South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 38

6C Sun-Sentinel, Friday, August 15, 1997 ARLIfJS MARLINS NOTEBOOK TONIGHT'S GAME WHO: Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates. Counsell excels in heat of pennant race carved out a niche for himself the past three seasons as a relief specialist brought in primarily to face left-handed batters. He played a key role in the Rangers' playoff drive last season and had a 3.00 ERA in 44 appearances for Texas in 1995. Not bad for a guy who was pitching in the Italian League in 1992, sometimes -playing before crowds of about 500.

s-. a "It was definitely a pleas-; ant surprise" to be traded to a playoff contender, Vosberg said. "I wasn't looking for-1 ward to the last six weeks of the season with the Rangers, just because of the team's situation. Sheffield slides Gary Sheffield was 4 for 25 (.160) on the road trip to drop his road average to .219, sec- -ond-lowest among position players on the 25-man ros- ter. Only Devon White (.204) is lower.

Charles Johnson is batting .363 (33 for 91) with nine doubles, nine home runs and 24 RBI since the 4 All-Star break, leading the Marlins in each category. few times with his parents since the trade. His family and friends are happy for him. He has probably played himself into a spot on some team's roster next season, and will undoubtedly be considered in the upcoming expansion draft. Castillo, 21, still figures to be the Marlins' second baseman of the future and could develop into the star they anticipated.

Meanwhile, Counsell has done plenty to add some security to his own future. "My No. 1 priority is helping to win games for the Florida Marlins," he said, "but obviously, I'd like to be in the big leagues for a long time." Vosberg likes trade The Marlins' newest arrival, left-handed reliever Ed Vosberg, has walked in Counsels shoes before. In fact, the 35-year-old Vosberg had only five major league appearances to show for his first seven years of pro ball. But Vosberg, acquired Tuesday from the Texas Rangers in a trade for right-hander Rick Helling, has Counsell has started (Abbott starts against most lefties) and manager Jim Leyland, not prone to praise rookies, said he has been impressed by the way Counsell handles himself.

"He's done a hell of a job," Leyland said of the wiry in-fielder, who missed most of the 1996 season with injuries and had just been recalled by the Rockies before the trade. "He can hit, I tell you that." After consecutive three-hit games at Atlanta on Friday and Saturday, Counsell had a triple and scored the only run in Monday's 2-1 loss against Maddux. He didn't miss by much from hitting his first career home run off the four-time Cy Young Award winner, his triple landing at the right-field warning track. "It would have been nicer if we had won the game," Counsell said, "but it's satisfying knowing you can be successful against some of the best pitchers. I think he just made a mistake and left it over the plate." Counsell, a well-spoken Notre Dame graduate with a quiet demeanor, has talked a But the Marlins had been searching several weeks for a stop-gap second baseman after it became clear that Luis Castillo was overmatched against major league pitching and was only getting worse as his frustrations mounted.

Utility man Kurt Abbott has been one of the Marlins' key contributors off the bench (six home runs, .302 average with runners in scoring position), but doesn't provide the defense the team wants from an every-day second baseman. After failed attempts to trade for Mickey Morandini or Jeff King, the Marlins set their sights a little lower. Counsell was a good prospect, but the Rockies had Eric Young at second and super prospect Neifi Perez waiting in the wings. While picking up Counsell didn't address their leadoff needs, the Marlins have received a lift from his bat. And though Counsell has three errors in 13 games, he's also made a few outstanding plays and showed surprising range.

The team is 9-3 in games By DAVID O'BRIEN Staff Writer HOUSTON He is batting .368 in 13 games for the Marlins, coming off a 10-for-20 road trip that included two three-hit games against Atlanta, three doubles, and his first major league triple off Greg Maddux, no less. Yes, these are heady times for second baseman Craig Counsell, who was toiling with the Rockies' Triple-A Colorado Springs affiliate one month ago, wondering when he might ever get a chance to prove himself in the big leagues. "The thing I'm really excited about is that I'm getting this opportunity," said Counsell, 26, a left-handed hitter acquired from the Rockies in a July 27 trade for pitcher Mark Hutton. "I mean, think about it. How many times does a young player get traded to a contending team?" He's right.

It's unusual for a team entering the heat of a playoff race to trade for an untested rookie and immedi-ately insert him in the lineup. WHENWHERE: 7:05 p.m., Pro Player Stadium. PITCHERS: Marlins RHP Livan Hernandez (6-0, 2.22 ERA). Pirates RHP Jason Schmidt (7-6, 4.30 ERA). BROADCAST: TV Q).

