Night Owl 9/Night Owl CD-ROM (NOPV9) (Night Owl Publisher) (1993).ISO/032a/1993prvw.zip/OVERVIEW.TXT

Text File | 1993-04-04 | 13KB | 281 lines

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SPORTSTICKER 1993 BASEBALL PREVIEW
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BASEBALL OVERVIEW
BY DOUG MITTLER
SENIOR EDITOR

Baseball, like the White House, is in the midst of a transition
of power in 1993. Both are blaming past administrations for
present problems but stress that better times will be ahead.

Following the ouster of Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent last
September, one man no longer rules baseball. For the first time
since the Black Sox scandal of 1919, Major League Baseball does
not have a commissioner but instead starts the season with an
Executive Council as its ruling body. The upcoming season will
include the search for a new chief executive.

Power is also changing hands at the local level. New
administrations begin their first seasons in Houston, San
Francisco and Detroit while new ownership could be in place for
Baltimore Orioles sometime in the near future.

A controversial owner has regained control of the game's most
storied franchise, the New York Yankees, while the chief
executive in Cincinnati, Marge Schott, has been forced to give
up governing powers for 1993 due to racial comments she made.

The Florida Marlins and the Colorado Rockies will join the
National League as expansion franchises this season.

On the managerial level, six teams will enter the season with
different bosses than they started with in 1992. Felipe Alou
begins his first full season in Montreal and Jim Riggelman is
enjoying his first spring training with the San Diego Padres
after taking over at the end of 1992.

Lou Piniella left Cincinnati for the Seattle Mariners and Tony
Perez is the new manager of the Reds. The other new skippers are
Kevin Kennedy in Texas and Dusty Baker in San Francisco.

The two expansion teams went different ways in naming managers.
Colorado's Don Baylor has no previous experience while Florida's
Rene Lachemann once managed the Milwaukee Brewers and the
Seattle Mariners.

American baseball teams, like some American businesses, are
trying to regain some riches that have been lost to
international soil. The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team
from outside the United States to win a World Series in 1992.

The Blue Jays begin defense of their title without many players
that brought baseball's title north of the border. Outfielders
Dave Winfield and Candy Maldonado, pitchers David Cone, Jimmy
Key and Tom Henke and infielder Manny Lee are all gone.

The Blue Jays are still strong and compete in a division that is
not overpowering. Free agent outfielder Joe Carter was re-signed
and the team was able to land the versatile Paul Molitor from
Milwaukee and lure 36-year-old right-hander Dave Stewart away
from Oakland. Toronto also has one of baseball's best all-around
players in second baseman Roberto Alomar.

The Baltimore Orioles can challenge the Blue Jays in the A-L
East if they can maintain the improvement they showed in 1992.
Cal Ripken needs to regain his M-V-P form of 1991 after batting
just .251 last season. The Orioles lured Gold Glove second
baseman Harold Reynolds away from Seattle.

The Cleveland Indians will continue to be the center of
attention early in the season as the team tries to cope with the
tragic deaths of pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews, killed in a
boating accident last week.

The Indians have a wealth of young talent such as outfielders
Albert Belle and Kenny Lofton, infielder Carlos Baerga and
pitcher Charles Nagy, and many have been signed to multi-year
contracts.

The Yankees have made positive steps to improve a dreadful
pitching staff, adding Key from Toronto and Jim Abbott from the
California Angels. The return of Steinbrenner also probably
means a less-than-tranquil summer in the Bronx if the Yankees do
not start well.

Milwaukee won 92 games in 1992, but will hard-pressed to keep up
the pace after losing Molitor to Toronto and 16-game winner
Chris Bosio to Seattle.

Mike Ilitch, the new owner of the Detroit Tigers, will watch a
team that is not much different than the 75-87 team of last
season. In Boston, Butch Hobson will try to avoid becoming the
first manager fired in 1993.

There is no clear favorite in the American League West.

The Oakland Athletics were a mild surprise last season, winning
the division in relative ease. Stewart and Mike Moore are gone,
leaving Ron Darling as the ace of the staff and decreasing the
save opportunties for M-V-P and Cy Young Award winner Dennis
Eckersley.

Outfielder Rickey Henderson is again complaining about his
contract and third baseman Carney Lansford, the heart of the
team, announced his retirement.

The Kansas City Royals could contend if they avoid the dismal
1-16 start of a year ago. Greg Gagne and Jose Lind make up the
new double play combination and the outfield added a potent bat
in Felix Jose.   Kansas City native David Cone returns home and
will be the ace of the staff.

The Texas Rangers once again have powerful bats along with holes
in pitching and defense. Jose Canseco will contend for the
American League home run title with teammate Juan Gonzalez, who
hit a league-best 43 last season.  But 21-game winner Kevin
Brown has rib problems and could be sidelined for the start of
the season.  Nolan Ryan, the Rangers' 46-year-old legend, will
pitch his final major league season this year.

Even if Bo Jackson fails in his comeback from hip replacecemt
surgery, the Chicago White Sox can contend. Only three teams
have more total wins than Chicago over the last three seasons.

Jackson's contract option has been picked up after a strong
showing this spring.

The Minnesota Twins always seem to win you least expect it, so
1993 may be their year. John Smiley, a 16-game winner, defected
to Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Piniella will keep the Mariners respectable on the
strength of standout outfielder Ken Griffey and the rebuilding
program will continue in California.

The Atlanta Braves did not sit still after falling short in the
World Series for the second straight year.  The Braves landed
the biggest pitching prize of the free agent sweepstakes, Greg
Maddux, and enter the season with one of the best starting
rotations in major league history.

