Baseball

An Ageless A
At 40, Oakland's Tony Phillips is still tearing up opposing pitchers

Tony Phillips of the A's doesn't chuckle or giggle. He cackles. He cackles at jokes, at obscure baseball references, at discussions of movies. He cackles at himself. "Why shouldn't I?" he says. "This is all about having fun." There were times, not so long ago, when fun for Phillips was a distant planet. In 1997 he was arrested for possession of cocaine and suspended by the Angels. Last July he was acquired by the Mets to be an offensive spark plug and proceeded to hit .223.

Now the 40-year-old Phillips is enjoying one of the most productive stretches of his 18-year career: Through Sunday he was hitting .271 with 27 RBIs and was tied with first baseman-DH Jason Giambi for the team lead in homers (nine). Phillips was not only one of the catalysts of an exciting American League West-contending Oakland club (21-17, a half game behind the Rangers), but also the leader of a collection of refurbished antiques on display throughout the majors. There are 12 players who are 40 or older and 85 who are 35 or older in the big leagues, counting such early-season sensations as Phillips, 40-year-old Orioles DH Harold Baines (.295, seven homers, 29 RBIs), 39-year-old Yankees DH Chili Davis (.341, nine, 30) and 39-year-old Rangers righthander Mike Morgan (6-2, 4.67 ERA).

"Just because you're old doesn't mean you can't play," says Phillips, who seven teams ago was an unheralded Oakland rookie. "If I'm not getting the job done, that'd be a sign. But I've still got it."

It is a drive that older players tend to lose with time and money. Phillips signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with Oakland in the off-season and then reported to spring training weighing 170 pounds, only a few pounds over his rookie weight. He worked out regularly during the winter, running, lifting weights, hitting. That was all fine for manager Art Howe, who figured Phillips could fill a mentoring role with the A's. "But Tony's done everything we could ask, and more," Howe says.

In the clubhouse Phillips is quick with advice. His reputation, from earlier years, was that of an overbearing know-it-all. That's not his persona now. Phillips is loud but positive. During outfielder Ben Grieve's horrendous early-season slump, Phillips has been a voice of encouragement. "Ben will snap out of it," he says. "Everyone goes through this kind of thing. I know I have."

With the talent pool in the majors diluted by expansion and by the rush to bring up low-salaried prospects, cagey vets like Phillips have found an odd job security. In Atlanta, 40-year-old Otis Nixon may have been hitting just .188 through Sunday, but manager Bobby Cox loves his speed (10 steals in 13 attempts) and his influence on 22-year-old Andruw Jones. In Baltimore, Jesse Orosco, at 42 baseball's senior senior, remains the Orioles' top lefty specialist.

"There are things I get now that I didn't before," says Phillips, who has played six positions for Howe. "It's the little things-understanding the count, understanding the inning. When you're a kid, you have no idea. When you're old, you start catching on." He cackles. "Me—I'm old."

All-Star Basebawl
O'Neill's Vintage Whine

Baseball players are, so the saying goes, grown men playing a boy's game. Well, some of those men still have some growing up to do. SI asked a random selection of 85 major league players, coaches, managers and G.M.'s to name the biggest whiner in the game today. Twenty players were mentioned, but one-Yankees rightfielder Paul O'Neill, who received 41 votes—is clearly in a kindergarten class of his own. (The runner-up in this crying game, White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas, got 10 votes.) Even his teammates acknowledge O'Neill's tragic dimension. "Some people think it's our rightfielder," said one New York respondent.