BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Does Pendleton Have a Brave Future?

He joined the Atlanta Braves in 1991 and became one of the leading architects of the three consecutive division titles and 296 victories during that span.

Terry Pendleton helped stabilize the infield, provided leadership in the clubhouse, won the National League’s most valuable player award in 1991, had a similar season in ’92 and battled back from a struggling start last year to finish with numbers only slightly down from his two previous seasons.

Now, with Ron Gant and Otis Nixon gone, with a new left fielder, center fielder, catcher and fifth starting pitcher, Pendleton wonders if he will be the next to go.

In the first week of the fourth and final year of that free-agent contract he signed in ‘91, having been rebuffed twice when inquiring about an extension while many of his teammates have been signed to multiyear contracts, Pendleton feels in limbo.

“I think my future here is kind of cloudy,” he said. “I’m kind of out there hanging. I wanted it resolved so I wouldn’t have to go through a year like this.

“I went to them after the ’92 season, when I had two years left, and asked about an extension, and they said to come back after ’93.

“I went back after ‘93, and they said they couldn’t make that commitment.

“They didn’t say they won’t, but I’m not very optimistic. The thing is, I’d like to play another two or three years, and I’d like to do it with the Braves.

“If not, I’ll have to move on and finish up somewhere else.”

A decade in the majors has toughened Pendleton mentally and taught him that pressure is self-created.

His situation is a motivation, he said, but he can’t allow himself to try doing more than he can do.

He can’t get caught up worrying that Chipper Jones, sidelined for the season by a torn knee ligament but still viewed as Atlanta’s prospect of prospects, could be headed for third base on a team going with rookie catcher Javier Lopez and three rookie left fielders--Ryan Klesko, Tony Tarasco and Mike Kelly.

Pendleton said he sometimes thinks about his contributions and uncertain future when he’s out “sweating my butt off” and is “bugged and disappointed by it” but he can’t be affected.

“I just have to keep rolling,” he said. “I mean, my thing is I never look over my shoulder. I’m not concerned who’s behind me, who’s in the minors. I know what I can do and I think they know what I can do, and I just have to . . . reinforce it.”

Manager Bobby Cox doesn’t deal with the financial bottom line, but he said: “I’d sure like to have Terry back. He’s as solid as they come, on and off the field.”

Pendleton, who turns 34 in July, is guaranteed $10.2 million in his current contract and has made another $250,000 in award bonuses.

General Manager John Schuerholz suggested that if the economic system is changed through collective bargaining, it might affect the Braves’ approach to Pendleton.

“All we’ve told Terry is that we’re not prepared to discuss (a long-term commitment) at the moment, and you can underline at the moment ,” Schuerholz said.

“I’m not saying anything about what might happen by the end of the year or in the interim, but we’re faced with some very difficult business decisions because of the system and the salaries, and we’re just not prepared to make long-term commitments to every one of our players.

“It has to do with the economics of the industry, not whether Terry is deserving or not. He’s as deserving as any player in the game. He’s a guy you’d like to have in the organization for a long time.”

Pendleton and the Braves are looking at history in 1994. They can become the first National League team to win four consecutive division championships and only the second to finish first in four consecutive seasons, the New York Giants having won pennants from 1921 through ’24.

They will be pursuing those honors in a new division, the NL East, going head to head against the Philadelphia Phillies, who beat them in the ’93 playoffs.

Pendleton said he gives credit to the Phillies but believes that the Braves were fatigued by their race against the San Francisco Giants.

He said he disliked the wild-card concept--”That’s football, not baseball”--but isn’t concerned about which division Atlanta is in.

“We won the all-time race last year,” he said. “I don’t know about winning 104 games again, but we have the capability to win again. I think we approach it with the confidence that it doesn’t matter what division we’re in or who’s in it.”

When it comes to confidence, the one thing Pendleton isn’t so sure of is where he’ll be in 1995.

