BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Blue Jays Evoke Fond Memories of ‘70s for Tenace

It will be 20 years in October since a team last won the third of three consecutive World Series.

Gene Tenace was a catcher-first baseman on the Oakland A’s of 1972-74. Now he is the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, who have won two consecutive World Series.

As a link between the teams and eras of a sport in which dynasties are now measured in months, Tenace said there were many similarities.

“It starts with talent,” he said. “There is a lot of talent on this team, as there was with the A’s. There is also a similarity in dedication, pride and willingness to sacrifice.

“Once a team is used to winning, that’s it. There’s no second place. You can see it in the work habits here.”

What people were first apt to see with the A’s were the facial adornments that prompted the nickname of “Mustache Gang.” Even more memorable was their penchant for fighting among themselves and with owner Charles Finley.

“Finley was the Steinbrenner of that era,” Tenace said, referring to the New York Yankees’ owner.

“It might have been part of his motive, but we were driven to prove we could overcome the obstacles he put in front of us. It was a team of character and characters, but what happened in the clubhouse didn’t affect what happened on the field.

“There was a lot of self-pride. We were battling for survival on a daily basis. There were no multiyear contracts then, no job security under Finley.”

The feuding tended to overshadow the talent--until the final out of the World Series.

“I’d give the A’s an edge in pitching, but this club is better offensively,” Tenace said of the Blue Jays. “It has more speed and power.

“The A’s had to execute different things to win, but the Blue Jays also do a good job of execution.”

Position by position, Tenace gave Toronto the edge at first base (John Olerud over Tenace and Mike Epstein), second base (Roberto Alomar over Dick Green), center field (Devon White over Billy North) and designated hitter (Paul Molitor over Deron Johnson).

He gave Oakland the edge at shortstop (Bert Campaneris over Manny Lee, Tony Fernandez and talented but unproven rookie Alex Gonzalez), third base (Sal Bando over Kelly Gruber and Ed Sprague) and left field (Joe Rudi over a revolving door that rookie Carlos Delgado is about to close).

He also gave the A’s a slight edge at catcher (Tenace and Ray Fosse over Pat Borders), called right field (Joe Carter and Reggie Jackson) a tossup and said the A’s clearly had the edge in pitching depth.

The Oakland rotation included Ken Holtzman, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and John Odom. The bullpen featured Rollie Fingers, Paul Lindblad, Darold Knowles and Bob Locker.

The Blue Jays are bidding for a fourth consecutive division title in the competitive American League East with a rotation of Juan Guzman, Dave Stewart, Pat Hentgen and Al Leiter.

Todd Stottlemyre has moved into the closer role, replacing Duane Ward, expected to be sidelined another three weeks because of biceps tendinitis.

The A’s won two of their three World Series titles with Dick Williams as manager, the third under Alvin Dark, but Tenace said:

“It didn’t matter who the manager was because the players knew what they wanted to accomplish. We had outstanding pitching and defense and good hitting. We just had to stay focused and not get distracted by the owner.”

There are no distractions from the corporate ownership of the Blue Jays or a front office that annually proves it will do whatever necessary to return to the World Series.

“Anytime you win back to back, beating quality teams like Atlanta and Philadelphia in the process, you’re doing something right,” Tenace said.

Tenace also cited manager Cito Gaston and said he deserves more credit for the consistency of his leadership.

“Whoever managed the A’s had the leverage because there weren’t any multiyear contracts,” Tenace said.

“That isn’t true anymore, but Cito does a great job handling the players and getting the most out of what he has to work with. There’s mutual respect. He can be firm if he has to be, but the players know they won’t be ripped in the press.”

Tenace, who was also a part-time player with the St. Louis Cardinals when they won the 1982 World Series, hopes to make it 6-0 in Fall Classics, adding another ring to his collection.

“Darn right,” he said. “I like jewelry.”

BEST YET?

The feeling among the Blue Jays is that their everyday lineup could be the most powerful yet, with rookies Delgado and Gonzalez filling positions that had frequently forced management to make mid- or late-season moves.

Gaston calls them “the best rookies to come through the organization since Tony Fernandez (in 1983),” and said other clubs have to be envious at Toronto’s ability to fill its needs from within or without.

Carter agreed.

“That’s Toronto,” he said. “Don’t rebuild, just reload.”

Delgado, in particular, is off to a smashing start with six home runs.

“I’m not surprised,” Carter said. “He’s the real thing. I knew that two years ago when I first saw him at 18. It was like, ‘Wow!’ ”

“It doesn’t matter if he hits it to left, right or center. He’s an equal-opportunity hitter.”

Molitor concurred.

“There’s no such thing as a sure deal, but he comes pretty close,” Molitor said. “Offensively, it seems obvious he’s a player with big things in store.”

TRIMMING THE FAT

Terry Pendleton, the Atlanta Braves’ third baseman, was saying last week that he has been rebuffed twice in attempts to get a contract extension and suspects he will be playing for another team in 1995.

