AROUND THE AL : Taking Offense at This Bunch of Non-Hitters

Interim Angel Manager Joe Maddon made a justifiable decision Saturday, putting all of his regulars except Troy Glaus on the bench so he could take a hard look at some of the club’s younger and/or seldom-used players in a meaningless September game against the Minnesota Twins.

He made an indefensible decision, however, when he failed to pinch-hit with Mo Vaughn or Tim Salmon or Jim Edmonds or some of his other veteran reserves during the late innings of Eric Milton’s no-hitter.

In a season of embarrassments, Maddon owed it to the organization and his players to try to avoid this one.

He owed it to Milton to do everything he could to make him earn it, and he owed it to the integrity of the game to do everything he could to try to pull out a victory--the standings, the 7-0 score and the no-hitter aside. With no disrespect to Trent Durrington, Andy Sheets and Jeff DaVanon, Maddon owed it to fans who had paid major league prices to provide them with an opportunity to see the best of his major league hitters challenge Milton in the ninth inning, at least.

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Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees and Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox started the weekend tied for the American League batting lead at .353, with Omar Vizquel of the Cleveland Indians not far behind at .331.

Three shortstops in the top 10? Clearly another indication that, as Toronto Blue Jay Manager and former shortstop Jim Fregosi said by phone, “this group of shortstops is probably the best you would ever want to see or would hope to see. I can’t imagine that there has ever been a better group.”

Jeter, Garciaparra and Vizquel are only part of it, of course. The top echelon also includes Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners and Rey Ordonez of the New York Mets.

Until Rodriguez won the American League batting title in 1996, no shortstop in either league had won the batting crown since Dick Groat took the National League title in 1960. The last American League shortstop to win it before Rodriguez was Lou Boudreau at Cleveland in 1944. Now Jeter and Garciaparra are in a virtual dead heat with three weeks to go.

Fregosi, a pioneer among offense-oriented shortstops, said Cal Ripken Jr. was “the physical monster” who did the most to change the image of the position from the early emphasis on defense and a smaller, quicker-type player during the AstroTurf era to a bigger, power-hitting shortstop “around whom you could build the other positions.”

“Now you’ve got three guys who are legitimate superstars in Jeter, Rodriguez and Nomar and who are great with both the glove and bat,” Fregosi said. “Offensively, I’d have to take Rodriguez because of his combination of power and speed, and defensively I’d pick Jeter because of his arm strength, but trying to rank them is asking for trouble. They are all outstanding.”

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The Cleveland Indians continue to survive a season in which they have put 15 players on the disabled list. Wil Cordero and Travis Fryman are now back and playing regularly, but Indian officials are concerned about the prolonged absence of catalytic leadoff man Kenny Lofton, whom they hoped would return during a weekend series with the Chicago White Sox.

Lofton approached the series having appeared in only one game since Aug. 14 and only 15 in the second half while battling a hamstring strain and bulging disk. The Indians had no competition in the AL Central, of course, but with suspect pitching depth, they will need all of their offensive weapons in the playoffs.