Radio WQAM (560-AM), WCMQ (1210-AM), WJNA (1040-AM). WHO'S HOT FOR THE PIRATES: Jason Kendall is 14 for 33 (.424 with two home runs, seven RBI and a .513 on-base percentage in his past 10 games. SS2B Dale Sveum is 1 1 for 28 (.393) during an eight-game hitting streak with three doubles, one triple, two home runs and seven RBI 2BSS Tony Womack is 18 for 50 (.360) with six doubles in his past 12 games OF Turner Ward has three hits in his past five pinch-hit at-bats and is 7 for 15 (.467) with runners In scoring position. WHO'S NOT FOR THE PIRATES: SS Kevin Polcovich has six hits In his past 43 at-bats OF Mark Smith is 5 for his past 32 (.156) RHP Paul Wagner has allowed four runs in his past five relief appearances (seven innings). PIRATES SHORT HOPS: Pittsburgh had a day off Thursday after sweeping two games In Atlanta.

They were swept In three games at Colorado to start this road trip, which concludes with this four-game series against the Marlins. Scheduled starters for the rest of the series: RHP Francisco Cordova (8-6, 3.07 ERA) vs. LHP Tony Saunders on Saturday, LHP Steve Cooke (8-11, 3,74 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Brown on Sunday, and RHP Estevan Loaiza (6-8, 4.56 ERA) vs. LHP Al Leiter on Monday.

The Pirates are 59-61 after 120 games. At the same point last season, they were 52-68. MARLINS SHORT HOPS: Bobby Bonilla's .404 batting average against left-handed pitchers leads the league and is 23 points higher than second-ranked Tony Gwynn (.381) Moises Alou Is 1 1 for 31 (.355) in his past eight games and batting .353 with runners In scoring position, seventh in the NL. Alou (.637) and Bonilla (.6 1 7) rank sixth and seventh in the league In slugging percentage against lefties Gary Sheffield's .226 batting average against right-handers is second-lowest In the NL, ahead of only Bernard Gilkey (. 1 89) among players with enough at-bats to qualify.

The starting time for Wednesday's home game against the Cubs has been switched from 7:05 to 7:15 p.m. for ESPN. It will also be televised by SportsChannel. TICKET AVAILABILITY: Plenty remain In all sections and can be bought at the stadium ticket office, Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone dial 930-HITS in Broward, Dade or Palm Beach counties). FANPHONE: For game-day updates on ticket availability, weather and other information, please call 305-626-7200.

TONIGHT'S PROMOTION: The first 25,000 fans will receive Marlins floppy hats. DAVID O'BRIEN mm 11 1 jr MARLINS STATISTICS Through Thursday Batters Nl Chuck Knoblauch Rickey Henderson Five of the top leadoff hitters today Team Comment Player, Pos. AVG OBP AB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS Counsell .368 .478 38 8 14 310 27 3 013 'Wehner .333 .364 21 3 7100 11 2100 Bonilla .313 .382 425 56 133 34 3 13 72 46 70 6 4 16 Alou ,291 .375 406 66 118 26 5 15 87 53 71 7 4 2 'Zaun .290 .415 107 13 31 8 0 2 18 21 11 1 0 8 Arias .279 .362 61 7 17 1 0 1 9 7 6 0 1 1 Abbott .274 .309 212 29 58 15 1 6 26 10 55 3 1 7 Eisenreich .273 .338 238 32 65 13 1 2 23 24 23 0 0 2 Renteria .271 .322 462 64 125 17 3 3 38 34 88 17 13 13 Johnson .267 .359 303 32 81 23 1 15 49 42 78 0 2 0 Daulton .263 .375 316 54 83 16 7 12 49 61 64 4 1 3 Cangelosi .262 .345 145 24 38 5 0 1 9 16 26 5 1 0 Dunwoody .260 .362 50 7 13 222 77 21 202 Conine .244 .342 340 33 83 11 1 10 43 50 75 1 0 6 .242 .421 322 58 78 16 1 13 49 87 55 8 6 5 Castillo .240 .310 263 27 63 8 0 0 8 27 53 16 10 9 White .238 .333 130 15 31 10 0 0 13 16 32 6 3 1 Floyd .221 .350 86 12 19 4 1 2 5 16 21 3 1 2 Milliard .200 .314 30 2 6 000 23 3110 .192 .250 62 10 110 44 7300 Totals .260 .346 3999 515 1041 210 22 89 488 491 807 80 49 91 Pitchers i' ERA GS SV IP ER HR BB SO Alfonseca 1 0 0.00 1 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 Vosberg 0 0 0.00 100 0.1 000000 6 0 2.22 8 8 0 48.2 33 12 12 1 19 41 Brown 10 8 2.91 25 25 0 176.0156 62 57 7 52164 Saunders 3 3 3.20 14 14 0 81.2 63 33 29 6 43 70 Powell 3 2 3.32 52 0 2 57.0 52 26 21 2 23 50 fernandez 15 8 3.53 24 24 0 165.2147 70 65 18 54140 Nen 8 2 3.92 55 0 30 57.1 55 27 25 3 34 67 "Stanifer 1 1 3.93 25 0 1 34.1 31 15 15 6 13 19 Cook 1 2 4.15 43 0 0 43.1 44 21 20 3 25 43 Heredia 4 2 4.26 40 0 0 44.1 43 23 21 2 20 38 "Leiter 8 9 4.53 21 21 0 117.1105 64 59 10 75105 Totals 69 50 3.73119119 331062.2 965480 440 88 484887 Chuck Knoblauch, 2B Twins Kenny Lofton, OF Braves Tony Phillips, UT Angels Nomar Garciaparra, SS Red Sox Tony Womack, 2B Pirates Leads AL In Rs, third in SB .343 .408 OBP 100 RsBBs 4 of last 5 years Leads AL in hits Has 44 steals in 50 attempts Five of the best ever Comment Player, Pos. LEADOFF fy a genuine, 100-percent, li-ve-by-your-legs leadoff hitter despite the fact they've had two stolen base champions Carr in '93 and Quilvio Veras in '95. "As an RBI guy, someone who's supposed to be productive, it's harder when there isn't consistency in front of you," Sheffield said.

