Baseball : Orioles’ Cal Ripken Should Be American League MVP

And now for the envelopes, please . . . MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

American League--Strangely, the AL is devoid of a player with dominant statistics. Fifteen to 20 players might receive votes in the official balloting by the baseball writers’ committee. The probable winner is the Milwaukee Brewers’ Robin Yount, likely to be the one player listed near the top of every ballot.

The winner here, however, is Baltimore Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken, whose every-out-of-every-inning presence has provided his very young and surprising team with a sense of stability and leadership. Ripken, however, is not a default pick based only on character. He has 21 homers, 93 runs batted in and fewer errors, eight, than every regular AL shortstop except Tony Fernandez, who has six in fewer chances.

Other than Ripken and Yount, the leading candidates in a wide-open category are Fred McGriff of the Toronto Blue Jays, Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland Athletics, Ruben Sierra of the Texas Rangers, Bo Jackson of the Kansas City Royals, Nick Esasky of the Boston Red Sox and Bert Blyleven of the Angels.

National League--No such quandary here. The San Francisco Giants’ Kevin Mitchell has such commanding numbers in the glamour departments--home runs, RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage and extra-base hits--that he is the obvious pick.

Teammate Will Clark, a great hitter who gets a degree of help from having Mitchell behind him, would be a lock in any other year. So might Pedro Guerrero of the St. Louis Cardinals, Ryne Sandberg of the Chicago Cubs, Howard Johnson of the New York Mets and Eric Davis of the Cincinnati Reds.

CY YOUNG AWARD

American--Bret Saberhagen of the Royals has lowered his earned-run average to such a stunning level and been so superior to Oakland’s Dave Stewart over the second half that it’s impossible to vote for Stew, despite his three straight seasons of 20 or more wins and consistent success as a stopper of Oakland losing streaks.

National--Mark Davis, with his 43 saves and pivotal importance to the San Diego Padres’ success, gets the nod here over the Houston Astros’ Mike Scott, who won 20 but struggled in the second half. In fact, Cub reliever Mitch Williams, with 36 saves, might deserve to be considered ahead of Scott.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

American--Amid the do-or-die pressure of late relief, the Orioles’ Gregg Olson, coming off only a partial season at the double-A level, has set a rookie record with 27 saves and not given up a run since July 31, separating himself from the other freshman candidates: Jim Abbott of the Angels, Tom Gordon of the Royals and center fielder Ken Griffey of the Seattle Mariners.

National--The Mets’ Gregg Jefferies was the ballyhooed favorite and finally performed up to expectations in the last two months, but Cub center fielder Jerome Walton did more of everything--and for a longer period, winning the nod over Jefferies and teammate Dwight Smith.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

American--Frank Robinson is the choice based on the Orioles’ stunning turnaround, but it isn’t automatic. Doug Rader gave the Angels a new direction, Cito Gaston defused the tense atmosphere of the Toronto clubhouse and Tony La Russa kept the A’s on a repeat track, despite major injuries.

National--Don Zimmer’s unpredictable strategy and unhesitating use--overuse some claimed--of his bullpen helped the Cubs overcome an early season run shortage and a season-long rotation shortage on their way to a division title. The San Francisco Giants’ Roger Craig, a close friend of Zimmer’s, is his only challenger.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

American--The A’s Sandy Alderson aggressively pursued free agent Mike Moore to strengthen an already strong pitching staff, then boldly traded for a leadoff hitter named Rickey Henderson, a missing element for the A’s.

Pat Gillick of Toronto and Mike Port of the Angels deserve consideration, but Alderson repeats in this category, as his team did in the West.

National--The Cubs’ Jim Frey was buried by critics when he traded Rafael Palmeiro to the Rangers for relief pitcher Williams in a nine-player December deal. But Williams’ saves have enabled Frey to enjoy the last laugh, and subsequent trades for role players Lloyd McClendon, Luis Salazar and Marvell Wynne helped cement executive laurels for the Cubs’ general manager.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR

American--Seldom have one season and one league produced as many bona fide comeback candidates. There are Blyleven and Kirk McCaskill of the Angels, Dave Parker of the A’s, Jeffrey Leonard of the Mariners, Jim Eisenreich of the Royals and Bud Black of the Cleveland Indians.

Parker, Leonard and Blyleven produced MVP-type numbers, but the biggest turnaround was Blyleven’s. He went from 10-17 to 16-5 and an ERA among the league leaders, becoming his club’s stopper and clubhouse leader in the process. In fact, it is impossible to separate Blyleven’s revival from the Angels’.

National--Atlanta outfielder Lonnie Smith, having weathered drug suspension, minor league exile and the pride-swallowing ordeal of begging for a job, goes into the season’s final games with 21 homers, 79 RBIs and a .315 batting average, the league’s third best.

Smith’s comeback edges out that of Philadelphia Phillie shortstop Dickie Thon, who lost partial vision in a beaning several years ago, as the most dramatic. Guerrero and former Dodger teammate Fernando Valenzuela deserve consideration.

