WORLD SERIED ’85 : Notes : They’re Still Getting Some Hits Off Lasorda

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —  If Jack Clark and Ozzie Smith hadn’t made it a tough enough week for Tom Lasorda, the Dodger manager absorbed additional shots as the World Series opened.

Kansas City catcher Jamie Quirk, commenting on the family atmosphere at the All-Missouri Series, said: “For the losing team, it won’t be the worst thing that’s ever happened. It won’t be like getting beat by the Dodgers, where you’ve got to listen to Tom Lasorda all winter.”

And Royal left fielder Lonnie Smith, traded by the Cardinals in May, when asked if he harbored a grudge, said: “It would be nice to beat anybody in the World Series. I don’t think it would prove anything for me personally if we beat the Cardinals. The only point that needs to be proven is which is the best club.

“In fact, I’d rather beat the Dodgers. I still have a grudge against (Dodger Manager) Tom Lasorda. He picked me for the 1982 All-Star game, then forgot I was on the team.

“He forgot I was there. I mean, to finally go to the All-Star game and only play the ninth inning on defense when I’m not considered a good defensive player was heartbreaking.

“If Dusty Baker hadn’t reminded Lasorda that I was there, I wouldn’t have played at all.”

Cardinal left fielder Vince Coleman, who bruised his left leg in the freak mishap with a mechanical tarpaulin at Busch Stadium before Game 4 of the National League playoffs, was still out Saturday night and is not expected to play tonight, either.

“There’s no sense playing Vince if he’s not 100%,” Manager Whitey Herzog said. “He tried running tonight and couldn’t make it. He’s very questionable for tomorrow. We thought that with only a bruise, we’d have him back by now.

“We’d like to have him, of course. He can make things happen. But he’s not our only speed guy. If Willie (McGee) gets on, he can do the same things.”

A bone scan confirmed that Royal right-hander Bret Saberhagen suffered no broken bones when he attempted to stop a Willie Upshaw grounder barehanded in the first inning of Game 7 at Toronto.

The splint was removed from Saberhagen’s hand Saturday, and he threw for 20 minutes in the bullpen. He is expected to start Tuesday in Game 3.

Said pitching coach Gary Blaylock: “He threw well enough that he could have pitched tonight.”

Wearing a gray leather jacket, alligator boots and a gray cowboy hat, Ken (Hawk) Harrelson, new general manager of the Chicago White Sox, held an impromptu, pregame press conference behind the batting cage, informing the media that Tony LaRussa’s return as manager seemed certain.

LaRussa has been in Hawaii, reflecting on his status in the wake of Harrelson’s appointment as successor to LaRussa’s close friend, Roland Hemond.

“The one thing Tony had wanted to know was if he would remain the boss on the field,” Harrelson said. “I told him, ‘Absolutely.’ He called me today to talk about trades and never mentioned his status. I’d be totally surprised if he didn’t come back.”

By replacing designated hitter Hal McRae as the Royals’ No. 4 hitter, Frank White became the first second baseman to bat cleanup in a World Series game since Jackie Robinson did it for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952.

Cardinal catcher Darrell Porter, on how to pitch to George Brett:

“You get everybody out in front of him and you score five runs and you win, 5-4.”

Add Porter: During batting practice, he came out wearing the wrong uniform jersey--Andy Van Slyke’s No. 18 instead of his own No. 15--an apparent victim of a practical joke. Royal outfielder Dane Iorg, a former Cardinal, tipped Porter off to his error.

Cardinal pitcher Danny Cox (18-9), scheduled to start Game 2 for St. Louis tonight against the Charlie Leibrandt (17-9), talked to reporters about his role in a recent family feud involving his sister and former brother-in-law. Cox, who claimed his sister was being harassed by her ex-husband, took a plane to Warner Robins, Ga., and punched him out.

“That’s a personal affair, my business,” said the mustachioed Cox, “but any person who loves his family would have done the same thing.”

Asked if it was safe to assume that there had been no recurrence of the trouble, Cox smiled and said:

“It’s safe to assume that, yeah.”

Cox, who has a tender right elbow, said he first had elbow trouble in 1982.

“It’s kind of disappointing that it’s come up again, but I’ve had a lot of rest--a week off,” he said. “I’ll just take a couple of aspirins and see what happens.”

Vida Blue, a former Royal now pitching for the Giants, gave this assessment of the Dodgers to Bob Padecky of the Sacramento Bee: “Without Mariano Duncan, they’re a .500 team.”

The Cardinals beating the Dodgers, Blue said, “showed the (Western) Division that the Dodgers aren’t invincible.”

Jack Clark, on the reception he received when he returned home to St. Louis after his pennant-winning home run:

“It was tremendous. There were 10,000 or 15,000 people at the airport, and in my neighborhood they had banners hanging across the street from tree to tree. And in the cul de sac where I live, there were candles all along the street, and red and white balloons tied to mailboxes.”