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Sunday, July 15, 2001

The most pressing question around town: What stocks is Jaromir Jagr playing this week?

The Guy In The Stands wishes he had an answer to that one. At least he'd know which ones aren't going to make him rich.

In lieu of that, The Guy will fill the need of all baseball fans for Seinfeldesque knowledge (translation: knowledge about nothing) with 17 questions about the season's second half -- one for each of Cal Ripken Jr.'s 17 All-Star starts. The Guy might even provide an answer or two. Or, like Jaromir, a good guess.

1) Will Barry Bonds hit 70? Yes ... in 33 years, the good lord willing.

2) Will the Seattle Mariners (65-25) break the New York Yankees American League record for wins in a season (114 in 1998) and perhaps even the 1908 Cubs' major-league mark of 116? They are on pace for 117 wins, with a 18-game lead in the AL West and a magic number for clinching the division at 51. Maybe the more pertinent question: Will they remain interested?

3) Will Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli be the first executive in baseball history relocated to one city and his team to another?

4) Forget 70 home runs. Will Arizona's Luis Gonzalez break Babe Ruth's record for total bases in a season (457 in 1921)? Gonzalez, with 254 in 89 games, is on pace for 462. "That's the record that really intrigues me," Gonzalez admits. "To me, that is the total package of the hitter." But The Guy bets Andre and Steffi's baby still gets more ink.

5) Will Fan Appreciation Day at Olympic Stadium in Montreal be just that -- Fan (singular) Appreciation Day? Twenty times the Expos have drawn fewer than 10,000 fans at Stade Empty-Seat. Thursday, for the opener of a series against Tampa Bay, 4,877 showed up ... or less than 17 minor-league teams drew in places like Akron, Reading and scenic Round Rock, Texas.

6) Will we see the first sweep of batting titles by second-generation players? Cleveland's Roberto Alomar, son of Sandy, begins today leading the AL at .356. Houston's Moises Alou, son of Felipe, was running second in the NL at .359.

7) Will Bret Boone (Mariners) and Aaron Boone (Reds) break the single-season record for home runs by two brothers? Joe and Vince DiMaggio combined to hit 59 in 1937. The Boones have 30.

8) Will Japan point to Ichiro and call the U.S.-Japanese trade deficit even?

9) Will Arizona's Randy Johnson break Nolan Ryan's modern-era single-season strikeout record (383 in 1973)? Johnson has a major-league best 202. With only 15-17 starts left, though, he figures to fall just short again. But isn't it fun watching him try?

10) Will anyone be bad enough (but good enough, too) to supplant Oakland pitcher Brian Kingman (1981) in the Hall of Shame as the last 20-game loser in the big leagues? Padres pitcher Bobby Jones is our "backrunner" -- a 5-12 record, but a 4.15 earned run average which means he'll be good enough to continue getting the call every five days when crunch time arrives in September. Also capable: the Tampa Bay duo of Albie Lopez (4-11) and Bryan Rekar (1-11), who own impeccable credentials -- the losingest pitchers on the losingest team.

11) Will Ichiro break George Sisler's record for hits in a season (257 in 1920)? A 1-for-10 slump coming out of the break has dropped his projected number to 243. George Who? asks Ichiro. He's on first.

12) Will the secondary bobblehead market replace the Dow Jones as America's leading barometer of economic activity?

13) Will the daily presence of John Rocker make Cleveland fans do the unthinkable -- agree with Yankee fans?

14) Will San Diego's Rickey Henderson score the 29 runs he needs to surpass Ty Cobb (2,245) as the game's all-time leader in runs scored, then disappear? Please.

15) Will Roger Clemens, at age 37, win his sixth Cy Young Award? He's a freak of nature. He's 21-3 since July 2, 2000. He's 12-1 this year. And he might be the only player capable of intimidating the New York media.

16) Will the Devil Rays (28-63) play beneath even what they're capable of and go 13-58 the rest of the way to break the 1962 Mets' record of 120 losses? If the Fred McGriff trade goes through, and Greg Vaughn follows him out the Tropicana Field escape hatch, yes. May the spirit of Choo Choo Coleman go with them. Why settle for mere mediocrity?

And finally, in light of Tuesday's performance in Seattle ...

17) Will we, on Sept. 30 in Yankee Stadium, find out that Cal Ripken Jr. truly is the luckiest man on the face of the earth? When in the final at-bat of his final game, and in the stadium where The Iron Horse and the Yankee Clipper once roamed, he homers to stretch his hitting streak to 57 games and erase one last Yankee ghost from the top of the record books?

Quick response: Preposterous.

But c'mon. For a split second, didn't you just think ... hmm! ... well maybe? He was, after all, already riding a 14-game hitting streak going into last night's game in Atlanta. And we should have learned after 21 seasons not to discount the name on the back of the jersey.

"No one's ever had that aura like he had it," Arizona pitcher Curt Schilling told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark Tuesday night after Ripken added to the myth with a home run in his final All-Star appearance.

