Inside Pitch (april 22-28)

In Pittsburgh, where manager Chuck Tanner and G.M. Harding Peterson have worked together since '77, there was a difference of opinion on what to do with recently acquired Al Holland.

"We can use Holland as a late-inning reliever," Peterson said, "and that would allow John Candelaria to return to the rotation."

"Holland will work long relief," Tanner said. "John Candelaria is my late-inning lefty."

Remember when we all laughed at Ranger G.M. Tom Grieve after he traded Billy Sample to the Yankees for Toby Harrah this spring with the thought that Harrah would lead off and play, gasp, second base? Well, the joke seems to be on us. Harrah, 36 and coming off a horrible year, is playing a very adequate second base, thank you, even though he had never played the position regularly in his 14 seasons. He's also hitting a mere .339 with a .506 on-base percentage.

Last year, Ranger leadoff men batted .239 and walked 47 times. Harrah already has 19 walks.

"Toby hated New York, and the way he feels about himself and the team and the city are very important because he's a very sensitive guy," says Grieve, who used to be Harrah's roomie. "If I didn't know him as well as I do, I would have been one of the other 25 teams who didn't think he could play anymore."

Says Harrah, "I'm just playing the way I can, and after all, I had only one bad year in the big leagues. What Tag [Grieve] did, trading for me, was a lot more difficult. He has a lot of guts."

Reggie Jackson, an owner? It could happen one day. Jackson, 38, plays for the Angels, but he might become an angel of a different sort for the Oakland A's, who are looking for investors to keep them in the Bay Area.

"I'd hate to see them sell it," says Jackson, a multimillionaire who still has a great many ties to Oakland, the town in which he made his name. "I can't get involved directly now because I'm still playing, but my lawyer [Steve Kay, a San Francisco attorney] has some people who would be willing to buy into the club. We could come up with around $10 million."

It's almost a shame that Reggie can't buy in now. If he hit especially well against the A's, someone could say, "He owns their pitchers."