Baseball

The mess in San Diego gets worse each week. Larry Bowa has already had 15 heated postgame clubhouse meetings (the best manager in the game, Whitey Herzog, hasn't held one postgame clubhouse meeting in 14 years). A May 13 tirade ended with Bowa and rookie Stanley Jefferson engaged in a one-push fight, just days after Bowa and starter Andy Hawkins had exchanged un-pleasantries in the papers. Ace reliever Lance McCullers is worn out after getting up to throw nearly 100 times in the first 37 games. "And they thought they had it tough with Dick Williams," chuckles Seattle scout Rick Sweet. Padre pitching is in shambles: The staff ERA is 5.42, the worst in the majors, and the club has been outhomered 52-20. G.M. Jack McKeon is offering Hawkins, Dave Dravecky, Storm Davis and Eric Show around for a bat and some young pitchers. McKeon may have a taker for Hawkins and/or Dravecky in the Reds, and the Yankees may take back Rich Gossage, who desperately wants out of San Diego.

Bowa, meanwhile, is contending with Philadelphia's much-maligned John Felske and the White Sox' Jim Fregosi in the managerial walk-the-plank contest....

The Yankees are trying to get catcher Ron Hassey back for the third time, this time from the White Sox. The Dodgers are shopping stiff-shouldered Tim Leary, Alejandro Pena and Tom Neidenfeuer (along with his '88 option, worth $850,000) for an outfielder like Boston's David Henderson....

Juan Samuel is emerging as the new star in Philadelphia. He hit safely in 20 games in a 21-game stretch through May 14. For the season he was batting .396 with men in scoring position and led the Phils in six major offensive categories.

FALLEN ANGELS
With Kirk McCaskill out after an elbow operation; John Candelaria, having trouble with his back and with the law (he was arrested on May 14 for the second time in a month on suspicion of drunk driving) and on the DL, talking about retirement; and Donnie Moore also in pain, the Angels' pitching has fallen on hard times. Last week the Halos rushed Bryan Harvey up from the Texas League. Never heard of him? Harvey signed three years ago at an Angel tryout camp after a softball career with the renowned Howard's Furniture team from North Carolina. Harvey was a softball outfielder, but his fastball has been clocked at 97 mph.

IS THAT ALL?

Ramser Correa, the 16-year-old brother of Ranger pitcher Edwin Correa, says he will sign for nothing less than $225,000, plus a promise that he not be asked to pitch between sundown Fridays and sundown Saturdays (he's a Seventh-Day Adventist), plus a guaranteed major league contract by 1990, plus an invitation to major league spring training next February, plus a $7,500 bonus for making the big leagues, plus four round-trip plane tickets from Puerto Rico to a destination on the mainland annually for five years, plus an '87 black Corvette for himself and a Cutlass Supreme for his father....

Fred Claire is solidly seated as Al Campanis's replacement, so Tommy Lasorda knows now that his dream of being the Dodger general manager isn't going to be realized. Lasorda wants a G.M. job and will leave the Dodgers if anyone makes an offer....

The Baltimore Orioles may have found much-needed bullpen help in former starter Ken Dixon. He always had a great arm and a serious lack of concentration, so manager Cal Ripken put him out in the pen, let him just throw the ball, and in 10 days he was 2-0 with two saves. The other Baltimore relievers had 5 saves in 15 opportunities. Eddie Murray tells friends he is as unhappy as he has ever been, and he still is on a pace to top 40 homers and 120 RBIs....

Dick Williams has this to say about Milwaukee Brewers rookie catcher B.J. Surhoff: "He reminds me of a young Carl Yastrzemski. This kid doesn't hold his bat quite as high as Yastrzemski did, but he has a lot of the same mannerisms."...