Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993 TAG: 9307070026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At the seventh-inning stretch, why do fans sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" when they're already there?
And where is Chico Escuela when we need him?
Chico, the erstwhile infielder-turned-sportscaster on "Saturday Night Live," was the purported author of the book, "Bad News About the Mets."
Chico, wherever you are, there's plenty of material for a sequel at Shea Stadium this season. After Sunday's boot-filled loss to San Francisco, Mets manager Dallas Green, turning red, said, "We played like kindergarten people."
That's a lot to hang on a kid. No wonder they're all wearing Florida Marlins caps.
There is good baseball news in New York, however. The Yankees once again are earning their pinstripes. Midway through the season, there is more reason to visit Yankee Stadium than a monumental tour. In the Bronx, Boston transplant Wade Boggs may be following in Babe Ruth's footsteps, but no one else in the lineup has Reggievision.
The Yankees could use more pitching - who couldn't in today's expansion-diluted game? - but there is an omen they can carry into the second half of the season. In every expansion year, a New York team has won the World Series - the Yankees in 1961, '62 and '77 and the Miracle Mets in '69.
Minus Hall of Fame luster and owner George Steinbrenner's bluster, what the Yankees do have are a bunch of guys like catcher Mike Stanley, a career backup in Texas who began his pro career with nine at-bats for the Salem Redbirds in 1985. Stanley, with 11 homers and a .310 batting average, simply is a solid player.
Since fundamentals seem to have left the game about the time free agency arrived, toughness has become more meaningful. Attitude can take a team a long way. See Philadelphia, atop the National League East Division. Check San Francisco, where rookie manager Dusty Baker has taken talent and attitude to a big lead in the NL West.
Toronto may have the major leagues' best talent, but the Blue Jays can't fly away in the AL East, where the division could turn on an August hot streak like those recently run off by Baltimore and Boston. Detroit, which is slow defensively and has Class AAA middle relief at best, hangs around on its swing shift.
In the AL West, the Chicago White Sox, talent considered, should have a huge lead. Instead, they are performing like their Jackson is Shoeless Joe, not Bo. With improved defense and Lou Piniella's fire, opposing managers find themselves sleepless in Seattle this season. Only two things seem certain in life: death, and Texas - with Jose Canseco really anchoring that pitching staff - won't win the West.
In the NL, can anyone catch the Phillies and the Giants? Because of the balanced schedule created by expansion - cutting intradivisional play by one-third - it will be more difficult.
It appears only St. Louis and Atlanta could make up the National debt. Will the Cardinals' rotation pitch well enough to win? Will Atlanta hit well enough to overcome Barry Bonds' Giant season? Do you think Tampa Bay is steaming the owners kept their hearts in San Francisco?
Are the Reds ready to dump salaries the way they dumped Tony Perez? Why does Pittsburgh's rotation often look like the Rockies' Horror Pitching Show? If San Diego's talent heads any farther south, will the Padres be in the Mexican League?
See, it's a season of questions. Can the Mets catch the Marlins? And while we're fishing for answers, where should a dinosaur like Carlton Fisk be catching? Fenway Park? Comiskey Park? Jurassic Park?
by CNB