BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Steinberg Goes to Bat for Bay Area

As one of sports’ busiest and most respected agent-attorneys, Leigh Steinberg is conducting a talent search of another kind.

San Francisco-, Los Angeles- and Newport Beach-based Steinberg was asked by San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan to help identify, interest and interview potential investors in the Giants, with the goal of preventing their move to Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I’m confident that the interest and money is here,” Steinberg said from his San Francisco office the other day, “but it’s time for the Bay Area to put up or shut up.”

The problem now is deeper than that.

Even if Steinberg comes up with an investor or team of investors willing to keep the Giants in San Francisco, it might be too late to prevent the $110-million sale to the Florida group.

In addition, sources in San Francisco say that investors there have never had a chance because Giant owner Bob Lurie, seeking top dollar, has had an agreement with the Florida group in place since before San Jose voters rejected the proposed construction of a stadium there in June. Lurie has declined comment since announcing the sale.

“The odds are against us,” Steinberg acknowledged, “but we’ll all feel a lot better knowing every avenue has been pursued, letting (Commissioner) Fay Vincent and the National League owners know how strongly we feel about it.

“This is the nation’s fifth-largest (television) market. I don’t want to see California absorb another loss in a time of recession, but it goes beyond that. I agree with those who consider a ballclub a civic treasure. It’s time to fight for the Giants.”

The clock is ticking. Major league owners will meet in St. Louis on Sept. 9. There is no certainty that they will be ready to vote by then, but Steinberg would like to have an alternative group ready and waiting, hoping to influence the owners to reject Tampa-St. Petersburg and keep the Giants in San Francisco.

The proposed move to Florida needs majority approval in the American League and 11 of 14 votes in the National League.

The American League, while forfeiting the new and potentially lucrative Florida market to the expansion Marlins of Miami and the Giants, seems likely to approve it, because the Oakland Athletics and visiting AL teams would be left to reap the attendance windfall of the Giants’ departure from Northern California. The AL also would have a potential Florida expansion site in the rapidly growing Orlando area.

National League support is less certain. San Francisco is one of the most popular cities in the league. Some owners will not easily vote to leave it. In addition, the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, while sympathetic to the losses that Lurie allegedly has been taking, might be reluctant to give up the historic and geographic rivalry and are concerned with the added travel costs of the Giants’ move.

Steinberg has already cultivated one potential buyer in Charlotte Hornet owner George Shinn. He said there are others. H. Irving Grousbeck, who operates a cable-TV business in the Bay Area, dropped out the other day after examining the Giants’ books.

Grousbeck said there was no way he could interest co-investors in a team that has been losing $6 million to $10 million each year and still requires a new stadium, the financing of which has been defeated four times by Bay Area voters in recent years.

How do you attract a long-term investor? Steinberg said four developments are mandatory:

--A subscription drive guaranteeing the sale of 20,000 season tickets “to staunch the flow of red ink.” The drive is under way, but the Giants have never sold more than 10,000 season tickets and have drawn more than 2 million fans only once in 34 years.

--A “light at the end of the tunnel” in the form of financing for a downtown stadium. A group of San Francisco unions has come forward to offer financial assistance, but the plan is still being formulated with no certainty that it will become viable.

--Civic help with leases, taxes, etc., although none of that will really help if the team has to stay at Candlestick Park. Lurie maintains that he is taking a financial beating despite an agreement allowing the Giants (a) to play at Candlestick rent-free and (b) to retain any concession profits.

--An improved radio-TV package locally.

There has been speculation that Steinberg eventually will form his own group to buy the Giants, but he denied that, saying he is happy with his law work and is involved in this only because of his civic responsibility and love of baseball.

“It’s part of the circle of things we do, anyway,” he said. “Our role is strictly to try and put it together and then step away.”

SETBACK

Todd Zeile and Phil Plantier, two of baseball’s most promising young players, suddenly are traveling the wrong road, their work ethic under fire.

Zeile was optioned to the St. Louis Cardinals’ triple-A farm team at Louisville, Ky., the other day. The Boston Red Sox’s frustration with Plantier was clearly in evidence after a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night when Plantier botched two fly balls in right field and left the clubhouse less than 15 minutes after the game ended.

