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Baseball 2000 A quick trip around the bases this season, from A to Z:
A -- Alex Rodriguez. The Mariners insist they will not trade away another superstar this year. Still, will their shortstop bolt Seattle after this season and sign with Atlanta or the Mets? B -- Ballparks. Three new ones. Enron Field in Houston features a 30-degree slope in deep center field, like the terrace at old Crosley Field. Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco has a short fence in right field -- at 307 feet, balls clearing the wall might land in the Bay. Comerica Park in Detroit has the old home plate from Tiger Stadium. C -- Comeback Club. Kerry Wood, Andres Galarraga, Moises Alou and Kerry Ligtenberg return after missing the entire 1999 season. Jason Kendall and Tony Saunders are back after suffering gruesome injuries before the All-Star break. D -- Disparity. The gap between big- and small-market teams remains one of baseball's biggest problems. Last year, the eight playoff clubs all were among the top 10 spenders. In the last five years, only one team not in the top half by payroll has made postseason play, the 1997 Astros. E -- Everett for Everett. Playing the name game, Houston traded outfielder Carl Everett to Boston for shortstop Adam Everett in December. F -- Free agents. Chuck Finley, John Olerud, Aaron Sele, Greg Vaughn, Todd Zeile were top ones who changed places. And several teams traded stars rather than risk losing them for nothing after October -- Ken Griffey Jr., Juan Gonzalez, Mike Hampton and Shawn Green, among them. G -- Griffey. At 30, Junior has hit 398 home runs. If he averages 40 per season during his nine-year contract with Cincinnati, he will break Hank Aaron's career record of 755. H -- Home Run Central. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Griffey give the NL Central the most potent trio of sluggers ever seen in one division. In 1991, McGwire (Oakland), Griffey (Seattle) and Sosa (White Sox) played together in the AL West and combined for 54 homers, a mark all three could top this year. I -- Induction Day at the Hall of Fame. It'll be a Reds-letter day at Cooperstown on July 23 when Sparky Anderson, Tony Perez and old-timer Bid McPhee enter the shrine wearing Cincinnati caps. Longtime Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman also makes it. J -- June 29. The night John Rocker returns to New York. Most likely, he will not ride the No. 7 subway train to Shea Stadium. There's also the possibility he might not be pitching for the Braves by then. K -- Knoblauch. Hard to believe, but the scatter-shooting Yankees second baseman is experimenting with a new way to throw. Chuck made 14 wild tosses last season. Sidearm, overhand, underhand, none of it worked for the former Gold Glover. L -- Long gone. Wade Boggs, Chili Davis and Jeff Montgomery retired and 1999 All-Stars Tony Fernandez and David Nilsson are playing in Japan. M -- Managers. Seven new ones: Mike Hargrove (Baltimore), Don Baylor (Cubs), Davey Lopes (Milwaukee), Mike Scioscia (Anaheim), Charlie Manuel (Cleveland), Buddy Bell (Colorado) and Phil Garner (Detroit). N -- Newcomers. The hot rookie class includes St. Louis pitcher Rick Ankiel, Philadelphia outfielder Pat Burrell and Yankees infielder Alfonso Soriano. O -- Opening Day. It's March 29 at the Tokyo Dome between the Mets and Cubs. The nighttime start in Japan makes it a bit inconvenient for American fans to follow the action -- first pitch is at 5:05 a.m. EST. P -- Pedro Martinez. Unanimously won the AL Cy Young Award and the only pitcher to beat the Yankees in the postseason. Also struck out McGwire and MVPs Jeff Bagwell, Barry Larkin, Larry Walker and Sosa in the All-Star game. Recently helped the Red Sox pitch a perfect game in spring training, too. Q -- Question marks. Can Davey Johnson and the Dodgers bounce back from a disappointing 1999? Will Colorado be able to win with pitching, speed and defense at Coors Field? Will Arizona and Tampa Bay switch leagues as part of realignment for 2001? R -- Ripken. Cal needs nine hits to reach No. 3,000. Other milestones within reach in the future: Roger Clemens needs 53 wins for 300, Mets setup man John Franco needs 62 saves to tie Lee Smith's career record of 478. S -- Sidelined. John Smoltz is out this year because of a torn elbow ligament and Darryl Strawberry is suspended for the season because of a cocaine violation. Injured Curt Schilling and Scott Erickson probably will not pitch until May and Kenny Lofton might be out until the All-Star break. T -- Turner Field. The All-Star game will be played at Atlanta on July 11. U -- Umpires. Richie Garcia, Frank Pulli and Terry Tata are among the 22 who lost their jobs late last season. A new umpires' union has been formed, and there's a chance some of them might work again, someday. V -- Volatile Valentine. Bobby V. wore a disguise to sneak back into the dugout after an ejection last summer, and later called five of his players "losers." His contract as Mets manager expires at the end of the season, and he'll be watched closely before being offered an extension. W -- World Series. Could there be a Subway Series for the first time since 1956? The Yankees and Mets open the season as 4-1 favorites to make it that far. The Braves also are listed at those odds. X -- "X" factor. Jim Morris emerged as the feel-good story of the 1999 season, a high school teacher who turned up at a tryout camp and became a 35-year-old rookie pitcher for Tampa Bay. No telling what this season holds. Y -- Yankees. Capped off the century by winning their 25th World Series title, and third in four years. Showing signs of age -- David Cone, Paul O'Neill and Clemens are all 37 -- and some wonder whether this will be the last hurrah for these New Yorkers. Z -- Zero. The chance of Pete Rose being reinstated, unless commissioner Bud Selig changes his mind. The hit king was allowed on the field for an All-Century ceremony at the World Series, but will be banned from taking part in championship reunions this June for the 1975 Reds and 1980 Phillies.
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