It’s Three Days of Misfortune for Devil Rays

Were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays stung last week, or what? In a span of 72 hours:

* Center fielder Quinton McCracken, the team’s most valuable player last year, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while trying to make a leaping catch and will probably be out the rest of the season.

* Vice President and promotional wizard Mike Veeck, brought in to boost sagging attendance eight months ago, resigned to spend more time with his 7-year-old daughter, who is suffering from an irreversible condition that will result in her blindness.

* Pitcher Rolando Arrojo, the team’s lone 1998 all-star, went on the disabled list because of shoulder tendinitis.

* Left-hander Tony Saunders, the No. 1 pick in the expansion draft, broke his arm while throwing a pitch Wednesday night and will be out the rest of the season.

“Every time we get a blow, it seems more and more gut wrenching,” closer Roberto Hernandez said.

The Devil Rays were in third place in the American League East, 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox and only a game behind the New York Yankees, after beating the Angels, 10-9, in the first game of their last home stand. Five days later, the Devil Rays were three games under .500 for the first time in 1999, had dropped to fourth place and were six games behind the Red Sox. They lead the majors with 14 players on the disabled list, including a remarkable 10 of the 25 players on the opening-day roster less than eight weeks ago.

“We’ve hit some tremendous voodoo,” outfielder Dave Martinez said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The injuries have hardly been routine. Pitcher Jim Mecir broke his elbow in a pregame accident only a day after Albie Lopez strained a muscle while throwing a pitch. The strangest and most frightening came when Saunders threw a full-count pitch to Juan Gonzalez of the Texas Rangers and fell to the mound in agony, having broken his left arm.

“You could hear it plain as day,” third baseman Wade Boggs said. “It made me sick.” It also revived memories of similar incidents: Dave Dravecky in 1989, Tom Browning in 1994 and John Smiley in 1997.

None of the three were able to pick up their careers, although the Devil Rays are saying that Saunders is expected to be back in spring training.

Citing the injury wave that has virtually wiped out the club’s depth and rotation, Hernandez said: “If anything else happens, the only thing they can do is trade [some of us veterans] away and get younger. Stockpile the talent. It’s going to happen sooner or later. They may have no choice.”

*

Amid the Baltimore Orioles’ struggle, Albert Belle left Anaheim on Thursday night with the team lead in home runs (nine) and runs batted in (31). Those figures project to about 35 homers and 115 RBIs--outstanding for most but below Belle’s normal productivity as baseball’s most prolific hitter of the last eight years.

His most interesting statistic was this: The man who had 48 doubles with the Chicago White Sox last year and 52 with the Cleveland Indians in 1995 had only one in 161 at-bats.

Manager Ray Miller cited Belle’s league- leading total of 43 walks and said he thinks Belle has become frustrated and impatient and is jumping at too many first pitches, particularly with runners in scoring position--his average in those situations was .238 through Thursday.

Said the beleaguered Miller: “All I know is his track record. Year by year he usually ends up pretty close to it. If that’s the case, there’s a whole lot of [production] coming, and I sure would like to see some of it.”