Baseball

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

A little more than a month into the season, concern about contracts and drug scandals has given way to news about baseball. We are learning that Eric Davis may be even better than his buildup, that Mike Scott was no fluke in '86 and that the three top teams in the National League West may have the best talent in baseball and will run the tightest divisional race. Baseball is gloriously alive again in Milwaukee. The Indians and Rangers are discovering it's a lot harder to jump from .500 to .580 than they (and we) thought, and the Mets have stopped crowing long enough to realize they didn't win a permanent claim on the world championship trophy last fall. The Expos, Pirates and Mariners aren't as bad as folks expected, and the Athletics and Phillies aren't as bad as they've looked. But by now even the wildest optimist must recognize that the prospects for three teams with bright pasts are looking mighty dim:

•Baltimore. One reason the Oriole mystique is now a myth is that the organization has lost more than a dozen superb scouts in the last decade. The only quality starting player under 30 is Cal Ripken Jr. The Birds' farm system has only three or four legitimate prospects. Other than Mike Boddicker, the pitching staff has deteriorated. The starters may have been together too long, and the bullpen is a mess now that Don Aase's shoulder is worn out.

G.M. Hank Peters blew up last week, threatening wholesale changes. He railed at Eddie Murray, who batted below .200 the last 17 days of April and whose failure to slide into third when trying to stretch a double on Wednesday was symptomatic of more than a year's worth of uneven performance. Peters eventually wants to bring up minor league pitchers Jeff Ballard and John Habyan, and is trying to deal Mike Flanagan, who still throws well but has trouble winning.

But the Orioles' problems run even deeper. By weighing down the roster with well-paid veterans like Fred Lynn, Lee Lacy, Terry Kennedy and Ray Knight, the Orioles have actually hastened the decay of the organization. With two first-round picks in next month's draft, the club has a chance to begin rebuilding from the basement up. And don't be surprised if Edward Bennett Williams does some remodeling in the executive suites as well.

•Atlanta. Ted Turner realizes that the five-year mandate he gave G.M. Bobby Cox before last season may not be enough. The Braves have fallen badly, and winning the 1982 NL West title probably hurt them in the long run by giving them a false sense of security. Cox has made some decent trades, but there isn't much left to deal. Rafael Ramirez won't get him a Don Mattingly. The previous administration gave away Ken Dayley, Brian Fisher, Donnie Moore, Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby for what now adds up to Ken Oberkfell. And thanks to one terrible scouting decision after another, the club has only one first-round draft pick on its roster—Dale Murphy, 1974. For a team that finished last in '86 and has no rookies, the Braves have alarmingly few prospects within one season of reaching Atlanta. Now the club may have to consider trading away the franchise, Murphy, to a team that can afford to give up three legitimate prospects.

•Chicago White Sox. G.M. Larry Himes, who has been known for his scouting acumen with the Angels, must reverse the team's tendency to trade away its best prospects. Except for the injured Harold Baines, the homegrown White Sox are a mediocre bunch. Meanwhile, Himes and manager Jim Fregosi are on a collision course and, for all the energy that owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn expend, there is no quick fix here. The White Sox are no better off now than when Bill Veeck ran them on $1.72 a week. Maybe worse.

APRIL SHOWERS

The Sir Laurence Olivier Award goes to Phillies owner Bill Giles for his performance in a recent clubhouse meeting. Giles vowed to stick with his team despite its 7-13 record, then grabbed a Phillies calendar and, with a grand dramatic gesture, ripped out the month of April, crumpled the page and tossed it aside.

NL president Bart Giamatti called George Argyros "the James Watt of baseball" after the loose-tongued Mariners owner said he would like to have Steve Garvey in the front office after he completes his deal to buy the Padres. A week earlier commissioner Peter Ueberroth fined Argyros $10,000 for making a congratulatory phone call to manager Larry Bowa after a Padres victory. (Some baseball people believe that once Argyros sells the Mariners, the National League owners will reject his purchase of the Padres, effectively booting him out of baseball altogether.)...Giamatti also pricked the Astros by instructing umpires around the league to check balls for scuff marks, an order he happened to issue just before Mike Scott's start on Wednesday against the Mets. "I don't think cheating has a place in the game," said Giamatti. Houston manager Hal Lanier was furious. "Why wait until his sixth start?" asked Lanier, implying that Giamatti's action had something to do with Scott's appearance in New York. No scuffs were found, which may or may not have had anything to do with Scott's first loss, 2-1, after three wins.