BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : The Rangers Are Strangers to Lofty Status

The Texas Rangers were originally the Washington Senators, but not the original Washington Senators.

Those Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961, becoming the Twins, and have produced a fair amount of small-market success.

The next Senators, like the Angels, were created by the first expansion in 1961. They moved to Arlington, Tex., 11 years later, becoming the Rangers, and have yet to qualify for the playoffs.

It is the second-longest such drought in major league history. The St. Louis Browns went from 1902 until 1943 before playing their first postseason game.

Off to an impressive and surprising start, the Rangers took a major step this week in trying to convince themselves and their skeptical supporters that they are capable of shedding that historical baggage.

They swept a three-game series from the Cleveland Indians in Arlington, opening a 5 1/2-game lead in the American League West and vaulting 15 games over .500 (34-19) for the first time since July 1979.

“I think our players have always believed in themselves, but the fans here will always wonder if the team is for real because they’ve gone through so many disappointments before,” General Manager Doug Melvin said.

“There’s a long way to go, but I think the sweep has built enthusiasm and confidence to a level it hasn’t been at before.”

Third baseman Dean Palmer agreed, telling reporters that beating the Indians is “a different kind of confidence builder because they represent the best.”

Designated hitter Mickey Tettleton called it a major accomplishment, saying, “I think what was established was a feeling of mutual respect. I think we surprised everyone except ourselves, but talk to me in October. That’s when it’s going to be big.”

The Rangers have 108 games left and are playing it cool, but they might have left a mark on the American League champions, having beaten them in four of six games in a two-week span while outscoring baseball’s most powerful team, 40-32. And they did it without injured Juan Gonzalez or others in their regular lineup.

The Rangers know they can play with the Indians, and that long-range impact might have been on Mike Hargrove’s mind when the Cleveland manager flung his uniform around his clubhouse office after the Rangers had completed the series sweep Wednesday night.

Said Texas Manager Johnny Oates, “It can be a problem if you put too much emphasis on a series in May. There’s just too far to go.

“I mean, I’m not going to call [my wife] and tell her to start spending [playoff shares], but I do think it was important, from a confidence standpoint, to play well against this type team.”

The Rangers finished third in the West with a 74-70 record last year. They were ninth in the league in batting, eighth in pitching and fourth in defense. Pitchers Ken Rogers (17-7) and Bob Tewkesbury (8-7) left as free agents, as did center fielder Otis Nixon, who hit .295 and stole 50 bases.

No one could have predicted the Rangers would complete a third of the new season with 34 victories and a 14-5 record against the Indians, New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, or that they would rank second in pitching and batting and third in defense before Saturday’s game.

Melvin, the former Baltimore Oriole executive in his second year at the Rangers’ helm, said pitching and defense “have kept us in games.”

Pitching? A rotation of Ken Hill, who pitched for St. Louis and Cleveland; Roger Pavlik, Kevin Gross, Bobby Witt and Darren Oliver was 40-49 last year. But Hill, signed as a free agent to replace Rogers, has the best ERA in the league, and Pavlik is 7-1.

In addition, Texas has had to go outside its rotation for a starter only once, and the starters have gone six innings or more in 42 of 53 games, which has kept the bullpen fresh.

The Rangers have a league-low total of 104 relief appearances, and closer Mike Henneman has converted 15 of 17 save opportunities.

“We sat down before the season and analyzed every rotation in the league,” Melvin said. “We don’t have a Randy Johnson. We don’t have a Mark Langston or Chuck Finley. We don’t have a Kenny Rogers or David Cone. We don’t have the big, flashy names.

“But we looked at our rotation in reverse, from 5-4-3, Oliver, Witt and Gross, and we felt that from that aspect, from the aspect of depth, we matched up with anybody. They give you innings and a chance to compete.”

So far, at least.

Pitching is pivotal and many question whether the Texas staff will hold up.

Melvin listed three other keys to the Rangers’ surprising start:

--Center fielder Darryl Hamilton. The former Milwaukee Brewer was signed as a free agent to replace the catalytic Nixon and has responded with a career-high .316 average.

--Shortstop Kevin Elster. Handicapped by shoulder problems and now with his sixth organization in the last five years, Elster had to beg for a spring tryout. He has turned the chance into a career year as a replacement for Benji Gil, who had back surgery and is now at triple-A, the first step in trying to win his job back. Elster has made only three errors and is batting .253 with 12 doubles, 11 homers and 40 runs batted in.

