Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 14, 1993 TAG: 9301140085
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
INDIANS SIGN CANALE
A trip to the Land of the Rising Sun was among the professional baseball possibilities that Roanoke's George Canale had to consider before he opted to re-sign with the Cleveland Indians organization.Feelers from a Japanese team as well as from several other major-league organizations came and went, but Canale chose to sign another minor-league contract with the Indians that also carried with it an invitation to spring training and a shot at making the big-league club, he said.
"With the year I had for the Indians last year, if I have a good spring, I think I have a shot at making the team," he said.
Canale finished with a combined 20 home runs and 73 runs batted in at Class AA Canton/Akron and AAA Colorado Springs after latching on with the Indians in May. He was turned loose by the Montreal Expos earlier. Canale had a .294 batting average with the Sky Sox to help them to the AAA Pacific Coast League pennant.
If Canale's bid for the bigs fails, he will play at AAA Charlotte to start the year.
First base at Cleveland was shared last year by Paul Sorrento and backup Reggie Jefferson, but Canale doesn't think that necessarily is going to leave him without a big league job.
"At first, I thought I'd have to beat out Jefferson [as the second first baseman]," Canale said. "But what they've told me is that they also need a left-hand bat off the bench."
Canale, a former Virginia Tech slugger, did not get a September call-up from the Indians last season despite his substantial minor-league accomplishments.
"That didn't really bother me," he said. "If I'd been called up, I would have lost my status as a free agent and I really didn't want to do that because I wanted to be free to negotiate with other clubs over the winter."
Now Canale says he's going to bide his time in Roanoke, playing a little golf, and trying to keep his weight in the 205-pound range. He lifted weights vigorously last winter and reported to the Expos at about 235 pounds. They didn't like the bulked-up physique and he says he's learned a lesson.
He will be occupied with other matters before camp starts at Winter Haven, Fla., on Feb. 24. He and his wife, Laura, are expecting their first child in May.
In other baseball:
\ ROANOKER REHIRED: Roanoke County resident Charlie Manuel has been rehired as Cleveland's AAA manager, his fourth straight year in that post. Last year, Manuel, 48, directed the Colorado Springs Sky Sox to the Pacific Coast League title. Cleveland is moving its AAA team to Charlotte this year. If Canale ends up in the minor leagues, Manuel will be his manager again.
Canale said: " I enjoy playing for Charlie. He doesn't pull any punches. What he tells to your face, he tells to the organizational people."
\ NEW LYNCHBURG MANAGER: The Lynchburg Red Sox have turned to a Richmond native and former University of Virginia player Mark Meleski as their manager for the 1993 Carolina season.
Meleski, 32, succeeds Buddy Bailey and has spent the past six seasons as the first base coach at Class AAA Pawtucket. Meleski was only the second full-time coach the PawSox ever had.
Bailey, an Amherst native who once worked in the Atlanta system, has moved on to manage Pawtucket.
Meleski was signed by Boston as an undrafted free agent in 1981 and played second base and shortstop until 1986. Jim Bibby will remain as the Lynchburg pitching coach.
\ DUNBAR JOINS REDS: Tommy Dunbar recently became the third black hired by the Cincinnati Reds organization in the wake of charges that owner Marge Schott has made ethnic and racial slurs. Dunbar, 33, will be the manager at the Reds' Appalachian League outpost at Princeton, W.Va. Dunbar, who played three years for the Texas Rangers in the mid 1980s, joins blacks Darrell "Doc" Rodgers and Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins as recent hires. Rodgers was promoted from pitching coach at Princeton to a post as aide to Reds general manager Jim Bowden and Jenkins was hired as pitching coach at AA Chattanooga.
From Associated Press reports:
\ NO LOCKOUT?: The chief labor negotiator for baseball owners said he will advise his bosses not to lock out players during the 1993 season. On the first day of collective bargaining, Player Relations Committee president Richard Ravitch said he thought owners would back him and hoped the Major League Baseball Players Association wouldn't strike this year. Owners voted 15-13 on Dec. 7 to reopen the collective bargaining agreement a year early, creating the possibility of a lockout or strike.
\ ORIOLES SEEK BAINES: Baltimore is negotiating with the Oakland Athletics to acquire left-handed designated hitter Harold Baines, Baines' agent told the Associated Press. Neither club would discuss the potential deal, but Baines' agent, Jack Sands said a decision could be made this week. Baines was born in Easton, Md., and lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore.
\ DEPUTY RESIGNS: Deputy commissioner Steve Greenberg resigned Wednesday, effective in April, saying his job was "not what I bargained for" and expressing "grave concern" for baseball's future.
Greenberg has been running the commissioner's office since commissioner Fay Vincent resigned under pressure from owners on Sept. 7, and was in charge of the World Series. Milwaukee Brewers president Bud Selig, chairman of the ruling executive council, is technically the game's highest authority.
"Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that the job that so stimulated me and at which I worked so hard for three years no longers exists," Greenberg wrote Selig. "The deputy's job in its current configuration is not what I bargained for, and is not something I would have given up my law practice and moved my wife and children across the country to take. Under the current circumstances, I am not prepared to continue in it indefinitely."
\ STUBBS UPDATE: The Milwaukee Brewers purchased the contract of infielder Bill Doran, 34, from the Reds and designated first baseman Franklin Stubbs, the former Virginia Tech star, for assignment.
Stubbs, who signed a three-year, $6 million free-agent contract before the 1991 season, did not provide the left-handed bat the Brewers counted on when he arrived from Houston. During his two seasons in Milwaukee, Stubbs batted .220 with 20 homers and 80 RBI.
The Brewers have 10 days to either reassign Stubbs, trade him or release him. Should they release Stubbs, the Brewers could be responsible for the remaining part of his contract.
\ SABO, DIBBLE SIGN: The Cincinnati Reds said they signed third baseman Chris Sabo to a $3.1 million contract and relief pitcher Rob Dibble to a $2.5 million contract. Both were eligible for salary arbitration.