BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Expos’ Goal Is to Be Best Team a Little Money Can Buy

Maybe the eight-month player strike didn’t translate in French, or maybe the fans recognize that this could be the summer of survival for the Expos in Montreal.

At any rate, with attendance down 13% throughout the major leagues, the Expos drew a capacity crowd of 46,515 for their home opener on Tuesday night and received several ovations despite the work stoppage that has prompted unruly reactions elsewhere and the financially motivated departures of Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom, John Wetteland and Ken Hill, the heart of the Montreal team.

The attendance dropped to a more customary 13,932 on Wednesday night, but General Manager Kevin Malone said he “sensed a positive feeling” toward the team in Montreal and the economic steps it had taken to survive there.

Despite that downsizing in payroll and talent, the Expos won five of their first eight games and are conceding nothing to the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.

“I wouldn’t trade our 25 (players) for any other 25,” Malone said. “We still have a very talented team that can beat you in a lot of different ways, and we’ll get even better as the season goes on because of experience.”

The roster is the youngest in the majors, with six rookies and an average age of 25.

Atlanta President Stan Kasten, a member of the owners’ negotiating committee, said he admired the Expos’ adaptability, but that the current economic system continues to penalize teams that lack a big-market revenue stream.

“The Expos have done what Pittsburgh did,” Kasten said. “They saw what was coming and scouted well, drafted well, developed well, but then couldn’t afford to keep the team together. This year it’s the Expos. Next year it will be someone else. A new system is inevitable. I believe that more strongly than ever.”

The Expos had the best record in baseball when the strike began last Aug. 12. Can they sustain that level?

“We’re the best $13-million team in baseball,” Malone said of a payroll rivaling that of the Milwaukee Brewers for lowest in the industry. “We’ve become very good getting more for less. We can’t replace the people we lost on a one-for-one basis, but we can replace quality with quantity.”

Perhaps, but the Expos’ ability to survive in Montreal, he said, hinges on an improved corporate and fan response (they have never drawn more than 2.3 million), along with a new economic system and guaranteed revenue sharing with the larger markets.

Even if the Expos had gone to the World Series, Malone said, they would have only broken even or netted a little.

“It’s hard to keep up with the Jonses when you don’t have resources equal to the Jonses,” he said.

With limited income from TV and radio, the Expos have sold 9,000 season tickets. A grocery chain recently bought 2,000, the club’s largest commitment by a sponsor.

“I think there’s a recognition among the fans and sponsors that it’s a critical year to show their allegiance,” Malone said. “There’s a definite desire to keep us (in Montreal).

“People here recognize we weren’t the cause of the strike, that we were just caught up in it, the biggest losers (because of their record at the time of the stoppage and its impact on payroll).

“People recognize that we had to make the moves we did if we’re going to stay and survive here. So far the response has been very encouraging.”

ADD EXPOS

Encouraging, yes, but that’s not to say there hasn’t been a discouraging word or two, primarily from Moises Alou. He senses that he’s headed down the same financial path as Grissom, Walker, Hill, etc. Alou is headed for arbitration, seeking $3.5 million compared to the club’s offer of $2.5.

“Fans come out and watch us, but it’s always in the back of their mind. . . . ‘He’s good, but he won’t be here next year,’ ” Alou said.

Club President Claude Brochu met with the players Monday to try to dispel that perception, telling them he wanted to create a sense of family continuity as the Cleveland Indians have with their multiyear contracts.

Alou was offered a three-year, $10.5 million deal, but isn’t impressed.

“They make a horse . . . offer and say, ‘Oh well, we tried,’ ” he said. “They’re playing games with me. Kevin Malone says they’ll pay me around $12 million, then Brochu says $11 million, and then it’s ‘Sorry, but (finance vice president) Bill Stoneham will only go as high as $10.5.’ ”

Alou’s father, Manager Felipe Alou, says he doesn’t think the situation will bother his right fielder, but isn’t sure because neither Moises nor the club will tell him much.

“I don’t know a thing,” the senior Alou said. “We’re treated for what we are--expendable.”

AT THE GATE

It will be impossible to get a real gauge on attendance until midsummer, when the weather warms, schools are out, the races take shape and the hangover from the strike abates some.

In the meantime, there has been an obvious reaction in turnout and behavior. The worst incidents were in Detroit on Tuesday night, when Indian General Manager John Hart called the American League office to demand protection from fans who threw whiskey bottles, cigarette lighters and other objects at his players. There were 34 arrests, 15 on the field.

