MINOR LEAGUES : Donnels Is Latest Addition to Mets’ Troubled Infield

COSTELLO: Hey, Abbott, tell me the names of the players on our baseball team so I can say hello to them.

ABBOTT: Sure, Now, Who’s on first, What’s on second, I-Don’t-Know on third . . --Unknown Writer The New York Mets, beset by infield problems all season, have called on Chris Donnels in their latest attempt to disassociate themselves from the famous Abbott and Costello routine.

The former Loyola Marymount standout has been a third baseman for most of his career, but the Mets have a surplus of players at that position. Nonetheless, Donnels has proven to be too good of a player to keep at the triple-A level and the organization has decided to try him at other positions.

“It’s our opinion that (Chris Donnels) is ready for the major leagues, so we have to evaluate where he fits best,” Gerry Hunsicker, the Mets’ director of baseball operations, told Newsday. “We have an incumbent third baseman. So we’re going to explore other possibilities with Chris.”

Donnels has started five games at third for the Mets. With the triple-A team in Tidewater, Va., he played 71 games at third and 16 at second. He also has been practicing at first.

But the Mets have three other capable third basemen--Howard Johnson, Gregg Jefferies and Dave Magadan. Johnson, the incumbent, also plays shortstop, Jefferies has split time between second and third and Magadan has become a fixture at first.

One scenario has Magadan remaining at first, Donnels playing second, either Kevin Elster or Garry Templeton at shortstop and Jefferies moving to the outfield.

So who’s on third?

“When we decided to have Chris work at other positions, we were operating under the theory that Howard Johnson is our third baseman,” Hunsicker said. “Nothing’s changed.”

Except the rest of the infield, which until now, has been a joke.

Cleaning the plate--Tarrik Brock’s new recipe for success includes a bat and a microwave.

Brock feasted on opponents’ pitching and his mother’s cooking as a member of the Hawthorne High baseball team, but has learned to change his diet since joining the Detroit Tigers’ rookie team in Bristol, Va.

“The pitchers (in rookie ball) throw a lot harder and have better breaking balls,” said Brock, who was the Tigers’ second-round pick in the June draft. “I know I’m not a home run hitter so I don’t try to over-swing.”

After a slow start, Brock has a .277 batting average with one home run and 12 runs batted in entering this week’s games.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound Brock, who was offered a scholarship to attend USC, also has eliminated fast-foods from his diet. He now sticks to a simple recipe and prepares most of his meals.

“If it’s not microwaveable, I don’t cook it,” Brock said. “Unless it’s spaghetti. That’s easy to make. I just stick to the basics.”

But Brock, 17, still misses one thing.

“I sure miss mother’s cooking,” he said.

Seeing Red--Cincinnati pitcher Tim Layana, who felt he had been mistreated by the organization, was demoted for a third time to triple-A Nashville on Thursday.

Layana was sent down after experiencing control problems in Wednesday’s 10-9, 13-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves.

“I’ve got a lot of things I want to say, but I’m not,” Layana told the Associated Press Thursday. “I’ll win in the long run. I’m that kind of person. I won’t let any one thing get me down, whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

The former Loyola Marymount player entered Wednesday’s game in the third inning with one out, two runners on base and the score tied, 4-4. He gave up a single to load the bases, then walked the next batter to force in the go-ahead run.

When Layana went to a 2-0 count on light-hitting Rafael Belliard, Reds Manager Lou Pinella walked to the mound and signaled for another reliever.

Layana made the Reds’ opening day roster, but was demoted after pitching only one inning. He was told that the move was temporary and that Reds needed an extra outfielder to replace an ailing Eric Davis. But when the Reds later promoted two other minor league pitchers, Layana staged a two-day walkout. He returned to Nashville and was promoted two weeks later.

Layana has an 0-2 record and a 6.97 earned-run average in his second season with the Reds.

“It’s been a horrible year all around,” he said. “Maybe it’s the sophomore jinx, I don’t know.”

Award-winners--Steve Hosey of Inglewood and Tate Seefried of El Segundo were selected players of the week in their divisions, the first time this season that two players from the South Bay-area have been honored in the same week.

Hosey, who plays for the San Francisco Giants’ double-A team in Shreveport, La., was selected the top hitter in the Texas League. Seefried, who plays first base for Oneonta, N.Y., was selected the best hitter in the Class-A New York-Penn League.

Down and out--Another former Loyola player, infielder Brian Turang, recently suffered a torn muscle in his right forearm and will be out for the rest of the season.

Turang, who had a .180 batting average, played second base for the San Bernardino Spirit, the Seattle Mariners’ Class-A team in the California League.