Maddux joins John Smoltz, Steve Avery and fellow Cy Young Award
winner Tom Glavine in the rotation. The rest of the Braves' team
has no major holes.

Cincinnati added Smiley to a pitching staff that alredy has
Jose Rijo and Tim Belcher.  With Norm Charlton traded to
Seattle, Rob Dibble will not have to share duties as a closer.
The new-look outfield includes Roberto Kelly from the Yankees
and Kevin Mitchell from Seattle.

The Giants disappointed fans in the Tampa Bay area by staying in
San Francisco after all and the new owners spent $43 million on
free agent outfielder Barry Bonds. It is ironic that Bonds, who
often trashed the conditions at Candlestick Park, now welcomes
the facility as his own.  Bonds, however, cannot improve a
pitching staff that ranked ninth in league earned run average
last season.

The Houston Astros showed vast improvement in 1992 and the new
owners went on a December spending spree, landing Texas natives
Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell to revamp the pitching staff.

Austerity, however, is the key word in San Diego, where the
Padres are dumping high-priced talent. Another team looking to
put things in order are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who committed a
major league high 174 errors in 1992 and finished in last place
for the first time since 1905.

The Padres' payroll is likely to be smaller than all but the
expansion Rockies and Marlins. Colorado was able to take
pitching prospect David Nied away from the Braves and also will
utilize veterans Bryn Smith and Bruce Ruffin in its rotation.

Look for a record number of home runs to be hit at Mile High
Stadium, thanks to the high altitude and expansion pitching.

The Marlins will have a more youthful look than the Rockies but
still named 45-year-old Charlie Hough as their Opening Day
starter.

The best thing to happen to N-L East teams last season was the
reversal of the decision that would have put the Braves and the
Reds in the division this season.

The fight for reversal was led by the Chicago Cubs, who must
find replacements for Maddux and outfielder Andre Dawson, who
signed with Boston. To make matters worse, an injury will
sideline second baseman Ryne Sandberg for the start of the
season and shortstop Shawon Dunston is still bothered by a back
injury.

The dismantling of the Pittsburgh Pirates continued over the
winter and manager Jim Leyland faces an even more difficult
assignment in 1993. Drabek, Bonds and second baseman Jose Lind
all have new homes. Zane Smith, projected as the number one
starter, still has elbow problems.  Tim Wakefield, 8-1 as a
rookie last season, will be the Pirates' top pitcher.

The Montreal Expos can challenge with the potent outfield of
Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom and emerging superstar Larry
Walker.

Overconfidence will not be a problem for the New York Mets, who
hit rock bottom in 1992. The acquisition of Tony Fernandez fills
a hole at shortstop. Second baseman Jeff Kent and outfielder
Ryn Thompson, acquired from Toronto in the David Cone deal, are
expected to be used prominently.  The key is whether outfielder
Bobby Bonilla and third baseman Howard Johnson can rebounds from
awful years.

The St. Louis Cardinals improved to third place in 1992, but did
little to improve over the winter. The Philadelphia Phillies had
a league-high E-R-A of 4.11 last season.

Americans who may have grown tired of hearing politicians debate
economic policy had best not look at baseball as an alternative
in 1993. There is every indication that the game's fiscal
situation will continue to grab headlines.

Club owners decided at their December meetings to reopen
contract negotiations with the players union instead of waiting
until after the season. That could put Richard Ravitch, the
owners' chief negotiator, and Players Association President
Donald Fehr on television as often as Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Baseball's national television contract with C-B-S and E-S-P-N
expires after the upcoming season. That could make 1993 one of
the last years with the traditional four-division format.

Owners have given preliminary approval to a plan for expanding
leagues to three divisions and setting up an eight-team playoff
format. Owners hope the new system will result in more
television dollars.

Two players, Robin Yount and George Brett, reached the 3,000-hit
plateau late in the 1992 and a similar pattern could emerge in
1993.  Winfield, now with Minnesota, needs 134 hits to reach
3,000 and barring injury, should enter the exlcusive club in
September.

Dawson's first American League homer will be the 400th of his
career and Dale Murphy, attempting a comeback with the Phillies,
needs two homers for 400.

There are no clear front runners for Rookie of the Year honors.
Pittsburgh second baseman Carlos Garcia and California
outfielder Tim Salmon have as good a chance as anyone and could
give their respective teams a Rookie of the Year winner for the
first time in club history.

The 1993 All-Star Game will be played at Oriole Park in Camden
Yards, a facility that drew sellouts on a consistent basis in
its inaugural 1993 season.

There are no new facilities in the major leagues in 1993, but
two teams will say goodbye to older ballparks. The Cleveland
Indians will leave cavernous Cleveland Stadium after six decades
while the Texas Rangers depart Arlington Stadium, their home
since moving from Washington over two decades ago.

Baseball's most celebrated farewell tour will take place at
Arlington Stadium. Ryan, baseball's all-time leader in
no-hitters and strikeouts, announced that this will be his final
season. Ryan will return to the Rangers for his 27th season.
Ryan, the oldest player in the major leagues, is expected to
make many of his appearances at home.

Major League owners will try to combat the ever-increasing
lengths of games. Games routinely run three hours and changes
are being put in place in an attempt to bring games down to the
2 1/2-hour range.

Only one individual will enter the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,
New York, this summer. It is appropriate that the individual is
Reggie Jackson, someone who did not like to share the spotlight
during his career.