Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 21

7 PAGE 5B Sports: 222-6660 Saturday, June 23, 1990. Delrotl 4frcc 3)rcs0 n'PT J-L. Just for kids A matching game, a lesson on the DH rule and advice for young pitchers from Tigers coach Billy Muffett. Page 6B. John Lowe The AL East race promises to be great once again.

Page 7B. Also inside Iffy the Dopester, Page 6B. Tiger Town, Page 6B. Just for grown-ups, Page 6B. Tigers Corner, Page 7B.

H.C) i v--w fe 4 MtfMytfrtyWftJx A Mr 'vN ft I T-" jiiiirilwMi(iiiiii)Ui i -v I hi i i 1 i i i i i I Canadian Press Darrell Evans tutors former Tigers catcher Matt Nokes, now a fellow Yankee: "Sure I have a dream," Evans says. "I've thought about managing for a long time. But I don't want anyone to think I'm here soliciting Stump's job. I don't want to taint what I'm doing now. I got to where I'm at in an awful big hurry.

It was only a couple of months ago that I wanted to be a player; let me handle one thing at a time." The Firing ne "The Twenty-Four-Inch Home Run" By Michael G. Bryson Contemporary Books $9.95 Bryson has come up with more than 200 anecdotes and oddities. Each tale is presented as a separate nugget with a headline, making the book ideal for readers who are constantly interrupted or who like to soak up a little trivia at a time. Stories range from a game called "on account of whale" to the 24-inch home run that gave the book its title. And was that home run legitimate? Pick up the book and find out.

Leadoff leader Baseball America asked 10 experts including Tigers manager Sparky Anderson whether Oakland's Rickey Henderson is the best leadoff hitter in baseball history. All 10 named Henderson among their top five; six experts put Henderson at No. 1. The panel of 10: Anderson, former Phillie Richie Ashburn, Giants manager Roger Craig, former NL president Chub Feeney, Angels scouts Rosey Gilhousen and Jimmie Reese, Chicago Tribune writer Jerome Holtzman, Oakland executive Bill Rigney, Giants GM Al Rosen and Brewers scout Charlie Silvera. Two notes of interest: Ashburn listed himself at No.

Sparky picked Pete Rose No. 1, followed by Henderson, Bobby Bonds, Wade Boggs and Willie Wilson. The survey (first-place votes in parentheses): Evans could be next in Yankees 'hot seat i y' In 'i imp X- ni, question, he was the one I went to. He was interested in me as a rookie." LaPoint said: "Darrell was the one who ran the team. He ran the infield, picked up things from the bench.

And when you were pitching, he'd always walk in and talk to you." Evans is smart enough to know his name will be mentioned as a potential Yankees manager, especially because the team is headed for a disastrous season. But he doesn't want to be viewed as a vulture waiting to pounce when Steinbrenner dismisses Merrill. "Things have happened so fast; there are steps to be taken," Evans said. "Sure I have a dream; I've thought about managing for a long time. But I don't want anyone to think I'm here soliciting Stump's job.

I don't want to taint what I'm doing now. I got to where I'm at in an awful big hurry. It was only a couple of months ago that I wanted to be a player; let me handle one thing at a time." It didn't take long for Evans to get involved with the Yankees. In his first day on the job, he took each player aside during batting practice to offer advice and suggestions. "There were times in my playing career when I wished that managers and coaches would have spent more time with me," Evans said.

"I don't care who the player is Don Mattingly, anyone they appreciate the interest and attention." Evans has never been shy about sharing his ideas, even as a player. That trait led to a couple of clashes with Anderson. One time Evans approached Anderson and asked why Tom Brookens wasn't getting more playing time at third base. Anderson doesn't like his managerial moves to be questioned especially by a player. Evans' query led to a stormy closed-door session where the sound of shouting and furniture being thrown could clearly be heard.

But it didn't change Evans or his approach. "I'm not shy," Evans said. "I dive in with both feet." Evans said the Yankees have too much talent to continue for long as a last-place team. But what if the club keeps stumbling along at the bottom of the American League East? Is Evans enough of a quick study to go from player to coach to perhaps the toughest job in baseball manager of the Yankees in a matter of months? "All I can really say about what's happened if the past couple' of months is that I'm glad I'm where I'm at right now," Evans said. "I think this is where Darrell Evans should be." as the organization's minor league hitting instructor.

"I told him I would have to think about it," Evans said. "I didn't know if I wanted to go to the minor leagues. "But I always got along with Bill and I respected the organization. I wouldn't have done it for any other team, but I decided to accept his offer." Evans was rumored to have been promised a major league position with the Tigers possibly as batting coach in 1991. Evans denied a guarantee was attached to the offer.

