The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 508

0 JULY 26, 1998 Section THE SUNDAY OKLAHQMAN Miscellaneous mm- No Relief From Lack Of Respect Today's Closer Get More Money With Less Work By Jerry Crasnick Bloomberg News NEW YORK As retirement closes in, Boston reliever Dennis Eckersley doesn't waste his time wondering which cap he'll wear on his Hall-of-Fame plaque. "I won't let myself think about it," Eckersley said. "It's too elite. I can see Willie Mays finishing his career and saying, 'I'll just wait until I go to the Hall of That's not me. I can't put myself in that With 195 career victories and 390 saves as a hybrid starter-reliever, Eckersley is a Coopers-town lock.

Of all the premier closers in recent years from Jeff Reardon to Lee Smith to John Franco he might be the only one who can make such a claim. A frontline stopper can earn seven figures and put a contending team over the top these days. But immortality is an elusive proposition. Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers are the only relievers in the Hall of Fame, and the Ro-laids relief crowd isn't beating down the door. Bruce Sutter, who popularized the split-finger fastball and reached 300 saves quicker than any closer before Eckersley, received only 147 of 355 votes required for election last year.

He'll be home this weekend while Don Sutton, Lee MacPhail, Larry Doby, "Bullet" Joe Rogan and George Davis go into the Hall. What does a closer have to do to get respect? Goose Gossage, who saved 310 games and will make his first appearance on the ballot in December 1999, can only wonder. "I'd like to think I set the standard for power relief pitchers," Gossage said. "I look at myself as being on the same level as Rollie Fingers. But I have no idea what the standard is, and I haven't sat down and tried to figure it out." If closers are throwing the Hall-of-Fame electorate for a loop, it's because they're a relatively new phenomenon.

Baseball didn't recognize the save as an official statistic until criteria currently used to designate a save have been in place since 1975. Gossage, Fingers and their contemporaries in the 1970s and '80s earned their saves the hard way by entering games with runners on base and pitching two or three innings at a crack. "It was like, 'Here's the jam there's no margin for Gossage said. "With the Yankees, I came into a lot of games with the bases loaded, nobody out and a one-run lead. God couldn't get out of that situation." In 1978, Gossage -went 10-11 with 27 saves in 134y3 innings for New York.

Randy Myers, who. led the major leagues with 45 saves last season, threw 59 innings for Baltimore. Modern closers are "the most statistically pampered class of pro athletes yet seen," Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball's official statistician, said in a recent article for ESPN magazine. Closers cash the big checks and receive the bulk of the credit, while middle relievers these days escape the toughest jams and do the heavy lifting. That development is typically traced to the late 1980s, when Oakland manager Tony La Russa used Gene Nelson, Rick Honeycutt and others to bridge the gap from his starters to Eckersley.

At age 32, Eckersley moved from the Chicago Cubs rotation to the Oakland bullpen and built a Cooperstown-caliber legacy one inning at a time. While Eckersley credits La Russa and Oakland pitching coach Dave Duncan for easing his workload and resurrecting his career, the numbers speak for themselves. In 1992, Eckersley won the American League MVP and Cy Young awards. From 1988-93, he averaged 42 saves a season. He struck out 458 batters and walked 51 in that span.

Given the changing nature of the closer's role, it's only natural that some baseball writ Super Sammy The Cubs fans at Wrigley Field cheer Chicago's Sammy Sosa after he hit his 37th home run of the season on Wednesday night against the Montreal Expos. thletics Ponder Options With Coliseum OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The future of lie Athletics, who have moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland, depends on Section 23.1 (x). That's a clause in the lease between the slub and the Oakland Coliseum giving the A's the opportunity to scrap the current agreement and go to a year-to-year leal that could make it much easier to sell or move the team. The A's, who have been at or near the bottom in major league attendance the last three seasons while cutting their player payroll in half, would like such a year-to-year option instead of their current lease through 2004.

