BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : These MVPs Overcoming Thin Air and a Big Monster

The envelope please . . .

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

American League: 1. Mo Vaughn, Boston; 2. Edgar Martinez, Seattle; 3. Albert Belle, Cleveland.

Comment: Yes, Belle’s statistics would be impressive even in a 244-game season, but an astounding amount of what he has done has been done since the Indians clinched the Central Division title. Closer Jose Mesa was probably Cleveland’s MVP before that. Vaughn has been a steady force from the start, the one consistent run-producer for a division champion initially predicted to finish behind New York and Baltimore.

National League: 1. Dante Bichette, Colorado; 2. Barry Larkin, Cincinnati; 3. Eric Karros, Dodgers.

Comment: To say that Bichette should be devalued because he played half his games at Mile High Coors Field is to devalue anything accomplished in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field or Fenway Park or the Kingdome.

How many home runs did Babe Ruth and Roger Maris wedge into the short porch at Yankee Stadium? Does anyone remember the cozy dimensions of Shibe Park and Ebbets Field, for instance, before most of the old parks were demolished?

Yes, three other Rockies also have more than 30 home runs, but Bichette leads the league or is near the lead in virtually every offensive category, driving a third-year team to the brink of the playoffs.

CY YOUNG

American: 1. Randy Johnson, Seattle; 2. Mesa; 3. Mike Mussina, Baltimore.

Comment: Not only does Johnson lead the league in ERA, strikeouts, winning percentage, shutouts and lowest opponents’ batting average, .202, but the Mariners are 24-3 when he starts.

National: 1. Greg Maddux, Atlanta; 2. Pete Schourek, Cincinnati; 3. Hideo Nomo, Dodgers.

Comment: None necessary.

ROOKIES

American: 1. Marty Cordova, Minnesota; 2. Garret Anderson, Angels; 3. Andy Pettitte, New York.

Comment: Anderson has a big lead in batting average, but would he if he had played a full season? It’s interesting to project Anderson’s power numbers--impressive even for the number of games he has played--but some things get overlooked with Cordova. He is tied for the league lead in outfield assists. He has 19 stolen bases to go with 23 homers, 80 RBIs and a .277 average. He has done it in the middle of a miserable lineup.

Anderson came up while the Angels were scorching and fed off it, another hot hitter on whom pitchers couldn’t concentrate. Amid the struggle of the last six weeks, however, his execution at times has contributed to the Angel problems.

National: 1. Nomo; 2. Chipper Jones, Atlanta; 3. Jason Bates, Colorado.

Comment: I am not convinced about this. Normally I would give it to the everyday player. Jones switched to a new position, stepped into the big shoes of third baseman Terry Pendleton and was probably the most consistent hitter in a lineup that did not hit up to expectations.

In this case, however, Nomo was a beacon for baseball, a force for the Dodgers and the pitcher that NL hitters most hated to face, as illustrated by their league-low .181 average against him and his league-high strikeout total, about 45 more than Maddux.

OTHERS

Rookie Pitcher: American--A contentious category that includes Troy Percival of the Angels, Brad Radke of Minnesota, and Julian Tavarez and Chad Ogea of the Indians, but Pettitte wins a close nod. He came up big for the Yankees, his 11 victories compensating for the loss of Jimmy Key. National--Nomo.

Comeback Player: American--Tim Wakefield, Boston. National--Ron Gant, Cincinnati.

Manager: American--Lou Piniella, Seattle. National--Don Baylor, Colorado.

Executive: American--Dan Duquette, Boston. National--Jim Bowden, Cincinnati.

BELLE RINGER

It is the normal pattern for players to experience a letdown after their club clinches a title, but the Cleveland left fielder went into the final weekend having hit 13 of his 49 homers and driven in 17 of 125 RBI since the Indians clinched the Central crown on Sept. 8.

Said General Manager John Hart: “I’ve never seen a player this hot for this long. Never. It’s like he’s swinging at Little League fences.”

With three games left, Belle had 16 home runs in September, 30 in the last two months alone. He had hit 13 in his last 47 at-bats through Thursday, an average of one every 3.6 at-bats, which projects to 139 homers over 500 at-bats.

No club begins the playoffs with more exciting players than Cleveland or more unwilling to talk about it. Good club. Bad clubhouse.

Belle? Kenny Lofton? Eddie Murray? Don’t ask, because generally they won’t answer.

Lofton, who has won the league’s stolen-base title each of his first three years, started the final series against Kansas City in a tie at 50 steals with former Dodger Tom Goodwin, the Royals’ center fielder.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Lofton told Cleveland writers.

Get the drift?

MANAGERIAL MOVES

The season ends with at least 10 managerial positions unsettled. The one certainty: Sparky Anderson will not be back with Detroit. An announcement of a mutual parting is expected Monday.

