BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : They Agreed on Ousting Vincent, but After That . . .

The restructuring of the commissioner’s office is in the hands of a 13-member committee that includes two of baseball’s strongest owners, Peter O’Malley of the Dodgers and Jerry Reinsdorf of the Chicago White Sox.

Allies in the successful ouster of Fay Vincent, O’Malley and Reinsdorf have strongly differing views how the commissioner’s office should be reshaped.

Reinsdorf favors a corporate structure headed by a CEO whose primary responsibility would be in the areas of integrity and discipline and who would consult, on critical issues, the 28 owners making up a board of directors.

Labor negotiations would be handled strictly by the Player Relations Committee. The Major League Agreement, written by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first commissioner in 1921, would be rewritten to remove the commissioner’s power to act in the best interest of baseball.

A figurehead?

O’Malley said he isn’t interested.

“I don’t want to debate Jerry in the press, but I don’t favor or expect sweeping changes,” he said. “I favor a strong office and a strong commissioner who would have the traditional powers he has always had.

“Baseball is unique with its best-interest powers and I think that should be retained. But I don’t think the commissioner should sit in his office and use that power arbitrarily. He should bring people together when a big decision has to be made, hold hands on it, and then move on.”

O’Malley said Vincent failed in that area. In fact, it is the consensus view of those who opposed Vincent that he consistently failed to develop, or even attempt to develop, a consensus, often displaying an arrogant and condescending attitude.

Asked if there needed to be some restraints on the best-interest powers, some constitutional way to ensure that a commissioner would not proceed without approval of a board or full ownership, O’Malley said he wouldn’t comment.

He said the search for a commissioner would probably be delayed until the restructuring was completed, which he estimated at two to four months.

He is familiar with the process. O’Malley and Roy Eisenhardt, then president of the Oakland Athletics, chaired a 1982 restructuring committee that attempted to improve communications through consolidation.

Among other things, the National League and marketing offices were moved into the commissioner’s suite on Park Avenue in New York. The Major League Agreement was also amended so that a commissioner seeking reelection needed only majority approval, rather than three-fourths.

O’Malley said he didn’t think the divergent views of the current committee would be a problem.

One thing seems clear: The owners currently have what many want most--the chance to deal on a hard-line basis with the players’ union without fear of intervention by a conciliatory commissioner, and a point man in Bud Selig, who supports the hard-line approach.

They may not have decided yet to reopen collective negotiations by the Dec. 11 deadline, but it can be assumed that most will demand a restructuring that removes the commissioner from labor disputes.

On this count, too, O’Malley said he disagreed. He said he is not opposed to turning full labor control over to the commissioner, rather than having it splintered between the commissioner and PRC, but he did oppose Vincent’s retaining that power.

Ironically, Vincent was not against restructuring, but he consistently cited the Major League Agreement, baseball’s constitution, and said his powers could not be diminished during his term.

He questioned whether the owners really knew what they wanted and, in his letter of resignation, lamented the possibility of a figurehead, writing that a strong commissioner was required to maintain the game’s integrity and “temper owner decisions predicated solely on self-interest.”

“I remind all that ownership of a baseball team is more than ownership of an ordinary business,” he wrote in his concluding paragraph. “Owners have a duty to take into consideration that they own a part of America’s national pastime--in trust. This trust sometimes requires putting self-interest second.”

As eloquent as it was, Vincent’s letter has probably turned to litter in the offices of most owners.

LAME DUCKS?

The San Francisco Giants drew only 36,698 for a four-game series that ended Thursday at Candlestick Park. Their average home attendance of 19,293 is the 11th-lowest in the National League. They have eight home dates left and will be hard pressed to surpass 1.5 million.

O’Malley, who has a historic rivalry and comparatively lower travel costs at stake, said he understood owner Bob Lurie’s desire to sell, seeing as how Lurie has “lost a lot of money,” but he added, “My preference is for the team to stay in the Bay Area. New owners and a new stadium would be my first choice and I’m doing everything I can to help make that happen.”

Among those things: talking with San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan, searching out potential investors and attempting to influence National League colleagues to keep the team in the Bay Area.

Meanwhile, the group trying to buy and move the team to Florida says it must have an answer by Oct. 1 in order to complete the final $30 million of construction on the Suncoast Dome by April.

The league has yet to be presented the formal makeup of that group or a bid from any San Francisco group. Of equal importance, O’Malley said, would be the proposal for a new stadium. He called it mandatory if the Giants are to remain in San Francisco.

“Candlestick Park has not been acceptable for many years,” he said. “A downtown stadium of the Baltimore type would be an exciting thing for the city, but it may not be feasible. If it can’t be done in Northern California, then we’ll have to look at the options, and Florida is one of them.”

MORE GIANTS

Odds now lean toward the Giants staying in San Francisco and the Suncoast Dome coming up empty again.

