Wednesday*
Page 9
March 26, 1997
Baltimore looks to unseed New York
\ v. /1,
Jeremy Furtick
Senior journalism
major
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Baltimore was everyone’s pick to go all the
ay last preseason. But all of the new faces ac-
[lired from the free agent market didn’t set right
[the bat. It wasn’t until late July that the Ori-
|es dimbed back in to the Wild Card race they
ould eventually win. The only thing Baltimore
| mldn’t overcome was their lack of balance, and
at brings us to 1997.
The most talked about topic in Oriole camp
is spring has been the move of Cal Ripken Jr. to
lird base to make room for Mike Bordick at
lort stop. Ripken fans are hysterical about the
ove, but the Orioles and Ripken aren’t. Bordick
perfect for this team and is the missing link to
[powerhouse. Six-time Gold Glover Roberto
lomar returns to second and baseball’s most
nderrated player, Rafael Palmeiro, stays at first
Iffensively and defensively this is the best infield
)the league, and then add Chris Hoiles at catch-
rand it still looks nice.
Eric Davis was the other big signing of the
rinter. He will replace error-prone Bobby Bonil-
i in the outfield. One-year wonder Brady An-
[erson and budding star Tony Tarasco finish out
pe outfield. Pete Incaviglia and B.J. Surhoff
hould split time at designated hitter.
Mike Mussina will once again be the ace of a
Jtarting rotation that added Jimmy Key and
jhawn Boskie in the winter. Those two veterans
irobably will help take some pressure off Scott
Irickson and Rocky Coppinger, who both are
jotential No. 2 starters. Randy Myers remains
|s the closer and Alan Mills will be healthy this
fear to set him up. The biggest addition to the
Jtaff might not be a pitcher at all, but will be
pitching coach Ray Miller, who worked under
llormer manager EarlWeaver during Baltimore’s
|®®ory years of the early ‘80s.
This team won’t challenge for the home run
frown like it did last year, but it will pitch better,
leld better and play fundamental baseball better
nan last year’s squad. The Orioles could be scary.
Projected Record: 98-64
key Series: Sept. 4-7 @ New York Yankees;
%. 11-14 vs. New York Yankees: Last month of
iheseason, tight division race going right down
lothe wire, eight games against second-place
New York in 11 days — this is the stuff of which
"I baseball is made. Baltimore will be in the driver’s
seat going into this stretch. If they want to win
i division, they need to take at least five of
tese games from the Yanks.
NEWYORKYANKEES
The World Series Champs better not bask in
4>eir triumph too long, or they may end up in a
bole from which they can’t climb out. New York
ifas so caught up in their championship, they
forgot to re-sign some of the key players who got
liem there.
Problem No. 1 — Too many outfielders, not
m
enough spots. This isn’t softball —
what is Joe Torre going to do with
Bernie Williams, Tim Raines, Paul
O’Niell, Darryl Strawberry, Mark
Whiten and future superstar Ruben
Rivera? They all can play, but the only
thing worse the Yankees could do to
add to the clubhouse tension would
be to trade for the self-centered Rick
ey Henderson.
Problem No. 2 - Wade Boggs and
Charlie Hayes will be a terrible pla
toon at third. Just because Hayes
caught the last out of the World Se
ries doesn’t mean he should get to start over a fu
ture Hall of Famer and career .300 hitter. Rookie
of the Year Derek Jeter will return to short with
Mariano Duncan at second, Tino Martinez at
first and Joe Girardi catching. Oh yeah, Cecil
Fielder is still around to make sure there will be
four former All-Stars on the bench at all times.
Problem No. 3 — David Wells is supposed to
fill in for Jimmy Key but can’t seem to stay out
of bar room brawls in the off-season. He will
miss the start of the season with a broken hand.
Andy Pettite and David Cone are back to bring
some respectability to a rotation that is count
ing on Kenny Rogers and Dwight Gooden to
boost the staff.
Problem No. 4 — Mariano Rivera made New
York’s bullpen the league’s best last season, but
as a set-up man, not a closer. If he can’t cut it as
the fireman then either Graeme Lloyd, Mike
Stanton or Jeff Nelson will have to step in from
middle relief to try their hand at it.
The Yankees had unique team chemistry last
season that will be difficult to re-create, espe
cially with their already-bloated egos letting a
shot of championship get into their veins.
Projected Record: 92-70
Key Series: Sept. 4-7 vs. Baltimore Orioles;
Sept. 11 -14 @ Baltimore Orioles: See Above. This
is where New York gets to prove if they are really
champions or just last October’s hottest team.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
It didn’t take Toronto long to completely re
build their 1992-93 World Series team into a 1997
contender. There will be only two faces in the
starting lineup from the ‘93 team, Joe Carter and
Ed Sprague, but Toronto should contend for the
Wild Card.
Carlos Garcia (second), Orlando Merced
(right) and Benito Santiago (catcher) are the new
acquisitions in the field. Merced is the key. He al
lows Carlos Delgado to move into first base and
split time with Shawn Green at DH. Otis Nixon
and Carter will join Merced in the outfield. Gar
cia adds defense to the infield at second, and a
helpful voice to second-year shortstop Alex Gon
zalez. Sprague will again be at third.
But the biggest noise from the winter in Cana
da came from the signing of Roger Clemens to a
deal that will pay him $8.25 million a year—a lot
considering he will be the No. 3 starter. Cy Young
award winner Pat Hentgen and ‘96 ERA leader
Juan Guzman will be the one-two punch with
Erik Hanson and Huck Flener rounding out the
starters. Middle-relief may end up the Jays’
Achilles’ Heel with Tim Crabtree and Paul Spol-
jaric the only notable guns. Mike Timlin evolved
into a good closer last season and should im
prove again in 1997.
