By Charlie McCarthy
SportsLine Staff Writer
Canseco, Big Mac home-run tally continues to soar
If he stays healthy -- and that's a big if -- Jose Canseco will hit at least 60 homers this season.Yes, I’m sober.
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| Jose Canseco leads the majors with 10 home runs.(AP) |
OK one month doesn't make a season, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays don't exactly have a Murderers' Row that forces pitchers to face Canseco.
But in this era of Andro, tightly wound baseballs and incompetent pitchers, Canseco and fellow former Bash Brother, Mark McGwire, should combine to hit about 120 homers this year.
Speaking of the Bash Brothers, Canseco has 407 career homers in 6,119 at-bats; and McGwire has 462 in 5,183 at-bats. Imagine if one or both could have remained relatively healthy? Big Mac would be near 550 and Canseco in the high 400s.
Canseco’s also responsible for another first: People actually talking about the Devil Rays.
Foul balls
So New York Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez was upset at not starting a second consecutive game Friday night against the Chicago Cubs. Maybe Rey should be upset at his .170 batting average. We all know what Ordonez can do with his magical glove but, offensively speaking, there's a difference between not helping a team and hurting a team. ...Some box scores now keep track of 'holds' and 'blown saves' for relief pitchers. But the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s official statistician, does not keep track of the stats because the major leagues don’t recognize them. Basically, holds and blown saves are bargaining tools: player agents want to keep track of holds, and teams track blown saves. ...
The Philadelphia Phillies are still paying for Mitch Williams' wildness. The Phils throw $121,500 at a fan who was hit in the face with an errant warmup pitch the reliever threw during the ‘93 season in Miami. The fan, Linda Postlethwaite, was awarded a total of $2.5 million a few days ago by a Florida jury for injuries that left her with headaches and concentration trouble. Postlethwaite, a former stockholder, suffered a broken nose and has not worked since the mishap, her lawyer said. That’s some beanball.
Anaheim Angels' games this year can be heard on North Dakota’s KSJB (600 AM). Why? Because Darin Erstad hails from Jamestown. The Angels waived any rights fee. "They just called up and asked if they could carry us," said Dan Patin, Angel director of broadcasting. "It's a very simple agreement: as long as Darin is here."
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