A’s Fall Goeth Before Davis’ Pride : Reds: Eschewing a request by Piniella to lead off, outfielder bats fourth and cleans up the A’s.

This was the scouting report on Eric Davis entering Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night:

--Too proud to give up his cleanup role in the Cincinnati Reds’ lineup.

--Too hurt to provide the power and clutch hitting demanded in that spot.

Proud? Yes.

Hurt? Yes, but maybe not to the debilitated extent he displayed in the National League playoffs against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he went four for 23 with one double, two runs batted in and nine strikeouts.

Refusing to move to the leadoff role as Manager Lou Piniella desired, the ailing Davis proved to be in the right spot at the right time in a 7-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics.

The cleanup man hammered a two-run first-inning homer off Dave Stewart to ignite the assault, then added a run-scoring single in the fifth when the Reds wrapped it up with three runs off Todd Burns.

“The two-run homer off a dominant pitcher like Dave Stewart seemed to relax the club,” Piniella said. “I mean, all of a sudden we’ve got seven runs. He’s a pro and proved it again. It was very impressive. He’ll stay right in the fourth spot tomorrow.”

Piniella, concerned by the lack of productivity, went to Davis Sunday and asked if he’d consider batting leadoff.

The manager’s motive was aimed at relieving some of the stress on an injured Davis to drive in runs while taking advantage of his ability to score them.

“He’s been talking about becoming more of a situation-type hitter because of the injuries, and that was what I was implying with the suggestion,” Piniella said. “It meant he didn’t have to think about driving the ball as much as going with the pitch more, putting the ball in play, looking to create things by getting on base any way he can.

“He’s batted leadoff before. He’s hit home runs there, but I wanted him to be comfortable with it.

“Anytime I’ve considered something radical I’ve gone to the player first. I told him to think about it.’

Davis said he slept on it Sunday night, but didn’t sleep well.

“I hit leadoff until 1986, but I’ve batted cleanup every year since then, and I didn’t see any reason to switch back when we’ve come this far and my job has been batting cleanup and driving in runs,” Davis said. “Besides, a leadoff hitter has to be able to run and produce a high on-base percentage, and I haven’t been capable of doing either.

“I don’t take anything personally, but you should really talk to Lou about what he had in mind.”

Davis’ actions spoke louder than his words Tuesday night.

“If I didn’t feel I could contribute I wouldn’t be out there,” he said, “but my shoulder feels about the same as it did in the playoffs and the last week of the season. I’m only about 65 or 70%.

“If I had struck out three times tonight, everyone would be saying that my shoulder was still hurting.

“I was just fortunate to make contact. I’m not feeling better, but I was able to get some extension and make good contact.”

On his first World Series at-bat, on the first pitch thrown him by Stewart, Davis drilled his first home run since Sept. 26, one day before he injured his hip and shoulder running into the grandstand railing at Riverfront Stadium making a spectacular catch in foul territory.

He was looking for a fastball down and over the plate from Stewart and got it, hitting it more than 400 feet to left-center. He called it the best feeling he has ever had in baseball, but said he was equally proud of the breaking pitch he hit to right for the single because of how he stayed with an outside curve.

“I’m not in a groove. It’s just one night,” he said. “I still have a long way to go. I mean, I’m not Superman. I can’t slip into a phone booth and start doing things I can’t do.

“It’s been a struggle all year, and it’s not going to change until I have the knee operated on and, perhaps, the shoulder as well.”

Davis sprained a ligament in his right knee in late April, went on the disabled list until May 19 and was batting only .224 as late as Aug. 19, when he sat out two games because of the knee and then hit .357 with nine homers and 29 RBIs until injuring his shoulder.

He has been booed by fans who have been forgetful of the injuries, but he heard only cheers Tuesday night. Darryl Strawberry, his longtime buddy from Los Angeles, had talked to Davis about what to expect in the Series and “caught my attention by flashing his World Series ring,” won with the the New York Mets.

Davis caught his teammates’ attention with the first-inning homer, puncturing the invincibility of the A’s and Stewart.