anaheim with Azusa and Cucamonga.

Why now should the city be expected to rename its stadium? It’s enough that Gene Autry and the county have helped one another. Let the city keep its name in lights. If it can’t have Broadway, let it at least have State College Boulevard.

Did George Steinbrenner unravel the New York Yankees’ front office mess with his last-gasp reappointment of Gene Michael as general manager, or did he merely rearrange it?

Time will tell. For the present, Michael is the final authority on baseball matters, but both he and George Bradley, who now carries the title of vice president of baseball operations, can initiate trade talks, as both Bradley and Pete Peterson had been doing, often tripping over the other’s phone line.

It is also unclear as to whether Michael or Bradley will conduct contract negotiations, and the Yankees have five players eligible for free agency--Dave Righetti, Tim Leary, Mike Witt, Jeff Robinson and Wayne Tolleson.

In the meantime, there seemed to be at least one positive and one certainty stemming from Steinbrenner’s final moves.

--The positive: Brian Sabean, credited with restoring stability to the Yankee farm and scouting system as director of scouting, was elevated to vice president of player development and scouting--Bradley’s former job--and given a three-year contract.

The Yankees, through Friday, had the best record in the American League East since the All-Star break, and much of the credit belonged to rookies Kevin Maas, Oscar Azocar and Jim Leyritz--products of a rebounding farm system.

--The certainty: The awarding of a three-year contract to Steinbrenner’s son-in-law, Joseph Malloy, as vice president of finance was an indication that the Yankees will remain a family trust, with Malloy eventually handling the business end and Steinbrenner’s youngest son, Harold, now a senior at Williams College, handling baseball matters.

Can Steinbrenner stay out of it until then? Won’t he be on the phone, violating commissioner Fay Vincent’s ruling?

“I’m getting tired of people asking me that,” Michael said. “They should know me better. Do you believe I’d risk my baseball life? I mean, he’s not going to call. Besides, I’ve been known to hang up on him.”

Bobby Thigpen of the White Sox and Dennis Eckersley of the A’s are closing in on Righetti’s single-season save record of 46, but that isn’t Righetti’s main concern. There’s already unrest in new Yankeedom because of comments by Michael on Righetti’s contract situation.

“He’s not like the Righetti of old, but he’s good,” Michael said. “Other clubs have expressed interest in him, so we know he has value. The decision on how high we go will have to be made.”

Said Righetti: “I’m hurt. It’s hard every year to prove yourself. I was hoping he’d say I was doing a good job and that they’d want to keep me. Instead of hearing something decent out of his mouth, he said I wasn’t as good as I used to be. . . . It hurt because here’s a guy who has been here since I’ve been here.”

Righetti doesn’t figure to be hurting long. He’s 27 for 30 in save opportunities, the market is expected to be open again, there’s a vast need for proven relief pitchers and the Yankees themselves have no apparent replacement.

“He’s had a hell of a year,” Manager Stump Merrill said. “He just hasn’t had the opportunities. I still have a lot of confidence in him.”

After a summer of indoctrination, making moves designed to strengthen the marketing and minor league departments, the new president of the Detroit Tigers believes he is ready to take a more active role in the varsity’s baseball operations.

Said Bo Schembechler, the former Michigan football coach, to Danny Knobler of the Booth newspaper chain: “I hope you’ll take this the right way, but I know more about what it takes to put a team together and compete than any other person in my position. Therefore, I’m going into the baseball end of it now more actively than any other club president.”

And why did he wait?

“I didn’t want to jump in and talk about players I didn’t know about,” he said. “I’ve now watched a lot of games, studied baseball and stayed up late listening to ESPN.”

For the record: It was reported here last Sunday that the Cincinnati Reds were bidding to become the first team since introduction of the 162-game schedule in 1961 to lead every day of the season. The Reds are bidding to become the first National League team.

The 1984 Detroit Tigers opened 9-0, 18-2 and 35-5 in a wire-to-wire run during which they also never trailed the Kansas City Royals during the playoffs or the San Diego Padres during the World Series.

Add Reds: Manager Lou Piniella reminded his team about the story of the tortoise and the hare and how the race goes to the steadiest, most consistent performer.

Said pitcher Rick Mahler: “What I liked best is when Lou acted out the roles.”