Touching some of the bases:
If you have been wondering who is likely to succeed Walt Hriniak as the White Sox batting coach, the educated guess is either Adrian Garrett or Butch Hobson, both of whom were seen Thursday with General Manager Ron Schueler.
Garrett, a former Cub, has been and presumably still is in the employ of the Florida Marlins as a minor-league instructor. Hobson managed in an independent league last season, and before that had a brief and disappointing experience managing the Boston Red Sox.
Speaking of independents: Dick Moss, founder and impresario of the United Baseball League, says the league will be operative in 1997. The initial plan was for a 1996 opening, but that has been delayed because only six franchises had been assigned. Moss wants a minimum of eight clubs.
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“Once we get it going we’re going to have fun,” Moss insisted. “I’ve always felt it strange that so few people in the baseball industry are having fun.”
He’s the one who removed much of the management joy when, as the counsel for the Players Association, he successfully argued the Messersmith case that destroyed the reserve clause and brought about free agency.
Full houses: The Cleveland Indians finished selling out individual seats and standing room for the ’96 season on Saturday morning. The Indians drew 2.8 million last season, finished with 52 consecutive sellouts and played to 93 percent of the Jacobs Field capacity. Now they’re guaranteed about 3.4 million in attendance at the 42,000-seat park and 133 consecutive sellouts, a big-league record.
Which brings us to a recent letter from Leland Floros of Mt. Prospect, who says he has noticed that the Indians and Cubs seem to have a similar history inasmuch as the Indians made it to the World Series for the first time in 41 years, whereas the Cubs have been absent for exactly a half century.
But there is absolutely no parallel. The Cubs have a glorious past and have won 17 pennants, compared to only four for Cleveland. Also, the Cubs hold the one-season big-league record for most victories, 116 in 1906. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders are at the opposite end and hold the mark for most losses, 134.
What about La Russa: There is also correspondence from David Mark of Deerfield, who wants to know what happened to Tony La Russa in the White Sox managerial derby, “especially after all the stories that he was certain to replace Terry Bevington.”
Therefore, Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was asked why La Russa didn’t get the appointment.
“He was my first choice,” Reinsdorf declared.
Don’t you run the circus?
“Yes, but not on that one,” said Reinsdorf. “It was Schueler’s call. Schueler preferred Bevington for a whole bunch of reasons. He felt we had a better chance to win in ’96 with Bevington. And he didn’t like the idea of changing the coaching staff. If La Russa had come in, he would have brought his coaches with him.”
Hall ballot: The Hall-of-Fame ballots were mailed Friday to the 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. There are 13 new eligibles. Among them are Bob Boone, Frank White, Fred Lynn, Bill Buckner, Keith Hernandez and Claudell Washington, who, when he was with the White Sox and beyond, was the inspiration of countless Comiskey Park banners reading “Washington Slept Here.”
Because of the absence of what appears to be a dominant vote-getter, as Mike Schmidt was last year, the chances should be excellent for 300-game winners Phil Niekro and Don Sutton as well as Tony Perez, the former Cincinnati slugger. They all drew 56 percent or more of the vote last year; 75 percent is required for canonization.
Wakeup call: I put in my occasional call to Charlie Finley, who lived in Gary for 30 years. Instead of being gung-ho for arrival of the Bears, Finley said: “Heck, no! They’re not going to move.”
When I asked if he had any news, he said, “Regardless of how long you live, life is short and you should enjoy it.”
He also revealed he gets up at 5:30 every morning, reads the paper, has a glass of orange juice, a bowl of grits, three lamb chops and then jumps back into bed for a nap.
“If I felt any better,” he said, “they’d have to put me in jail.”