Plantier batted .345 with 11 home runs in 131 at-bats after his second-half recall last season, but he had only six home runs, 28 runs batted in and a .245 average through more than 330 at-bats this year before being sent to triple-A Pawtucket, R.I., last week.

And his erratic defensive play and suspect desire have exasperated the Red Sox, who are last in the American League in team batting, runs and homers.

“Phil is a young player, but instead of fighting for a place in this outfield, he’s satisfied being a DH,” Red Sox Manager Butch Hobson said. “That’s not a good sign.”

Al Bumbry, the club’s first base coach and outfield instructor, said Plantier needs to put in more time.

“There are certain things you have to work on, and not just for a week and let it slide,” Bumbry said. “Phil doesn’t stay with them long enough. I mean, if he doesn’t believe he needs the work and I make him do it, it’s not going to work. He’s got to feel he needs it.”

Cardinal batting instructor Don Baylor has been saying the same thing about Zeile--that he needs extra work on his hitting mechanics, but it is not Baylor’s responsibility to order it.

Zeile, a former Hart High and UCLA player, batted .281 with 11 homers and 81 RBIs as he moved from catcher to third base last season. He had three homers and 11 RBIs in his first 14 games this season, but only two homers and 25 RBIs since. He was batting .251 with no extra-base hits since July 10 when optioned to Louisville.

Those close to the team saw it as a wake-up call for Zeile and others. He will be recalled when the roster limit is lifted on Sept. 1.

MORE CARDINALS

Zeile’s 1992 salary is $300,000, but he will be only the seventh-highest paid player on the triple-A roster after Bryn Smith and Jose Oquendo begin rehabilitation assignments at Louisville on Monday.

In addition to Smith and Oquendo, Pedro Guerrero, Joe Magrane, Frank DiPino and Brian Jordan are at Louisville and all are making more than Zeile. The Cardinals’ 1992 investment in the seven is close to $9 million, but the $2.1 million that former Dodger Guerrero is receiving this season represents his last contract with St. Louis.

At 36 and hampered by injuries, Guerrero has one home run this season and recently angered Manager Joe Torre by showing up two hours late for a game in Pittsburgh. He was sent home on a commercial flight rather than the team charter and might be let go before the season is over.

MORE RED SOX

In the aftermath of a devastatingly bad season, the Red Sox are certain to kick General Manager Lou Gorman further upstairs and might consider a managerial change as well.

Eddie Kasko, the team’s vice president for player development, probably will replace Gorman. But several observers now say that the Red Sox would love to lure Whitey Herzog away from the Angels by giving him his choice of positions--front office or field.

Herzog’s tolerance is being tested by the financial restrictions imposed on his rebuilding task with the Angels, but it seems doubtful he would dump his three-year commitment while good friend Gene Autry is alive.

MIDDLE MAN

Add the name of Alan Mills to the list of former Angels having a big season elsewhere. Mills was the Angels’ No. 1 selection during the secondary phase of the draft in June of 1986, but was traded. He and pitcher Ron Romanick were sent to the New York Yankees for catcher Butch Wynegar, who played a total of 58 games in two years with the Angels before retiring.

Mills produced nothing of distinction in five seasons as a Yankee farmhand--he was 2-6 in two brief trials with the varsity--and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in February for two minor leaguers. There were no headlines, but Mills has been the subject of them ever since.

Given the regular assignment as middle reliever because of injuries to Mark Williamson and Jim Poole, the right-handed Mills has been the American League’s best, a pivotal factor in the Orioles’ surprising season. Mills, 26, is 8-2 with a 1.83 earned-run average in 23 relief appearances and two starts.

VINCENT UNDER FIRE

Besieged by owners and the courts, Commissioner Fay Vincent might come under fire by the National Labor Relations Board.

The Major League Players Assn. has asked the board to order Vincent not to engage in the intimidation of witnesses--as he did, the union maintains, during the ongoing appeal of Steve Howe’s lifetime ban for a seventh drug suspension.

After their testimony, Vincent summoned Yankee General Manager Gene Michael, Manager Buck Showalter and vice president for operations Jack Lawn to his office and scolded them for questioning the policy under which Howe was suspended.

