BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : With Davis in Lineup, Dodgers Want to Test the Limits of Speed

If the return to his hometown represents a new start, Eric Davis hopes it’s a running start.

“I want to get back into the 50s,” Davis said of his stolen-base goal after a recent workout at Dodger Stadium.

Speed, as manifested in the stolen base and the ability to take an extra base, could be a plus for the reshaped Dodgers.

Creativity is a possibility as the team explores the production potential of first baseman Erik Karros and third baseman Dave Hansen.

Leadoff man Brett Butler has averaged 36 steals a season. Juan Samuel, who figures to bat second, has averaged 37. Davis, who probably will hit third, has averaged 31, despite an injury-related dropoff in recent years.

Darryl Strawberry, the No. 4 hitter and a smart baserunner, has averaged 22 steals. And shortstop Jose Offerman, the probable No. 8 hitter to start the season, averaged 55 steals in four minor league seasons.

“Our speed potential is greater than it’s been in a long time,” Executive Vice President Fred Claire said. “And the key part is the attitude.

“Eric and Darryl have already talked to me about their desire to run more. And Butler told me he would like to come out an hour early in spring training and work with guys like Offerman and (infielder) Greg Smith on their bunting.

“We lost a lot of production with Eddie Murray, but we have the capability to turn singles and doubles into a lot of runs.”

Said Butler of the speed: “It’s an exciting element, but there’s also some ifs to it.”

The largest, Butler and other Dodgers implied, is the need to establish a No. 5 hitter behind Strawberry.

Murray is gone, and Kal Daniels probably will follow. Karros could be the guy, but it’s currently a concern.

Without a consistent No. 5 hitter:

--Opposing pitchers will work around Strawberry.

--Davis will not run as much, because he will not want to leave first base vacant, creating a spot for the pitcher to put Strawberry.

The other significant concern is Davis’ physical stability.

He stole 80 bases in 1986 and 50 in ‘87, then dropped to 35, 21, 21 and 14 in succeeding years, never playing more than 135 games in any of his six seasons. He played in only 89 last year, when he was fatigued for most of the season because, he said, he failed to receive proper advice for rehabilitation from the kidney injury suffered in the 1990 World Series.

Davis said he has been working out 2 1/2 hours a day three times a week and feels strong. The opportunity to play 81 home games on a grass field under the supervision of the Dodgers’ extensive medical staff should be beneficial, Davis said.

Does he still have the mind-set to steal 50 or more bases?

“I’ve never lost that and never will,” he said. “All I have to do is get my legs in shape.

“Keep in mind that I also stopped running in Cincinnati because my role changed so dramatically. I could be a free-lance runner when I first came up, but after guys like Dave Parker left and the nature of our lineup changed, I could only run in certain situations, not like I wanted.

“I had to be ‘the man’ in Cincinnati, just like Darryl had to be the man in New York. Now it’s not a matter of being ‘the man’ anymore. Everyone in this clubhouse is a leader, and that takes the pressure off.”

The Dodgers, with the added speed, hope to generate pressure in a different way, or as Strawberry said: “You’re going to see me walk up there smiling because we’re going to have runners on second and third a lot, and that’s when I thrive. We’re going to be able to run and create opportunities for ourselves that we weren’t able to do last year.”

Add Davis: Cincinnati, his former team, is considered one of the most improved in baseball, with the addition of pitchers Greg Swindell and Tim Belcher, and Bip Roberts as a leadoff hitter and left fielder.

“The Reds have accomplished what they wanted to accomplish, but they’re going to have a hard time scoring runs,” Davis said. “I took a lot of pressure off everyone.

“Guys like Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin and Paul O’Neill are going to have to produce consistently now. Are they ready to do that? Time will tell.”

Charade: Did George Steinbrenner have a voice in the New York Yankees’ signings of Danny Tartabull and Mike Gallego?

It is impossible to think otherwise. Consider:

--The two principal negotiators in the Tartabull signing were Steinbrenner’s son, Hal, and his son-in-law, Joseph Malloy, both club officials.

--Daniel McCarthy, the new managing partner, acknowledges that he talked to Steinbrenner about the tax ramifications of the Tartabull signing, an illegal contact under terms of Steinbrenner’s banishment from baseball.

--Who else but the Boss would have freed frustrated General Manager Gene Michael to pop for more than $30 million after Michael had been idled all winter by budget constraints and front-office confusion?

Commissioner Fay Vincent is expected to end the charade soon and reinstate Steinbrenner, providing he fulfills two obligations.

Steinbrenner must pay about $1 million in legal fees incurred by the commissioner’s office while defending itself against a series of suits stemming from Steinbrenner’s banishment, and he must get former Yankee executive Leonard Kleinman to drop the last of those suits.

Kleinman is suing Vincent for $30 million, charging that the commissioner blocked his chance to become general partner when Steinbrenner initially was expelled. Steinbrenner reportedly has offered Kleinman $750,000 to drop the suit, but Kleinman is holding out for more.