There is buzz about Anderson returning to Cincinnati, but that’s at odds with the yearlong blueprint. Owner Marge Schott bowed to General Manager Bowden in allowing Davey Johnson to remain at the helm in ‘95, but only with the understanding that assistant manager Ray Knight, who recently bought a house in Cincinnati, would take over in ’96.

The probable availability of Johnson and possible availability of the Oakland Athletics’ Tony La Russa, who has 10 days beginning Monday to exercise an escape clause in a contract that extends through ‘96, spice the already intriguing managerial market, because both would be considered candidates in:

--Baltimore, if the Orioles fire Phil Regan with a year left on his contract.

--St. Louis, if Mike Jorgensen returns to his developmental position, as expected.

--Chicago, if Cleveland coach Buddy Bell is not hired to replace interim White Sox Manager Terry Bevington.

Aside from Detroit, where triple-A manager Tom Runnels remains the top candidate to replace Anderson, the American League may have changes in Baltimore, New York, Oakland and Chicago.

Aside from Cincinnati in the National, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston and Los Angeles may change.

If Jim Leyland becomes available, he will join La Russa and Johnson at the top of the most-wanted list--particularly in St. Louis--but speculation is that Kevin McClatchy’s bid to buy the Pirates will prove successful, prompting Leyland to stay.

It’s also conceivable that San Diego could make a change, although Bruce Bochy has been asked back and is expected to stay despite the anticipated departure of General Manager Randy Smith.

Tom Lasorda?

The question is, who would replace him? A conundrum for Peter O’Malley.

Reggie Smith? Sources say that the hitting instructor is not interested. Bill Russell? People familiar with Dodger thinking hint he no longer seems to be the top candidate, although it’s not clear if he was or why that would change if he was.

A sleeper scenario? Lasorda returns for one more year, maybe two--he will be 70 in 1997--with Mike Scioscia joining the 1996 coaching staff as manager in training.

PLAYOFF FORECAST

Tab Cleveland’s thunder and Atlanta’s pitching.

Division series: Cleveland over Boston, and Seattle over New York in the American League. Dodgers over Cincinnati, and Atlanta over Colorado in the National.

League championship: Cleveland over Seattle in AL. Atlanta over Dodgers in NL.

World Series: Indians over the Braves, with Native American protests in both cities and Belle, Lofton and Murray still not talking.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Manager Dusty Baker would much prefer to have his San Francisco Giants be something more than spoilers on this final weekend, but the extended absence of Matt Williams and Robby Thompson during the season, the financially motivated departures of Bill Swift, John Burkett and Mike Jackson before it started and the shuttle employment of 25 pitchers (many of whom had little or no major league experience) marred what chance the Giants had. Now Baker bristles at rumors hitting coach Bobby Bonds and pitching coach Dick Pole could become scapegoats for the frustrating season.

“Coaching staffs don’t get dumb all of a sudden,” said Baker, referring to the accolades Bonds and Pole received in ‘93, when the Giants won 103 games.

However, a last-place finish with a $35-million payroll translates to more changes, and there are whispers that even shortstop Royce Clayton, a Los Angeles product, could become a non-tendered free agent, which would have to interest the Dodgers, who would move Chad Fonville to second and allow Jose Offerman and Delino DeShields to become non-tendered free agents.

It’s all out of Baker’s control. “Unless you’re a big money market team like Los Angeles and Atlanta,” he said, “it’s difficult to predict the future any more. The danger in modern baseball is that if you make the wrong economic decision based on economics, you can go from the top to the bottom in a hurry.”

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Two of baseball’s hottest pitchers down the stretch--Pat Rapp of the Marlins and Alex Fernandez of the Chicago White Sox--won’t be working in the playoffs. Rapp is 14-7 overall with an 11-2 record and 2.30 ERA in his last 16 starts. He currently has a 24-inning scoreless streak. Fernandez is 7-0 with a 1.41 ERA in his last 10 starts. His overall record of 12-8 and 3.95 ERA is testimony to his previous struggle, part of the reason the club has employed three pitching coaches this year.

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The Oakland A’s are apparently again distressed about Rickey Henderson, whose sore back has kept him out of the lineup during the final week, another in a series of aches and pains for the 36-year-old left fielder who made $4.5 million this year and is a free agent after today.

“To me, the light that keeps coming on is that his body may be played out,” Manager Tony La Russa told John Hickey in the Oakland Tribune. “He hasn’t been able to play week to week. I have no doubt that he’s sore. I’m not trying to be ugly, but if he plays next year, based on what has happened in the second half of the season, he’s a part-time player. So unless you’re the richest club in America, you’ve got to pay him part-time money.”