Lurie has indicated that National League owners would prefer that the team stay if there is an offer comparable to the reported $111-million agreement with the Tampa-St. Petersburg group.

The Bay Area group expected to make such an offer is led by George Shinn, owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, and includes several financial heavyweights from the Bay Area.

Among them: Gordon Getty, whose name may ring a financial bell; real estate magnate Walter Shorenstein; Dan Fisher of the Gap clothing chain, and Peter McGowan of the Safeway supermarket chain.

The group is apparently convinced that private developers will build a downtown stadium, but it has asked the board of supervisors to indemnify it against any lawsuit brought by the Florida group.

THE VERDICT

I was going to write something positive about Jose Offerman in this week’s column.

I was going to point out that the mere fact that he had survived his 1992 trial by fire may bode well for the future, that Offerman had hung in there, at least, while playing under the big-market microscope and had outlasted several of the National League’s other touted young shortstops who had been up, down and played irregularly.

I was going to point to the fact that Offerman will emerge from his first full season with a batting average in the respectable .270 area, that his defensive breakdowns had not turned him into a sulker or malingerer and that Executive Vice President Fred Claire (who has problems almost everywhere else and no ready alternatives for Offerman) is saying, “We’ve found our shortstop.”

I was going to write all of that before I watched Offerman make three more errors Friday night to run his season’s total to 40. It’s a staggering total, but that alone isn’t what rekindled my apprehension and prompted me to rethink what I was going to write.

This is September. Offerman has played more than 210 major league games after playing 196 at triple A. Time to stop chalking all of this up to inexperience. Time to stop making rushed and wild throws to first base, as he did twice Friday night. Time to stop playing good hops into bad hops and walking the ball halfway to second base before throwing it, killing potential double plays. Time to shake off the inconsistency and get his head into it every inning of every game.

I sat there Friday night wanting to write that the jury was in on Offerman, but it isn’t. The latest evidence was too damning.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Robin Yount’s quest for 3,000 hits turned into a significant return on the Milwaukee Brewers’ 1992 investment of $3.2 million. The Brewers figured to draw between 10,000 and 15,000 for each of the three games with the Cleveland Indians but, with Yount sustaining the suspense by getting one hit in each of the first two games, the series drew 128,587, an average of 42,862, and about 80,000 more than it would have drawn otherwise. At a conservative $10 per admission, that represented a bonus of $800,000 for the Brewers.

Yount was lifted on the shoulders of teammates after collecting No. 3,000, but that may not be his most lasting memory. The Indians scored two unearned runs in the ninth, forcing Yount to bat again, and he lined out for the final out of a 5-4 defeat the Brewers couldn’t afford in the American League East race. The normally passive Yount responded by rifling his helmet against the dugout wall.

Final add Yount: By stealing his 10th base Monday night, he became the 10th Brewer with 10 or more, tying the American League record set by the 1912 Washington Senators. The 1901 Phillies had 11 players who stole 10 or more, the major league record. Jim Gantner is the next Brewer in line with six, but he is playing part time.

Under Manager Phil Garner, who times the delivery of opposing pitchers, the Brewers had stolen a major league-leading 210 bases in 301 attempts as of Friday and figured to be on the move during seven games in 11 days with the Baltimore Orioles, a showdown battle for the teams chasing Toronto in the American East. Oriole catcher Chris Hoiles had thrown out only nine of 65 opposing base stealers, and backup Jeff Tacket was 13 for 41.

A key to the Orioles’ revitalized season has proved to be the reshaped pitching staff. General Manager Roland Hemond added five pitchers since the end of last season--Rick Sutcliffe, Alan Mills, Storm Davis, Pat Clements and Craig Lefferts--and they were a combined 31-18 through Friday.

The September spotlight has been on Gary Sheffield’s triple crown bid in the National League, but consider the Phillies. They could become the first National League team to finish last while boasting the league batting and runs-batted-in kings in John Kruk and Darren Daulton.

The three other NL teams that had those two leaders finished first: The 1941 Dodgers with Pete Reiser and Dolph Camilli, the 1946 St. Louis Cardinals with Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter, and the 1953 Dodgers with Carl Furillo and Roy Campanella.

Drayton McLane Jr., new owner of the Houston Astros, said he will retain Manager Art Howe, General Manager Bill Wood and assistant Bob Watson, but will evaluate them during the 1993 season. Watson remains a candidate for the National League presidency being vacated by Bill White, but his interest may hinge on how the league offices emerge from the current restructuring.

Changing Faces: Of the American League’s top 10 hitters with three weeks to play, only Kirby Puckett has previously won a batting title. And of the National’s top 10, only Tony Gwynn and Terry Pendleton have. Of course, two players have dominated the last 18 races dating to 1983. Gwynn has won four of nine National League titles, and Wade Boggs has won five of nine in the American.

The hottest-selling T-shirt in the souvenir shops near Fenway Park: “Red Sox Magic Number: 911.”