It’s a Weird Year, But Does Anybody Feel Sorry for Yankees?

News and views from the first week of the second half of the first year of the last decade of the 20th Century:

News: Jose Canseco, fresh off the disabled list, signs the richest contract in baseball--five years, $23.5 million. Before the ink dries, teammate Rickey Henderson renews his claim on enhancements for his four-year, $12-million deal, agreed to just last November.

View: Given his recent back trouble, the A’s record investment in Canseco is scary enough. But now they have to listen to Henderson’s greedy woofing? Alas, conventional wisdom says if Sandy Alderson doesn’t start whispering some sweet dollar signs in the left fielder’s direction, Henderson will play on all fours the balance of the season, as he did frequently as part of the New York Yankees’ pooch corps. With luck, returning to his hometown and being a part of a world championship has improved Henderson’s pedigree.

News: The hitters at the heart of the Giants’ order--All-Star locks Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell and Matt Williams--are on a pace to drive in 100 runs each. The last National League clubs to turn the 100-RBI trifecta were the 1970 Braves and Cubs.

View: Notice the disquieting harbinger there? Neither the Braves nor the Cubs reached the postseason. And with eight losses in their last 11 games--most of them fueled by unreliable pitching--the Giants haven’t enhanced their playoff chances either.

News: Yankees right-hander Andy Hawkins no-hits the Chicago White Sox but loses 4-0.

View: More dismal news for the Yankees? More stains on the proud pinstripes? Is that a tear in my eye? Yes, yes and not on your life. I’ve developed a deep appreciation for anything that annoys George Steinbrenner.

News: In a related story, Yankees outfielder Deion Sanders, hitting next to nothing, is demoted to Triple A. Sources report that “Prime Time” is so offended, he’s decided to re-evaluate this dual-career business and will probably tell baseball to take a hike.

View: Awwwww. Gosh, the game won’t be the same without him. What style. What grace. What a well-practiced trudge to the dugout after strikeouts. Why, it seems like only yesterday Pudge Fisk was lambasting him for not running out a pop-up. Sanders sure will leave some great memories.

News: Milwaukee reliever Bob Sebra plunks Seattle outfielder Tracy Jones. Jones shouts, “Did you mean to do that?” Sebra, with Yasser Arafat’s sense of diplomacy, answers, “Yeah, what about it?” And the benches empty.

View: As long as pitchers are not allowed to bat, scenes like this will not be uncommon in the American League. Better the headhunter should have to take his turn as the prey, as they do in the much more enlightened National League.

News: Bo Kimble, the Loyola Marymount heartthrob, drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers, pronounces himself to be delighted.

View: Surely that was refreshing for Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who has witnessed a series of wonderful drafts followed by injuries, grumbling and the defection to Italy of last year’s No. 2 pick, Danny Ferry. The Clippers deserved a break.

News: The six no-hitters pitched this half-season match the output for all of 1969, which was surpassed only by 1917, in the spitball era, with seven.

View: Is this a weird season or what? For a while, Detroit Tiger Cecil Fielder was on a pace to whack 68 home runs. Lenny Dykstra, a lifetime .268 hitter, flirts with .400. At last count, a whopping 31 major-league regulars were hitting better than .300. By most accounts, it is a hitter’s year. But six times, hitters have come away with nothing. And it seems a week doesn’t go by that somebody doesn’t carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning. There’s only one thing to say about that: Go figure.

News: In separate deals, the Sacramento Kings trade last year’s No. 1 pick and team MVP Rodney McCray to load up for Wednesday’s NBA draft. Then they make history, becoming the first team to draft four times in the first round. Sacramento goes bug-eyed bonkers, sensing it has at last glimpsed a happy future.

View: I like to think of the new guys--Lionel Simmons, Travis Mays, Duane Causwell and Anthony Bonner--as a particularly rich freshman class, talented but inexperienced. They will require nurturing and patience.