But there's a catch: If A's owners Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann exercise that clause, Coliseum officials will get 120 days to try to sell the team to a buyer willing to promise he'll keep the club in Oakland. And there's a deadline: The A's must decide by the end of July. Of course, it's not that simple. The decision is clouded by a $48 million claim the A's have lodged against the city, the county and the Coliseum, claiming damages based mostly on 1995-96 stadium renovations to lure the NFL's Raiders back to Oakland. Also, while the A's have flirted with cities such as San Jose about a possible move, Coliseum officials have hired a firm to advise it in negotiating the claim for damages and to identify possible buy ers if the A's choose the year-to-year option.

It's just another messy relationship between the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority and its sports tenants. The A's, Raiders and Golden State Warriors, all with renovated stadiums, have had little but complaints and threats for public officials amid poor attendance and losing records. "Nothing about sports is optimistic for me. I'm sorry to say this, but it's really quite a pain," said Mary King, an Alameda County supervisor and chair of the Coliseum authority. "Everything about the ethics around sports entertainment on behalf of owners and cities annoys me." The Athletics were based in Philadelphia from 1901-54, and in Kansas City from 1955-67.

Since moving to Oakland, they have struggled to attract fans and often have been overshadowed by the neighboring San Francisco Giants. In the three decades they've spent in Oakland, the A's have drawn much better on the road (about 22,300 fans per game) than at home (about 17,600 per game). In 1979, they averaged fewer than 4,000 fans per game. Real estate developers Schott and Hofmann bought the team in 1995, signing a nine-year lease with the Coliseum and dismantling a team that won four AL West titles in five years from 1988-92. The new owners reduced the player payroll from $33 million in 1995 to $19 million in 1996.

It's now less than $17 million, the smallest in the AL. The A's accomplished that by getting rid of stars such as Mark McGwire and Dennis Eckersley. The price has been steep, not only in performance Oakland had the worst record in the majors last season but in attendance, which often struggles to reach 10,000. As part of the package that brought the Raiders back to Oakland from Los Angeles in 1995, the Coliseum underwent a $129 million expansion and renovation. It added three decks in the outfield, blocking the wind and turning the pitcher-friendly Coliseum into a launching pad for hitters.

The construction, which went on during A's games, forced the team to move its first homestand of the 1996 season to Las Vegas. Schott complained the A's were "clearly being treated as second-class citizens in the Coliseum." Those renovations led to most of the $48 million claim and hard feelings, which in turn fostered suggestions the A's wanted to skip town. The A's have maintained they want to keep the team in the Bay area. The original deal gave the A's the right to change to a year-to-year lease through the 2000 season, and set a deadline of July 1, 1998. Last month, the Coliseum authority pushed that deadline back to July 31.

Negotiations on the $48 million claim continue. But Oakland vice mayor Igna-cio De La Fuente, who is a Coliseum commissioner, said his dealings with the A's and Raiders have left him wary about getting too optimistic. "I've learned that nothing is realistic," he said. "All these prima donnas are all the same. Everybody wants everything.

I see it as a pattern of that's the nature of the beast." A's president Sandy Alderson was not available for comment about the negotiations. Meanwhile, the Coliseum authority has hired Game Plan LLC, a Boston-based banking and consulting firm specializing in the sports industry. Coliseum authority general counsel Deena McClain said the authority paid $18,000 to Game Plan LLC whose president is Randy Vataha, a former star wide receiver at Stanford and in the NFL on a one-month contract for help in the claim negotiations. If the Raiders choose the year-to-year lease and the Coliseum gets 120 days to find a local buyer, Game Plan LLC will lead that search. "The good news that we heard is that there are very few teams for sale and there are wealthy people who get gratification out of owning a baseball team," King said.

"It appears as though we have a commodity that folks would be interested in." 'Electric' Bat Set to Debut on Diamonds Soon ers are befuddled when they see one on their Hall-of-Fame ballot. "It's difficult because you don't have a lot of historical context with which to evaluate players," said Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "And great numbers for a closer 10 or 20 years ago are so much different than great numbers for a closer now. There are no clear-cut guidelines." Chicago Tribune sportswriter Jerome Holtz-man created the formula for the save rule in 1960. He rates Gossage, Eckersley and Sutter ahead of Lee Smith as Hall-of-Fame candidates, even though Smith is baseball's all-time leader with 478 career saves.