"It makes a big difference when you know who is going to be there and you get comfortable with it. "With a guy like Atlanta's Kenny Lofton, you figure you might need only one hit to score a run. Without that kind of guy, you're going to need two or three hits." But as bad as the Marlins' leadoff past has been, their present is even worse. Entering tonight's game against Pittsburgh, the club's No. 1 hitters are batting .239, which ranks ahead of only Oakland among the 28 major league teams.

Their on-base percentage .302 is the poorest in baseball. The only position in the Marlins' batting order with lower averages is No. 9, the spot reserved for players who aren't paid to hit. "It can suck you up if you're not careful," said outfielder John Cangelosi, who has batted first 18 times this season. "It's dangerous because you can try to change yourself too much when you're in there.

You have to want to do it to be successful. You have to take pride in it." This season began with Luis Castillo batting leadoff. He's still doing so but for Triple-A Charlotte, the everyday grind exposing him as unprepared and overmatched. Veteran Devon White took over last month as the club's primary leadoff man when Castillo was de-, moted. He responded with two hits in his first 27 at-bats.

So, what about the future? The Marlins still hope Castillo can develop himself, can turn his slap-swing into a weapon and use his most dangerous tools his feet. Otherwise, there are outfielders Todd Dunwoody and Mark Kotsay at Triple-A, I and outfielder Julio Ramirez and infielder Amaury Garcia at Class A. There also are the free-agent and trade markets. "You're looking for a jet," said John Boles, the Marlins' director of player develop-1 ment. "Ideally, you want someone who can steal bases at will.

You're always look- -ing for that guy who can drive the other dugout For now, the Marlins are left to live with their own empty history, with Leyland patch-working the top of his order and stop-gapping until a real first impression arrives. It's like owner H. Wayne Huizenga has a $50 million car with keys made of plastic. This is not a new challenge for Leyland, not at all. He didn't have a bona fide, lar leadoff hitter in Pittsburgh when his teams won the NL East in 1990-92.

Or-; lando Merced? Alex Cole? Wally Backman? Asked who the Pirates' best leadoff man was, Leyland answered quickly, "Barry." Barry Bonds? Yes. Heck, even Sheffield batted first briefly for Milwaukee eight, years ago, replacing the injured Paul Molitor. "The best thing about hit- ting leadoff," Sheffield said, "is that I'm not doing it anymore." FROM PAGE 1C Long list of leadoff hitters good for laughs attempt was so graceful and refined he threw out his shoulder. "Jim's crazy," Wehner said. "That's why he'll stick somebody like me in there.

He's just trying to keep it fresh. It's strange, though. It's definitely not normal." The trouble atop started the same day the Marlins did. You want symbolism? Their original leadoff man, Scott Pose, reached base his first time up but needed an error to do so. You want more? Three weeks later, Pose was demoted to the minors and wouldn't appear in another big-league game until four years later.

