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Sunday, August 06, 2000 By Steve Ziants, Post-Gazette Sports Writer
Most of the trades before last Monday's non-waiver trading deadline were interesting for one reason or another.
Source: Baseball Online Library
Some team that will remain nameless (why embarrass Padres GM Kevin Towers?) was even willing to trade for old Guy In The Stands favorite Heathcliff Slocumb.
Talk about deadline deals that suspend belief.
Yet it has nothing in the land of the surreal on the deal that sent dead-eye, dead-legged Harold Baines to the Chicago White Sox last Saturday. Again.
Anyone that has been around as long as Baines, 41, is bound to figure into a statistical oddity or two. Did you know that Baines played in the majors with Minnie Minoso? He really did. Sort of.
And if Baines, with 2,845 hits, keeps going, he may eventually be the answer to one of the most argued statistical oddities of the 21st century: Who is the only player with 3,000 hits not elected to the Hall of Fame? Voters tend to slot designated hitters, even those as gifted as Baines, only slightly above Pete Rose and Washington Senators on the electability meter.
But why mire ourselves in the mundane when there are far more bizarre Baines mysteries to ponder out of this week's deal.
For instance:
Let the record show that Harold Douglas Baines was traded on July 29, 2000.
And 1989.
And 1997.
Three times on the same date. From the White Sox to the Rangers in 1989. From the White Sox to the Orioles in 1997. And now, from the Orioles to the White Sox. Let's see the Elias Sports Bureau come up with someone to beat that.
Or let's see Mr. Elias' henchmen come up with another guy who has returned to his original team after his number was retired. Twice.
The White Sox retired his No. 3 shortly after a slowing (?) Baines was traded to Texas in 1989. How shortsighted. Is it any wonder they haven't beenn to the World Series in 41 years when they couldn't have envisioned then needing his 41-year-old bat to help them into the postseason at the turn of the century. This should inspire all owners to dictate the following memo: Players must be dead (perhaps in Baines' case, dead a long time) before a number shall be retired.
And even then, Baines still might find a way back.
There's little doubt Baines would somehow convince the castaways on that blasted CBS island that they need his bat to survive.
Former Orioles Manager Ray Miller used to say that you could wake Baines up out of a sound sleep in the dead of winter, put him in a batter's box and he'd double off the wall.
And most fans ask Harold Who? Harold the Professional, that's who.
"You just watch him in the clubhouse," Chicago Manager Jerry Manuel told the Chicago Tribune. "He walks through there and there's a definite presence about him."
GMs know Harold Who. Five times Baines has been traded for the stretch run. And there may be the greatest irony of all when one considers that Baines should have been out of the game a decade ago because of knee problems.
"I'm just lucky and blessed that they have a DH or my career would have been over at least eight years ago," said Baines, who has had six knee operations. But then, who wants him to run?
His survival has been linked to a lethal bat and the American League's designated hitter rule.
If he were in a more notorious line of work, the FBI would have a file on him.
His post-stretch runs trade numbers: .282, 11 homers and 74 RBIs in 493 at-bats.
In 1990, the World Series-bound Athletics acquired him from Texas in late August. He drove in 21 runs in 94 at-bats. Last season, the Indians rented his bat for the final month. He drove in 22 runs in September and finished 1999 with a .312 average, 25 homers and 103 RBIs. At age 40. Dave Winfield is the only other player to drive in 100 runs after the age of 40.
Tuesday night, in Debut III with the White Sox, in typical Baines fashion, he went 2 for 4 with a run batted in in a 4-3 win in Texas.
"Harold just has one of those strokes that continues to work," said Orioles Manager Mike Hargrove.
And a body that seemingly refuses to be retired, even if his number is.