"I was told that I would do most of my work with the players in Toledo and London (Ontario), so I got an apartment in Detroit," Evans said. "But I really had no idea what was going to happen with the Tigers next year." After four weeks, the Yankees called. "They made me an offer I couldrt't refuse," Evans said. "I had a ball working with the Tigers' kids, but the Yankees gave me a chance to get back to the major league level right away." The Tigers envisioned Evans as a potential front office-player liaison. But Evans said he had been thinking about managing for the last five years; what manager's job comes open more often than the Yankees'? Evans thinks a major league coaching job will prepare him to be a manager.

"First you have to remember that I've had almost 20 years in the big leagues as a player and I learned a lot during that time," Evans said. "Now I'm able to see the game from a different perspective. Frankly, it's been an eye-opener. As a player, I couldn't sit in on the management meetings like I do now. "I'm not going to let my player mentality leave me, because I think it's an important part of my development.

But when I was a player, I could only make suggestions about trying this or that. I had no real control over what was done. Now I'm in a position to do a little more." Evans' manager in Detroit, Sparky Anderson, thinks Evans' current position is a perfect springboard. "iknow a lot of people say you should manage in the minors and pay your dues and all that," Anderson said. "But sometimes you get the wrong BY GENE GUIDI Free Press Sports Writer The day before Darrell Evans took the hitting instructor's job with the Yankees, uniform No.

41 belonged to the club's manager-of-the-moment, Stump Merrill. But 41 is special to Evans; he wore the number most of his playing career. So Evans asked Merrill whether he could have 41; the manager gave it up. "I don't care what number's on the back as long as they give me a uniform," the affable Merrill said. "Besides, he's got a hell of a lot more time in this league than I do." Most Yankees watchers think Merrill eventually will surrender more than his uniform number to Evans.

Merrill is a good-soldier type who was brought from the Yankees' minor league system to replace Bucky Dent, who was fired this month. But Merrill is no more than a temporary replacement. When impulsive owner George Steinbrenner looks for a replacement, the new No. 41 will be ready to step in. It's not difficult to tell the Yankees have bigger plans for Evans.

"He was hired as the hitting coach," team vice president George Bradley said. "But Darrell Evans is a professional who has always been considered a leader. It's the entire package we're getting." Evans, 43, says he didn't take the job with an eye on replacing Merrill. "I haven't got that far along in my thinking," Evans said this week. "I like Stump; a lot of our ideas are the same.

I've never hidden the fact that I'd like to manage someday. But I'm still young and there's no need to be in a big hurry." A couple of months ago, Evans was trying to extend his 19-season career with the Atlanta Braves. When he was cut, Evans tried to catch on with another team. "I felt like I was in good enough shape to play on, but for whatever reason, no one wanted to give me a chance," Evans said. "So I just went back home to California to spend some time with my family.

"It was actually easier than I though I didn't miss baseball as much as I irfVgined I would." Several weeks later, Tigers general manager Bill Lajoie offered Evans a job VOTES PLAYER 10 Rickey Henderson (6) 7 Lou Brock (2) 7 Maury Wills 5 Richie Ashburn 3 Bobby Bonds 3 Eddie Stanky 3 Luis Aparicio 2 Pete Rose (1) 2 Wade Boggs 2 Willie Wilson 1 Bert Campaneris 1 Carl Furillo 1 Earle Combs (1) 1 Max Bishop 1 Eddie Yost 1 George Case Chuck Cary, a teammate of Evans' in Detroit and in New York: "He was a leader in the Detroit clubhouse. If I had a question, he was the one I went to. He was interested in me as a rookie." managing a big-league team when you're in the minors. It takes some guys a little while to overcome at Jim Leyland over at Pittsburgh. He had to learn that managing on this level was different than anything he experienced in the minors.

"Darrell is very bright and learned a lot when he was a player. His experience as a coach will help him learn ev4n more. Myself, I think he'll make an excellent major league manager." Evans' ex-teammates agree. "Darrell has a game," said Alan Trammell, Evans' good friend. "He really has everything it takes to manage.

He relates well to players and can deal with the press, which sometimes is the toughest part of the job. "It's only a matter of time before Darrell is managing in the major leagues." Two current Yankees, pitchers Chuck Cary and Dave LaPoint, were teammates of Evans in Detroit. They say he wa like a second manager on the Tigers. "He was a leader in the Detroit clubhouse," Cary said. "If I had a i.