Boggs Believes Someone Will Again Hit .400, but It Probably Won’t Be Him

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox, who led the American League with a .368 average last year, says it may be possible to hit .400 but he probably won’t do it.

“It’s only possible if you barely qualify for the batting title,” he said. “But it’s not possible for someone who plays every day, who gets around 600 at-bats. Guys just don’t walk 150 times anymore.

“They had good relief specialists when Ted Williams hit .400, but that probably has a little to do with it, the way they get fresh arms in there all the time today.”

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ricky Horton to third baseman Terry Pendleton: “How come you guys never make fun of Willie McGee?”

Pendleton: “.353.”

Horton: “I guess that’s a pretty good reason.”

Met Manager Davey Johnson picks the best at each position in the major leagues: pitcher Dwight Gooden, catcher Gary Carter, first base Don Mattingly (over his own Keith Hernandez), second base Ryne Sandberg, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., third base Mike Schmidt and outfield . . . “boy, that’s a tough one” . . . Dale Murphy, Willie McGee and Rickey Henderson.

If he had to chose one player, any player, to start a team, would it be Gooden. “I don’t know,” Johnson said. “It would sure be nice to have a guy that could play 162 games and drive in 140 runs.”

Joel Davis, a 21-year-old right-hander, could be the fresh, new arm on the Chicago White Sox’s pitching staff in 1986. “We just keep sending him out in his regular turn, and we’ll see if there’s a spot for him,” Manager Tony LaRussa said. “The way he’s been going, it looks like there might be.” Davis was 3-3 in 11 starts with the White Sox last year.

Without 21-game winner Joaquin Andujar, the St. Louis Cardinals may have a problem, but it may be the same problem they had with him at the end of last season, when he finished 1-5. “Andujar started to pitch badly. Kurt Kepshire went bad,” second baseman Tommy Herr said. “We can’t be any worse off now than we were then.”

John Tudor of the Cardinals, who feuded with the press during the World Series, says: “At the World Series, there’s a lot of media there that shouldn’t be. A guy works for a paper for a long time, and they use the tickets as a reward . . . those type of guys are the ones you run into trouble with.”

The Minnesota Twins were 77-85 last year, tied with Oakland for fourth place in the American League West, but they finished the season 50-50 for Ray Miller after he replaced Billy Gardner as manager. “I think we proved under me that we could contend,” Miller said. “The thing that hurt us was lack of quickness and we needed relief help.”

The Twins got Billy Beane from the Mets for speed in the outfield, and pitchers Bill Latham from New York and Roy Smith and Ed Romero from Cleveland to help Ron Davis in the bullpen. “Davis did the job for me,” Miller said. “He had 21 saves in 22 opportunities.”

Red Sox Manager John McNamara believes catcher Rich Gedman is still improving. “Give him a year or two, and he’ll be the best catcher in baseball,” McNamara said.