Trade deadline fallout
What's in a deal? New Orioles catcher Brook Fordyce, with all of 260 major-league games under his belt, has a club option in his contract that would pay him $10 million in 2002 if exercised. Sound ridiculous? Remember: He's with the Orioles now. ... The Yankees gave up a lot to acquire Denny Neagle & Friends, but don't call their farm system depleted. Crown jewels Alfonso Soriano (shortstop) and Nick Johnson (first base) remain. ... The Orioles might as well add another name to the list of veterans lost in their deadline purge: ace Mike Mussina, a free agent at the end of the season. "It seemed like we were having a little too much fun and went too far," Mussina said to the Baltimore Sun. ... Orioles Vice President Syd Thrift planned to meet with Mussina and fellow veterans Albert Belle and Brady Anderson to explain the team's new direction and give them a chance to tell him whether they would prefer to stay or go.
Once upon a time
Dodgers slugger Gary Sheffield left Pittsburgh this week tied for the National League lead with 34 home runs. To offer some historic perspective, should he go on to win the home run title, he would be the first Dodger, for all their glorious seasons of the past four decades, to do so since the franchise moved from Brooklyn after the 1957 season.
Bypassing George?
Update: Anaheim's Darin Erstad was 8 for 24 this week (Sunday-Friday) in his pursuit of George Sisler's 80-year-old record of 257 hits in a season, giving him 175 for the season. Is the engine beginning to slow? Last week, he was on a pace for 260. This week: 258. FYI: Not only is Erstad chasing Sisler, but also uncharted territory. With 77 RBIs before yesterday's game, he is also on target to become the first leadoff hitter to drive in 100 runs.
The anti-Erstad
Believing that every action must have its reaction, every ying must have its yang, every Survivor must have its Gervase, this baseball season has swing-and-a-miss Preston Wilson of the Florida Marlins as a counterbalance to swing-and-hardly-ever-miss Darin Erstad. Wilson struck out four more times this week, giving him 134. Unnoticed but by those few people in South Florida who openly admit to being Marlins fans, Wilson is on pace to strike out 199 times. That would, as they say on TV, be a record and get Bobby Bonds (189 in 1970) off the hook.
Too far! Too far!
After three years of filling this space most every Sunday morning, everyone should know that The Guy loves a good beer, a good movie and a good stat. But in poring through a giga-pile of numbers this week on one respected dot.com site, he came across one he wasn't familiar with -- Runs Created. Curious, he went to the glossary to find out what it meant. Bad move. It stands for: ALGEBRA FLASHBACK! GEEKS ONLY!
Runs Created by definition is:
[(H+BB+HBP-CS-GIDP)
multiplied by
(Total bases + .26[BB-IBB+HBP]
+ .52[SH+SF+SB])
divided by
(AB+BB+HBP+SH+SF).
If this statistical, square root nonsense continues, how will Dennis Miller ever be able to wax mythologically about Cooperstown?
Go to Helton
Apparently, the press box chatter that Todd Helton's NL-leading .376 average is more Coors Field-aided than batting cage-born is getting to him. Helton hits .439 at home, .316 on the road. When Kevin Modesti, a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, asked him recently how it made him feel to hear such talk, Helton replied: "It about makes me want to slug you upside the head." Hmmm! The Guy wonders: If Helton waited to slug him in Denver, would the hit go 11 percent farther.
Take that bat and ...
Remember Tuesday, Aug. 1. Remember it as you remember where you were when Maz hit his homer in 1960. Remember it as you remember the first time you ... yeah ... well ... remember it.
Aug. 1: The day pitchers fought back.
Baltimore's Mike Mussina threw a one-hitter in a 10-0 win over the Twins that night, striking out 15. Only Ron Coomer's two-out single in the seventh spoiled the no-hit bid. "The whole world would have been shut down by Mussina," gushed Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly.
But it wasn't just Mussina. Three other games featured two-hitters.
