Baseball

THE BEST FOOTBALL PLAYER IN BASEBALL

The attention given Bo Jackson's rapid ascension into the major leagues may have grated on many Royals players, not to mention interim manager Mike Ferraro. (When Ferraro introduced himself, Bo walked away.) And no one will ever accuse Jackson of false modesty: After he signed in July, he handed out autographed pictures of himself with the Heisman Trophy to the Royals, and after 11 major league at bats, he announced, "I'm not having any trouble with the fastball or the curve."

But even in a year that saw the arrival of Jose Canseco, Wally Joyner, Cory Snyder, Danny Tartabull and Ruben Sierra, Jackson's presence has caused quite a stir. "He might be the best player who ever lived," said teammate Buddy Biancalana admiringly. Jackson is now the fastest player in the game, having been clocked from the right side of the plate to first base in 3.62 seconds, just off Mickey Mantle's legendary 3.5. Jackson has a Jesse Barfield-quality arm and tremendous power, and one week into his career, he had a four-hit game. On Sunday he hit a 475-foot homer (that's 158 yards in football) off Seattle's Mike Moore. It was said to be the longest ball ever hit in Royals Stadium, surpassing a shot by Dick Allen in 1974.

The Royals' problem will be to keep Jackson interested in baseball once he becomes a football free agent following the next NFL draft. That might be difficult if the Royals keep him in the minors next year. Jackson can legally break his three-year contract with the Royals before Oct. 1. If he chooses to continue playing baseball—there have been no indications that he is thinking of doing otherwise—he must remain in the Royals organization until July 15, 1987, when he would have his second and final buy-out option. Kirk Gibson was moved to the majors after 500 minor league at bats, and Bo will have had close to that total by July 1987. Then again, there are people in the Kansas City organization who speculate that, with intense training in the Instructional League, Jackson might be able to hold his own in the majors at the beginning of next season.

Meanwhile, Jackson is tired of answering football questions. "There's nothing about football that I really miss," he says. "I don't know why it's so hard for people to understand that. For the last six years, it was my life. I enjoyed every minute of it. I look back and reminisce over it, but I don't miss it."

THE ROYAL LINE OF SUCCESSION

Dick Howser continues to make what he calls "good, positive progress," and he has told friends he expects to manage next year. Whether or not Royals G.M. John Schuerholz will allow him to take that chance remains to be seen, but Schuerholz is already grooming John Wathan for the job someday by making him the 1987 Omaha manager....

One year after winning the World Series, Royals players are anticipating wholesale changes. Five or six veterans will be released and a major trade will be made to get someone to bat behind George Brett. It has long been rumored that the pitcher they'll deal is Mark Gubicza, but he has quietly matured into their best starter. After being 0-4 with an ERA of 7.27 as of May 9, Gubicza is up to 10-6....

It isn't unusual to get to the park early and find umpire John Shulock studying videotapes of his performances behind the plate. "We need to check potential bad habits, just like players," says Shulock....

The Players Association scored a significant victory when arbitrator Richard Bloch upheld the union's grievance and ruled that former arbitrator Thomas Roberts should hear and rule on the union's charges of conspiracy in free-agent negotiations among the 26 major league clubs. Roberts had been fired by the owners....