The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 747

BASEBALL 80 SUNDAY MARCH 22 1992 THE MIAMI HERALD Problems continue on JRS mound ODDS AND ENDS Who's hot: Andy Stankiewicz came to the plate with the bases loaded and the Yankees down 10-8 the bottom of the eighth Stankiewicz then hit a grand off Jesse Cross to win the game Who's not: Reliever Russ Springer who allowed five runs in three innings SIDELINES fix up but no wa it's even close "You bounce a ball and it goes real high and makes this thud you know? I've never heard that sound before" The constant drone of complaints has been something new for officials with JRS and the Marlins "We want to be fine-tuning the field in January-February '93 that's when it really counts" Mon said "If there are anv kinks it's best that thev happen now instead of next April hen we tee it up for real" Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga who also owns 50 percent of JRS said Saturday that he wasn't bothered by the stadium problems of the past two days "People here did a nice job this year" he said "We got behind on construction but it's just one of those things It shouldn't take awav from the fact that South Florida has major league baseball Hopefullv we'll learn from this incident" Throughout the two days of confusion at JRS Showalter has been most diplomatic pointing out that the mistakes will be corrected with time and emphasizing his belief that JRS will prove a fine place for baseball But after Saturday he said the delays and uncertainty had gotten in the way of his job "I certainly don't need it" he said "I've gotten a lot of ground crew duty the last couple days I didn't know that was part of the job" And yet with all the emphasis on landscaping the inconsistent infield remained more like a mine field Saturday Both teams declined to take infield practice for the second day and though there were no mishaps like Rafael Belliard's face injury the improved surface still invoked more caution than praise "It's still bad" said Yankees infielder Randy Velarde "No way it's major-league material I'm not saying it's impossible to By SL PRICE Herald Sports Writer The worked all night clear through to sunrise Saturday in a starlit hustle to patch up Joe Robbie Stadium Crews raked and watered and tamped down the infield dirt men consolidated the four disastrous bullpen mounds into two usable hills Then everyone from stadium manager Glenn Mon to Marlins President Carl Barger held their collective breath while the ultimate critics the ballplacrs pronounced the verdict Thumbs down For the second straight day South Florida's major-league baseball park had trouble living up to the name For the second straight day officials considered canceling the Yankees exhibition at JRS because of substandard field conditions this time a poorly-packed pitcher's mound Bu the game did go on the Yankees came back with six there and pitch" Of course that slipping was the last thing Yankees Manager Buck Showalter wanted to see Friday's brouhaha involving the bullpen mounds prompted him to switch starters for Saturday sending the sore-backed Melido Perez to Sarasota and substituting Martel But he didn't want Martel hurt either and he knew the 23-year-old right-hander would have pitched in hell Saturday if it meant impressing the Yankees After countless adjustments and hesitation everyone agreed to play on And everything went as well as it could under the circumstances Martel pitched four strong innings walked no one surrendered four hits and an earned run Unlike Friday night there was no