BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Hough Answers Age-Old Questions

Charlie Hough’s knuckleball has taken him from one American League West contender to another. A 43-year-old pitcher usually isn’t that fortunate, but Hough is happy for another reason, as well.

“Fortunately, I’m still not the oldest player on my team,” he said by phone.

With the Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan was a year older.

With the Chicago White Sox, Carlton Fisk is 10 days older.

“They really respect the old guys here because of the amount of work Fisk puts in,” Hough said. “I’ve tried to set the same example for the pitchers. I just can’t run as far as they do.”

The most important example Hough sets is on the mound, where his 7-6 record is not indicative of his effectiveness and the stability he has provided as the No. 5 starter for a team shadowing the Minnesota Twins.

The White Sox are 13-6 in games Hough has started. The right-hander has a 3.52 earned-run average and has pitched seven or more innings in 15 of his 19 starts, including a recent streak of 11 in a row.

More than 20 years after the young Dodger began experimenting with a knuckleball because an arm injury had diminished his velocity, Hough has held the opposition to a .211 batting average, third best among AL pitchers behind Ryan’s .162 and Mariner Randy Johnson’s .210.

The White Sox signed Hough as a free agent for a guaranteed $800,000 and the chance to make another $300,000 based on innings pitched.

The club has an option for 1992 and is expected to exercise it.

“The way he’s pitched and the contributions he’s made with the kids, I see no problem,” General Manager Ron Schueler said. “He’s really been our workhorse.”

Said Hough: “I’ve probably thrown better this season than I have in the last few years. My arm hasn’t given me any problems. If nothing hurts, I’ll pitch two or three more years at least. I’ll probably pitch until they flat-out fire me.”

Hough battled elbow problems in 1990 but still pitched 218 2/3 innings, second-highest on the Rangers to Bobby Witt’s 222, and was 12-12 in his 10th season with the team.

Agent Tony Attanasio approached the club in August in an attempt to open contract negotiations but was told that nothing would be done until the season ended.

Hough reflected on his accomplishments with the Rangers, considered that response something of a snub and decided there would be no postseason talks, that he would leave as a free agent.

“I understood their reluctance to go into another season with a 44-year-old pitcher and a 43-year-old pitcher in the rotation,” Hough said. “If Nolan and I broke down, that’s two-fifths of the rotation.

“But I didn’t understand their contention that they had outstanding pitching and enough of it. I didn’t see it.

“As it turns out, they probably put the best lineup in the league on the field, but they’re hurting for pitching and will have a real tough time winning because of it.

“I mean, it seems like their whole team is hitting .300 with power, but no team can produce offensively every day. You have to win the low-scoring game now and then.”

In the last two years, the White Sox had scored, 88 of their past 154 victories by one or two runs and are 25-12 in one-run games this year.

The Rangers, leading the league in runs through Thursday, were 16-16 in one-run games and had won only 12 games in which they scored fewer than four runs. They were ninth in the league in team ERA compared to fourth for the White Sox.

Is Hough motivated to show the Rangers they made a mistake?

“I certainly hope we beat them, but I’m not out to show them up,” he said. “It’s a business. They decided not to deal with me during the season, and I decided to leave. I don’t think their decision was a good decision for their ballclub.”

A resident of Brea, Hough had hoped to sign with the Angels or the Oakland Athletics.

The A’s cut off preliminary talks after re-signing free agent Bob Welch, who was being romanced by the White Sox. The Angels weren’t interested, believing that their five-man rotation was set.

“I’d have signed with the Angels in a minute,” Hough said. “I’d have loved to pitch at home, but they had good reports on (Kirk) McCaskill and (Bert) Blyleven (both trying to come back after surgery), and that gave them five starters.

“Then Bert broke down, and they’ve been dying for a fifth starter ever since. That’s the way it is. I mean, pitching is a guessing game, especially at my age. Who’s going to pitch good this year? Who’s going to stay healthy? No one has the answers for sure.”