Pendleton also says he has shed 20 pounds. Apparently, he doesn’t want to put up with the barrage of overweight rips that accompanied his .148 average through May 4 last season, after which he batted .299 and finished at .272 with 17 homers and 84 runs batted in.

“I’ve always been a slow starter,” Pendleton said. “My weight didn’t have anything to do with it, and it (ticked) me off that people said it did.

“At the same time, I was definitely . . . overweight. I think that after playing in two World Series my body just gave out on me. I was too exhausted to do the off-season work I normally do going into last season.

“I’m also a junk-food idiot with a body that tends to retain everything I eat. I changed my diet this winter, brought our strength coach in from Denver to work with me, and spent three straight weeks in the gym, working three to five hours a day.

“I feel like a new person, and it’s great to have people say how well I look, although it’s still tough to drive through a McDonald’s with the kids and not share their French fries.”

THE CHALLENGE

The Braves celebrated the 20th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s 715th home run with a pregame ceremony Wednesday night, after which Fred McGriff, the major league home run leader over the last five years, provided an appropriate postscript with a 12th-inning homer to beat the San Francisco Giants.

McGriff began the season with 174 homers in the last five seasons and a seven-year total of 228, but it is unlikely he can catch Aaron, since at 30 he would have to play until he’s 44, averaging 35 homers a year.

Juan Gonzalez provides yet another measure of the magnitude of Aaron’s accomplishment. The Texas Ranger outfielder, with 123 homers through Thursday, was 13 ahead of Aaron at 24, but he must average 40 a year, playing until he’s 39, to surpass 715.

Gonzalez has hit 43 and 46 in the last two years, but even in an era of diluted pitching it seems improbable he can maintain that for another 15 years--or would even choose to play that long.

He is already set for life--as would seem to be his grandchildren’s grandchildren--with a $45-million-plus contract.

JUST THE FACTS

Appearing on a business panel in New York the other day, Bill Giles, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, said the 28 major league teams would lose $100 million this year and that at least three--San Diego, Montreal and Milwaukee--might have to move if the clubs fail to get a salary cap.

Giles offered no documentation and Executive Director Don Fehr of the players’ union, still waiting for owners’ representative Richard Ravitch to get collective bargaining off to a substantive start, said of Giles’ projection:

“I have no idea what he’s talking about and I’m tired of these allegations without the underlying data.”

NAMES AND NUMBERS

* Smoking: Philadelphia catcher Darren Daulton is off to the best start of his career with a .423 average, 13 runs batted in and four home runs through eight games, all after hitting no home runs in spring training.

* Add Phillies: Tommy Greene, 16-4 last year, has been put on the disabled list because of a shoulder ailment reminiscent of the mysterious tenderness that limited him to 12 starts and a 3-3 record in 1992. Shawn Boskie, obtained recently from the Chicago Cubs, will replace Greene as today’s starter against the Cincinnati Reds.

* Junk Bonds: Reflecting on his .233 average through Thursday, Barry Bonds said: “I’m just trying to duplicate last year too quickly, pushing too hard. I’ve just got to relax and go back to basics. It’s tough right now, putting all that pressure on myself.”

* Turning a Page: There is a void in the 1994 bookcase. Economic considerations have prompted the Elias Sports Bureau and Simon & Schuster to stop publication of “The Elias Baseball Analyst,” the most imaginative and informative of the many statistical books, after nine editions. “Hopefully, it’s just a hiatus,” Elias general manager Seymour Siwoff said.

* Dr. Howe: Seven drug-related suspensions have apparently made Steve Howe something of an authority on addictions. Howe, the former Dodger and now New York Yankee reliever who has not been talking to reporters, made an exception to that policy the other day to lambaste Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda for saying that Darryl Strawberry’s problem is a weakness, not a disease.

Howe accused Lasorda of being a hypocrite in that he won’t acknowledge his own addiction to food. “He has to judge others to feel better about himself,” Howe said of Lasorda. “He’s weak. The big problem we all have in facing up to our problems is denial. I see a man who’s in denial, not Straw. Straw has gone in for treatment.”

* A Passing: The death of Odem (Lou) Dials, at 90 in Modesto the other day, attracted little notice. Dials deserved more. He came off the sandlots of Los Angeles to earn an engineering degree from Cal in 1927, go on to star in the Negro leagues for more than 12 years, scout for several organizations in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and make countless appearances at schools and card shows throughout Southern California until his death.

* Ringing It Up: In the type of career seldom seen in corporate baseball these days, Tommie Ferguson has gone from bat boy with the Boston Braves to equipment manager with the Milwaukee Braves to traveling secretary with the Angels to vice president of the Milwaukee Brewers to semi-retirement on Cape Cod and now, in Orange County, a scout with the Phillies.

Ferguson has experienced various rewards in his 50 years in baseball, the sweetest being five World Series and league championship rings, the fifth--emblematic of the Phillies’ National League pennant of last year--arriving the other day.

“One for each finger,” the proud Ferguson said.