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Sunday, June 30, 2002

By Steve Ziants, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Did The Guy In The Stands really need to see the sweaty fat guy with the hairy back take his shirt off at the ballpark this week to let him know it was going to be a hot, contentious summer? Weren’t there enough other signs?

Bonds vs. Kent. Tatum vs. Johnny Mac. Anna vs. the BBC. The SEC vs. Martha Stewart. Main event after main event. Bring in The Fight Doctor. Call Fox.

By the time The Jaw unleashes the new edition of the black-and-gold on a Monday night in New England, though, the contest that might get the back of your neck the dirtiest and grittiest will be Mariners vs. Athletics vs. Angels -- the race in the AL West.

Only once since baseball went to the wild-card format in 1995 has there been a bona fide three-team race. That was, ironically, in ’95, when the Mariners and Angels tied for the AL West title, with the Rangers finishing four games back. Otherwise, the average separation between first and third has been (yawn!) 15 games.

Going into yesterday, the Mariners, by rebounding to take 3 of 4 this week from the surging A’s (surging, anyway, until they reached Safeco Field), led the Angels by 4 1/2 games and the Athletics by 5.

What sets this race apart from, say, their NL West counterparts who are similarly bunched, is that all the teams are, ahem, hot. The Mariners have won 12 of 17. The Angels are 39-19 since starting 6-14. The A’s, even with their bellyflop in Seattle, are 20-6 in June and have cut five games off the Mariners’ lead. Even the last-place Rangers -- with many bonbons and bouquets to the Pirates -- had won eight in a row before losing to Anaheim Wednesday.

“We don’t have to show anyone they are in a pennant race,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said. “The standings do that, the tightness of the teams in the division does that.”

But aside from Ichiro and ARod and being the division Jason Giambi once called home, what do we really know about the AL West?

Glad you asked. Allow The Guy In The Stands to take you around the division and introduce you to some of the unlikely characters, story lines and/or other influences that might make your viewing experience more enjoyable for a race that one national writer this week predicted could be the best multiteam hair-pull since Boston, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago took the AL race to the final weekend in 1967.

The talisman: Be it Atlanta, Cleveland or New York, David Justice’s teams have made the postseason every year since 1991. In a game of superstitions, the fact he wears Oakland green-and-gold this summer cannot be ignored.

Randy Johnson: Yes, he’s been gone from Seattle since 1998, but the legacy of the trade that sent him to Houston flourishes. Pitchers Freddy Garcia and John Halama have 13 wins, and shortstop Carlos Guillen is hitting .296 with 46 runs scored and 36 RBIs.

Texas Strangers: Does anyone want to argue the point that they are the highest-paid spoilers in professional sports history? Still, heaven help the team that overlooks a lineup that includes four potential Hall of Famers. They have 31 games left against the contenders.

M-I-C, K-E-Y: When was the last time a Mickey Mouse move actually paid off? Darin Erstad (.309, 6 HRs, 47 RBIs, All-Star heart and wall-crashing glove in center) was all but scheduling his flight to Chicago last winter when Disney exec Michael Eisner stepped in and shut down the deal faster than a hairpin turn on Space Mountain. GM Bill Stoneman’s barber is still dealing with his Athlete’s Foot problem. But who knows if the Angels snap back from that 6-14 start without the Erstad element in its team chemistry set.

Roberto II: Twelve years and 11 transactions ago, Ruben Sierra was hailed as that year’s next Clemente. Three years ago, he was a forgotten has-been in the Mexican League. This afternoon, he puts on a uniform in Seattle leading the team that won 116 games a year ago with 48 runs batted in. Who understands the ways of the world?

But none of these influences reportedly have as much sway as does a certain primate in Anaheim who has come to be known as ...

The Rally Monkey: According to his Web site -- yes, he really has one -- he was born two years ago this month on the video board at Edison Field. A clip from “Ace Ventura Pet Detective” of a jumping monkey shown late in a game June 6, 2000, sparked not only a series of rallies for the Angels, but -- hard as this is to believe of Disney -- a line of monkey merchandise.