time limit put on the game Saturday's seven relief pitchers actually warmed up on the bullpen mounds and survived Still the weekend's problems took their toll eighth-inning runs to beat the Minnesota Twins 13-10 before 18653 and one reason was because New York starter Ed Martel battling for a big league job had no intention of giving up the ball "The umpire Ken Kaiser said 'We're not going to make you throw if ou don't want to' Martel said "I said 'It's not a want" I wanted to figure a way to fix it so I could get out there You had to pry me off there today" So for 20 minutes Saturday they delayed the start of the Yankees-Twins exhibition while groundskeepers hauled out buckets of clay and dirt to the mound Every couple of minutes the keepers would lean on their rakes as Martel tried to throw home The first few times his left foot would slide on the landing area Not that he'd let on that it bothered him "I'd just say 'No no it's fine" Martel said "I'd pitch I'd slip I just wanted to get out Twins star-p- Willie Banks who is battling for a spot in the Minnesota rotation helped himself Saturday going four innings and giving up just two hits and one earned run Unlike Yankee starter Ed Martel Banks refused to allow the mound problems to bother him "(Martel was beaten before he threw the first pitch" said Banks "He had it in his mind that the mound was garbage But you just have to pitch well with whatever you have" CLEARING THE BASES SPRING UPDATE Braves 1 Mets 0 TEXAS RANGERS ATLANTA A DAILY TEAM-BY-TEAM SUMMARY OF SPRING TRAINING NEWS NEW YORK ab Gllaghrlf 3 ab 4 0 10 SQUEEZE PLAY rTTl Maaqer Bobby Rangers are ready to flex bats But lack of pitching is a major drawback NL EAST CARDINALS: Tom Pagnozz says he wants to catch all 162 Valentine intends to keep 12 pitchers hoping that a bunch of bad can Sasser Rndlph2b Bonilla rf Johnson cf Murray lb McCray pr McKng lb Magdn ph Pecota ss Donnels 3b OBnen Nixon cf Wggoner If Sanders Berengr Pndletn 3b Manto 3b Hunter 16 Lyons rf Olson Cabrera Castilla ss Baker ss Carabai 2b Leibrndt Esasky ph Freemn Moore cf bi 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 3 0 10 4 0 0 0 3 0 10 10 0 0 3 111 10 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 10 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 games "I think I can do it" Pag-nozzi said "Shoot we've got 1 9 Colemn ph 1 oil days built in How about the mental strain? "Aw I'm already brain-dead" he said be pieced together to make something good Texas would be the only team in baseball to keep so many arms The starting lineup is set but the pitching overload means that there are only four remaining bench spots and 18 players brawling for them Francop 0 Schourk 1 Elstcrph 1 Burke 0 Boston II a 32 1 7 1 Totals Totals CUBS: There were 324 players in the majors last season who started their pro careers since 000 010 000-' 000 000 000 -0 Atlanta New York IN) INSIDERS SAY 1986 Only eight were signed Pecota Donnels DP-New York 2 LOB-Allanta 6 New York 5 2B-Nixon Hunter HR-Castilla (1) SB-Sanders (8) McCray 2 (6) S-Randolph IP ER BB SO originally by the ubs the lowest total among all organizations General Manager Tom Grieve insists he is not shopping OF Ruben Sierra but admits that tAKUi: Philadelphia Dailv 1 News writer Jayson Stark on the ATLANTA Leibrandt Wl-2 Freeman Berenguer S2 NEW YORK Schourek L0-3 Burke Expos chances to win: "Thcv need the immediate establish By DAN LE BATARD Herald Sports Writer PORT HARLOTTE Fla The old balding guy over there is just about the biggest Texas Rangers fan around He is wearing a Rangers