Add Steinbrenner: Despite that 12-year, $486-million cable-TV contract with Madison Square Garden Productions, Yankee cash flow might not be what it seems. Newsday reported that Steinbrenner borrowed $100 million against the MSG deal, took at least $55 million for himself to help refloat his financially troubled American Ship Building Co. and distributed the rest among his 17 Yankee partners.

Steinbrenner denied Newsday’s interpretation that the burden of repaying that loan may have been a factor in the decision to take another loan to help sign Tartabull and Gallego. He said the club owns securities that pay dividends in the 9% to 10% range, and it made sense to borrow at 7% or 7 1/2% rather than sell the securities.

“For a long time,” Steinbrenner said, “the partners put in significantly, and we were finally able to give them a decent payback. You don’t need all that capital to operate properly. That’s why you make investments: to make money.”

In what may have set a record for gall, Steinbrenner also said that the New York Mets’ $29-million signing of Bobby Bonilla and projected payroll of $40 million-plus was “the root of all evil in baseball.” Steinbrenner conveniently forgets that his Yankees had baseball’s highest payroll for nine of 11 years starting in 1978.

Transition: Gallego’s departure will force Oakland’s rebounding Athletics to open the 1992 season with their 13th second baseman in the last 17 years. They have candidates in Lance Blankenship, Scott Hemond, Mike Bordick, Scott Brosius and Randy Ready, who was signed recently as a free agent, but it’s not their only infield concern.

Can first baseman Mark McGwire break out of the spiral in which his average has dropped from .289 in 1987 to .201 last year? Can third baseman Carney Lansford, at 35, rebound from the knee injury that restricted him to 16 at-bats last year? Can shortstop Walt Weiss, limited to 40 games last year, rebound from two seasons of leg injuries?

Said Gallego, who lives in Yorba Linda: “I don’t think the A’s thought I would leave after 10 years. I don’t think they believed I had another offer. It was a tough decision, but it’s business.”

A’s General Manager Sandy Alderson was so irritated by the signing, at a time when the Yankees still had two other second basemen in Steve Sax and Pat Kelly, that he refused to accept calls from Michael. The Yankee general manager was attempting to see if the A’s had interest in Sax before he was traded to the Chicago White Sox.

Executive search: Ted Simmons, who has moved up the St. Louis Cardinals’ front-office ladder since retiring as a player and is now director of player development, is considered the leading candidate to replace fired Larry Doughty as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ general manager under new club President Mark Sauer, who was formerly CEO of the Cardinals.

Sauer, according to Pittsburgh sources, thought that Doughty, a respected baseball man for scouting and development, was in over his head as general manager.

And club owner Dan Danforth apparently was dissatisfied with Doughty’s role in the futile Bobby Bonilla negotiations, in the 1990 waiver gaffe that enabled the Philadelphia Phillies to land outfield prospect Wes Chamberlain, in the recent re-signing of pitcher Bob Walk for two years rather than one and in the bidding-against-himself re-signing of third baseman Steve Buechele, who had no other offers but happily saw the Pirates increase theirs from an initial $7 million for three years to $11 million for four.

Fencing: The Houston Astros’ young pitching rotation of Ryan Bowen, Darryl Kile, Pete Harnisch, Jimmy Jones and the veteran Mark Portugal had a 2.95 earned-run average in the spacious Astrodome last season compared to 4.99 on the road, but the Astros have decided to move in the fences at home.

“Maybe by holding our young pitchers’ feet to the fire at home, they’ll be more consistent on the road,” General Manager Bill Wood said.

Hit the road: With the Astrodome booked for the Republican Convention, the Astros were left with a 28-day, 26-game trip that begins July 27 when the Major League Players Assn., believing it could not change that scheduling, dropped a grievance Tuesday. The union did win one concession from owner John McMullen. The players, at club expense, will be allowed to fly one guest first class to Chicago for a four-day weekend in the middle of the trip. Also, the club might increase meal money during the excursion.

Recycled staff: The Angels’ signing of Don Robinson, Dave Johnson, Neil Allen, Pat Perry, Willie Fraser and Ray Searage, and their reported interest in John Farrell, who has had two arm operations since he last pitched for the Cleveland Indians in 1989, seems similar to what transpired when Nolan Ryan left after the 1979 season.

Then-executive vice president Buzzie Bavasi said he only had to find two 8-7 pitchers to replace Ryan (16-14), and proceeded to corner the market on released, recycled and rehabilitating pitchers--among them Bill Travers, John D’Acquisto, Jesse Jefferson, Frank LaCorte and Dave Goltz.

None came close to an 8-7 mark, and now the Angels are hoping to resuscitate Robinson, Johnson, Allen, Perry, Fraser, Searage and possibly Farrell.

Call it as embarrassing as Whitey Herzog’s walkout last week in the middle of an interview with a Prime Time cable-TV reporter who was seeking only to determine the line of command in the Angels’ front office.

“You’re trying to create trouble,” said Herzog, who left in a huff, perhaps eager to get back to the Farrell negotiations.