ON STRAW

Reflecting on Darryl Strawbery the other night, the Padres’ Tony Gwynn seemed to endorse the view of Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda that drug use is a weakness, not a disease.

“I know I’ll get mail on this, but there’s a conscious decision involved in taking drugs,” Gwynn said in San Diego. “I know it’s supposed to be a disease, but it strikes me that it only becomes a disease after a person has taken drugs for the first time. Anyone making that decision has to accept responsibility for it.”

Gwynn also dismissed the impact of pressure and expectation inherent in a big salary and big league position.

“I think it’s more a situation where some people are easily influenced,” he said.

TORONTO THUNDER

Using Carlos Delgado in left field and Alex Gonzalez at shortstop, the Toronto Blue Jays had two rookies in their opening-day lineup for only the third time in 18 years and first since 1987, when Mike Sharperson and Fred McGriff made their debuts.

Delgado, 22, is one of baseball’s highest-rated catching prospects and could return to that position in 1995 if Shawn Green, formerly of Tustin High, continues to progress as the Blue Jays’ top outfield prospect.

In the meantime, Delgado got off to a spectacular start as the left fielder, hammering home runs off SkyDome’s center-field restaurant in each of the first two games against Chicago.

“The guy’s been in the league two days and he’s hit the two longest home runs I’ve ever seen,” White Sox center fielder Lance Johnson said. “We’re going to have to play him in the third deck and use a bungee cord.”

Delgado had only four at-bats above the double-A level before this season, but hit 25 homers and drove in 102 runs at double-A Knoxville last year. He had 30 homers and 100 RBIs in Class A two years ago.

“He crushes it to all fields,” Blue Jay Vice President Al LaMacchia said of the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Puerto Rican who signed as a free agent in 1988.

“He has unbelievable power, like Ryan Klesko (of the Braves), only he’s more disciplined. He’s so disciplined you’re not going to see him swing at many bad pitches, and he handles adversity well.

“Next to (the Dodgers’ Mike) Piazza, he’s probably the strongest kid you’d want to see swing the bat. If he gets 500 at-bats, there’s no reason he won’t hit 20 to 25 home runs as a rookie.”

AARON’S ANNIVERSARY

On Friday’s 20th anniversary of his 715th home run, Brave Vice President Henry Aaron held a conference call with several reporters and said that despite the “personal hell” accompanying his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s record--as well as the death threats and racist mail that in some ways still make him a prisoner on his Atlanta area estate--he is now “pretty content” with the recognition and rewards.

“I never thought I was in Babe Ruth’s shadow, and I never thought the record was anyone’s but mine after I hit 715,” he said.

“I think some people weren’t ready to accept it and still aren’t, but as the years have gone by, the feeling is more, ‘The man hit a lot of home runs and deserves our respect.’ I can live with that. I’m generally satisfied.”

The Braves and the city of Atlanta will hold a commemorative banquet for Aaron this Wednesday.

Other Aaron comments during the conference call:

--On the prospect of his record being broken: “I don’t think the home run record or Pete Rose’s record for hits will be broken. It’s not that there aren’t players who have the ability, but I question whether the desire and want are there, making the money they make.

“I know there are some outstanding young power hitters in the American League, but I haven’t seen enough of them. Barry Bonds is the one player who can do anything he wants on the field. He’s in another category, but whether he’d stay around for as long as it takes is something I doubt. Once he gets to the World Series, my thinking is he’ll feel he’s accomplished enough.”

--On minority hiring: “There’s been progress, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done. An African-American (Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston) won two straight World Series, but there would have been a lot more headlines about him if he had lost. Cito deserved more credit.

“There are four African-American managers now, but there needs to be more hiring in front office decision-making roles, and I still don’t feel that the African American-players speak up enough about it, recognizing that people like Jackie Robinson, Monte Irvin and Don Newcombe paved the way and are owed a debt of gratitude.

“The problem is, the players are controlled by their agents. They’re making $5 million and are told by the agents to keep their mouths shut and avoid controversy. It’s a shame. It’s delayed progress.”