His reach seems to know no limits. He takes credit for the fact that 24 of the Angels’ 45 victories have been of the comeback variety. Most recently, that number included a 7-6 win against Texas Wednesday that turned on a game-tying, three-run homer by Bengie Molina in the eighth inning. The same Bengie Molina who had not homered in 241 at-bats. Freaky, isn’t it?

Schtick or a real stick?

The Guy would never go so far as to use this space to endorse, root or otherwise profess that what he writes to be, well, 100 percent unbiased journalistic fact, but ...

He has heard that Ms. Stewart has entered in negotiations to put Rally Monkeys in Kmarts across the country if he promises to dance over her company stock this week.

One for the downtrodden

To understand how truly stunning was Montreal’s trade for Indians ace Bartolo Colon Thursday, consider: It arguably is the Expos’ biggest midseason deal in which they were the buyer since they acquired Mark Langston from Seattle (for prospect Randy Johnson) in May 1989. That’s 13 years ago.

Since then, the franchise’s sad tale of descent into baseball hell has been well documented. All of which made GM Omar Minaya’s move that much more astonishing.

“When it came across the wire, people said, ‘Wait a minute. This don’t fit. Montreal is not supposed to be getting these guys, it’s supposed to give these guys back,’” Minaya said. “It was fun to hear that.”

The rest of the National League might not find it as much fun. Colon joins a talented young staff that already includes Javier Vazquez (5-4) Tony Armas Jr. (8-7) and Tomo Ohka (7-4). Colon makes his first start Tuesday against Atlanta, the team it is chasing in the NL East.

Insecurity

One of the stranger ejections of the season occurred in the Metrodome Monday. After Minnesota’s Jacque Jones was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the eighth, the security guard in the Twins’ bullpen had a message for umpire Joe West -- he waved his eyeglasses in West’s direction.

West didn’t see it (insert own seeing-eye dog joke here), but Jerry Crawford did. Boom! Gary Baggott, who has been the keeper of law and order in the Twins’ pen for 10 years after 28 years as a prison guard, suddenly found himself in the role of the fugitive. “Crawford went crazy,” said Twins bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek. “He kept screaming, ‘Get that [security guard] out of here.’ ”

Streaked history

During the Luis Castillo hitting streak hysteria earlier this month -- or what passed for baseball hysteria in South Florida -- Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel tracked down the granddaughter of Rogers Hornsby in search of that ever-elusive fresh angle. Among the handful of milestones Castillo set en route to compiling a 35-game streak was longest by a second baseman, breaking the 33-gamer Hornsby had in 1922. It’s safe to say that Ann Hornsby Rice, who was 23 when “The Rajah” died in 1963, proved to be a bit more forthcoming when it came to her grandfather than anyone would have expected.

“He was actually an ass, if you really want to know the truth,” Rice said. “He was very cantankerous. He never drank, not even coffee. He never went to the movies or read books because he thought it would harm his eyesight. His two vices were horses and women.”

What’s this? Nothing nice to say about Grandpa? Well ...

“He was a good-looking devil,” she said. “He scored off the field as well as on.”

The Guy guesses Cooperstown thought better of including that on his Hall plaque epitaph.

All-Star dust

Starting lineups for the All-Star Game July 9 in Milwaukee will be announced today (7 p.m., ESPN). ... NL Manager Bob Brenly was told yesterday that Bartolo Colon would be eligible for the NL roster. ... AL Manager Joe Torre sparked at least one cry of protest with his announcement that he would not take a pitcher who pitches the Sunday before the game. The voice has pretty loud numbers: Oakland’s Barry Zito (10-3, 3.58 ERA, 96 Ks), whose turn comes up July 7. ... The Guy can only assume the guilty bloc of Armando Rios voters are from the San Francisco area. How so? Elementary, my dear Bob Watson. Rios is a former Giant, and current (mediocre) Giant Tsuyoshi Shinjo (.239, 5 HRs, 23 RBIs) was fourth among NL outfielders with 486,871 votes at last count. ... Fans will get the chance to vote online for the 30th player on each roster beginning tonight.

