Not Much Gets By Delgado

Carlos Delgado has caused a small amount of fear and large doses of concern at Edison Field the last couple of days.

Toronto Manager Buck Martinez turned a bit pale when reminded that Delgado lords over all as the judge of the Blue Jays’ kangaroo court.

“I forgot, I owe him money,” Martinez said. “I got fined when I slipped and fell in the dugout after we scored the tying run the other day. I’ve got to pay up. You don’t want Carlos chasing you around.”

On the other side, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia had a bigger problem: Pitching to Delgado.

“Like every hitter, you have areas where you can get him out,” Scioscia said after Delgado’s two-home run performance Tuesday. “The important thing is setting up your pitches and executing them. We’ve done that at times. At times, we haven’t and he has made us pay.”

Delgado does collect. Whether he is pocketing fines for his manager’s faux pas or cashing in on pitchers’ mistakes, everyone pays.

Few can match Delgado’s numbers the last few seasons. He flirted with the triple crown last season, with 41 home runs, 137 runs batted in and a .344 batting average. This season, he leads the American League with 16 home runs.

There is no doubt that Delgado, a 28-year-old first baseman, is a cash-on-the-line player.

“I have to start from scratch every day,” Delgado said. “What I did yesterday doesn’t do me any good. Just because I hit two home runs yesterday doesn’t mean I’m going to stand up there today and do it again. I have to make it happen.”

That is nearly a round-the-clock job for Delgado. He laps up everything involving the game with passion.

Sitting in judgment of his teammates--and sometimes his manager--is as important to him as sitting on fastballs at the plate. Of course, one person has escaped financial punishment.

“I’ve been on my best behavior for the past couple months,” Delgado said, flashing a playful smile. “But I’m the judge. That’s why I don’t get fined too often. That’s a good thing.”

He approaches the game with the same boyish enthusiasm--he even, at times, rides his bicycle to SkyDome in Toronto. Of course, with a four-year, $68-million contract, which he signed after last season, there is a lot to be giddy about.

But Delgado works hard for his money. His pregame ritual is extensive: He swings a bat almost from the moment he reaches the clubhouse.

“He wakes up and goes right to the hotel health club and starts working out,” Martinez said. “Every day, it’s the same pregame routine.”

Blue Jay Coach Cito Gaston, who was the team’s manager from 1989-97, saw that in Delgado from the beginning.

“He knows how guys pitch him, he knows the people he plays with and he knows himself,” Gaston said. “You have to learn yourself first, what you can do and do it as best as you can every day.”

Delgado stuck for good in Toronto in 1996 and hit 25 home runs, one of which cleared the roof at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. He has 27 multiple-home run games in his career and has hit three home run in a game four times, twice this year.

“The way I look at it, I’m not one of those gifted kids that can fall out of bed and get a hit,” he said. “I need all the help I can get. I work at it. I do write things down. But I have been blessed with a good memory.”

Which makes it a safe bet Delgado remembers that Martinez owes the court money.

Said Delgado: “Everyone has to pay.”