Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

Inside Baseball

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Tuesday June 08, 1999 04:44 PM

An A for Effort  

The full-tilt play and hot bat of Garret Anderson have helped keep the injury-plagued Angels out of a free-fall

By Stephen Cannella

Garret Anderson doesn't fit in the Angels' clubhouse, which these days resembles an emergency room more than a major league dressing room. In his five-year career Anderson hasn't spent a day on the disabled list, and he's the only member of the Anaheim outfield who played at least 150 games each of the last three seasons. Over that span he averaged .294, nearly 12 home runs and 81 RBIs -- numbers that, combined with his showing up every day, made him a cornerstone of this injury-ravaged team.

This season Anderson, 26, has increased his value. Through Sunday he had started in all 56 of the Angels' games and hit .296, as usual, but he'd already homered 12 times, which put him on pace to double his career high of 16, and had driven in 32 runs, second on Anaheim to Mo Vaughn's 39. Thanks largely to Anderson, the Angels, who were two games under .500 and 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Rangers in the American League West, hadn't tumbled out of the race. "I don't think I'm a different player," says Anderson, a corner outfielder who has played center every game this season in place of the injured Jim Edmonds. After rightfielder Tim Salmon went on the DL on May 4, Anderson was moved from his customary fifth and sixth spots in the order to cleanup, where he protects Vaughn. "I'm just getting more recognition because a couple of guys aren't in the lineup."

Benched last year for dogging it, Anderson has played -- and played hard -- in every '99 game. Aubrey Washington/ ALLSPORT

Ah, but he is different. The power surge is attributable in part to adjustments in his swing. Anderson has worked with hitting coach Rod Carew on keeping his hands and weight back, which has kept him from lunging and allowed him to drive the ball more. Also, for the first time Anderson, Anaheim's fourth-round draft choice in 1990, who has been criticized throughout his career for a lackadaisical style, appears to be playing all out. "No one told him to, but I think Garret came in this year and said, 'I'm going to bust it,'" says Anaheim manager Terry Collins, who yanked Anderson from a game last September for not running hard after hitting a comebacker to the mound. "We time every hitter to first base on every play, and not once has he not run a ground ball out this year."

When Collins was trying to figure out how to cram Anderson, Edmonds, Salmon and Darin Erstad into three outfield spots in spring training, it was widely speculated that Anderson would be the one traded or given DH duty. Anderson went to Collins and asked if his reputation as a merely average defensive player was the reason; Collins responded that that wasn't the rap about which Anderson should be concerned. Soon, Angels coaches noticed Anderson hustling to first and chasing balls in the outfield with ferocity. When Edmonds went down before the season, Anderson took over in center. Now he's an untouchable on the roster, and Edmonds is the one likely to be shipped when he recovers.

Through Sunday, Anderson led American League outfielders in putouts with 175, and despite an aversion to circus plays -- "Being 6'4", if I dive, all I'm going to do is get hurt," he says -- he made a diving catch of a line drive by Jorge Posada to prevent a run from scoring at Yankee Stadium in a 2-0 Anaheim win in May. Anderson says he has always played hard. It's just that his smooth style has masked his effort. Well, there's no masking it any longer.

A-Rod's Return:  
So Far, So (Very) Good

Mariners shortstop Alex Rodriguez has a message that will surely terrify pitchers who saw the 437-foot rocket he launched at Qualcomm Stadium last Friday night. "I don't feel like I'm all the way back," says Rodriguez, who returned to the Seattle lineup on May 14 after nearly six weeks spent recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. "I don't feel like my explosion is there."

At week's end, Rodriguez had hit .370 with nine home runs in 21 games since returning to action, and before going hitless against the Padres on Sunday he had had a 13-game hitting streak, so it's more than a little scary to imagine his bat being any more potent. The fast start is especially impressive considering this was the first serious injury the 23-year-old Rodriguez had suffered and the longest stretch of games he's missed in four-plus years in the majors. "He was pretty bewildered when it happened," says Seattle manager Lou Piniella. "He's young, strong, virile, probably thought he was invincible. It bummed him out."

