BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Key Number for Rangers Remains 45

The opening week of the major league season produced a stunning series of strains, sprains and shattered bones.

Compared to a broken wrist or dislocated shoulder, Nolan Ryan’s injuries don’t sound that serious, but don’t tell it to the Texas Rangers.

“At 45, it’s impossible to say that this or any injury is not career threatening,” Ranger Manager Bobby Valentine said.

Added pitching coach Tom House: “We’re in unchartered waters. There’s not a lot of track record on how to handle 45-year-old pitchers.”

The beginning of the end? Too soon to tell. But the calendar finally may be closing in on baseball’s oldest pitcher and future Hall of Famer.

Ryan, whose fastball registered 94 m.p.h. on the speed gun, was forced out of Monday’s opening-night assignment against the Seattle Mariners in the fifth inning when he aggravated leg injuries in the midst of a botched defensive play by the Rangers.

He was subsequently put on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained muscle in his left calf and acute tendinitis in his right Achilles’ tendon.

“It’s disappointing to be throwing that well and then have something like this come up,” Ryan said. “My legs have always been as important to me as my arm, and any injury at this point is serious because I don’t have the luxury of time (and a long rehabilitation).”

Ryan visited Lewis Yocum, the Angels’ orthopedic specialist, in the aftermath of the injury, was told to do nothing for five days and will see Yocum again this week.

It is the fourth time Ryan has been on the disabled list since May of 1990 after going on only nine times in his first 22 seasons. Shoulder problems put him on twice last year when his 27 starts and 173 innings were his fewest since 1971.

Privately, the Rangers say they are worried about the increasing frequency of his injuries and don’t put stock in the initial prognosis that he will be out only two to three weeks.

“If you’re talking about a 21-year-old, maybe,” Valentine said of that estimate. “I think Nollie will bounce back, but it’ll take a little longer. It’s a shame to have a leg problem when his arm was working so well.”

Pitching is critical for the powerful Rangers, who led the majors in runs scored and runs allowed last year and started this season by burying the Mariners under 50 hits and 38 runs in a four-game sweep.

How strong is the Texas lineup? The Rangers routed the Mariners despite the absence of second baseman Julio Franco, the defending American League batting champion, who is on the disabled list because of a knee injury.

“We’re obviously not going to average 10 runs a game, but we’re capable of doing damage in every inning, and that’s something people are going to have to deal with,” Valentine said.

Last season, Texas pitchers undermined the productivity of the offense. In Seattle, at least, Kevin Brown, Jose Guzman and free agent Jeff Robinson complemented the attack with strong starting performances. Brian Bohanon, a 23-year-old right-hander who was 4-3 in 1991 after recovering from shoulder surgery, will replace Ryan, so to speak.

“I think we have some depth and maturity now and that it won’t affect us adversely,” Valentine said of the impact of Ryan’s loss. “We don’t have to cross our fingers anymore and hope a kid from double A can make the jump like we’ve had to do in the past.

“Nollie deserved the honor of pitching the opener, but Brown and Guzman are our Nos. 1 and 2 even when he’s healthy.”

Ryan, of course, isn’t concerned about who is No. 1 or 2. The most significant number in the wake of this latest injury is 45.

OUCH!

There are more than 80 players on the disabled list, and the opening week has been akin to a demolition derby.

In the most serious of the injuries, broken wrists claimed Toronto Blue Jay rookie-of-the-year candidate Derek Bell, Philadelphia Phillie center fielder Len Dykstra, and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Andres Galarraga, whose teammate, second baseman Jose Oquendo, went down with a dislocated shoulder.

Those were definitely the blues being heard in St. Louis. The Cardinals opened the season with five players on the disabled list--right fielder Felix Jose, reserve infielder Geronimo Pena, and pitchers Joe Magrane, Frank DiPino and Scott Terry.

They added one more on each of the first three days of the season.