His departure introduced the Chuckie Period, an animated and entertaining era for this club. Carr's total of 230 games in the No. 1 spot is the team record, and he scored more runs those first two seasons than any other Marlin. He was, however, a lead-off hitter whose attitude never fit the assignment. Carr's swing was too big, his appetite for over-the-wall power too large for his gap-hitting ability.

Also, when discussing his desire to one day open a boutique with his wife, he would say things like, "I love dressing women not sleazy or anything just so that they look good." Yes, this was a time more colorful than classic for this team. Strange? Not normal? The Marlins have failed to identi- Rickey Henderson, OF Pete Rose, UT Lou Brock, OF Maury Wills, 2B Luis Aparicio, SS Baseball's all-time steals leader Baseball's best banned substance Had 50-plus steals 12 times Had the game's first 100-steal season Led AL in steals nine straight years iMJMl The Marlins' all-time leadoff hitters Games Games Player Games Player Player PIRATES STATISTICS Through Thursday Batters Mario Diaz 3 Jim Eisenreich 3 Cliff Floyd 3 Alex Arias 2 Matias Carrlllo 2 Joe Orsulak 1 John Wehner 1 Jesus Tavarez 13 Ralph Milliard 11 Henry Cotto 10 Scott Pose 8 Mark Kotsay 7 Walt Weiss 7 Carl Everett 4 Chuck Carr 230 Qullvloveras 167 Luis Castillo 92 Devon White 63 Jerry Browne 32 Kurt Abbott 24 John Cangelosi 18 Five of Marlins' leadoff hitter prospects AVG OBP AB 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB C8 .357 .403 70 12 25 5 0 2 12 6 8 2 1 0 Young .315 .349 292 51 92 17 3 16 68 15 77 11 2 5 Kendall .299 .400 361 56 108 25 4 6 41 39 39 10 6 8 Sveum .294 .355 231 23 68 17 1 10 38 23 58 0 3 8 Randa .287 .352 307 39 88 17 8 5' 37 28 46 4 2 12 Womack .286 .330 489 61 140 17 9 5 42 30 83 44 6 14 Martin .279 .364 301 42 84 17 5 8 37 40 66 13 6 5 Guillen .268 .298 380 44 102 18 4 11 46 12 61 1 1 5 Polcovich .268 .348 205 34 55 13 1 3 16 18 35 2 0 12 Smith .264 .319 106 13 28 9 1 4 18 9 21 0 0 0 Oslk .253 .322 79 8 20 7 1 0 4 7 17 0 1 0 Allnswrth .253 .345 273 38 69 12 2 2 37 35 86 10 5 3 Elster .225 .327 138 14 31 6 2 7 25 21 39 0 2 1 fjohnson .215 .345 219 30 47 10 0 4 29 43 78 1 1 5 A.Brown .195 .265 133 15 26 6 0 1 10 10 16 7 3 1 Cmmngs .189 .252 106 11 20 6 2 3 8 8 26 0 0 0 E.Brown .185 .305 81 13 15 2 0 2 6 9 28 5 1 2 -Williams .150 .227 20 2 3001 22 6000 Garcia .133 .188 15 0 2100 01 8000 Collier .115 .115 26 2 3000 20 7000 Totals .259 .327 4061 5171052 209 43 90 492 381 879110 39 93 Pitchers ERA G8 SV IP ER HR BB io Team Comment Player, Pos. Luis Castillo, 2B Charlotte Still the club's top hope Todd Dunwoody, OF Charlotte 21 of 23 in steal attempts Mark Kotsay, OF Charlotte Projects to hit lower in order Amaury Garcia, 2B Brevard Co. On-base percentage of .377 Julio Ramirez, OF Kane Co. 41 of 47 In steal attempts 0 8 0 20 0 0 7 54 14 142 9.1 55.1 15.0 149.1 MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER 45.0 40.0 40 37 130.0 138 134.0 133 1 4 6 18 2 11 11 33 5 17 4 23 11 59 10 56 10 43 7 26 15 45 2 4 0 9 4 13 8 21 2 17 2 8 3 8 6 51 9 95 57 44 80 102 90 39 120 4 17 11 40 21 13 4 3 2 18 17 5 5 58 51 20 18 17 18 62 54 71 84 78 71 30 28 B1 74 4 4 9 18 15 43 39 28 25 12 12 10 10 1.93 10 2.77 53 3.00 12 3.07 23 3.60 44 3.60 34 3.74 24 4.30 23 4.47 25 4.47 50 4.68 25 4.70 5 4.78 18 5 96 21 8.97 34 8.04 25 8.78 9 18.00 9 8 11 7 6 8 8 7 3 7 12 0 0 Fusion might he heading north to Lockhart tEflok9 Lolsetle Wagner Rlncon Cooks i Wllklns Llsbw Morel Chrslnsn Paters Rusbel Walnhouss Siiva Qranger 143.0 58.1 142.1 7.2 17.0 22.2 50.1 28.0 12.1 5.0 168 53 153 11 21 23 84 34 20 10 SS 61 4.38 IS0 120 31 1062.2 1120 W5 914 100 412 103 Totals i.