The Blue Jays are definitely the sleeper
team in the A.L. If it can get games to Timlin
consistently, they will be in the Wild Card hunt
come September.
Projected Record: 90-72
Key Series: Sept. 19-22 @ New York Yankees:
Toronto could be battling Cleveland, Seattle and
New York for the Wild Card. They need to sweep
Sports Writer this series to put them over the top.
BOSTON RED SOX
The Red Sox just aren’t going to be
good this season. They have Troy
O’Leary, Reggie Jefferson, Darren
Bragg and Rudy Pemberton to fill the
outfield and DH roles. Not very im
pressive, huh? They will be able to
score runs fairly frequently though. Mo
Vaughn and Tim Neahring are on the
corners and will probably have All-Star
caliber seasons. John Valentine has
moved to second to make room for
rookie phenom Nomar Garciaparra at short.
Valentine was not very happy about this and has
damaged the already fragile clubhouse situation
with his complaints. Mike Stanley will catch and
quietly have another stellar season.
The Clemens era is over in Boston, now it’s
time for the ace-by-committee era. Steve Avery
will try to rebuild his career with Tim Wakefield,
Tom Gordon, Vaughn Eshelman and Aaron Sele
backing him up. Heathcliff Slocumb is still a
great closer, but will probably end up on a con
tending team come September. The rest of the
staff will be sorted out by April 1.
This is the official start of rebuilding the
Boston Red Sox. After the Celtics’ and Bruins’
horrid seasons, spirits won’t be high in Boston.
Projected Record: 78-84
Key Series: June 23-25 vs. Toronto Blue Jays:
Roger Clemens comes home for the first time.
This will be one series when the Red Sox fans will
be doing a lot of cheering - too bad it will be for
the Rocket.
DETROIT TIGERS
Anyone attending a Tigers’ game this season
better have a team roster with them at all times.
You’ll need it to figure out whose playing. It
seems like every team in the league has a new
player compliments of Detroit’s busy off-season,
yet the Tigers didn’t really get any proven talent
in return. But baseball’s all-time worst team from
1996 (53-109) may push the 65-to-70 win plateau
with their load of young talent.
Brian Hunter came from a deal with Houston
and will join Bobby Higginson and Melvin
Nieves in the outfield. Phil Nevin, Bubba Tram
mel and Phil Hiatt are three youngsters ready to
step into the outfield and will spend some time
at DH. In these six players, Detroit should devel
op a very good outfield in the next few years.
Third baseman Travis Fryman survived the
payroll cut to stay and help the young infield ma
ture. Deivi Cruz (short) and Dave Hajek (second)
will start the season up the middle with Tony
Clark poised at first base to have a break-out
year. Matt Walbeck will have the responsibility of
handling the pitching staff at catcher.
The pitching staff will be the real indication
of how long the rebuilding will take. Their situ
ation is a lot worse than the hitters’ develop
ment. Felipe Lira will be the ace, everything else
has yet to be decided. But some combination of
Omar Oliveras, Dan Miceli, Doug Brocail,
Glenn Dishman and Justin Thompson will
round out the rotation. The bullpen will have
Mike Myers, Todd Jones and Richie Lewis, along
with a group of prospects, handing games to
closer Gregg Olson — who was the only Tiger
with a winning record last year (3-0).
If you’re a Tiger fan, just hold your breath un
til 2000 when Detroit will be a contender.
Projected Record: 64-98
Key Series: Aug. 25-27 @ Minnesota Twins:
The Tigers will be able to start calling up minor
leaguers to expand their roster. Now manager
Buddy Bell will have even more players on his
team that don’t deserve to be in the majors.
Martin
^■Continued from page 7
Johnson has been pleased with
Martin’s performance as well.
“He's done a good job,” Johnson
if said, ‘‘He’s been tested in some
>retty tight spots
ad has done well
ivith it. We need
C2> : eft-handed
1 Etching and he’s
feed that.”
d* However, Mar-
in also has seen
he opposite end
M )f the spectrum,
d igainst Okla
homa State earli-
r in the season
roughed up ;
Martin was
allowing three
arned runs in 1-1/3 innings as
e Aggies fell, 11-7.
Martin has taken both the good
nd the bad, not letting either af
oot him.
"You have to have tough skin to
be a reliever and you definitely
can’t look to the past,” Martin said.
“If you get too excited about a
good job or too down about a bad
job, you’ll never be able to com
pete. I think some of the best re
lievers talk about that all the time.
Once that performance is over, it’s
over, both the good
and the bad.
“The same with
the future. If your so
worried about the
future you’re going
to get a chance to get
that one batter, and
your not going to be
able to do it, be-
cause you’re not
concentrating on that one pur
pose,” Martin said.
This is advice Martin has taken
to heart.
“I know how hard I had to work
to get here and that really helps me
on the mound to stay focused,” he
said. “I don’t want my opportunity
to slip by.”
“I wanted to pitch
here and I knew
what I had to do.”
Colby Martin
Junior pitcher
Fulbricht
Continued from page 7
Johnson said Fulbright is one of
the freshmen expected to con
tribute to the team.
“He’s one of the guys who will
have to step forward,” Johnson said.
‘‘We’ve got some young guys —
Chance Caple, Possum, and Ful
bright —who we thought would be a
help to us by their sophomore year.”
Apparently Johnson’s expecta
tions have rubbed off on the Illinois
native. Fulbright said he has envi
sioned himself in next year’s start
ing rotation.
“I’d like to see myself in that
role,” Fulbright said. “I’d like to be in
the top three positions fighting for
the starting role.”
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General Meeting
Wednesday, March 26
7:00 p.m. • Rudder 502
<
Guest (Speaker: A Representative
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Topic: Preparation For Job Search
and
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