Hough has provided one for the White Sox, who came calling after Welch returned to the A’s. The negotiations took an hour or two. Hough says his team has enough to win the West if the rotation led by Jack McDowell--”he’s as good a right-hander as there is right now”--does its job.

“They had four kids darn near pitch them to a pennant last year and were praying for a fifth starter who could give them a lot of innings,” Hough said of the White Sox.

“It’s a good feeling to be able to give them what they needed and to know I can still compete with my stuff.”

Stuff?

Frustrated hitters have another word for it, but by any description they continue to be knuckled under by it.

BASELESS?

Legal experts say the $5-million defamation suit filed by the umpires’ association against Cincinnati Manager Lou Piniella is akin to a nuisance suit and without foundation.

They say Piniella was within his First Amendment rights when he accused umpire Gary Darling of bias after Darling reversed a home run hit by Bill Doran and ruled it foul, costing the Reds a victory over the San Francisco Giants Aug. 3.

Piniella’s comments and the legal response by the umpires’ union have served to camouflage some biting and ongoing remarks by Giant Manager Roger Craig concerning a call by plate umpire Dutch Rennert in the ensuing game.

On Sunday, with the score tied and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Jeff Brantley walked Paul O’Neill on a full-count pitch, forcing in the winning run.

Craig is still angry about Rennert’s final call, saying the umpire was intimidated by Piniella’s fury the night before.

“If you’ve ever seen a manager intimidate an umpire, that was it,” Craig said. “Brantley’s last pitch was right down the middle, but Rennert didn’t have the guts to call it. It’s a downright shame. I hope the commissioner and league president saw (Rennert’s call) and intend to do something about it.”

There is nothing the commissioner and league president can do, but the umpires’ union could always make Craig a co-defendant in the suit against Piniella.

FARM DROUGHT

Rod Carew, having been inducted into the real thing at Cooperstown, N.Y., two weeks ago, joined Bobby Grich, Don Baylor and Jim Fregosi in the Angels’ Hall of Fame this week.

All you need to know about the organization’s lack of farm support and continuity is this: After 30 years, the Angels still have not produced one player they deem worthy of their own Hall of Fame.

RIDDOCH’S ROLE

Greg Riddoch, the San Diego Padres’ manager who has been criticized by a succession of departing players, had a closed-door shouting match with infielder Bip Roberts in Houston Tuesday, after which Roberts suggested it might be best if he, too, was traded.

Roberts, who had left Monday’s game because of a sprained wrist in the fifth inning, was angered that Riddoch hadn’t shown him the respect to check on his condition before omitting him from the lineup Tuesday.

Some teammates say the talented Roberts hasn’t been the same since mentor Garry Templeton was traded to the New York Mets on May 31. Roberts, since the Templeton trade, has come out of three games early and sat out 15 others because of a back injury, a shoulder injury and food poisoning.

Sources say he will probably be traded when the season ends, the Padres having chosen not to deal him for Danny Tartabull last winter.

As for Riddoch, his future remains uncertain. The Padres, if opting for a change, could join the Buck Rodgers derby or elevate their triple-A manager, Jim Riggleman.

Riddoch, who had been suggesting recently that he might be better suited for another position in the organization and might ask for a change, now says he will leave as manager only if fired.

NEW ASSIGNMENT

Dan Plesac, the Milwaukee Brewers’ all-time save leader, ended a streak of 311 relief appearances when he started against the Rangers Saturday night.

Why? The Brewer rotation has been riddled by injury and ineffectiveness--Ted Higuera, Ron Robinson and Mark Knudson are all either down or out--and Plesac has lost a measure of resiliency, converting only 32 of his past 46 save opportunities.

“His arm doesn’t have the same life as in the past,” Manager Tom Trebelhorn said of the left-handed reliever whom the Dodgers had considered acquiring at various times. “You’ve got to give him three or four days off, and that doesn’t cut it (in relief).”