cap a Rangers T-shirt and now a smile because the topic has turned to this Texas offense The subject brings out the accent in his Southern-soaked speech "There is not a better lineup in baseball not active anyway" the old balding guy is saying "It is comparable to the Big Red Machine in the late '70s or the Oakland A's of the early '70s The best way to describe it is that there is nobody nobody who can throw a fastball too hard for Franco ment of the one-team Nationa League East Canadian division' HBP-by Burke (Sanders) Sierra is hardly untouchable The price tag is starting pitching preferably someone's ace The Phillies have expressed an interest offering LHP Pat Combs (2-6 490 ERA) That noise you hear is Grieve laughing SPRING SURPRISE METS There's no such thing as A-6669 Saturday's linescores TIGERS 6 REDS 2 a typical 14-run inning But that 14-spot the Mets put up against 100 001 000-2 9 1 000 000 51X-6 6 0 Cincinnati Detroit the Rovals Tuesdav was about as Sanford Charlton (6) Hill (7) Dibble (8) and Reed Wilson (7) Terrell Knud-sen (7) W-Knudsen 1-0 Hill 2-1 HR-Carreon (3) DH Brian Downing 4 1 has four home runs in I 5 fc 3 18 at-bats No one in PIRATES 3 TWINS (SS) 1 baseball has more this 102 000 0OO-3 9 0 100 000 000-1 5 2 Pittsburgh Minnesota (ss) Neagle Palacios (5) Roesler (7) Belinda (9) and Prince Guthrie Kipper (6) Aguilera (8) and Harper Parks (9) W-Neagle 2-1 L-Guthrie 1-1 Sv-Be-linda (1) ASTBOS 5 ROYALS 2 spring 1 Monty Farris has hit two homers but Rafael Palmeiro is entrenched at that position and there is no room on the bench for anyone one-dimensional WEIRD HAPPENINGS this team" The words mean something extra coming from this old balding guy because his name happens to be Nolan Ryan This is Ryan's kind of team all right because it hits the same way he throws hard and often and with all the finesse 000 001 001-2 6 1 100 040 000-5 7 1 Kansas City Houston Rangers pitchers Boddicker Heaton (6) Aquino (7) Magnante (8) and Mayne Blair Boever (3) Mallicoat (5) Schilling (7) Murphy (8) and Tucker Taubensee (7) Blair 1-0 L-Boddicker 0-2 HR-McReynolds (1) CARDINALS 3 ORIOLES 2 GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE SPRING TOUR i IShA LMM have led the league in walks the past six seasons a fact that frus walks sons 000 010 010 2 7 1 000 00 1 02X-3 8 0 Baltimore St Louis Mussina Williamson (6) Flanagan (8) and Hoiles Dempsey (7) Osborne Ballard (6) Compres (8) Perez (9) and Pag-nozzi Prybyllnski (9) W-Compres 1-0 Flanagan 1-1 Sv Perez (1) RANGERS 4 PHILLIES 2 100 000 010-2 6 0 000 000 OOx-4 8 1 Philadelphia Texas AL EAST BLUE JAYS: Toronto has won three AL East titles the past seven years and finished two games out three other times "Yet we're considered losers" said 3B Kelly Gruber "It's unfair" Gruber knows that a World Series title which has eluded the Javs would silence the critics BREWERS: One scout citing injuries to the pitching staffs in Milwaukee and San Francisco said the stadiums in those cities are to blame "In no other park does the wind whip right through the pitchers" The Brewers arc planning a new stadium they hope is ready by 1995 INDIANS: The Tribe will start the season with no players older than 31 or making more than Si million per season Since 1991 GM John Hart has dumped the salaries of Keith Hernandez Greg Swindell Tom Candiotti and others "My job was to get a top young player at every position and let them grow together I think we've done that Now all we need is to add pitching I think these kids may develop faster than anyone might imagine" ORIOLES: LHP Arthur Rhode 22 one