Steinbrenner Bugs Out Again; Watson Doesn’t Seem To Care

George Steinbrenner left Atlanta returned to New York before Game 6 of the World Series, continuing his postseason trend of leaving cities just as the Yankees were about to play important games.

Steinbrenner left Texas before the Yankees won the division series over the Rangers and departed from Baltimore the day the Yankees captured the American League championship.

When general manager Bob Watson was asked about Steinbrenner’s absence, he shrugged his shoulders and said: “That’s been his routine. Call him in New York. I haven’t had a lot of conversations with the man these days.”’

Ratings remain low

The Yankees’ 10-inning, 8-6 victory over the Braves in Game 4 of the World Series Wednesday night generated a Nielsen 17.9 rating, down from a 20.0 for the comparable game in last year’s World Series. The fourgame 16.5 average is 13 percent below last year’s.

Braves huddle up

Although the Atlanta Braves have developed a reputation for a cool professionalism that is seldom changed by winning or losing a single game, there was a team meeting after the Braves blew a 6-0 lead in Game 4.

Atlanta third baseman Terry Pendleton, who has been an acknowledged team leader, said the team talked about its problems in the last two games.

“I won’t tell you what was said,” Pendleton said, “but it’s been said.”

Manager Bobby Cox said that in the meeting before Game 5, he had to pump some life into a dispirited team. “Last night, it felt like we had lost the World Series instead of just a game,” he said Thursday. “We are on the way to winning the World Series. We’ve got a new game here at home tonight and we’re due to win one.”

Around the major leagues

Baseball negotiators once again moved to the brink of a labor deal and union head Donald Fehr went so far as to say “I feel better about it than I have in a while,” but there still wasn’t any indication whether owners would back any proposed settlement. … Baltimore owner Peter Angelos said he expects Davey Johnson to return to manage the Orioles in 1997. … Bernard Gilkey, coming off a career season, agreed on a four-year guaranteed contract plus an option year with the New York Mets . … Florida Marlins owner H. Wayne Huizenga, who lost $17 million this past season, is considering building a new ballpark. … The San Diego Padres agreed to terms with infielder Archi Cianfrocco, 30, on a one-year contract with a club option for the 1997 season.