Thomas Tutko, sports psychologist from San Jose State, said baseball is probably “only a hair and a half away from a real disaster.”

“When they canceled the World Series, it became absolutely clear to fans that they don’t matter to the players or the owners,” Tutko said. “They’re just fed up with the narcissism and greed on both sides.”

SMALL-MARKET MADNESS

Bud Selig’s Brewers are also doing what the small-market teams aren’t supposed to be able to do--stay competitive. “There’s not a lot of pressure on us because nobody gives us a chance,” infielder Kevin Seitzer said. “The pressure starts when you have a $50-million payroll and don’t win. When we go out to play, how much the other team has in their pockets isn’t a factor. We just look at what we’ve got to do to win. We’ve got the cheapest payroll in the business, so I guess every game we win is some kind of freak accident.”

ON THE MARK

Mark McGwire averaged 36 home runs and 150 games per season in the six years before 1993, when a heal injury required two operations and limited the Oakland Athletics’ first baseman to 74 games over the last two seasons.

“The most frustrating part was coming to the park and not being able to play,” McGwire said at Anaheim Stadium last week.

“But the thing that bothers me most is that I played 150 or more games for six years and people are now writing that I’m injury prone because I went through two years that were out of my control.”

McGwire hit two homers in the first seven games and said “It’s just a matter of time” until he’s back to his 42-homer groove of 1992.

“Unlike most big guys, Mark has a short, compact swing that’s as good as anyone in baseball,” A’s hitting coach Jim Lefebvre said. “He doesn’t need a lot of at-bats to get ready. He’s definitely critical to our success.”

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

--Thumbs Up: The Angels did the right thing by reconstituting that three-year deal for Chili Davis, a productive leader. Agent Tom Reich and General Manager Bill Bavasi had almost completed the deal when a frustrated Davis wondered aloud about possible racism in regard to the Angels’ previous decision to remove the offer, but his comments should snap the Angels to attention in regard to longstanding perceptions about the absence of minorities in their front office and the comparatively few minority players to come through their system.

--Thumbs Down: The Angels would seem to have made the right decision when they exposed Bryan Harvey’s tender elbow and robust contract--he had $11.25 million remaining over three years--to the 1993 expansion draft. Harvey missed most of ’94 because of elbow and groin injuries and is now sidelined indefinitely after transplant surgery on the elbow. However, getting nothing in return for a premier relief pitcher is still difficult to swallow, and Harvey did save 45 games for the Florida Marlins in ‘93, when the Angels threw away a season because of a lack of dependable relief (Steve Frey led the club with 13 saves). What price was there on that?

--Thumbs Down: If the Dodgers are looking at the rewards of Fernandomania again with Hideo Nomo, agents Arn Tellem and Don Nomura offered Nomo to the Angels last fall at far less than the $2-million bonus he ultimately received from Peter O’Malley and were rejected by owner Jackie Autry, a move consistent with the absence of public relations vision in Anaheim.

“A lot of clubs made the same decision on Nomo that we did,” Tim Mead, the Angels’ assistant general manager, said. “We weren’t in position to commit any more money at that point.”

NAMES AND NUMBERS

--Did the abbreviated spring affect pitching, or has the start of the new season seen a continuation of last year’s offensive bombardment? Through the 66 games of the first week, only 47 of 132 starting pitchers went five innings or more and only Pat Hentgen of the Toronto Blue Jays pitched into the ninth. The combined earned-run average was 4.69, and the average game produced 10.6 runs.

--After Hideo Nomo shut out the San Francisco Giants for five innings in his debut, Giant Manager Dusty Baker received a call from old friend Kevin Mitchell, now in Japan. “He told me they’ve got some other dudes over there who can pitch,” Baker said. “Nomo is just one of them.” Said Dodger catcher Mike Piazza, who memorized a half dozen Japanese words for Nomo’s debut: “He communicates in the international language of the fastball.”

--Among the many items that littered major league fields during the first week were the cremated remains of a longtime Chicago Cub fan, dumped from the Wrigley Field bleachers by his son to fulfill a last wish. “I guess it was a little less dangerous than some of the other things that were being thrown,” Houston Astro left fielder Luis Gonzalez said.

--The Chicago White Sox made 22 errors in a 1-6 start, including seven by third baseman Robin Ventura. “Never seen anything like it, and I certainly can’t understand it,” said left fielder Tim Raines. The pace seems certain to abate, but for the record: the most errors by a third baseman in a season is 91, by Charles (Piano Legs) Hickman of the New York Giants in 1901; the most errors by a team: 425 by the 1901 Detroit Tigers.