COMMENTARY : Now Baseball Can Make News Between Foul Lines

Welcome back, and sorry about that seventh-inning stretch that lasted, oh, about eight months. Baseball begs your forgiveness. If we’re all extremely lucky, maybe they’ll even finish what they start this time.

The players and owners return for real Tuesday, 23 days late. They come back a little poorer and perhaps no wiser. Those winter regulars Donald Fehr and Bud Selig have been pushed to the back of sports sections, for the moment anyway. Too bad we haven’t heard the last of them. There is no peace, just a temporary ceasefire.

Let’s hope Fehr and Selig can put aside differences and dollar signs long enough to complete this season, long enough to enjoy and celebrate what’s great about the game, long enough to play the first World Series since 1993. For the time being, baseball is what counts, not bargaining.

Thankfully, tiresome posturing about treble damages won’t be heard in coming months. Back is refreshing chatter about triple plays. The words “replacement players” are hereby stricken. Good riddance. Now, we speak only about platoons and reserves.

For a sport so often ripped for its slow pace, things moved awfully fast the past couple of weeks. Let’s try to catch up on some of the new twists.

The Toronto Blue Jays acquired a Cone and the Boston Red Sox have many new heads, including Jose Canseco who once used his to knock a ball over a fence. The San Diego Padres signed aging pitchers Teddy Higuera and Fernando Valenzuela and the Cleveland Indians got someone really old, Dave Winfield, who may play like 33 instead of 43 now that he’s with those stacked Indians. Winfield’s counterpart, Andre Dawson, went home to play in Florida, where he will have to test his ravaged knees in the outfield again.

Michael Jordan got tired of all the bull and returned to the Bulls. Bo Jackson’s artificial hip finally gave out, so now he’ll try acting. Meanwhile, that other two-sport star Deion Sanders will try to follow his Defensive Player of the Year honors with an MVP. Must be the money.

Jim Abbott, an all-time good guy, will wear black for the Chicago White Sox. Terry Mulholland will wear a major-league uniform with the San Francisco Giants and may even pitch their opener, which is a surprise to anyone who saw him pitch for the Yankees. The X-Man, Xavier Hernandez, also avoided becoming an ex-pitcher, signing with the Cincinnati Reds. Even Mike Maddux found someone to employ him, those poor Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hill now is a Cardinal, Valle a Ranger. Jackson is a Cardinal, Browne a Marlin. Black is wearing red with the Indians. Brown will don orange as an Oriole. Black Jack will wear pinstripes and no Fu-Manchu.

The Wild Thing is in staid, straight-laced Orange County, Calif., with the Angels. Perhaps he can lend his name to a ride at nearby Disneyland. Jefferies will team with former Mets teammate Lenny Dykstra. Maybe they’ll like each other more this time.

The Yankees brought Tony Fernandez back to see if he enjoys New York better the second time. Long Islander Pete Harnisch came home to be a Met.

The large markets are loaded. With McDowell and new closer John Wetteland, the Yankees look as strong as in the days of Reggie and the rest.

Fans of the small-market Seligs will need a scorecard. Their roster resembles last year’s New Orleans team. The Expos are looking a little thinner, too, without Wetteland, Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill and Larry Walker. Felipe Alou may have to wait until July before he manages any All-Stars.

Without revenue sharing, parity went out the window. Anybody who can pick a winner in the AL West wins a prize.

Todd Zeile has a new position, moving from third base to first. So does Gregg Jefferies, who goes from first base in St. Louis to left field in Philly. Dave Nilsson trades his catcher’s mitt for a first baseman’s glove. Dean Palmer and his 22 errors stay at third base for Texas, and all those folks in the front rows had better take cover.

The former Royals Stadium, which changed its name last year to Kauffman Stadium, now has changed its face. Real grass has replaced synthetic turf in baseball’s most beautiful park. Their fans had better enjoy the new scenery because they won’t have much to cheer.

The Rockies have a new stadium, Coors Field, to hold all their long-traveling fans, plus a couple new millionaires, Larry Walker and Bill Swift, to help them forget they’re still expansionites. The Padres have new ownership, thank heavens. Tom Werner returns to sitcom work, where the laughs are intentional.

Welcome back Toronto Blue Jays, those -- don’t look now Yankees fans -- defending world champions. Kind of. The Blue Jays are the only team to defend a World Series trophy after finishing 16 games out the year before.

The Jays will try to forget what happened last year, and so will the rest of us.

This season might be even better, and hopefully it will be longer. One hundred ten games from now, history will happen. It is up to Cal Ripken, Jr., about as dependable as sunrise. He will break Lou Gehrig’s unbreakable record of playing 2,130 straight games, and it will have nothing to do with Ripken being the luckiest man on Earth.

Ripken’s old buddy Eddie Murray will become the 20th player to amass 3,000 hits. On that day he may crack a smile. Nobody else will reach 3,000, but Paul Molitor will get a heck of a lot closer. With only 144 games scheduled now, most seasonal records are safe. Nobody will threaten Roger Maris’ home-run mark. Too bad we never got see whether Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Matt Williams or Barry Bonds would have surpassed that mystical mark last year.

The Hall of Fame ceremony will have a distinctly Philly flavor, with Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt making it to Cooperstown. Good choices, yes, but it’s doubtful they can match Phil Rizzuto in the speechmaking department.

How about a couple Southern Californians, Tim Salmon and Raul Mondesi, for MVP? We’ll take Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson for Cy Young. Big predictions those.

Chipper Jones could become the first player to win Comeback Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year simultaneously. Alex Gonzalez should do better in his second shot at shortstop with Toronto and take AL honors.

Norm Charlton and Frank Viola try to return from Tommy John surgery. Dion James returned from Japan. The troubled duo of Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden will attempt to get back any way they can.

Some more predictions: Brady Anderson will make spectacular diving catches. Devon White will make his standing up. Cecil Fielder will hit long home runs. Frank Thomas will have long at-bats.

Tony Gwynn will threaten .400. Matt Walbeck will threaten .200. Dykstra will walk a lot. Tommy Lasorda will talk a lot. Bobby Witt will have trouble finding home plate. Bret Saberhagen won’t.

Mike Stanley will be baseball’s most underpaid player, at $562,500. Danny Tartabull will be the most overpaid, at $5.1 million. And speaking of contracts, maybe Fehr and Selig will even get back to the bargaining table.

With any luck, Don Mattingly will play in his first postseason. Ozzie Smith may play in his last.

Let’s all hope they get that far.