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TRUMP CARDS
- Aces of diamonds- Pedro Martinez - Bob Gibson - Walter Johnson - Rick Ankiel - Aces discuss aces - Red Sox aces - Former aces
MORE STORIES
- Channel 25 at bat- Sold on pitchmen
ANALYSIS
- AL East- AL Central - AL West - NL East - NL Central - NL West
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New Englanders already planning their autumns around the World Series are advised to take this little test. Match up the Red Sox against the Indians, position by position, and tell us how many times the Sox come out ahead. By our count, three: shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra over Omar Vizquel; center field, Carl Everett over Jacob Cruz and (coming back from shoulder surgery) Kenny Lofton; and No. 1 pitcher, where Pedro Martinez has no peer. Everywhere else, the Indians are loaded. This was, remember, the first team in in half a century to score more than a thousand runs, and now they've added a battle-tested lefty in 37-year-old Chuck Finley, whose ability to beat the Yankees (16-9 lifetime) made him a must-sign, though Finley hasn't appeared in a postseason game since 1986. Bartolo Colon, who has had some memorable duels with Martinez the last two seasons, is on the verge of claiming No. 1 status, Charles Nagy is a proven 15- to 18-game winner, and Jaret Wright may be back to throwing the way he did as a rookie. The bullpen, which imploded against Boston, is vulnerable, especially if Paul Shuey isn't more consistent, but the Tribe have their own version of Jimy Williams in Manuel, a baseball lifer whose Jimywocky comes with a West Virginia drawl.
Frank Thomas, The Big Hurt, barely left a scratch on the opposition the last two years, which is why he hired a personal trainer this winter and imported Walt Hriniak to be his private batting instructor. Even so, he made an oversized target again this spring, as he butted heads with Manuel and endured stories about how his failings in the music business may have affected his on-field performance. Thomas and Manuel supposedly have kissed and made up, and Thomas remains the critical component in any hopes for a Chicago improvement. But look beyond his considerable shadow, and you'll find some good young talent, most notably in the outfield, where RF Magglio Ordonez was an All-Star and CF Chris Singleton hit .300 as a rookie. Former Dodger minor league phenom Paul Konerko is getting a lengthy audition at third, and the Sox have some up-and-coming pitchers in Mike Sirotka, Kip Wells, and Jim Parque. But even with newcomer Jose Valentin at shortstop, there may be huge holes defensively.
The Tigers are hoping to profit from the bump that usually accompanies the move into a new ballpark (Comerica Park). But the real thunder in Motown is supposed to come from slugger Juan Gonzalez, the two-time MVP who has yet to accept an eight-year, $140 million offer from the Tigers but is the only person in recent times known to refer to Detroit as ``heaven,'' which he did while putting down his former abode, Texas. New manager Garner gave the Indians plenty of bulletin-board material when he said the Tribe could be had this season. It's hard to see the Tigers mounting a challenge, especially with a starting rotation that last season had a 5.57 ERA. Hideo Nomo, who was with Garner in Milwaukee last season, is the surprise choice to pitch the opener. With Gonzalez, Dean Palmer, and Tony Clark, the Tigers will hit plenty of home runs, and CF Juan Encarnacion has star potential. But it's hard to see this club doing any better than breaking even.
The most encouraging development in Kansas City is that the Royals finally appear to have a deep-pockets owner in David Glass, who made his fortune overseeing Wal-Mart. ``If it's not a great investment, well, I'm allowed to indulge myself,'' Glass said after his $96 million bid to buy the club was accepted by the Royals (it still requires approval by the other owners). ``Hey, I'm 64. I'm a lousy golfer, and this is my one hobby in life.'' What kind of bang will Glass get for his buck? Well, the Royals lost a club-record 97 games last year, but CF Carlos Beltran was Rookie of the Year, and 2B Carlos Febles might have won the award if he hadn't dislocated his finger. Former Boston prospect Jeff Suppan made huge strides last season, winning 10 games while pitching more than 200 innings, and GM Herk Robinson resisted entreaties to trade his lefty ace, Jose Rosado. The rest of the rotation is up for grabs, and the bullpen is a mess, as well-traveled Ricky Bottalico replaces Jeff Montgomery, retired after 12 years as the team's closer.
The Twins had a $17 million payroll last season, or just a million more than the brothers Martinez will be paid by the Sox this year. They also used 17 rookies, which meant Kelly was running an instructional league team more often than a big league club. The paucity of talent is clearly wearing on Kelly, who has the longest tenure of any manager in the majors with the same team. The Twins have a blue chip pitcher in Brad Radke, but he is eligible for free agency, is holding out for a no-trade clause the Twins find untenable, and looks almost certain to be dealt by the All-Star break. The Twins have another quality pitcher in Eric Milton, who came from the Yankees in the Chuck Knoblauch deal and posted a staff-high 163 strikeouts in 206 innings. RF Matt Lawton may be the club's best hitter, but he's still having nightmares about a beaning last season. The Twins picked up Sox castoff Butch Huskey to provide some punch.