Oakland Athletics

When Mike Bordick left as a free agent in December, the A's didn't moan about having to replace the shortstop who had led the American League in assists in 1996 and who had played more games at the position than anybody else in Oakland history except Bert Campaneris. They gladly turned short over to a 23-year-old who until eight years ago didn't own a glove, and who once fractured his skull trying to field a grounder. Oakland put the job into the soft hands of Tony Batista.

"Tony has this confidence that's unmistakable," A's manager Art Howe says. "I wouldn't call it cockiness. He just has this quiet way about him and this look in his eyes. You would think he's been around a long time the way he handles himself. I'd be surprised if he doesn't play at least 10 years in the big leagues." Adds Oakland assistant general manager Billy Beane, "He already looks like he's a 10-year veteran."

In 1991 the A's signed 17-year-old Tony just two years after his brother Vicente, then a minor leaguer in the Oakland system, gave him his first glove. Before that, Tony, a native of the Dominican Republic, had fielded grounders with borrowed gloves, cardboard fashioned into a glove, or his bare hands. "I played shortstop all the time," says Batista, who grew up in the hometown of former major league shortstop Felix Fermin. "I didn't see Dominicans playing in the NBA. I saw Dominicans playing baseball. I saw them playing shortstop."

Batista reached Triple A Tacoma when he was 19, but in his fourth game with the Tigers he collided with the Tacoma third baseman while pursuing a grounder in the hole and fractured his skull. "I didn't want to have surgery," he says. "I was afraid. At that moment I thought I'd never play again."

Batista did undergo surgery, and the next season he resumed his fast track to the big leagues as a strong-armed shortstop with good range and surprising pop at the plate. By the second half of last year he was Oakland's every-day second baseman. In 74 games he hit .298 with six home runs and 25 RBIs.

This winter the A's caused a small run on their ticket windows by reacquiring Jose Canseco and reuniting him with fellow Bash Brother Mark McGwire. Also, righthander Steve Karsay, sound after three years of battling elbow injuries, could turn into a drawing card on an otherwise unimpressive pitching staff. But one of the more intriguing aspects of Oakland's season could be the play of the youngest double play combination in the American League.

In spring training the A's released oft-injured second baseman Brent Gates to open that job for Scott Spiezio, 24, a converted third baseman. "He forced us to make room," Howe says of Spiezio. "He's such a hard-nosed player that if there's a ball hit between third and short when he's playing second, he just might dive for it."

Heads up: Batista and Spiezio have started just three big league games between them at their respective positions. "I don't worry about that," Howe says, "because both of them have the talent to play in the middle. They're fast learners."

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