Revenge Is Not on Oates’ Mind

RANGERS 6, YANKEES 2

Johnny Oates’ relatively successful tenure as Baltimore Oriole manager came to an inglorious end on Sept. 26, 1994, when he was fired by owner Peter Angelos.

But Oates, now the Texas Ranger manager, does not have a burning desire to return to Camden Yards for the league championship series and exact some kind of revenge on the Orioles.

“I’m not sure it’s something I want to do, but it doesn’t really matter to me,” said Oates, who guided the Rangers to their first postseason in the 25-year history of the franchise.

Oates led the Orioles to a 291-270 record and three consecutive winning seasons, but it wasn’t enough for Angelos, who dumped him. Oates went to Texas, where he won the West in his second season.

“For those [in Baltimore] who thought I was a bad manager, maybe I wasn’t as bad as they thought,” Oates said. “But as [former Detroit manager] Sparky Anderson once said, you can get dumb quick.”

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The Yankees avoided a potential catastrophe in the third inning when left fielder Tim Raines, center fielder Bernie Williams and shortstop Derek Jeter nearly collided on Kevin Elster’s bloop double to left-center. But Raines and Williams wound up sliding right past each other as the ball dropped, and Jeter hurdled over both outfielders, and all three players escaped unscathed. . . . The Yankees gave up Matt Drews, their top pitching prospect, and Ruben Sierra for Cecil Fielder in a July 31 trade with Detroit, but Fielder and his $9.2 million salary opened the series on the bench Tuesday night. Darryl Strawberry, who had five hits in eight career at-bats against Ranger starter John Burkett, got the nod at designated hitter, but Manager Joe Torre said Fielder will likely be in tonight’s Game 2 lineup.

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LOB--Texas 3, New York 9. 2B--Elster (1), Boggs (1), TiMartinez 2 (2). HR--JGonzalez (1) off Cone; Palmer (1) off Cone. RBIs--JGonzalez 3 (3), Palmer 2 (2), McLemore (1), BeWilliams (1), Duncan (1). CS--McLemore (1).

Runners left in scoring position--Texas 1 (Hamilton); New York 6 (Boggs, TiMartinez, Duncan, DJeter 3).

Runners moved up--Raines, BeWilliams, Strawberry.

DP--New York 1 (Girardi and Duncan).

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T--2:50. Tickets sold--57,205.

U--Evans, HP; Kaiser, 1B; Merrill, 2B; Young, 3B; Clark, LF; Johnson, RF.

SCORECARD

FIRST INNING

Yankees 1, Rangers 0

Yankees--Raines singled to center. Boggs doubled to left, Raines stopping at third. Oneill grounded to third. BWilliams grounded to second, Raines scoring, Boggs taking third. Martinez flied to center. One run, two hits, one left.

FOURTH INNING

Rangers 5, Yankees 2

Rangers--Rodriguez singled to right. Greer walked. Gonzalez homered to left, his first. Clark singled to center. Tettleton struck out. Palmer homered to left, his first. McLemore grounded to second. Elster struck out. Five runs, four hits.

Yankees--With one out, Martinez doubled to left. Strawberry lined to right, Martinez taking third. Duncan singled to right, Martinez scoring. Girardi singled to right, Duncan taking third. Jeter forced Girardi. One run, three hits, two left.

SIXTH INNING

Rangers 6, Yankees 2

Rangers--With one out, Tettleton walked. Palmer singled to center, Tettleton stopping at second. McLemore singled to center, Tettleton scoring, Palmer stopping at second. Elster struck. McLemore was caught stealing. One run, two hits, one left.

SERIES AT A GLANCE

* GAME 1--Texas 3, New York 1

* TODAY--Texas (Ken Hill 16-10) at New York (Andy Pettitte 21-8), 5 p.m., Channel 11.

* FRIDAY--New York (Jimmy Key 12-11) at Texas (Darren Oliver 14-6), 5 p.m., Channel 4.

* SATURDAY--(If necessary) New York (Kenny Rogers 12-8 or Cone) at Texas (Bobby Witt 16-12), 10 a.m., ESPN.

* SUNDAY--(If necessary) New York (TBA) at Texas (Burkett), 1 p.m., ESPN.