"I never thought I was invincible," says Rodriguez, who had helped the Mariners to a 13-8 record since his return. They were 15-17 without him. "I just never thought it would happen to me. To have a knee injury out of nowhere was very frustrating."

Compounding that frustration was Rodriguez's worry about when -- or if -- he would get back to full speed and have the confidence to push himself the way he did before the injury, a torn meniscus. Some of that anxiety was alleviated by teammates Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez, both veterans of the operating room, who assured Rodriguez that he could make a complete recovery. Fans helped, too. "I got so many letters from doctors and lawyers and other people out there, people who said they had had their knees scoped and that I would be back in no time," he says. "That was very encouraging."

Rodriguez says he feels no pain in the knee now but figures he's still about a month away from being fully comfortable and consistent at the plate. Still, a day after hitting that monstrous home run in San Diego, he looked fine scampering from first to third on a single to set up the Mariners' first run in a 3-2 loss to the Padres. "I've been doing well, but inconsistently," says Rodriguez. "I could be doing much better."

Attendance Woes:  
Bedeviled in Tampa Bay

Consider the Devil Rays at the end of last week: They had the major league home run leader (Jose Canseco), a venerable star chasing his 3,000th hit (Wade Boggs), a Tampa-born slugger enjoying a resurgent year (Fred McGriff) and, until enduring a 2-8 stretch that included being swept at home by the Marlins over the weekend, were even playing decent baseball that had them hovering around .500.

Yet Tampa Bay had experienced a 32% drop-off in attendance this year -- 485,902 in its first 25 home dates compared with 714,309 through the same number of games in 1998, when the Devil Rays joined the American League. Only Tampa Bay's expansion cousins, the Diamondbacks, had lost more customers in that time, yet Arizona had still outdrawn the Devil Rays by more than 321,000.

What's wrong? Several things, not the least of which is an antiseptic, domed ballpark that has all the ambience of a warehouse. Fans have also been turned off by Tropicana Field's location in St. Petersburg, which on game nights can be an hour's drive from Tampa. The Devil Rays estimate that only 12% to 15% of their ticket buyers make the trek from Tampa, which has a population of 285,000. That means the team is relying heavily on the less-populous (236,000) St. Petersburg to fill seats.

Then there's owner Vincent Naimoli, who has drawn public ire by reportedly talking in private about moving the Devil Rays to Tampa -- even though they still have 26 years remaining on their Tropicana Field lease. "We are not going anywhere," he said publicly in May. Naimoli may also have chased off marketing wizard Mike Veeck, whom he hired last October after attendance for Tampa Bay's first season fell about 500,000 short of its goal of three million. The son of Bill Veeck, the outrageous former owner of the Indians and White Sox, Mike hadn't had time to make his mark before abruptly quitting last month. Veeck says he resigned to spend more time with his seven-year-old daughter, Rebecca, who is ill, and has refused to criticize Naimoli, and he agreed to stay on as a consultant to the team.

Naimoli has already hinted that, with Tampa Bay's season-ticket base down to 13,500 from 21,600 in 1998, and projected total attendance this year of just 1.7 million, he may lose money and thus be unwilling to go on a free-agent spending spree this winter. That's not likely to cause crowds to spike anytime soon.

All the ingredients for a managerial change were stewing on the Mets last week: an eight-game losing streak, a team rich in payroll and playoff expectations tumbling below .500, players sniping about playing time and tabloids calling for blood. Yet when New York general manager Steve Phillips wielded the ax last Saturday, he spared skipper Bobby Valentine and instead chopped away at Valentine's staff, relieving pitching coach Bob Apodaca, hitting coach Tom Robson and bullpen coach Randy Niemann of their duties. "I truly hope that Bobby gets this thing going in the right direction," Phillips said in announcing the firings. "My thought is this is giving him a better opportunity to be successful."