PLAYOFFS

American--If the A’s don’t win this in five games they should be made to study La Russa’s video tapes and chart books every day for the entire winter. They have far superior pitching and personnel to Eastern Division champion Toronto. The East was a joke this year, and the stretch stumble of the Blue Jays and Orioles was even more hilarious.

National--The Cubs and Giants should put on an offensive show, considering the suspect state of their rotations. Both appear to have only two reliably healthy starters: Rick Reuschel and Scott Garrelts of the Giants, and Greg Maddux and Mike Bielecki of the Cubs, who are hoping that Rick Sutcliffe can give them a third.

Reuschel, the former Cub, likes to pitch in Wrigley Field, which is a plus for the Giants, who have two others named Clark and Mitchell. It has been their year and should continue to be, although it won’t be easy. Tab the Giants in seven, resulting in a Bay Area World Series, which the A’s will win in five.

POSTSCRIPTS

Angels--The Angels’ surprising success--dulled some by a historically predictable September swoon--should not tempt management to stand pat. That would be a fatal mistake in a division dominated by a team that again produced the best record in baseball, despite the loss of Jose Canseco for half a season, and Mark McGwire, Walt Weiss, Storm Davis, Bob Welch and Eckersley for varying periods.

The A’s will be aggressive again, romancing Mark Langston, the most attractive free agent. The Angels should follow suit.

Langston would provide depth to a rotation that was the most exciting aspect of the Angels’ season, making Mike Witt available in a trade for the one thing the Angels need most: a power hitter of the Canseco-McGwire mold, a 25-homer, 100-RBI outfielder whose acquisition would allow Chili Davis to become a designated hitter, strengthening the defense.

The one power hitter certain to be available is the Cleveland Indians’ Joe Carter, who has burned his bridges in Cleveland and will be traded a year before he can leave as a free agent.

There has also been some mention of Yount, who is eligible for free agency this winter, but Yount has said that if he plays next year it will be in Milwaukee and nowhere else.

Carter would fit the Angels’ bill, but the more dramatic, more potentially productive move, would be an all-out bid for Eric Davis, who yearns to leave Cincinnati and return to Southern California, where his presence would also attract close friend Darryl Strawberry when Strawberry becomes a free agent after the 1990 season.

Do the Angels have enough to deal for Davis? The question is: Do they have enough brass? A package including Witt, one of the two second basemen--Johnny Ray or Mark McLemore--and, perhaps, a prospect would also have to include Devon White. And why not?

Eric the Red’s potential has been proved. His statistics in the last two seasons are among baseball’s best. White’s potential is still only talk. As an American League scout said in Milwaukee the other night: “There is no way a switch-hitter with White’s speed and talent should hit .250 or less.”

Yet that’s what White, ending his ninth season in pro ball and third in the majors, is hitting.

The potential, the talent, have been diluted by his undisciplined approach at the plate and what seems to be a disturbing lethargy in his overall play recently.

Would the Reds accept this package? How will the Angels know if they don’t try? In a division that includes the A’s, there are six teams that have to try harder.

Dodgers--Call 911. The Dodgers, as seldom before, are an emergency case.

True, the battery is still strong with Mike Scioscia behind the plate and a pitching nucleus of Orel Hershiser, Tim Belcher, Ramon Martinez, John Wetteland, Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Morgan and Jay Howell.

True, Alfredo Griffin, 32, and Willie Randolph, 35, are probably capable of another respectable season at shortstop and second base, and Eddie Murray, 33, can probably generate enough streaks to produce decent--you want more for only $2.5 million?--numbers again.

But then what? The Dodgers are still without a leadoff hitter and center fielder, their primary needs through the 1989 season. The bench, so productive during the miracle of 1988, has to be rebuilt. The third baseman, Jeff Hamilton, remains an enigma. The outfield is a shambles.

Right fielder Mike Marshall played his customary 100 games and is contracted for two more years at $2.2 million. Given his contract and pattern of availability, it is doubtful he can be traded.

Kirk Gibson and Kal Daniels are coming off knee surgery, the fifth for Daniels. If both are ready, who plays? Or does one, Gibson presumably, move to center? Why not Venus de Milo?

Jose Gonzalez? The Dodgers seem unenthusiastic. John Shelby and Mike Davis? An attempt might be made to sign both for considerably less money than they have been making, but Shelby has slipped so far offensively and Davis has played so little the last two seasons that neither represents an answer to the Dodger crises.

And, sadly for the club, neither does the farm system, which still does not have a possible position player on the 1990 horizon. The Dodgers, like the Angels, must consider signing Langston, and then trading a proven pitcher for a hitter such as Carter.

Pitching is their only area of depth, their only possible trade value.

Can Fred Claire make enough pitches in one winter to solve the Dodger problems? It doesn’t seem possible.