Torre's Hunch Is Yankees' Delight

By MIKE DiGIOVANNA

Oct. 13, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

BALTIMORE —

Darryl Strawberry began this season working the small-town playhouses of the independent Northern League, where you could get a $5 haircut or a $10 massage in the bleachers, and where a live pig would carry game balls out to the umpire.

But Saturday night Strawberry returned to the national stage, thriving in the spotlight he so relishes, and the much-maligned outfielder came through with a Broadway-caliber performance that pushed the New York Yankees to the verge of their first World Series berth in 15 years.

Strawberry hit a solo home run in the second inning and put Game 4 of the American League championship series out of reach with a two-run homer in the eighth, as the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4, in front of a record crowd of 48,974 in Camden Yards.

The Yankees, who are now 8-0 in Baltimore this season, took a three-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series and can wrap up the pennant--and give Joe Torre his first trip to the World Series after more than 30 years as a player and manager--with a victory in Game 5 today.

“I don’t even want to think about being this close, you get antsy,” Torre said after the 3-hour, 45-minute game, which included two-run homers by Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams and another stellar bullpen effort.

“It’s like thinking about the ninth inning in the first. It’s great knowing you have [pitchers] Andy Pettitte, David Cone and Jimmy Key [for the next three games, if necessary] and a team with a lot of confidence, but as far as my goals, and something missing from my career, it will be something I cherish when it happens, no sooner.”

If the Yankees do reach the World Series for the 34th time in the team’s storied history, Torre deserves much of the credit. He helped foster a feeling of camaraderie in a clubhouse full of high-priced superstars, where veteran, every-day players far outnumber daily lineup spots, and he showed his mettle as a strategist again Saturday night.

Torre pulled erratic starting pitcher Kenny Rogers in the fourth inning, before he could do any further damage to the Yankees, and he made all the right bullpen moves, using David Weathers for the middle innings and left-hander Graeme Lloyd to retire one left-handed batter in the sixth.

Torre benched the struggling O’Neill in Game 3 but inserted him back into the lineup Saturday night, and the right fielder rewarded him with a two-run homer that gave the Yankees a 5-2 lead in the fourth.

But the big jackpot came with Strawberry, whom Torre, playing “a hunch,” started in left field in place of Tim Raines. Strawberry had a single in four at-bats in Game 3, but Torre thought there was a lot of life in his bat, that he was swinging well, so he stuck with him for Game 4.

Smart move. Strawberry, who began this season taking long bus rides with the St. Paul Saints but signed with the Yankees on July 4, lined a homer to right off Oriole starter Rocky Coppinger in the second, singled and scored in the fourth and smashed a two-run homer to left-center off reliever Armando Benitez in the eighth.

“This is what it’s all about,” Strawberry said, “being at the major league level, being in the post-season, going to the World Series. I’m excited about it. This is a big lift for me.”

So was playing in the Northern League, where Strawberry, a former New York Met star who has a history of substance-abuse and marital problems, was able to put baseball--and his life--in perspective.

“That experience gave me a joy about the game again,” Strawberry said. “I forgot how fun the game was with no pressure. Over the years I put a lot of pressure on myself, trying to do too much, and it led me down the wrong road. At this point in my life, I’m just trying to have fun.”

While the good times rolled for Strawberry and the Yankees, Oriole misery reached new depths. Baltimore went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position Saturday night, including a combined 0 for 5 with one sacrifice fly by cleanup batter Rafael Palmeiro and No. 5 hitter Bobby Bonilla.

The Orioles set a major league record with 257 home runs this season, but when all they needed was a ground-ball to the right side, that proved to be too tall a task.

Trailing, 5-4, in the fifth, Roberto Alomar led off with a double and the heart of the Oriole order was coming up. But Palmeiro failed to advance the runner, flying out to left field, and when Bonilla, now hitless in 16 championship series at-bats, flied to deep center, Alomar could only advance to third.

Cal Ripken grounded out to end the inning, and the Yankees, thanks to Williams’ double, Tino Martinez’s single, Cecil Fielder’s RBI groundout and Strawberry’s homer, pushed across three runs in the eighth.

The Orioles also loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth with three singles off Yankee set-up man Mariano Rivera, but Rivera struck out Chris Hoiles and Brady Anderson and got Todd Zeile to pop out. John Wetteland then pitched a scoreless ninth.

“We’re setting the table, but certain guys in the lineup are cold,” Oriole Manager Davey Johnson said. “But this thing is a long way from being over. The momentum can change very quickly in a short series. We just need to get some good pitching and timely hitting.”

* STRAW STIRS AGAIN

Darryl Strawberry has been to postseason before, knows the way to play. C12

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Saturday’s Result

* New York 8, Baltimore 4

Today’s Game

* New York (Pettitte 21-8) at Baltimore (Erickson 13-12),

1 p.m., Channel 4

FORGETTABLE: Game 4 starting pitchers didn’t do much to distinguish themselves. C12

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Saturday’s Result