of baseball's top prospects is being compared to a young Vida Blue with a better curve RED SOX: Sighted on a T-shirt in Arizona: "Will Rogers never met Jack Clark" TIGERS: Detroit led the majors in homers last season with 209 The flip side is that its hitters struck out 1185 times an AL record AL WEST ANGELS: Former 2B Bobby Grich who has been out of baseball for five years has been hired as a special assignment instructor ATHLETICS: The A's have 12 players who in the last year of their contracts and eligible for free agency after the '92 season The 1 2 are Dave Stewart Dennis Eckersley Mark McGwire Harold Baines Terry Steinbach Carney Lans-ford Ron Darling Rick Honeycutt Gene Nelson Willie Wilson Randy Ready and Jamie Quirk MARINERS: LF Kevin Mitchell has really hustled this spring But he came in at least 25 pounds over his "official" weight of 210 So next to his name on the team weight chart it says only: "$5" which is how much they're fining him for every pound he's overweight RANGERS: RHP Bobby Witt he of the great stuff and not-so-great control showed both Saturday He walked the bases loaded in the first and then battled out of the jam by allowing just one run and one hit in four innings ROYALS: OF Chris Gwynn on what it was like trying to end the Mefs' 14-run inning last week: "Remember when you were in high school doing your algebra and there was only one right answer and you kept getting six or seven different answers but you could never come up with the right one so you kept going and going and going till you found it? Well that's what that inning was like We just kept trying to find what A equaled" TWINS: A 3-1 spring loss to the Pirates Saturday was no big news trates Valentine so much he implemented a bizarre rule this spring: Anyone who walks two consecutive batters immediately gets yanked from the game Can you imagine Nolan Ryan walking the first two batters on Opening Day and being pulled? Valentine will never have to answer that question He dropped his experiment two weeks into spring The pitchers were walking so many people they weren't getting enough work to be ready for the start of the season GOING GOING GONE? Abbott BJones (7) MWilliams (8) and Daulton Lindsey (7) Witt Bannister (5) McCullers (7) Rosenthal (9) W-Witt 1-0 L-Abbott 1-2 Sv-Rosenttial (2) BLUE JAYS 9 RED SOX 5 National League Pet San Francisco 11 5 688 Cincinnati 1 1 6 647 Montreal 10 7 588 St Louis 8 7 533 Houston 9 8 529 New York 7 8 467 Chicago 8 10 444 Los Angeles 7 9 437 Atlanta 7 9 437 Pittsburgh 7 10 412 Philadelphia 6 10 375 San Diego 5 10 333 American League Pet Baltimore 12 4 750 California 10 5 667 Cleveland 8 7 534 Texas 9 8 529 New York 9 8 529 Detroit 8 8 500 Toronto 8 8 500 Boston 8 9 471 Minnesota 8 9 471 Milwaukee 8 10 444 Seattle 7 9 437 Oakland 6 8 429 Chicago 8 11 421 Kansas City 6 11 353 Split-squad games (ss) count in standings ties do not Saturday's results NY Yankees (sj) 13 Minnesota (ss) 10 Yankees (ss) Chicago White Sox 6 Atlanta 1 New York Mets 0 Los Angeles I Montreal 2 Detroit a Cincinnati 2 Pittsburgh 3 Minnesota (ss) 1 Houston 5 Kansas City 2 St Louis 3 Baltimore 2 Texas 4 Philadelphia 2 Toronto 9 Boston 5 San Olego 7 Seattle 4 Chicago Cubs 4 San Francisco 3 California I Milwaukee 1 Cleveland I Oakland 4 Friday's results Atlanta 5 NY Yankees 5 tie Boston 5 LA 4 Montreal 7 Minnesota 5 New York Mets 10 Houston 5 Baltimore 9 Toronto 5 Kansas City 5 Chicago White Sox 4 Detroit 8 Philadelphia 3 Pittsburgh 5 St Louis 0 Cincinnati 6 Texas 5 Oakland 9 San Fran (ss) 5 Chicago Cubs (ss) 3 Cleve 2 11 innings California 