Wally’s Own World : It Was Invented by the Fans and Media, but Now It’s a Place for Joyner to Escapethe Pressure of Success

The swing is the same flawless stroke that turned the rookie into an All-Star in 1986. But this time, it has carried Wally Joyner to the top of the batting statistics with a .364 average that leads the major leagues.

Fans, cameras and notebooks awaited when Joyner came home last week, still in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak during which he hit .469.

They were ready to witness the rebirth of Wally World, the phenomenon that accompanied Joyner’s first two seasons.

But Joyner knows better than anyone that Wally World, if it exists at all, is a small place most comfortable as a refuge for one man and his family.

A perceptive player with an agreeable wit, Joyner was accommodating to those who besieged him with interview requests, but he soon had to “draw the line.”

He is 28 and a father of four now, not a rookie as awe-struck by big-league baseball as it was with him.

“I think I have more control over my destiny now,” Joyner said. “I know what’s going on, No. 1, and No. 2, I know what it feels like and takes to maintain this. If it takes going back into my shell, I’ll do that without any regrets.”

He is a veteran, not only of five years in the majors but of tense contract negotiations and of a promising 1990 season that ended last July with a stress fracture in his knee.

If paying attention to the attention he draws will detract from his work, Joyner will not take part.

“The difference is, I’m able to control what happens with me outside of baseball,” he said. “My first year, I didn’t know how to say no or when to say no. I wasn’t able to enjoy what was happening while it was happening. I’ve learned a lot about how to keep my own space and time and freedom.”

Until he flied out to left field in the eighth inning of the Angels’ game against the Chicago White Sox last Tuesday, Joyner had not gone hitless since May 3, stroking line drive after line drive and half a dozen home runs.

“He’s in one of the best grooves I’ve ever seen,” Manager Doug Rader said during the streak. “I’m a little reluctant to talk about it. I just want to sit back and appreciate it.”

The 16-game hitting streak was the longest of Joyner’s career and tied the Dodgers’ Brett Butler and Milwaukee’s Greg Vaughn for the longest this season.

Over the life of the streak, Joyner was 30 for 64 with six home runs.

“You try not to think about it, or it might come to an end before it’s supposed to,” he said.

Joyner went zero for three with a walk last Tuesday but came back with a single in four at-bats the next day. He has been hitless in three of the past five games. For the week the Angels were at home before departing today on a six-game trip to Chicago and Toronto, Joyner was five for 21 with only two multiple-hit games.

Was the end of the streak the beginning of an inevitable decline? Or could it have been merely an interruption?

“Something I heard today was, ‘You’re hot,’ ” Joyner said. “Granted, I might be. The other side of it is, maybe I’ve found my groove for a long time.”

When Joyner went three for four and took over the batting lead on May 13, he joked that he was “king for a day.” Since then, he has realized he would like to be king for a while longer.

Sensitive to the perception that he is on a salary drive as he approaches eligibility for free agency this fall, Joyner points out the desirability of a World Series ring over a batting title.

But if May has revealed anything to him, it is the idea that a batting title could be a realistic goal.

Brian Downing, his former teammate now with the Texas Rangers, has a .390 average but doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify for the lead.

Joyner also saw that the byproducts of his success might be a problem.

He was disappointed when the streak ended and particularly in his final at-bat--a fly ball with men on base and the Angels trailing. As the ball was caught, Joyner was on his way back to the dugout in disgust.

“I’m going to continue to go out and be aggressive,” he said. “It’s difficult because of the media coverage, question after question. I think I lost my edge because of that. I’m going to go get it back.”

Always something of a streak hitter, Joyner said he is not a true home-run hitter but a streak home-run hitter. His assertion is that when he is in a groove, line drives and fly balls occasionally go over the fence.

That is an attitude he developed in response to the fervor that accompanied his first two seasons, when he hit 22 and 34 homers.

Since then, he has hit 13, 16 and, last season, eight in 83 games.

Joyner is more intent on keeping up his average and runs batted in. He leads the Angels in batting, hits, total bases, RBIs and walks and is tied with Gary Gaetti with seven home runs.

Joyner has yet to hit .300 in his five major league seasons; his highest average was .295 in 1988.

The overriding difference between earlier seasons and this one is that Joyner has decided what kind of hitter he is, and who he is.

“I’m a guy, I think, who goes about his business,” Joyner said. “I’m not a rah-rah guy. I’m not one to sit on the bench giving a pep talk to everybody. I’m not a very enthusiastic guy outwardly, but I enjoy good baseball. I enjoy playing good baseball, I enjoy watching good baseball.

“The way I do things is to go about my business, and when it’s done and over with, evaluate it. If you worry about leading the league in hitting or home runs, you won’t do it.

“It’s not that I’m not enjoying it. But you don’t want to start enjoying it so much that you’re satisfied. When you do, you stop being hungry, and you’re dead. I hope I never get satisfied over what I’m doing.”