MARL. IM55 KRHZ-nill Sun Man Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat im Li3j M4 mm ii lit 1 1 IlJ a mitment of three to five years. Miami officials have apparently backed off the 10-year proposal. Ten days ago, City Commissioner Tomas Regalado said Horowitz would be; presented a three-year contract with" a two-year option. Ertmann, who: took over negotiations when Horo-: witz's talks with Carollo became embittered, said he has not received the revised proposal.

Fusion in East MLS announced that its 12-team alignment in 1998 will be divided into two six-team conferences with the Fusion placed in the East and ex-' pansion breathren Chicago in the West. The 12-round expansion draft will he held in November. Existing-teams must make 10 players avail- able, with a minimum of nine being Americans. Leandro Stillitano is expected to be named general manager of the Fu-, slon once a stadium deal is reached. Stillitano, currently the director of marketing and sales for the New YorkNew Jersey MetroStars, had "no comment." mann said.

That being the case, Ertmann didn't rule out completing a deal to play at the Orange Bowl. "If Miami were to come to us tomorrow with an enormously attractive offer, Ken Horowitz and Major League Soccer as intelligent business people would have to consider it," he said. Ertmann added that talks with Fort Lauderdale are serious and not a ploy to get a sweeter deal for the Orange Bowl: "We don't believe the Fusion would be having the number of discussions they're having without being serious." The main sticking point in the Orange Bowl deal is a clause that would prohibit the Fusion from moving to another South Florida city, as the Miami Dolphins did in 1987 and the Florida Panthers will in 1998. Ertmann said that unless the relocation clause is removed, the Fusion will not sign a lease to play the Orange Bowl. Miami Mayor Joe Carollo originally proposed a 10-year Orange Bowl lease.

Horowitz wanted a com placing an MLS team in Broward County has been met with "great enthusiasm." Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle, who is not involved in the talks directly, said the Fusion would be well received at Lockhart Stadium, which housed the Fort Lauderdale Strikers from 1977-83. "If there is any way we can make this happen, we want to be involved," Naugle said. "We wish the Fusion luck in pulling together something for the Orange Bowl, but if it doesn't work out, then we would welcome them." Lockhart Stadium, which currently seats about 8,000 for high school football, would have to be renovated to meet MLS standards. The smallest MLS stadium is in San Jose, which seats 31,000. Lockhart was expanded to seat in excess of 19,000 in the Strikers heyday.

Restroom facilities, ticket windows, concessions, parking and lighting would also need to be upgraded within the next seven months. "We believe and expect the improvements could be made for the Fusion to open the 1998 season," Ert By JEFF RUSNAK Special to the Sun-Sentinel Before hiring its first employee, the Miami Fusion may be joining the caravan of teams that have fled Miami for points north, Faced with stalled negotiations over an Orange Bowl lease, Fusion owner Ken Horowitz has begun talks that could place the Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Lock-hart Stadium for the 1998 season. Horowitz has started talks with the city of Fort Lauderdale and the Broward County School Board about renovating Lockhart to MLS standards. The Palm Beach cell phone entrepreneur, who paid $20 million for the team In April, would only say that he is "looking at alternatives" to the Orange Bowl. John Ertmann, chief legal officer and executive vice president for MLS, confirmed that Fort Lauderdale is one of those alternatives and has been given the go-ahead by league owners to seek another home in case a lease for the Orange Bowl cannot be finalized.

Ertmann said the possibility of I I 1 jpj ijr4ft''-'' i itjffi ljntf- fll I fg4pi25 'to Hfw 'jfsuw 28 sun" 291'm' 30m Hfltt CHI CHI CHI CHI TOR TOR 8:05 8:05 2:20 2:20 7:35 4:05 '0 IFEPUP XT l. TOR full Hk Till. LA LA 7j35jWr 10:05 4:05 I Itt ATI-Atlanta. AL-Bltlmon, CHI-Chicago, LA-lns Angeles, WT-Pittsburgh, STU-St. Louis, SO-San Dingo, TCR-Toronto TVi te-SportsChannel; -UPN-33; SUM-Sunshlne lAAIUU.