NOTEBOOK : Baseball to Give $1.4 Million in Quake Aid

SAN FRANCISCO —  All this ponderous talk about the resumption of the World Series for the sake of baseball’s “healing power” finally gave way to action and real tangibles Thursday morning.

Before the San Francisco Giants began a two-hour workout at Candlestick Park, baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent held a news conference at which he announced that major league baseball was donating $1.4 million to aid in the relief of the Bay Area earthquake victims.

According to Vincent, all 26 major league teams contributed to the donation, with larger gifts being made by the World Series participants, the Giants and the Oakland Athletics.

“We are pleased to be able to make this contribution and we hope to augment it with modest contributions in the future,” said Vincent, who called the donation the largest ever presented by major league baseball to a charity.

The $1.4 million is to be given the Northern California Earthquake Relief Fund, a regional commission formed to serve the entire Northern California area, including such stricken smaller communities as Watsonville, Hollister and Santa Cruz.

“This quake greatly affected areas outside of San Francisco and Oakland, although those cities have received most of the publicity,” noted San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos. “We agree wholeheartedly that this (be) a regional effort.”

Vincent said the Major League Baseball Players Assn. is also planning to make a separate contribution to the same relief fund “in the near future.”

Add Vincent: The commissioner later answered questions and spun stories for the media gathering, proving as adept with an anecdote as his friend and predecessor, the late Bart Giammati:

--On the autograph he signed for a young boy the day the earthquake preempted Game 3 of the World Series:

“I signed the back of my ticket stub. Those stubs are still good for (tonight’s game). Now, I don’t know where I’ll sit.

“If we get to the game and (the boy) is there, I guess I’ll have a discussion with my wife about who’s going to leave.”

--On a group of letters recently sent him by students from a Long Island, N.Y., high school:

“The letters were mostly in English. I was tempted to grade them all for style and send them all back. Those who were worried about American education in English are right.”

Vincent said he assumed the letters were the result of a teacher’s class assignment.

Why?

Because “every letter ended with, ‘P.S.: Please advise me of your decision in this connection.’ ”

--And on the first baseball game he attended this year:

“It was a spring game, the Giants in Scottsdale (Ariz.). It’s been a tough interlude between then and now.”

Satisfaction: Kevin Mitchell and Jose Canseco won’t be cramping Mick Jagger’s style after all. The potential World Series-Rolling Stones scheduling conflict was resolved Thursday without either event having to change its original dates.

The predicament, in review: The Rolling Stones are playing the Oakland Coliseum Nov. 4-5 and have a performance contract that stipulates that the facility be empty five days in advance of the first concert. If the World Series goes back to Oakland, Games 6 and 7 are scheduled for Oct. 31 and Nov. 1--a violation of the Stones’ contract.

The solution: According to Vincent, management for the rock band agreed to a shorter set-up time than the allotted five days, acknowledging that it would take “an extraordinary effort to prepare the facility” in less time.

Someone kidded Vincent about his new-found familiarity with the Stones.

Say, Fay, can you name five Rolling Stones albums?

“No,” Vincent responded with a grin. “I consider myself a Beatles man.”

Tours of Candlestick Park were offered Thursday for anyone concerned about the condition of the stadium after last week’s earthquake. There, one could inspect the newly repaired steps in two sections of the upper deck, along with the emergency generator that has been hooked up to the public-address system.

“We’re pleased where we’re finally at a point where we can put (questions about) safety behind us,” said John Lind, Candlestick Park stadium manager. “Candlestick Park proved last Tuesday that it was the best place to be for an earthquake that was 7.1.

“We’re confident we’ve taken the measures to keep it that way.”

Marvin Craig, brother of the Giant manager, caught it from both sides, on both coasts. Hurricane Hugo in September, the Bay Area earthquake in October--Marvin Craig survived them both.

“People want to know where I’ll be next month,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Craig, who lives in Summerville, S.C., said Hugo left his home with six holes in the roof and a flattened fence, but claimed he preferred that to the shakes he felt in San Francisco last week.

“We knew the hurricane was coming,” Craig said. “The quake was on you before you knew it.”

A’s leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson, five for eight in the World Series and batting .473 in the postseason, said, “I intend to pick up where I left off,” when the Series resumes tonight.

Henderson said the workouts this week have helped him maintain his sharpness and he has a treadmill in his Bay Area house, which helps him keep his legs strong.

What kind of atmosphere does he expect tonight?

“I don’t know,” Henderson said, “but I may step out before the first pitch and yell, ‘Play ball,’ to help get it started again.”

Times staff writer Ross Newhan in Phoenix contributed to this story.