In Phoenix, Atlanta's Kevin Millwood and three relievers threw a two-hitter in a 4-2 win over Arizona. At Wrigley Field, Colorado's Pedro Astacio and Gabe White combined on a two-hitter in a 2-1 win over the Cubs. And in Miami, Chuck Smith and two Marlins relievers combined to allow the Astros only two hits. OK, they lost, 4-3. But should we expect everything to be perfect? After all, this is, lest we forget, the era in which the teams average 10.4 runs and 2.5 home runs each game.
Series of the week
Mariners (62-46 before yesterday) at White Sox (65-43): Tuesday-Thursday, Comiskey Park. ... The team with the AL's second-best record visits the team with the AL's best record for four games, beginning with a doubleheader Tuesday. ... White Sox lead the AL in offense (.290, 618 runs). The Mariners have the second-best pitching (4.31 ERA).
Good, wild and ugly
Box score lines of the week:
Good: Mike Mussina, Orioles. ... 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 15 Ks in a 10-0 win over the Twins Tuesday. Evidence how rare is the well-pitched game, even opposing manager Tom Kelly applauded. "It was neat to watch."
Wild: The Giants went 34 batters between hits Monday night in Milwaukee ... and won the game, 4-3, when Ellis Burks homered to lead off the 11th inning.
Ugly: Jason Varitek, Red Sox. ... 9 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 0 RBIs in Boston's 19-inning, 5-hour, 34-minute, 5-4 win in Seattle Tuesday. To add injury to insult, he had to catch all 19 innings, too.
This 'n' that
From the Never-Thought-We'd-See-Him-Back Dept.: Mark Wohlers has pitched nine scoreless innings in five appearances since the Reds recalled him from Louisville July 19. ... From the Ho-Hum Dept: After hitting his second grand slam of the season in Cincinnati's 8-3 win over Montreal July 28, said Ken Griffey Jr.: "I just hit home runs. Sometimes people are on, sometimes they're not." ... Coors Field, home of the home run. Not anymore. The Rockies finished July last in the NL with 103 home runs, yet led the league in runs scored (628). ...
The Tigers followed a 15-12 June with a 15-13 July, their first consecutive winning months since 1993. ... Phillies Manager Terry Francona, after Bruce Chen was outdueled by Woody Williams in a 4-1 loss to the Padres Monday night: "He was tremendous. Their guy was tremendous-er." ... The Pirates figure to face Curt Schilling Saturday when the Diamondbacks visit Three Rivers this weekend, but are unlikely to see Randy Johnson. ... The Orioles' 10-6 loss to Minnesota Wednesday was the 20th time they have given up 10 or more runs. ... Finally, in honor of Tuesday night's 5-hour, 34-minute marathon at Safeco Field between the Mariners and Red Sox which Seattle won, 5-4, this bon-mot from Boston starter Tim Wakefield: "I gave us eight good innings. Unfortunately, it ended up going 19." ... Of Andres Galarraga's 22 home runs, 10 have either tied the score or given the Braves a lead. His two-run shot vs. St. Louis Friday put Atlanta ahead, 4-3, en route to its 6-4 win. ... Did you see the Seattle Mariners while they were in town? Didn't think so. The Mariners' cross-country trip from Seattle to New York for this weekend's set at Yankee Stadium included an unscheduled landing at Pittsburgh International because of bad weather in the New York area and a subsequent 31/2-hour wait on the tarmac.
Shot and a jeer
Shot: To Philadelphia. Ron Gant was trying to be gracious. He really was, but after being traded from the Phillies to the Angels: "I understand the situation. They're trying to get their younger players ready for when the new ballpark opens -- in the year 2020."
Jeer: To Mets fans. You had the nerve to boo Barry Larkin after selecting the 1986 World Series championship the greatest moment in Mets history over the Amazins of 1969? No wonder Larkin didn't want to play for you.
Steve Ziants can be reached at sziants@post-gazette.com.
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Aug. 6, 1988: Pirates reliever Jim Gott balks three times in the eighth inning to force around the winning run in a 5-3 loss to the Mets.