Mark Grace only has to worry about Eric Young in the tight National League batting race when the Colorado star is high on Coors.
Outside the too friendly confines of Denver’s Coors Field, Young is a far different player.
Young hit .435 in his first 66 games at home and only .239 on the road. So his chances to compete for the crown will be nullified somewhat by the Rockies’ playing 15 of their last 30 games on the road.
“If I can stick around until that last weekend, when we come back to Coors, I like my chances,” Young said. “We all fear Tony Gwynn. And Grace doesn’t swing for power. His asset is his batting average, and always has been.”
Gwynn, injured earlier this year, doesn’t think he will qualify for the title, which requires 502 plate appearances. And if he does, it’s not his goal this time.
“I think it would be inappropriate of me to think about the batting title,” he said. “That’s all people think I think about . . . that I sit home calculating this thing.
“I know the history of this–Musial, Hornsby, Wagner. But you don’t get many opportunities to win. If we win the division and I lose the title, I won’t lose any sleep.”
Money man returns: New York Yankees pitcher David Cone returns Monday in Oakland after allowing just two earned runs in 10 innings in his minor league rehab from a career-threatening aneurysm in his shoulder.
“I’m well aware of the role that I’m going to have to play here when I get back,” Cone said. “I’m ready for that. At least I think so. There’s only one way to find out.”
Cone originally was slated to come back Sept. 6, but the rush job is because of the Yankees’ free fall.
Since July 29, when they were 12 games up, the Yankees had lost eight games off their lead going into the weekend and went through a six-game stretch last week in which their starting pitchers allowed 21 first-inning runs. And last Tuesday, Kenny Rogers blew a 6-0 lead with 12 outs to go in a loss to Seattle.
“Of all the components that could’ve possibly broken down, I never thought it would’ve been our pitching,” manager Joe Torre said.
“Like it or not, we’re in a pennant race. Sooner or later you have to show what you’re made of. We’re at that point now. We have to treat every game from here on in as a playoff game.”
Owner George Steinbrenner last week guaranteed a Yankee division title, saying his club would “absolutely” prevail in the East.
“Baltimore will not continue to play the way they’ve played. We will win it,” he said.
That hurts: When Cincinnati pitcher Mark Portugal pulled up lame last week with a hamstring injury that will shelve him two to three weeks, and perhaps for the year, he had visions of dollar signs running away from him.
That’s because he won’t have sufficient innings or starts to trigger the $4.75 million extra year in his contract. He needed 31 starts and 210 innings.
The Reds will have three featured free agents after the season: pitchers Portugal, John Smiley and Pete Schourek. Say, is that Cubs General Manager Ed Lynch on the phone already?
More experience: Los Angeles manager Bill Russell might not play Brett Butler that much, but the center-fielder can be valuable in many ways as he returns for September after throat cancer treatments.
“A player like that can do much more for the players in the clubhouse than a manager can do,” Russell said. “He has been through pennant races. He can help the young players get through the pressures.
“Just for him to get back in uniform is a miracle really. But he’s not going to want to go out and embarrass himself if he’s not ready.”
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Sounds like Russell is trying to let Butler down easy, doesn’t it?
Jockey shorts: The Florida Marlins now have put themselves in position to get a derogatory nickname from other teams. Changing Joe Robbie Stadium’s name to Pro Player Park just might lead to one more change–a shorter version. After all, Pro Player is a sports apparel division of Fruit of the Loom. That should generate plenty of ideas among players who have a lot of time to kill in the clubhouse.
Just your basic Fruit of the Loomies Park would be a start.
Bowed and bagged: Houston’s Jeff Bagwell is one of the National League’s best hitters. But one reason for his unusual batting stance, with feet far apart and the front leg pulled back as he seeks contact, is partly because of a minor physical deformity.
“My legs are a little bowlegged, and I started my spread-out stance when I was in college. I started bending at the knees to give me balance.
“What I try to do is spread out and keep my eyes as low as possible. When I get in trouble is when I come out of my crouch and change planes.”
What his father can’t believe is that Bagwell, no speedster, has managed to reach the 20-stolen base plane.
“He was saying the other day if anybody said I’d steal 20 bases, he’d say they were crazy,” said the first baseman.
Revenge of the owners: It’s the fourth West Coast trip of the season for Peter Angelos’ Orioles, a scheduling rarity many believe is because of his lone wolf stance against fellow owners during the strike.
“It’s the worst schedule I’ve ever seen,” said manager Davey Johnson.
The preseason favorites to win the East, the Orioles are finally back in position to win the wild card and are suddenly on the Yankees’ tails.
“I feel good about where we are,” said Roberto Alomar, who, just after the All-Star break, said he couldn’t see a fire in his teammates’ eyes.