6 Milwaukee 4 San Diego 4 Seattle 1 San Fran (ss) 2 Chicago Cubs (ss) 1 Today's games NY Yankees vs Phlla at Clearwater 1:05 pm NY Mets vs Atlanta at WP 1 :05 pm Montreal vs LA at Beach 1:35 pm Texas vs Baltimore at St Pete 1 :05 pm Toronto vs Boston at Haven 1 :05 pm Houston vs On at City 1:05 pm St Louis vs Pitt at Bradenton 1:05 pm City vs Del at Lakeland 1:05 pm Minn vs White Sox at Sarasota 1:35 pm Oak vs Cubs at Mesa Ariz 3:05 pm Mil vs SD at Yuma Arlj 3:05 pm Clev vs SF at Scottsdale 3:05 pm Sea vs Cal at PS Calif 4:05 pm Yankees 13 Twins 10 mIHnIsoYA HIwV6fi! ab ab bi Mack if 5 2 2 0 BWHmsrt 4 3 2 0 Hill 3b 4 3 2 James It 4 1 3 1 Puckettcf 4 2 3 3 Mttngly lb 4 0 12 Bruett cf 0 10 0 Ausms ph 0 10 0 Bushrf 5 0 2 4 Hall dh 2 0 0 0 Brltodh 4 0 2 1 Snow lb 2 2 2 1 Larkin lb 5 12 0 Hayes 3b 5 2 2 1 Qulnons 2b 4 0 0 0 Velarde 2b 4 0 2 1 Gllbert2b 1 0 0 0 Stkwci2b 12 14 Webster 30 10 Stanley 3 0 0 0 Sheaffer 110 0 Leyrlti 2 12 1 Lelusss 5 0 2 0 GWIImsrf 5 0 11 Slvstri ss 5 110 Totals 41 Totals 41 13 17 12 Minnesota (ss) 100 031 140-10 MOW York (A-SS) 100 0)1 441-13 E-Velarde 2 Bruett DP-New York 2 LOB-Minnesota 8 New York 8 2B-Puckett James Larkin Hayes Webster 3B-BWIIIIams Velarde HR-Puckett (1) Stanklewlcz (1) SB-Velarde (1) Hayes (1) SF-Brlto IP ER BB SO MINNESOTA Banks 4 2 1113 Edens 2 4 2 2 1 3 Willis 1 6 4 4 0 1 Wayne 1-1 1-3 3 4 4 1 1 Cross 2-3 2 2 1 0 1 NEW YORK Martel 4 4 110 1 Springer 3 8 5 5 2 2 ClaytonWl-0 1 4 4 4 1 0 Stanford Sl 1 0 0 0 0 1 HBP-by Banks (BWIIIIams) WP-Sprlnger PB-StanleyT-3: IS 18653 Dodgers 8 Expos 2 BXWitlB MONTREAL ab bi ab bi Butler cf 2 0 10 DeShlds2b 4 0 10 Webster cf 1 1 0 0 Haney 2b 0 0 0 0 Hansen 3b 4 2 2 0 Carter ph 10 0 0 Daniels lb 2 10 1 Grlssomcf 3 0 0 0 Karros lb 1 0 0 0 Stairs If 3 0 10 Javier rf 4 2 2 1 Wettelnd 0 0 0 0 Goodwn rf 1 0 0 0 Wallach lb 3 1 0 0 Harris If 4 12 1 Canale lb 10 0 0 GSmlthJb 1 0 0 0 Walker rf 30 10 Samuel 2b 3 1 1 1 Reed rf 10 0 0 Mondesi If 1 0 0 0 Barberl 3b 2 10 0 Hernndz 3 0 0 1 Cerone 2 0 10 Piazza 1 0 0 0 Sampenp 0 0 0 0 Andersn ss 4 0 11 VndrWI ph 10 12 KeGrossp 2 0 0 0 Roiasp 0 0 0 0 Morrow ph 1 0 0 0 Alou If 10 0 0 Gott 0 0 0 0 Owen ss 3 0 0 0 Rodrlgzph 0 0 0 0 Foley ss 10 10 Wllsonp 0 0 0 0 Martinezp 100 0 Astaclop 0 0 0 0 Fletcher 30 10 Totals 35 I 9 6 Totals 33 2 7 2 Los Angeles 030 020 300-8 Montreal 000 002 000-2 E-Sampen DP-Los Angeles 1 Los Angeles 6 Montreal 8 Butler Samuel Hansen Foley Vander Wal SB-Butler (3) Javier (2) SF-Dan-lels IP ER BB SO LOS ANGELES KeGrossW3-l 5 4 0 0 1 4 Gott 2 2 2 2 3 1 SWIIson 1 0 0 0 0 1 Astaclo 1 1 0 0 0 0 MONTREAL Martinez L3-1 4 5 3 3 12 Sampen 2 12 0 11 Roas 1 2-3 3 3 3 2 2 Wetteland 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 HBP-by Martinez (Hansen) A-4145 000 002 012 5 11 0 080 001 00X-9 10 2 Boston Toronto Morton Ptympton (2) Dopson (4) Cer-uttl (7) and Flaherty Wedge (7) Key Trllcek (6) Plunk (8) Ward (9) and Borders W-Key 2-1 L-Morton 0-2 PADRES 7 MARINERS 4 WTLM OF Gary Pettis The goofy as it gets The Mets had scored 21 runs all spring in 102 innings going into that wild sixth inning Then they scored 14 in one inning on six hits seven walks and two errors They wound up scoring 21 runs in three innings and winning 21-7 "I never had a two-touchdown lead before" said Manager Jeff Torborg PHILLIES: The Mitch Williams stat of the week: Thanks to that inimitable delivery of his the Wild Thing actually has more career errors (12) than putouts (10) PIRATES: Since the end of last season the Pirates have lost or traded Bobby Bonilla John Smiley Bill Landrum and Neal Heaton Said Manager Jim