BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Red Sox Relegate Curse to Archives

Virtually assured of the American League East title, the Boston Red Sox have been a study in resiliency, redemption and rapid response.

Frequent injuries and occasional ineptitude have prompted the Red Sox to employ a team-record 49 players, including a team-record 25 pitchers.

In beating back the favored New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox, perhaps, have become a team that can also cope with The Curse that has haunted New England since 1920, when Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees only two years after the Red Sox had won the World Series.

It was the last World Series the Red Sox have won, the cursed events enough to chill even Stephen King, one of their most faithful fans.

There was Johnny Pesky, the relay man, perhaps holding the ball too long in the 1946 World Series and Bucky Dent--Bucky Dent?--hitting that home run in the 1978 division playoff and Bill Buckner resembling a King goalie as that ground ball trickled between his legs in the signature moment of the 1986 Series.

Mo Vaughn, Boston’s most valuable player candidate, reflected at Anaheim Stadium Thursday night and said:

“I know all about the past, but this is a different team. We don’t believe in curses and we’re not about burying memories.

“Babe Ruth is dead. There are no ghosts. And I don’t consider this a team of destiny. You win because you work hard and play together, and this is a team that does.

“We expect to win, and that’s the attitude you have to have when you win a championship. We’ve had injuries, but we’ve never given up, laid down, waited for it to fall apart. We’ve tried to take it to the other team every night. Curses? The only reason Boston didn’t win a World Series for all those years was because it wasn’t the best team. We believe this is our year.”

Who would have believed it when the unresolved labor situation wiped out the free agent agreements General Manager Dan Duquette had reached with John Wetteland, Kevin Appier and Sammy Sosa last winter?

Have the Red Sox been lucky as well as good? Definitely.

Mike Port, Duquette’s assistant and the former Angel general manager, said no one could have anticipated the extent to which some of the acquisitions have contributed.

“But Dan has a knack for identifying guys on the brink of doing good things, of recognizing players with something to prove and the ability still to do it,” Port said.

“Rather than dwell on what might have been [with Wetteland, Appier and Sosa], he was prepared to go back to square one and retool.”

In a much less expensive and dramatic fashion. Pitchers Erik Hansen and Zane Smith were signed out of the Homestead, Fla., camp--Camp Fehr as it was known--for homeless free agents. Reliever Stan Belinda, released by the Kansas City Royals, was working the alfalfa on his Pennsylvania farm when Duquette called. Tim Wakefield? He was running out of quarters when the Red Sox answered affirmatively, providing he first visited knuckleball gurus Phil and Joe Niekro.

There is much more to the Boston story, but this will do:

--Wakefield and Hansen are a combined 26-6, while Roger Clemens and Aaron Sele, the rotation aces who have been plagued by injuries, are 7-5.

--Belinda is 8-1 with nine saves, a reliable influence on an erratic bullpen.

“We have several players who have seized an opportunity and made the most of it in an environment conducive to winning,” Manager Kevin Kennedy said. “By consistently pitching into the seventh inning or later, guys like Hansen and Wakefield have given the offense a chance to relax and perform. I don’t know if there are any other explanations.”

The Red Sox are in Seattle for a weekend series--they return to Anaheim on Monday for a potential playoff preview of three games--and have won 15 of their last 17 and 24 of their last 32. Clemens is 100% and Sele and Smith are about to come off the disabled list. The Red Sox could soon replace Cleveland as the team with the best record in the major leagues.

“To be at that point with everything we’ve gone through is a credit to the players and the flexibility of the front office,” Kennedy said. “Our priority is to win the division, but we’d also like to have the respect that goes along with the best record. We felt all along that if we got healthy and stayed healthy, we were capable of putting a run together.”

It has taken a record number of players to reach this point, with the likelihood that the Red Sox will have to divide more than 50 playoff shares, but who’s counting?

“As soon as we start talking about that stuff we’ll go into a long losing streak,” Vaughn said. “Anyway, I think I’m getting one of the full shares.”

KARROS BANDWAGON

MVP authority Barry Bonds, his own bid for a fourth award thwarted by the tendency of pitchers to work around him because of the absence of injured Matt Williams behind him, makes Dodger first baseman Erik Karros the MVP favorite in the National League--followed by Mike Piazza, Ron Gant and Reggie Sanders.

Bonds was three for 24 and 10 for 54 through Saturday, chasing bad pitches as his average fell to .290 and the walks--93 in 105 games--keep coming. Williams may return to the San Francisco Giants lineup this week, but Bonds, who has 25 homers and 75 runs batted in and still feels he has a shot at 30 homers and 30 stolen bases, said humbly: “It may be too late for me, but not for the team--and I’d take that.”