Griffey-itis

If you’re Ken Griffey Jr., you’ve got to be getting a complex. Or another one, anyway. With him in the lineup, the Reds lost eight in a row and their hold on first place. Since he went down again with a hamstring injury Sunday, they’ve won 4 of 5 to improve to 32-21 without him; 10-16 with him. For his part, Griffey was able to joke about the latest in a two-year run of injuries that has limited him to 137 games since the beginning of 2001. “Hopefully, this is it,” he said. “I’m running out of limbs.”

Good, wild & ugly

Box score lines of the week:

Good: Odalis Perez, Dodgers, Tuesday: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 Ks in a 4-0 shutout vs. the Rockies. Dominant? He needed just 87 pitches and faced only one batter over the minimum. “One hitter over the minimum is like slow death,” said Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s not like Randy Johnson, who rolls over you. He’s like an assassin, who comes quietly and then kills you.”

Wild: 11,510: Average attendance at Pro Player Stadium for 18 home games during Luis Castillo’s 35-game hitting streak. Embarrassing.

Ugly: Freddy Garcia, Mariners, Monday: 3 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 5 BB, 3 Ks in a 13-2 loss vs. the Athletics. In his previous six starts, he yielded nine runs total. “My neck hurts,” Garcia said, feigning whiplash afterward.

Series of the week

Dodgers (50-30) at Diamondbacks (47-32), tomorrow-Wednesday. ... The Dodgers, who haven’t been so far over .500 since 1996, have gone from 2 1/2 back of Arizona May 27 to 2 1/2 ahead in the NL West. ... L.A.’s Shawn Green had just three home runs in his first 44 games, but has hit 22 in his next 36.

This ’n’ that

Home-and-home series aren’t supposed to be like this. Because the NFL’s Chargers are opening their home season Sept. 15, the Padres had to adjust their schedule at Qualcomm Stadium. The result: The Giants and Padres played a most unusual four-game series this week -- Monday and Tuesday at Qualcomm, Wednesday and Thursday at Pac Bell Park. ... When Atlanta’s John Smoltz earned his 20th save against Boston June 14, he joined Wilbur Wood, Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Dennis Eckersley as the only pitchers with 20-win and 20-save seasons. ... The Yankees: Bad for baseball? They finished a 12-game road trip Thursday in which their presence helped attract 608,271 fans, including a major-league season high 60,021 June 22 in San Diego. ... On the heels of setting down the first 19 batters he faced vs. the Twins June 20, Mets pitcher Steve Trachsel retired the first 15 Braves he faced Tuesday. The Yankees’ Doyle Alexander (1976) was the last pitcher to retire the first 15 batters in consecutive games. ...

There were 31 runs scored in the Blue Jays-Devil Rays game Tuesday. In all 14 single-elimination games leading into today’s World Cup soccer final, there were 24 goals scored. Thought you’d like to know. ... If Atlanta’s Tom Glavine can beat Montreal tomorrow night, he and Greg Maddux will become only the 22nd tandem to reach 500 wins. ... A strange-but-true about the death of Darryl Kile: He was not on the disabled list once in his 12-year career?

Shot and a jeer

Shot: Those guys in the PNC Park sound booth are almost too funny for their own good. When Viagra pitchman Rafael Palmeiro came to the plate last weekend for the Rangers, he was serenaded with, among other ditties, “Pop Goes The Weasel” and the theme to Woody Woodpecker.

Jeer: Barry Bonds defended baseball’s average salary of $2.4 million in the Washington Post last weekend by spitting that “It’s not my fault you don’t play baseball”? Well, Barry, just remember: It’s not our fault you’re a ... Rogers Hornsby.