Sneaky Fastball Seems to Be His Best Pitch

With all of the rewards and respect that have justifiably come to Tom Lasorda, there also has been a strange and unsettling pattern to his career.

It is a pattern illustrated recently by the impression that he is trying--despite denials--to undermine Dodger Vice President Fred Claire by his admitted desire to become a general manager and reports he has lobbied Rupert Murdoch advisor Michael Milken for a stronger role with the Dodgers once Fox buys the team, providing major league owners approve the sale.

What this will get Lasorda is uncertain.

It was Fox that asked owner Peter O’Malley to extend the contracts of Claire and the Dodger management team, and Fox sources say Lasorda’s recent comments and activity have served only to anger the two executives overseeing the sale: Fox Group chairman Peter Chernin and Fox Television chairman Chase Cary.

What’s new?

As a coach under Walter Alston, every potential managerial vacancy seemed to turn into an offer to Lasorda, who would inform reporters covering the club about it. Whether it was a blatant attempt by Lasorda to force the Dodgers to make a decision on their aging manager is uncertain.

But when Alston and O’Malley ultimately agreed that it was time for him to step down, Alston noted privately that his love of the job had been diluted in part by the changing relationship with players and an ambitious coach.

At pivotal contract junctures in Lasorda’s managerial tenure with the Dodgers, there were reports of offers from New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner or others.

Just last year, when Lasorda still harbored a desire to manage again and it was uncertain whether Bill Russell would be more than an interim manager, a report surfaced that Lasorda was on the short list of candidates for the managerial position with the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a report angrily denied by owner Vince Naimoli.

The beat goes on at 69, but it should not detract from Lasorda’s accomplishments.

After all, as he brazenly noted in his Hall of Fame acceptance, he has won Cy Young, most-valuable-player and rookie-of-the-year awards. It’s all part of the package.

*

The San Francisco Giants had lost 12 of their first 19 games after the All-Star break but began the weekend 5-2 after the acquisition of Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin from the Chicago White Sox.

Closer Rod Beck doubts that the Giants planned to give him the long-term contract he will be seeking, so he doesn’t view Hernandez as a threat to his future. “Now they have a choice,” he said, referring to 1998 specifically but also the closer role over the final two months of ’97.

*

Bet this: If Pete Rose applies for reinstatement soon, as he said he would in an interview with the CBS SportsLine on-line service, he is believed to have little chance for success as long as acting Commissioner Bud Selig remains the bottom line.

Selig wouldn’t say that when reached at his Milwaukee home Saturday. But baseball sources indicated that Selig’s close ties to the late commissioner, Bart Giamatti, who suspended Rose for gambling activities in 1989, and his belief that the evidence supported the contention that Rose violated rules by betting on baseball, strongly suggests Rose would remain on suspension.

“He has the right to reapply, but I haven’t heard from him,” Selig said. “All I know at this point is that it’s conversation.”