WHO’S ON THIRD?

Craig Worthington, obtained in a deal with the Cincinnati Reds, became the Texas Rangers’ fifth third baseman--the other four hit .217 with three home runs and 28 RBI in 249 at bats--since Dean Palmer tore a biceps on June 3, at which point he was hitting .330 with nine home runs. The addition of Worthington and the return of Juan Gonzalez from his latest bout with a bad back should strengthen the Rangers’ bid for an AL wild-card berth, although reliever Roger McDowell, the former Dodger, wonders why his team is thinking wild card rather then division title.

“It stinks,” McDowell said. “We’re not playing to be a wild card. We’re still almost two months from the end of the season. We already know who is going to win the division? I didn’t see where anyone had given a pennant to the . . . Angels.”

ASTROS APPROACH

The wild card races have not had a dramatic impact at the gate, but they have spawned dozens of trades and roster moves, including the Houston Astros’ decision to break with philosophy and add $1.3 million to this year’s payroll in the form of closer Mike Henneman while sending Phil Nevin, the first player selected in the 1992 draft, to the Detroit Tigers.

Nevin, the former Cal State Fullerton third baseman who hit .117 in 60 at-bats with the Astros this year, had worn out his Houston welcome with a series of disagreements and temper displays. Said General Manager Bob Watson: “The young man can play, but his attitude left a lot to be desired.” Manager Terry Collins called it a step in the right direction, an indication the Astros are willing to pay any price for a championship.

Perhaps, but can they survive the ongoing absence of Jeff Bagwell, who is recovering from a broken hand and not expected back until early September?

The Astros were 7-11 and averaging 3.4 runs without Bagwell through Friday’s series opener with the Cincinnati Reds. Said infielder Dave Magadan: “We’re all putting too much pressure on ourselves to pick up the slack.”

TIGER TRACKS

With the addition of Nevin and pitcher C.J. Nitkowski, obtained in the deal that sent David Wells to Cincinnati, the Tigers have acquired two recent No. 1 draft picks--Nitkowski being the Reds’ first choice in 1994.

Whether the youth movement will prompt Sparky Anderson, in the final year of his contract, to remain as manager is doubtful.

His relationship with General Manager Joe Klein is tenuous at best, and he burned bridges by pulling out of the replacement camp.

Sources say Anderson also has an eye on the managerial opening with the Phoenix expansion team. Pete Runnels, who manages Detroit’s triple-A Toledo team, remains Anderson’s likely successor, although former Chicago White Sox manager Gene Lamont may be in the picture.

Anderson has a rotation that includes four pitchers 25 and under: Sean Bergman, Felipe Lira, Jose Lima and Nitkowski. This is one time he isn’t predicting they will all become Cy Young.

“Everybody is saying they’ll be good because they’re young. That ain’t going to happen,” Anderson said. “The chances for failure are better than the chances for success. You got four, you get one out of it and you’re doing good.”

With Travis Fryman a fixture at third base, Nevin will be tried in left field.

“I don’t care if he gets hit on the head with the ball, he’s going to get a chance to show what he can do in the outfield,” said Anderson, who probably won’t have to worry about it next year anyway.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

The St. Louis Cardinals completed a 1-8 trip Wednesday, their only victory by forfeit in Los Angeles. “There’s a fungus among us,” outfielder Bernard Gilkey said of the Cardinals’ deteriorated state.

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The Western Front: The San Diego Padres do not play a team with a winning record again until the last two weeks of the season, when they play 10 of their last 13 games against the Dodgers and Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are in the process of playing 23 of their last 43 games at Coors Field, where their pitchers’ ERA of 5.85 is two runs higher than it is on the road, but their record is 32-19. Said reliever Darren Holmes: “The one stat that counts is wins and losses, and we’re obviously more confident we can win at home.”

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Add Padres: Tony Gwynn revealed this week that he is playing with a broken right big toe, requiring that his foot be taped to the shoe to reduce sliding, friction and bruising. Big toe? Big deal. Gwynn had hit .401 in his last 59 games through Thursday.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates will not give Paul Wagner an opportunity to lose 20 games this year. Wagner was 1-11 and the Pirates were 2-16 for his 18 starts when removed from the rotation Monday. Said Manager Jim Leyland: “He’s out. Out. Out. Out. O-U-T.”

Wagner won his first relief appearance Friday night.