"Goose Gossage was the prototype Holtzman said. "He came in and blew everyone away. Lee Smith was a premier relief pitcher, no question. But I never saw a top reliever throw as many pitches to get as few outs. He was the best-worst relief pitcher I ever saw." Franco, third on the all-time list with saves, said long-term consistency and 350 saves should qualify a closer for Cooperstown.

With more stoppers racking up 40-50 saves in bite sized chunks, only the passage of time will put the accomplishments of a Lee Smith in perspec tive. "The .300 batting average has been a mean ingful standard for 100 years," said Bill James baseball author and statistician. "Saves don'1 have the same cachet, and they shouldn't. "We assume there will be only one or twe Hall-of-Fame third basemen or shortstops frorc each generation. Just because all the all-time save leaders are active right now, that doesn'1 mean there should be seven Hall-of-Famt closers from our generation." NASHVILLE, Tenn.

(AP) On paper, it sounds wonderful. A new "electric" bat promises to give hitters an "unlimited" sweet spot and no more shakes from hitting the ball too close to the handle or near the end. People who have tried the Copperhead ACX from Worth say the bat fulfills its promises. The company says youngsters learning the game will improve faster because they'll get more hits. But is that good for a sport where 20-run games are becoming common? Last month, USC beat Arizona State 21-14 in the College World Series championship.

"How far is technology going to go?" asked Bill Rou-e athletic director at Southwest Missouri State and chairman of the NCAA's baseball rules commit-tee "We don't blame the manufacturers at all. They're doing what they need to do to sell bats. But everybody's got to check on limitations." The Copperhead ACX uses piezoelectric dampers that act as shock absorbers to minimize vibrations. That allows the batter to hit the ball harder, turning popups and weak grounders into solid base hits. A red light in the knob blinks to indicate the dampers are working.

Worth isn't guaranteeing the bat will make hits travel any farther. But Dan Pitsenberger, vice president of research and development for Worth located in Tullahoma, about 70 miles southeast of Nashville said more hits equals more enjoyment. "It's going to make the game more fun," he said. The Copperhead ACX, on sale by mail order and due in stores Aug. 1, will be available for use next season.

It meets NCAA standards and can be used by college and high school players. A smaller version for Little League players may follow. Joe Kruzel, whose University of Toledo players helped test the bat during practice last year, plans to buy at least one for his team. What impressed him most was how comfortable the bat made his hitters. "Confidence is a huge, huge, huge factor in the game of baseball," said Kruzel.

"If a kid gets up there and the only thing he's got to concentrate on is the pitcher, he's going to have a better opportunity." The technology that makes the bat work comes from Active Control Experts, of Cambridge, and is being used in skis, snowboards and mountain bikes. The company also is working with the Air Force to use the dampers to stabilize the tails of F-18 fighter jets. The bat is the latest innova tion from Worth, an 88-year-old family owned company that developed the first raised-seam Softball in the 1940s, introduced the first one-piece aluminum bat in 1972 and manufactured the first graphite bat in 1988. Worth also developed the Reduced Injury Factor (RIF) baseball, a softer ball used in youth baseball. Rowe hadn't heard about the bat until recently.

He is concerned about the impact it and other technological advancements are having on the game. "We have to put some limits on, but we're hesitant to put them on, because we're unsure of how safe or how far we can go," Rowe said. He pointed to the recent rash of major league pitchers hit by balls off wooden bats and said he worries about a pitcher being more seriously injured or even killed by a ball coming off a high-tech bat. "You can almost think it would be a matter of time," he said. Worth, a member of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, is helping the NCAA and other groups fund a study to determine safe limits for bats and balls.

Rowe said it will be at least a year before any data from the study is available. Kruzel said technology is good for the game. He pointed out that the laptop computer he keeps in the dugout allows him to check a batter's tendencies and any number of statistics. "I couldn't do that 10 years ago. Technology has changed so quickly.

I'm just happy that the bat's here now. If it gives amateurs an opportunit' to play this game, then that's what it's there for," he said. The Worth bat will be competing with Easton's Redline and Louisville Slugger's Air Attack bats in the price range..