Leyland: "They gave me a five-year contract and I guess they want to find out if I'm worth it" NL WEST ASTROS: OF Eric Anthony who flopped as a rookie last year doubled twice and drove in four runs Saturday BRAVES: OF Deion Sanders (371) is making a big bid for playing time LHP Charlie Lei-brandt (1-2) who entered Saturday's Mets game with a 720 ERA pitched six shutout innings DODGERS: Does Darryl Strawberry love to haunt the Mets or what? Counting spring training Strawberry is 17 for 52 against his old friends with eight homers and 16 RBI If he kept that up over 600 at-bats it would project to 327 92 HRs 185 RBI GIANTS: Ex- Giants Terry Kennedy a visitor during spring training is working toward a degree in economics at Cal State San Marcos PADRES: RHP Greg Harris had himself an afternoon Wednesday that won't rank on his list of all-time great spring-training memories His pitching line: 1 IP 9 10 10 ER 3 BB 1 "Worst outing of my life" Harris said REDS: Since Marge Schott became owner in 1984 the Reds have drafted just one player who has become a star SS Barry Lar-kin Schott of course was the woman who once said: "Why do we need scouts?" Compiled by WALTER VILLA 000 100 003 4 6 0 011 320 00X 7 15 1 Seattle San Diego Rangers are actively trying to trade him because Miamian John Cange- Hanson Barton (5) Acker (6) Vande Berg (7) Jones (8) and Bradley Sinatro (5) Benes GWHarris (4) Hernandez (9) and Lampkin Benes 1-0 L-Hanson 2-1 HR-San Diego Clark (4) Seattle Lennorf (1) of a runaway rhino Offensively anyway these Rangers are as tough as a Texas tornado capable of leaving a pitcher disoriented even before the baseballs start screaming past his skull "The pitcher who gets careless is going to have a bad time" warns center fielder Juan Gonzalez "We've got an offense that just mauls people" Gonzalez is at the heart of a Rangers quartet that calls itself the Amigos The Fantastico Four works just as well for Gonzalez first baseman Rafael Palmeiro second baseman Julio Franco and right fielder Ruben Sierra four Latin players who speak only Spanish with each other off and on the field and are pretty fluent in hitting totx 'A beautiful thing' "There is a union there" said Gonzalez born and raised in Vega Baja Puerto Rico "It is a beautiful thing" This is beautiful too: The Rangers scored more runs last year than anyone in baseball 829 in all or an average of more than five a game Homer-happy Detroit with 817 runs was the only other team to score more than 800 Check this out: Milwaukee's Paul Molitor had more than 200 hits and scored more than 100 runs last year In all of baseball there were only three other players to do this Their names are Sierra Franco and Palmeiro "There is no limit to what we can do offensively" Palmeiro said "We're just going to outslug people We'll be like the Dolphins used to be losi can perform the same services for less money Pettis and Cangelosi play too much alike for both of them to be around at the end of spring ANGELS 2 BREWERS 1 100 000 000-1 7 2 000 100 10X-2 4 1 Milwaukee California Eldred Elvira (5) Orosco (7) and Sur-hoff Ailanson (6) Grahe Bailes (6) Lewis (7) Crim (8) Harvey (9) and Fitzgerald Lewis 1-2 L-Orosco 0-1 Sv-Harvey (3) Late Friday GIANTS (SS) 2 CUBS (SS) 1 Chicago (N-ss) 000 00 000-1 8 0 San Francisco (ss) OOP 010 01x-2 8 1 GMaddux McElroy (6) and Villan-ueva Swift Heredia (6) Jackson (8) and Manwaring Lake (7) Jackson 1-0 McElroy 0-1 PADRES 4 MARINERS 1 010 ru 000-1 3 1 004 OOx-4 8 1 Seattle San Diego Johnson Ge Harris (6) Scnooler (7) and Valie Lefferts Rodriguez (7) Clements (9) and