--Third baseman Palmer. A biceps tendon ruptured on a checked swing ended Palmer’s season on June 3 of last year, but he has picked up where he left off, batting .271 with 14 homers and 42 RBIs, joining Elster in augmenting a potentially potent attack. It includes the oft-injured Gonzalez, Will Clark, Ivan Rodriguez, Rusty Greer and Tettleton.

Gonzalez, who hit 89 homers in 1992 and ‘93, and 46 in the last two years, has tried the team’s patience since signing a seven-year, $42-million contract that has options through 2000.

He was on the disabled list until Saturday because of a torn leg muscle, but some of his absences have raised questions about his dedication and pain tolerance.

Ranger hopes have dissolved in other years amid selfishness, false promise and eccentric behavior by players, managers and owners.

Said Melvin, “I heard one of our players quoted the other day as saying that this used to be a team of characters and is now a team of character. That made me feel good.

“Johnny does a better job [apparently than predecessor Kevin Kennedy] of preparing the team and keeping a handle on the clubhouse. It had been pretty loose here, a lot of hangers-on, a lot of people in the clubhouse who didn’t belong.”

Still, there’s that history.

“We addressed it in spring training,” Melvin said. “We told the players that we knew they’d be hearing about it from media critics and fans, but to stay focused, break the season down into individual series and not get caught up in either the past or future.”

Sound advice, but can the Rangers handle the baggage amid the heat of summer?

DRAFT DOINGS

Baseball’s free-agent draft begins Tuesday. It could be the last in June.

There is consideration being given to conducting it during the July All-Star break for more publicity and allowing scouts at least a brief look at the summer leagues, in which wood bats are used. Aluminum bats are used in high school and college.

Owners have also tentatively put an $8.5-million cap on scouting and development, beginning next year, which will significantly impact amateur bonuses.

In the meantime, the Pittsburgh Pirates, drafting first this year, may have to eclipse the record $1.6 million that the Florida Marlins gave high school shortstop Josh Booty two years ago. The Pirates are leaning to Clemson pitcher Kris Benson, although outfielder Robert Stratton of San Marcos High in Santa Barbara is said to have quietly jumped up in their evaluations.

Terry Reynolds, the Dodgers’ scouting director, said he expected college players to dominate the first 15 selections, after which “there will be a lot of surprises because there are no clear-cut choices. There will be a lot of high school players taken, guys a long way away. A case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.”

The Dodgers draft 23rd. Reynolds said he expected to draft one of those high school players because “I’d be surprised if a quality college player was left.”

The Angels do not have a first-round selection, having lost it to the Yankees as compensation for signing free agent Randy Velarde.

They will make the 55th selection, which doesn’t seem significant, since they have traded three of their last five first-round picks.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks will also participate in this draft. Expansion coupled with the overall shortage of talent is ultimately expected to bring about a world-wide draft.

The Dodgers, of course, have creatively plumbed the global market. The Angels, General Manager Bill Bavasi acknowledged, have experienced a “long and complete void” in that area, restricted financially by Gene and Jackie Autry to the extent that they shut down their operation in the Dominican Republic last year.

Bavasi said he has already discussed the subject with Disney officials. “I don’t think we’ll ever throw foolish money out there, but I think we’ll turn over every rock, pursue every avenue for talent,” Bavasi said. “As successful as we’ve been through the draft, I think it’s important because other clubs are in that [global] hunt.”

Among the most active of those clubs are the Yankees, who are already reaping dividends from the signings of Panamanians Mariano Rivera and Ruben Rivera at $7,000 each, recently gave the Seibu Lions of Japan $350,000 for pitcher Katsuhiro Maeda and are said to be the front-runners in bidding for 16-year-old Venezuelan outfielder Jackson Melian, who is represented by the aggressive Scott Boras.

Boras and others are armed with new weapons and yardsticks. The signing structure, both domestic and international, was shaken by the $2.5-million bonus the Marlins gave Cuban pitcher Livan Hernandez and the three-year, $3.9-million deal that fellow Cuban Osvaldo Fernandez got from the San Francisco Giants. Both Fernandez and Hernandez were proven on the international stage, but the untested Melian and others should reap some of the windfall.

SCHOTT UPDATE

Baseball may agree on disciplinary action against Cincinnati Reds’ owner Marge Schott during a meeting of the ruling executive council on Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Said one American League owner, “People talk about free speech, but when you buy a sports team, you buy into social responsibility. Marge just doesn’t understand that.”