Hard to Believe Steinbrenner Is Unaware of Yankee Changes

Not even a half year has passed since Fay Vincent permanently protected baseball from the influence of George Steinbrenner. But even in such an abbreviated period, we may have forgotten how Steinbrenner operated. Our guard may have been down for a while, and in the interim--that brief and delightful period without the world’s foremost revisionist making daily pronouncements aimed at deluding all of us--we may have allowed our skepticism to atrophy.

So it was that some believed Steinbrenner last week when he said his first knowledge of Dave Righetti’s signing with the San Francisco Giants came when he was telephoned by a Newsday reporter at his Manhattan hotel. Initial reaction: amusement. Imagine the once-meddling Boss so removed from daily goings-on within his own organization that he was unaware of a development of such significance.

Second reaction: A raised eyebrow. With skepticism in place, it isn’t difficult to imagine Steinbrenner feigning ignorance to give the impression he is in compliance with Vincent’s hands-off ruling and completely removed from the day-to-day working of the New York Yankees. Steinbrenner also wanted the world to think he was unaware of the Dodgers’ signing of Darryl Strawberry 14 hours after it was announced in Los Angeles.

Pass the grain of salt, please.

It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Steinbrenner was informed of Righetti’s defection within minutes after the Yankees executives at the winter meetings learned of it. Given Steinbrenner’s history of manipulating situations, people and the truth, it wouldn’t be preposterous to assume that Steinbrenner orchestrated the Yankees’ misadventures at the winter meetings, all the confusion and apparent infighting between George Bradley and Gene Michael.

The Boss would like nothing more than for the Yankees to appear lost without his leadership. Such an appearance would accomplish two things for him: make him look good, or at least better, and, in his often convoluted thinking, make Vincent the villain. Steinbrenner would have us believe that because he acted in a way that prompted the commissioner to restrict his authority with the Yankees, the commissioner is responsible for Righetti’s accepting the Giants’ offer.

That is not a straight row of dominoes.

“Don’t blame me,” Steinbrenner said to apparently every media outlet that responded to his request for a public forum.

One of the first rules of New York sports journalism is to be wary of unsolicited telephone calls from Steinbrenner. Pass the salt, please.

“Don’t blame me,” Steinbrenner said. And he exonerated Michael, Bradley and Robert Nederlander. He blamed it all on Vincent, who now is Steinbrenner’s primary obsession. Given a choice between returning to full authority with the Yankees -- perish the thought -- or defaming Vincent, Steinbrenner probably would choose the latter. And until he thinks he has accomplished that, there will be more unsolicited telephone calls and more manipulation.

Keep the salt handy.

Importing free agents George Bell and Danny Jackson has made the Chicago Cubs a popular choice as offseason favorites to win the National League East. Cub General Manager Jim Frey wouldn’t dispute that if he knew the identity of his bullpen closer and third baseman. . . . For the first two days of the winter meetings, you couldn’t see Dodger Manager Tommy Lasorda without also seeing Eric Goldschmidt. Interesting that Shawon Dunston is crying publicly about money and Goldschmidt is Dunston’s agent.

The San Diego Padres’ acquisition of Tony Fernandez all but kills Kevin Elster’s chances of being traded to a team in his native Southern California. The Dodgers have rookie Jose Offerman at shortstop and the Padres have Fernandez. The California Angels are said to be less than delighted with their shortstop, Dick Schofield. But the Mets and Angels apparently don’t care to do business with each other. When Joe McIlvaine was with the Mets, he said Angels General Manager Mike Port was difficult to contact. That appears to be the least of it. The Mets concede there is some obstacle. Could it go back to 1979, when the Mets backed out of a deal that would have moved Craig Swan to the Angels for Dickie Thon and Willie Aikens?

The question is why the Yankees would extend Steve Sax’ contract for four years at a price that makes the average annual value the 18th-highest in baseball. The question is valid, particularly because Sax had a disappointing season and was three years removed from free agency. But the other side of the question is why Sax would choose to subject himself to five years with the Yankees. That could mean 450 more losses.

Waco, Texas, is not known for its altitude. There are no mountains. It’s as flat as a bad slider. But one portion of the geography is slightly elevated. And it is there where the homes of Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins and former Mets pitcher Pat Zachry are located. The townsfolk refer to the area as, of course, the pitchers’ mound.

Ed Lynch, the 35-year-old former Mets pitcher, graduates from the University of Miami Law School later this month. He then officially will assume the position of director of minor-league operations for the Padres. “In one day,” he said, “I’m going to go from a very old law student to a very young baseball executive.”