EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 Television
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Swinging for the fence

It's all or nothing -- or both -- so far this season

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Tuesday April 18, 2000 11:15 AM

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

	• Storylines • Series to See • All Thumbs • Heroes & Bums • Yogi-isms

Is the baseball juiced or juicy? Sometimes it's really tough to tell.

Take Jim Thome, the Cleveland Indians' big slugger, who has five home runs in this young season in 50 at-bats. He also has 20 strikeouts, which leads the majors, and struck out five times in one game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

How about the Chicago Cubs, with slugging Sammy Sosa (who has three homers so far)? They lead baseball with 115 strikeouts -- an average of more than eight a game (through Sunday).

And what about the Indians' Chuck Finley, who struck out 13 Sunday -- including four in one inning, the third time he's done that?

In this freewheeling era of baseball, with short fences and big swingers, strikeouts and home runs go hand in hand. It can lead to some funny numbers all around. Not to mention a little heat between players.

New York Yankees left fielder Shane Spencer accused California Angels pitcher Kent Bottenfield of throwing an illegal pitch early in the season.

"It was a four-seam fastball lubed up," Spencer said. "Well lubed up. It's no secret."

Countered Bottenfield, who denied the charges: "He probably doesn't even know what a spitball looks like ... These are the kinds of things you don't forget."

Amid all the homers and Ks, it's interesting to note the early season success of Montreal Expos slugger Vladimir Guerrero. He's had five homers this season in 41 official at-bats.

More impressive, though, is he has yet to strike out. He has a whiff-free streak that is now at 77 plate appearances, dating to Sept. 25, 1999.

Vlad, for sure, is juiced-up so far.

On to the Week at a Glance, which poses this question: Would you pay $300 million for a ballpark that features more homers than the Packers' Fan Club of Greater Green Bay?

The answer: If you plan on sleeping in a hotel room or renting a car in Houston any time soon, you're doing your part.

Rock on What's going to be more disappointing when John Rocker makes it into his first game this week in Atlanta? The fact that he's back, or the cheer he's undoubtedly going to get from Braves' fans?
Junior gaining some juice He started horribly, but even with the flap over wanting Tony Perez's number, Ken Griffey Jr. is starting to come around. He hit .286 with two homers last week, so beware.
Realignment There's no vote on it yet, and there won't be for a while, but we'll be hearing the owners haggling over this for months, and it starts this week in Houston. What if the baseball powerbrokers decide to actually do some switching of leagues? We'll never hear the end of it.
San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks, April 21-23 The Giants have to be glad they're getting out of Pac Bell, where they've been oh-for-five since opening it last week. But going into BOB against the West-leading D'backs -- who were 5-1 at home entering the week -- is no cakewalk, either. Still, if you're going to win the West, this is the place to start. If you only watch one: Kirk Rueter (0-1, 8.38) vs. Omar Daal (0-0, 2.16) Friday, April 21 Arizona hitting .311 off Rueter in six career games
Cleveland Indians at Boston Red Sox, April 21-23 Two teams that figure to be in the running in September, the Indians spent the first nine games of the season away from Jacobs Field -- and won seven, including six in a row. They head back on the road for a weekend series in Boston. If you only watch one: Chuck Finley (1-0, 3.66) vs. Jeff Fassero (1-0, 3.60) Friday, April 21 Finley struck out 13 in last outing, vs. Texas
If baseball had more players like 3,000-hit man Cal Ripken Jr., it truly would be America's pastime -- and no one would argue. He represents the game, or at least what it should be, better than anyone.
The White Sox are not playing badly. But, looking at the turnout for Sunday's game -- less than 11,000 in a game against the Anaheim Angels -- they might as well be playing like the Giants. No one would notice.
Tampa Bay owner Vince Naimoli has a spitting war going with the St. Petersburg Times over a spoof the paper ran on who would play him in an movie about Rays lefty Jim Morris, last year's 35-year-old rookie. The guy from The Sopranos was picked. Vince was peeved and pulled the papers from Tropicana Field.
Rey Ordonez can play shortstop. His 100-game streak without an error showed that last season. It won't show it this season. He already has four errors -- as many as he had all of last season, in 639 chances.
Hero -- Jon Olerud: When you're hot, you're Seattle's Olerud. One week, .542 -- not too shabby ...
Hero -- Mike Piazza: ...unless you're the Mets' Piazza, who blistered the ball at a .619 clip, with two homers and seven RBIs last week.
Bums -- The Giants: 0-5 in Pac Bell? Bring back the 'Stick!
Our tribute to the banal banter of baseball "You all went to school. You know what a month is. Some months have 20 days. Some months have 28, 30 or 31 days." -- Mets outfielder Rickey Henderson, explaining to a reporter that his self-imposed month-long media boycott was not yet done.

The Baseball Week at a Glance appears every Tuesday.

 

Related information
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.