BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodger pitcher Tom Candiotti said that he hopes Tim Wakefield’s performance for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night will change the baseball world’s attitude about knuckleballers, but most agree that it won’t happen.

“I just hope some general managers were watching,” Candiotti said after sending a telegram to Wakefield and then rooting for him during the Pirates’ 3-2 victory. “I hope they see now what a knuckleballer can do in a big game. I hope they start believing.”

Said Ray Miller, Pirate pitching coach: “The problem with developing knuckleballers is that minor league managers and teams can’t afford to have the patience with them. A manager at that level wants to win, and it doesn’t make him look good to have a pitcher who he doesn’t understand.”

Leo Mazzone, the Braves’ pitching coach, said that no organization is equipped to work with a knuckleballer.

“If a kid came to me and wanted to learn a knuckleball, I would send him to Phil Niekro,” Mazzone said. “I could teach him any other pitch, but on a knuckleball, I would have to pass.”

The Braves claim they have a knuckleballer, Dennis Burlingame, who spent this season at double-A Greenville, but he has never thrown it in a game.

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Avery, who will start for the Braves today, is 3-0 against the Pirates in the postseason with a 1.59 earned-run average in 22 2/3 innings, including a record-setting 22 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

“I don’t know if they are pressing against me or what,” Avery said. “I know they really try to get to me early. I know that being left-handed against Barry Bonds and Van Slyke is an advantage. I know it can be a mental thing for the pitcher.”

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Both teams were caught off guard by the Game 3 atmosphere, which included a full Three Rivers Stadium and loud fans. “After what happened here last year, I was surprised they gave the Pirates such a good reception,” Avery said. “They played well, and I don’t know how much the crowd helped, but it couldn’t hurt.” . . . Pirate pitcher Bob Walk said that the fans in the two cities have switched roles from last year. “Our fans reminded me of the fans in Atlanta last year,” Walk said. “This year, their tomahawk chop wasn’t anywhere near as intense as last year, while our fans are a lot louder. I think the fact that we are the underdog has changed everything.”