Expect Predictably Exciting Baseball 1997

It was a memorable year for baseball’s greatest glamour team, the Yankees, who finally proved money can buy a World Series title.

It was a memorable year in which the lords of baseball and the players union finally reached a labor agreement.

It was a memorable year in which Tom Lasorda, perhaps the biggest celebrity among managers, was no longer plying his trade.

It was a memorable year in which Yankee Manager Joe Torre’s brother finally got a heart and Joe finally got respect.

It was a memorable year in which Paul Molitor produced his 3,000th hit, Eddie Murray hit his 500th home run and Tony Gwynn collected his seventh batting championship.

It was a memorable year in which a 12-year-old kid skipped school and became a household name for stealing a game for the Yankees.

Yet, it also was a year in which Kirby Puckett left the game far too soon, John McSherry died behind the plate, Roberto Alomar disgraced himself by spitting on an umpire and amateur players Matt White and Travis Lee were paid $10 million apiece before stepping on a professional baseball field.

Who knows just what kind of wacky, zany, bizarre and morbid events will occur in 1997.

Nonetheless, we’ve got some New Year’s predictions for you:

--The Atlanta Braves, written off after their latest World Series collapse, will win the 1997 Series.

--George Steinbrenner, angered by the Yankees’ play, won’t let sentiment get in the way and will fire Joe Torre but retain General Manager Bob Watson.

--Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, vilified in Boston for allowing Roger Clemens to leave, will be lauded for not getting into the crazy sweepstakes for a pitcher who won’t win more than 10 games for Toronto this season.

--The Blue Jays’ Gord Ash, greatly praised for landing Clemens, will be shredded by the Toronto press in June for wasting $24.75 million on the veteran righthander.

--Larry Andersen, who took over Larry Dierker’s job in the Astros’ broadcast booth, will become a candidate to take over Dierker’s job as Houston manager.

--Ray Knight’s act will grow old in Cincinnati, and he will be dismissed as manager.

--White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, wanting a quick return on his $55-million contract to Albert Belle, fires manager Terry Bevington after a slow start.

--Baseball finally will wake up and realize that Padre Coach Davey Lopes is the best available managerial candidate. Someone will even dare to hire a minority manager again.

--Lasorda will reveal publicly that he wishes he could manage the Dodgers again and never really wanted to leave in the first place.

--Bud Selig will become the next commissioner.

--Florida’s Dave Dombrowski will be rumored as the first general manager to be fired before the end of spring training.

--The streak will end. Cal Ripken will be told to take a day off.

--The Tigers, once again, will stink.

--The Pirates will be worse.

--Catcher Mike Piazza will threaten to leave the Dodgers unless given Albert Belle-type money.

--The Marlins will find out that Bobby Bonilla was not an answer.

--The Indians won’t miss Belle--Matt Williams will slug 50 home runs.

--J.T. Snow will supplant Mark Grace as the best defensive first baseman in baseball.

--Greg Maddux will win another Cy Young Award, then leave the Braves.

--The Mariners will stay put in Seattle.

--The Padres will threaten to leave San Diego unless a new stadium is built.

--The Rockies, overtaken by the Marlins as the best expansion team, will start to spend money.

--Florida’s Gary Sheffield will win the MVP Award.

--Giant left fielder Barry Bonds again will be baseball’s finest all-around player but won’t receive the recognition.

--Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg will play his final season.

--A’s first baseman Mark McGwire will break down again, and everyone will project how many home runs he could have hit if healthy.

--Owners will cry about escalating salaries and insist they’re losing bundles of money. But none will dare sell his cash cow, leaving cynics to question whether anyone is losing a dime.

*

Now that we have labor peace, it’s time for a summit meeting to improve umpire-player relations. They have been abysmal.

“There are going to have to be suspensions,” veteran umpire Bruce Froemming says, “because fines don’t mean anything. A player making $5 million or $6 million a year is fined $500. It’s a joke. That’s tip money.”

*

The Pirates’ fire sale appears to be over, and here are the gruesome statistics: The club unloaded six veterans in eight trades since July 23, saving itself $16.5 million and adding 15 players who carry labels of “prospect” in varying degrees.

The fact is, the Pirates are deceiving and defrauding their fans by charging major league ticket prices for a minor league team.

If nothing else, though, Pittsburgh should have rookie-of-the-year candidates for the foreseeable future and then some.

*

Rockies General Manager Bob Gebhard says the acquisition of Jerry DiPoto gives him plentiful insurance because of the uncertainty of Curtis Leskanic, who underwent postseason arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow and right shoulder.

Leskanic, who has made an incredible 146 appearances the past two years and has privately complained of overuse, says he will be fine.

“I started throwing two or three weeks before they expected me to because I’m coming along so well,” Leskanic says.

“Last year, I was going to therapy, treating my arm and still felt pain. I knew something was wrong but didn’t know what. At times I’d wake up in the morning and tell my wife I didn’t feel I could pitch that day, but I’d get to the ballpark and see everyone and feel I’d have to pitch. Maybe I learned something from that.”

*

Expect a down-and-dirty fight between the Dodgers and catcher Mike Piazza when they open negotiations on a long-term contract. . . .

It’s just one man’s Hall of Fame ballot, but this one voted yes for Tony Perez, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Jim Rice and Ron Santo.