BiiaroeMo Lampkin (7) W-Lefferts 2-0 L-GeHarris 0-1 Sv-Clements (1) HR San Diego Jackson (1) terious headaches before games Truth be told the Rangers probably would have traded Sierra who is in the final year of his contract if they had landed Tartabull but Gonzalez is on a roll now Please get out of his way "Geez we would have been better than great" he says "We would have been insane" Pitching problems The problem with the Rangers this year as always is pitching The staff allowed more runs last year (8 14) than any other team in baseball No other team allowed as many as 800 During a club-record 14-game winning streak last year Texas averaged eight runs a game The pitching staff had a 400 earned-run average during the streak The Rangers have brought 26 pitchers to spring training this year an inordinately high number They are so desperate they've dusted off such guys as Floyd Bannister Don Carman and Lance McCullers a threesome that combined for exactly zero victories last year Todd Burns another invitee was much better in 1991 He won one game Beyond Ryan who turned 45 in January and pitched fewer innings last year (173) than he had in more than a decade the staff is a riddle Jose Guzman Kevin Brown and Mike Witt are penciled in but Guzman (308) is the only starter with an ERA under 400 "We have fragile pitching" Sierra said "We can't have confidence in the pitching We have to hit We lose when we don't hit The pitching has to respond this year We can't score eight or 10 runs every game" Why not Ruben? Why not? Coming Monday: Twins BASEBALL TRIVIA in football If they score 31 we 11 just score 35" Franco raised in San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic won the American League batting title last year with a 341 average Palmeiro a Miamian who was born in Havana hit 322 with 26 home runs and drove in 88 runs And Sierra raised in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico coupled a 307 average with 25 homers and 1 16 RBI Gonzalez seems wimpy by comparison with his 264 average but he had 27 homers and 102 RBI "If our pitching holds up we can't be stopped" Gonzalez said "We don't even need good pitching just average pitching We're going to put up four five six runs a game at least" Gonzalez would like to remind you that Texas was very close to signing free-agent outfielder Danny Tartabull also a Miamian this off-season If Tartabull had become Texas' designated hitter Gonzalez suggests opposing pitchers would have suddenly started coming down with mys- Among current NL hitters who have played 500 or more games Tony Gwynn (sur HOME SCHEDULES Upcoming home games for the Yankees (Fort Lauderdale) Braves and Expos (West Palm Beach) Mets (Port St Lucie) and Dodgers (Vero Beach) Today Mets at Braves 1:05 Expos at Dodgers 1:35 Monday Expos at Mets 1:05 Royals at Dodgers 1:35 Tuesday Yanks at Braves 1:05 Dodgers at Mets 7:40 Wednesday Expos (SS) at Braves 1:05 Expos (SS) at Dodgers 1:35 but hitting against ex-1 win Denny Neagle was Neagle a rookie traded last week allowed one run in four innings and got the victory He walked three and gave up two hits WHITE SOX: The irony of Bo Jackson's badly injured hip which may end his career is how well he was hitting this spring He was four for seven with three RBI prise surprise) owns the highest career batting average at 328 Who is second? A Pedro Guerrero (302) The rest of the top 10: Will Clark (302 just percentage points behind) Willie McGee (298) Mark Grace (297) Barry Larkin (294) Dave Magadan 294) Eddie Murray (292) John Kruk (291) andLonnie Smith (291).