General managers have been increasingly generous with such opportunities recently. Time was, managers were fired because teams couldn't get rid of all their players; lately, team execs have been sparing high-priced skippers with guaranteed contracts and hitting players closer to home by axing coaches, with whom players have far more daily contact than they do with managers.

Four skippers -- the Rockies' Don Baylor, the Tigers' Buddy Bell, the Blue Jays' Tim Johnson and the Dodgers' Bill Russell -- have been fired since the start of the 1998 season. By contrast, 22 teams replaced at least one coach between the start of last year and Opening Day '99, including L.A., which then bounced new pitching coach Charlie Hough on May 26. "The unfortunate thing is, we haven't been pitching well and he has to take the fall for us," said Dodgers closer Jeff Shaw. "I'm sad to see him go."

In the Mets' case, the coaching staff may have also been a pawn in front-office politics. Because Valentine reportedly has the backing of co-owner Fred Wilpon, Phillips had to find another way to make it clear that he was unhappy with the Mets' performance. "The manager doesn't choose his staff in most organizations," said Phillips, who promoted three men from within to fill the vacant slots. "The manager takes what he is given and tries to make the most of it. That's what Bobby is doing." We'll see.

Add the Royals' Jeff Montgomery to the list of established closers who are struggling. Montgomery, who had a 6.35 ERA and had blown three of his seven save chances through Sunday, was demoted last week by manager Tony Muser , who says Kansas City will go to a closer by committee. "I came back here to close," said Montgomery, who during the off-season re-signed with K.C. as a free agent. "I had a chance to go other places as a setup guy for a heck of a lot more money. Tony has never been on a major league mound and doesn't know how it feels not to be sharp. But he's the manager, and we'll do what he says."

...Righthander Mark Portugal , 36, returned to the Red Sox last weekend after a four-day absence. After being roughed up for six runs in three innings by the Tigers on Memorial Day -- leaving him 3-3 with a 5.33 ERA -- Portugal, who is divorced, cleaned out his locker, returned home to Barrington, R.I., and contemplated retiring to spend more time with his three children. "It was like I was a Saturday afternoon father," Portugal told The Boston Globe, adding that his family concerns had affected his recent performance....

It's getting hard to see the A's on the cap of Oakland rightfielder Matt Stairs , a wrestling and hockey nut. On the back Stairs is wearing the initials of Owen Hart , the WWF wrestler killed in a ring accident on May 23, whom Stairs had met. He also pays tribute to the recently retired Wayne Gretzky with a 99.... Barry Bonds is recovering from April 20 elbow surgery more quickly than expected and could return to the Giants' lineup sooner than the original target date of July 1. Bonds and assistant trainer Stan Conte said last week that Bonds could play now if he were needed in a playoff series....

Two days after Angels second baseman Randy Velarde publicly ripped manager Terry Collins for lifting Velarde's green light to steal bases when Mo Vaughn is at the plate, a cadre of unnamed Anaheim players met with general manager Bill Bavasi to express concern over news that the superintense manager was about to receive a contract extension. Some among the Angels, presumably prospective free agents, reportedly told Bavasi that they're so upset with the job Collins has done that they'd consider leaving after the season if Collins stays....

Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack , a Swede, knew nothing about baseball before coming to Shea Stadium on June 1 to throw out the first ball at the Mets-Reds game. Awed by a routine Pokey Reese fly ball during batting practice, Brack asked, "Do they ever hit one over the blue wall?"... Darrin Fletcher's blurred vision seems to have cleared. The Blue Jays catcher, who was hit in the right eye by a ball during BP on May 1, homered twice in his return to action on June 2 and hit .368 in his first five games.

Issue date: June 14, 1999

 

Related information
Stories
Inside Baseball Spotlight: Bruce Aven Inside the NFL Inside Soccer Inside the NHL This Week's Issue of Sports Illustrated
Multimedia
Click here 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 1-888-53-CNNSI.