Oquendo, who had never been on the disabled list in eight seasons, was hurt diving for a ball Monday, Galarraga was injured when hit by a pitch Tuesday, and Bryn Smith went on after lasting only 2 2/3 innings because of an elbow problem Wednesday in a start against the New York Mets.

With several key players not expected to return until late May or early June, Manager Joe Torre looked on the positive side.

“At least we’ll have the best-rested team in the second half. We’re not going to run out of gas in September,” he said.

In a revamped lineup, Pedro Guerrero will return to first base from left field, Bernard Gilkey and Milt Thompson will platoon in left, and three players recalled from Louisville even before that team had opened its American Assn. season are now starting in St. Louis.

They are pitcher Rheal Cormier, second baseman Luis Alicea and right fielder Brian Jordan, who has had only 406 at-bats in five minor league seasons while pursuing his primary career as strong safety for the Atlanta Falcons.

In that capacity, of course, Jordan is a teammate of cornerback Deion Sanders, who has opened the ’92 season as the starting center fielder for the Atlanta Braves while Otis Nixon sits out the final 16 games of his drug suspension.

The two Falcons, contracted to play only half a season of baseball, often take batting practice together in the back-yard cage at Sanders’ Atlanta home. Both have suggested they could end up in baseball on a full-time basis.

INSIDE PITCH

Galarraga suffered his broken wrist when hit by a pitch from the Mets’ Wally Whitehurst. Dykstra broke his when hit by a pitch from the Cubs’ Greg Maddux. Shane Mack of the Minnesota Twins suffered a concussion when beaned by former Angel Mike Fetters, now with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Is it all indicative of a new aggressiveness by pitchers, who have been under frontal attack by hitters in recent years whenever they work inside?

Lee Thomas, Philadelphia general manager, said it is too soon to tell, but he says he thinks Maddux was just doing his job and not throwing at Dykstra.

“I don’t like guys getting hurt, and I don’t condone them getting hit,” he said. “But I like the idea of pitchers working inside, and it seems like we went through a period when they didn’t. A pitcher has to work inside or he’s going to get ripped.”

Thomas comes from the old school with a temper that earned him the nickname of Mad Dog. He may not have minded that Chicago pitchers hit five of his batters during the three-game series opening the season, but he probably didn’t care for the fact that his Philadelphia pitchers didn’t once hit a Cub batter as a show of support for their own.

Of course, there are always two views of pitching inside. A week ago today, on the final Sunday of the exhibition season, the relationship between Bay Area managers Tony La Russa of the A’s and Roger Craig of the Giants dissolved over that issue.

In the eighth spring meeting between the teams, familiarity bred contempt when Jose Canseco of the A’s was hit by a pitch, and Mark Leonard and Royce Clayton of the Giants were then hit.

“We were pitching inside, but they were throwing inside,” Craig said. “There’s two different ways of managing.”

Responded La Russa: “That’s weak . . . he’s talking. It’s beneath his stature as a manager. I had more respect for him. It really irritates me.”

ADD PHILLIES

The loss of Dykstra and the news that Jose DeJesus, a 10-game winner who was expected to be No. 3 in Philadelphia’s rotation, will probably be out for the season because of a rotator injury, was eased somewhat by the club’s improved depth under Thomas.

Notably, the December trade that sent Von Hayes to the Angels for outfielder Ruben Amaro and pitcher Kyle Abbott has taken on greater significance for the Phillies. Abbott made his first start against the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night, and Amaro, in his first start as Dykstra’s replacement, helped beat the Cubs on Tuesday with a home run and two doubles.

It remains a mystery to many how the Angels, hoping to rebuild with the speed of an Amaro and faced with a pair of rotation vacancies that Abbott might have helped reduce, could give up two of their top prospects for a 33-year-old outfielder who failed to hit a home run while playing only 77 games last season because of injuries.

Thomas, however, cautioned against a rush to judgment.

“School is still out,” he said of the trade. “Can Abbott pitch regularly in the majors? Can Amaro play regularly? The Angels don’t know and neither do we, but we’re going to find out. We’re going to give them the chance.”