The Hot Corner

Think tigers rookie righthander Jeff Weaver, who through Sunday was 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA, including five wins following Detroit losses, has made an impression on Frank Thomas? "He has electric s—-," the Big Hurt said after going 1 for 4 and striking out twice against Weaver in the Tigers' 10-5 defeat of the White Sox last Thursday. "My first time up [when Thomas was caught looking], I was overmatched."...

The curse on the Mets' young pitchers continues: 26-year-old righthander Jason Isringhausen's comeback from his January 1998 elbow surgery hit another snag—he missed a start last Saturday with soreness and torn scar tissue in the elbow—and last week 22-year-old Korean righthander Jae Weong Seo (2-0, with a 1.84 ERA for Class A St. Lucie) underwent Tommy John surgery....

Since taking over as the Marlins' starting centerfielder on May 20, Preston Wilson had hit .462 with four home runs in 10 games through Sunday, and he led all rookies with II homers for the season....

On June 7, in honor of first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz, the Twins will sell a lower deck general admission ticket for $1 (instead of the usual $8) to any fan with 12 or more letters in his or her last name....

The Mariners next play the Twins in a three-game series beginning on July 23, which means ball hawks should buy their outfield seats at the Metrodome right now. The Mariners have hit 23 homers off Minnesota pitching in six games this season, just one short of the Seattle record against one opponent for a season, which was set in II games....

Indians righthander Dwight Gooden on the accuracy of pitch speeds posted on ballpark scoreboards: "They're tuned up a little bit. If everybody's throwing so hard, why are so many guys yanking the ball out of the park?"...

The Reds' Greg Vaughn isn't using it as an excuse for his woeful batting average (.205), but he's playing with a strained abdominal muscle that makes it difficult for him to even pull on a pair of pants. The injury keeps him from planting his front foot when he strides, meaning his swing is completely powered by his arms and upper body. "I've been playing with it for a month and a half," says Vaughn, who had missed just seven games and had nine homers with 25 RBIs. "It's something that hurts so bad sometimes that it's even hard for me to sit."...

In 1997 and '98 Braves switch-hitter Chipper Jones hit three home runs in 377 at bats against lefthanders. Through Sunday he already had six in 54 at bats this season....

Someone should tell Tony Gwynn that he has earned the right to take it easy while on the disabled list. Last week Gwynn, who didn't want to fly for fear it would aggravate his strained left calf, drove roughly 350 miles from his home in San Diego to Phoenix for the Padres' three-game series against the Diamondbacks.