Rookie of the year. Two-time MVP. World Series champion. The numbers: 3,000 hits, 400 home runs (not RBIs, Bud). Tuesday's homer. The Streak. The made-for-ESPN-Classic home runs the night he tied and the night he broke Lou Gehrig's record. The 23-minute victory lap around Camden Yards. The thanks of a grateful nation for saving the game in 1995. And perhaps his most enduring accomplishment: if he lives to be 100 he'll still never have to pick up another bar tab in the entire state of Maryland.

"The rest of us sit and dream. Cal dreams -- and then he does it," former Twins great Kirby Puckett told Stark.

Still, a homer in his last at-bat would seem to be too much even if Robert Redford met Shoeless Joe in Kevin Costner's cornfield.

"I bet I could get good odds on that one," Oakland's Jason Giambi said.

Probably from Jaromir Jagr's stock broker.

It was so long ago ...

How long ago was Cal Ripken Jr.'s first All-Star Game? "I started out being the youngest guy on the team, with many veteran players and feeling scared and nervous," said Ripken. "Now I am probably the oldest in the locker room. That is really a cool evolution." FYI: The starting lineup for the AL the night of Ripken's first Midsummer appearance -- at Comiskey Park July 6, 1983 -- included Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, George Brett, Robin Yount and Dave Winfield.

It must be some other guy

Even after beating Sammy Sosa to win the Home Run Derby Monday, Arizona's Luis Gonzalez still can't see himself as a slugger, his Popeye-like forearms notwithstanding. Because of Barry Bonds, Gonzalez hit the quietest 35 first-half home runs imaginable. "I laugh sometimes too when I look in the paper and see the charts where I'm compared with McGwire and Ruth and Bonds. It's kind of like, 'Who is this guy in the middle of the race?'"

A good reply might be: potential Triple Crown winner. Gonzalez is first in the National League in RBIs (89), second in home runs (36) and third in batting (.358). Can you believe the Tigers threw cash into the deal that sent him west for Karim Garcia in 1998?

He's done worse

Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park scoffed at claims he grooved the home run pitch to Cal Ripken. In fact, Park has given up far more historic home runs. He gave up two grand slams in the same inning to St. Louis third baseman Fernando Tatis April 23, 1999. "[The pitch to Ripken] was my best pitch, a fastball, and he hit a home run and made history," Park said. "I feel better than when I up the two grand slams."

Series of the week

Rockies (39-50 before yesterday) at Athletics (46-43), today-Tuesday. ... Maybe Oakland, which had reduced its wild-card deficit from 7 games at the break to 5 1/2 yesterday, would be better off going the other direction. Beginning today. It would make the decision about dealing free-agent-to-be Jason Giambi before the July 31 trade deadline more palatable to its fans. And it appears the A's will have to deal him. Giambi and agent Arn Tellem said Thursday that it will take more than the $90-million, six-year contract the A's offered in the spring to keep him. "All I can say is that given that they were not willing to give Jason a no-trade clause, they didn't treat him like a hometown player, so there is no hometown discount," Tellem told the San Francisco Chronicle. Those lining up: the Yankees, Atlanta and Boston.

This 'n' that

In case you were wondering, the greatest active "threat" to Cal Ripken's streak of 2,632 consecutive games played is Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green, who had played in 353 in a row. ... Braves pitcher John Burkett, a Beaver native, caught Ripken's memorable All-Star homer in the NL bullpen. ... Derek Jeter's home run Tuesday was the first All-Star homer by a Yankee since Yogi Berra in 1959. ... A sign in Wrigley Field during the Cubs-White Sox series: "David Wells out for the year? Those are some big pants to fill." ...

Blue Jays CEO Paul Godfrey in a recent vote of confidence for GM Gord Ash: "I don't plan to throw the hungry lions a piece of meat." ... Indians third baseman Travis Fryman has named newborn son Cole Anderson in honor of Sparky Anderson, his manager in Detroit. ... Mets catcher Mike Piazza is wasted behind the plate. Doing color analysis for ESPN during the Home Run Derby, the importance of choosing the right BP pitcher came up. Said Piazza: "It's just like in the rodeo. You've got to get a good bull."

Shot and a jeer

Shot: The All-Star Game ended at 11:38 p.m. Tuesday. At 11:39, conspiracy theorists suggest that Dale Earnhardt Jr. called Cal Ripken's home-run pitch from his seat along the first-base line.

Jeer: Comment from a Co-Worker In The Stands (and true Cubs fan ... you can tell by the cynicism) after Chicago pitcher Jon Lieber gave up back-to-back home runs to the AL's Derek Jeter and Magglio Ordonez Tuesday night: "Guess the Cubs' second-half slide started a little early this year."

Box score lines of the week:

87 pitches, 65 strikes. Was that Greg Maddux on the mound?

Final All-Star Game. Farewell season of a Hall-of-Fame career. Standing ovation still echoing through Safeco Field. And Ripken homers. "He's always had the flair for the dramatic, hasn't he?" said AL teammate Jason Giambi. Well, yes.

So how many pitches does it take to strike a player out a record-tying five times? Answer: 21.