American League / Ross Newhan : Pitching of Royals Key to Race in West

There will not be a race in the American League West if Kansas City’s rebuilt rotation of last year continues to emulate its September form.

The Royals got off to a 3-5 start simply because the team batting average with runners in scoring position was .164.

The pitching was much more impressive. Facing Detroit, Toronto and Boston, the cream of the East, the Royals’ rotation of Charlie Liebrandt, 28; Bud Black, 27, and sophomores Danny Jackson, 23; Mark Gubicza, 22, and Bret Saberhagen, 21, had a 1.70 earned run average for the eight games, and was averaging 6 innings a start.

Of his comparative lack of action, relief ace Dan Quisenberry said: “It’s got to a point where when the phone rings at home, I’m hoping it’s somebody wanting to play catch.’

George Brett had only one extra-base hit in Kansas City’s first eight games, reviving the spring view that he lost too much weight during the winter. Brett disagreed.

“Power has nothing to do with weight,� the streamlined Brett said. “My power stems from my hitting fundamentals. And I just haven’t put them together yet.�

Add Kansas City:

A new synthetic surface at Royals Stadium is being called baseball’s best. Made by Monsanto, the trade name is AstroTurf 80. Said Kansas City general manager John Schuerholz: “What they’ve finally done is reduce the abnormalities.�

Said Manager Dick Howser: “I hate turf, like most baseball people, but by 1990 two-thirds of the parks are going to have it.

“What they’ve done here is create the first field that isn’t much different than grass.�

In conjunction with an expensive drainage system, the surface does not require vacuuming after rain. It’s playable immediately.

The glow from Minnesota’s 1984 renaissance is gone already, and the young Twins are feeling the pressure of their high hopes. First baseman Kent Hrbek had a telling comment after the Angels swept a three-game series to extend Minnesota’s losing streak to seven.

“We’re playing this week like we’re playing the last week of the season, like we have to win every game,� Hrbek said. “We’ve got 153 left, you know.�

Hrbek, off to a 3-for-33 start, had already said that he can’t be made to feel that he’s carrying the whole load, that “we’ve got nine guys . . . and if they want to start leaning on my shoulder, that’s a bad attitude on their part.�

There has also been sniping between Manager Billy Gardner and relief ace Ron Davis, who established a love-hate relationship with the Minnesota fans last year when he saved 29 games but squandered 15 other save opportunities.

Davis was booed when introduced before last Monday’s Metrodome opener after Gardner had publicly second-guessed Davis’ choice of pitches in Seattle, where he yielded a grand-slam homer to Phil Bradley, giving the Mariners an 8-7 win.

Of Gardner’s contention that he had shaken off the catcher four times before throwing that pitch, Davis told Minneapolis columnist Sid Hartman, “Billy Gardner doesn’t know what he’s talking about. . . . I shook my head to confuse the Seattle hitters. We do that all of the time. The only thing I did wrong was to walk a few people.

“Gardner makes a wrong move at the wrong time once in a while, too. He might call the hit-and-run and the batter hits a line drive (directly at a fielder). Everybody makes a mistake once in a while.�

Davis added: “The fans might not like it, but if I have another seven wins and 29 saves at the end of the year again I’ll be happy.�

Calvin Griffith, former owner of the Twins, said that he rejected a $50-million offer from Donald Trump, who wanted to move the club to New Jersey, before accepting Carl Pohlad’s $42-million bid, which also carried a promise to keep the Twins in Minnesota.

Off to an impressive start as the regular center fielder for the White Sox after hitting .169 in 35 major league games last year, the touted Daryl Boston said:

“I finished last year with a lot of doubt about myself.

“There I was, playing against guys that I had admired for a long time. They were like heroes to me. I was more in awe of them than anything else.

“There I was, facing guys like Tommy John and Mike Boddicker. I couldn’t believe it. I finally learned that you have to forget those guys. I mean, from now on, John and Boddicker are facing me.�

Don Baylor, former designated hitter for the Angels, drove in 89 runs for the Yankees last year but hit .244 with runners in scoring position. That raised owner George Steinbrenner’s noted ire, since Baylor was hitting behind Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield, who finished 1-2 in the batting race.

Steinbrenner jumped on Baylor again last week, criticizing his lack of consistent productivity and saying he is in the market for a left handed DH to platoon with Baylor, who responded with a game-winning homer against the White Sox.

Asked if that would silence Steinbrenner, he said, “Maybe for a day.�

Oakland left fielder Dave Collins, obtained in the trade that sent Bill Caudill to Toronto, was asked if he had taken any razzing from Oakland’s notorious bleacherites. Collins’ response provided an insight into the work habits of his left field predecessor with the A’s, Rickey Henderson.

“One thing struck me as funny,� he said. “I went out to run in the outfield at about 10 after 7 the other night (the game started at 7:35) and a guy yells at me, ‘Hey, what are you doing out here so early? The guy last year didn’t get out here until 25 minutes later.’ �

The Texas Rangers have not been over .500 since July 27, 1983. Here are two reasons:

--The team made 10 errors in its first 8 games this season, contributing to 14 unearned runs.

--A series of trades stripped the Rangers of some of the best pitching talent in baseball. Within a 48-hour period last week, for example, six former Texas pitchers all won, allowing 2 earned runs and 13 hits in 37 innings.

The six: Ron Darling of the Mets, Walt Terrell of the Tigers, Dave Righetti of the Yankees, Len Barker of the Braves, Danny Darwin of the Brewers and Rick Honeycutt of the Dodgers.

Setting the tone for the Detroit pitching staff, Jack Morris has averaged 7.35 innings in his first 200 major league starts. He has pitched to a decision in 175 of them, going 105-70.

Equally impressive is the fact that since 1979, when baseball adopted the game-winning RBI as an official statistic, Baltimore first baseman Eddie Murray is a runaway leader.

Murray has 133 game winners, 38 in the seventh inning or later.

“I don’t say I want to be there every time, because that implies no one else can do it, but I do like to be there,� he said. “I do like the feeling.�

The lifetime contracts signed recently by Quisenberry and teammate Willie Wilson guarantee Quisenberry a minimum of $49.3 million during the next 41 years, and Wilson $27 million.

The arrangements, however, are designed to cost Kansas City only $11.5 million, providing the real estate portions of each contract generate the projected income.