“Witnesses have to be allowed to testify truthfully and without fear of penalty,” said Don Fehr, executive director of the union. “There is no other way to view the commissioner’s action except as an attempt at intimidation. It was not something we could ignore.”

The union filed a similar complaint with arbitrator George Nicolau, who is hearing the Howe appeal.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

--The Suncoast Dome cost about $110 million and opened in March 1990. If the sale and transfer of the San Francisco Giants to Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., is approved, another $30 million will be spent to complete several projects before April, including installation of a synthetic surface, dugout roofs, home team clubhouse, scoreboard, stadium club and the remaining 46 of 48 luxury suites.

The projects will be financed through a $2-million-a-year state rebate on the tax of tickets for events at the dome, which have included concerts, hockey, basketball, arena football and the 1990 Davis Cup final.

--Besides their losses on the field and in the trainer’s room, the New York Mets could be on the verge of losing their No. 1 draft choice, outfielder Preston Wilson, who will be enrolling at Clemson between Aug. 20 and Sept. 1 if he doesn’t sign. It would be akin to the loss of family.

Wilson, 18, was the ninth selection in the June draft and is being advised by his stepfather, ex-Met Mookie Wilson. Among high school players selected in the first round, shortstop Derek Jeter received the biggest bonus, $700,000 from the New York Yankees, while catcher Jason Kendell of Torrance received the smallest, $336,000 from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

--Rick Aguilera dismisses it, but the Minnesota Twins are quietly concerned about a fluid condition that has developed in the relief ace’s right knee. Aguilera allowed only three home runs in 63 games last year but gave up three in his last four appearances through Thursday. He is only 31 for 37 in save chances, contributing to the Twins’ 56-5 record in games they’ve led after eight innings. The Oakland A’s, by contrast, have widened their lead in the American League West as relief ace Dennis Eckersley has gone 37 for 38 in save chances, the A’s producing a 48-0 record in games that he’s worked.

--On Aug. 16 of last year, ex-Angel Chili Davis had 26 home runs and 80 runs batted in for the Twins. He now has seven homers and 48 RBIs.

--The St. Louis Cardinals can’t decide whether they love or hate Pennsylvania. They have won seven straight games from the Philadelphia Phillies but lost 10 in a row to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

--Mike Devereaux was another young player the Dodgers decided they didn’t have the place or patience for, trading him to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Morgan. Devereaux has blossomed as the Orioles’ full-time center fielder. He hit a career-high 19 homers last year, and this season has 16 with a career-high 74 runs batted in.

Devereaux had five RBIs in Wednesday night’s 11-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays and has also had a six-RBI game this year plus two games in which he drove in four runs. And in 20 plate appearances with the bases loaded this season, he has 10 hits and four sacrifice flys, driving in more than one-third (29) of his RBI total in those situations.

--American League batting leader Edgar Martinez, the Seattle Mariners’ third baseman, has not had a hitless streak of more than 10 at-bats since April, when he went 0 for 13 at one point. Meanwhile, his more illustrious teammate, Ken Griffey Jr., reacting to crticism of his failure to run hard on ground balls, said he is tired of being the team’s scapegoat.

“I’ve been hurt for two months. I’ve been playing with a strained hamstring. I’m doing the best I can, but I still get blasted in the paper. People have to understand that I’m trying to stay healthy, that I’m one of only 25. I can’t help the team if I get hurt again (he’s been on the disabled list once already), but I’ll run through a wall if the game is on the line.”

--The Toronto Blue Jays are hoping that 27-year-old rookie Doug Linton, a former Canyon High School and UC Irvine pitcher who worked eight strong innings of a 4-2 victory over the Orioles in his fourth appearance Thursday, has the same unheralded impact that Tom Filer, Mauro Gozzo and Juan Guzman manufactured for the Blue Jays in previous stretch runs.

With Guzman and Dave Stieb on the disabled list, and with Jimmy Key and Todd Stottlemyre inconsistent, Toronto’s starters had a 3-7 record and a 9.50 earned-run average in the last 10 games before Linton’s first victory. The staff ERA since the All-Star break: 5.37, Key going 1-4 with a 7.71 ERA in six starts during that period.