Inside Pitch (statistics Through May 6)

The Yankees have the worst record in the American League East, but George Steinbrenner, who has made nine managerial changes since the middle of the '78 season, has given Yogi Berra a vote of confidence. Poor Yogi. Votes of confidence are often preliminary death sentences, and who executes more managers than George?

"This should be clearly understood. Yogi Berra is not going anywhere," Steinbrenner said in a statement issued last Friday. "Now is not the time to give up on Yogi Berra."

But if the Yankees keep losing this week, Steinbrenner may decide the time has come. And if not soon, he could still strike before the end of the season. Considering Steinbrenner's track record, it seems highly unlikely that Berra will last the year. Fact is, he's probably the wrong man to manage this Yankee team.

Berra has the misfortune to supervise an ill-matched m�lange that is last in the American League in fielding and is also going through a brutal hitting slump. Berra's virtue is patience—give him a pat hand and he probably won't mess it up, which isn't as easy as it sounds.

This Yankee team, however, has too many DHs and first basemen and is going through a crisis of confidence after too many years of meddling by the owner. What is needed is a manager with a dynamic personality—a Chuck Tanner or Tommy Lasorda clone—to convince players they're better than they actually are. Berra is a sweetheart, but he's about as dynamic as Mister Rogers.

A trio of Houston Astros paid a costly visit to a hospitalized friend last week. The patient was utility man Denny Walling, who wrenched his back fielding ground balls in batting practice before a game with the Reds on May 2 and was taken to Cincinnati's Christ Hospital for treatment and tests. Between 2:30 and 3 a.m., three "concerned" teammates, pitchers Joe Niekro, Frank DiPino and Mike Scott, talked themselves into Walling's room with a couple of get-well six-packs tucked away. The little surprise party might have gone undetected, but later that day a doctor called Astro G.M. Al Rosen and told him that the hospital couldn't conduct some tests because Walling was suffering "dizziness," caused partly by a combination of muscle relaxants and alcohol. Rosen called a team meeting and reportedly said, "I'm going to go sit down in Flea's [manager Bob Lillis's] office and the people involved better be man enough to come in and pay a $250 fine." Moments later, the players trooped into the office with their checks in hand. "Sorry, Al," Niekro said. "We sure messed that one up."

Dave Concepcion played third base in six recent Reds games, with Tom Foley at shortstop. Concepcion, who'll be 36 next month, has lost considerable range the past few seasons and is wondering about his future. "You think they're trying to tell me something?" Concepcion said. "Like I'm too old for shortstop?"

The Indians had just lost their fourth straight game and manager Pat Corrales wanted to let them know just how displeased he was. So after a lengthy tirade he resurrected an old Gene Mauch ploy and tipped over the postgame buffet, spilling Swiss steak, gravy, mashed potatoes and bread over the floor of the visitors' clubhouse in Baltimore. When reporters entered the manager's office, Corrales greeted them with a wide smile and said, "I dumped the food. I didn't want the players to gag on it. I know if I ate it after watching what I saw, I would've thrown up."

Still, you can fool some of the Indians some of the time. "He was so mad," said one rookie, "he was walking up and down talking about the mistakes we made. He kept kicking a garbage can back and forth. I was shaking. I thought he was going to go over the edge and choke somebody.

"I knew what was going to happen. He took a look at that food, and I could see the look in his eye. It's too bad, too, because I was hungry. It smelled good."