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| Thursday, February 20 Updated: March 13, 1:22 PM ET Edgar can't bring himself to say 'this is it' Associated Press |
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Not yet, anyway. "I won't say it's 100 percent, but it's looking that way," Martinez said. "There's a high, high percentage this will be my last one. But you never know." Martinez is leaving the door cracked because three years ago he surprised himself with an outstanding season. He hit 37 home runs and led the American League with 145 RBI, both career highs. "I never expected to have the kind of year I had, production-wise," he said. "So I'm never going to say this is my last season until I know for sure. It could be one of those years where everything works perfect for me." Martinez, a two-time AL batting champion and six-time All-Star, is the Mariners' career leader in games played (1,769), hits (1,973), at-bats (6,230), doubles (466), walks (1,133) and runs scored (1,102). He has a career average of .317 with 273 homers and 1,100 RBI. Martinez probably will reach 2,000 hits in April or May. Asked about the milestone, he said he's more focused on other goals. "I don't have my eye on it," he said. "I don't mean to say milestones don't mean anything to me. They do. But as a team, going to the World Series, that's a goal. It's something I haven't accomplished in my career."
This market definitely turned down for a free agent designated hitter during the offseason. "It's a bad situation in the market right now. There are not a lot of offers being made out there, and everybody makes the same offer or no offer at all,'' Fullmer said Thursday as the Angels began their first day of full-squad drills. "It was either take it or not play,'' he said. He knows he won't get sympathy from the average worker when he complains about making $1 million this year. "I wouldn't complain to people who have 9-to-5 jobs, to people who don't know the ins and outs of the game, because it is a lot to them,'' Fullmer said. "But as far as the game goes, it's not a lot. It's a lot less than I deserve and what I should make, but that's just how it is. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to play hard and get the job done.''
One of baseball's most feared hitters, Sheffield was supposed to power Atlanta to the World Series. Instead, he endured an injury plagued season that ended with a 1-for-16 performance against San Francisco in the NL playoffs. Sheffield's final swing of 2002: a ninth-inning strikeout with runners at first and third in the deciding game. Sheffield wouldn't mind finishing his career with the Braves, but those plans are threatened, too. He's in the final year of his contract, playing for a budget-cutting team that isn't likely to offer another lucrative deal. "I'm not thinking about next year and where I'm going to be," he said. "I know one thing -- I'll be playing baseball somewhere." He's been through this before. After helping Florida win the World Series in 1997, Sheffield was dealt away along with just about every other high-priced Marlins player. So he understands the business side of baseball. "I know the caliber of player I am," Sheffield said. "I see what Jim Thome (six years, $85 million from the Phillies) made. I see what Scott Rolen (eight years, $90 million from the Cardinals) got. They're in the same situation as me."
Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling used their entire arsenal of pitches, Elmer Dessens looked sharp and Byung-Hyun Kim got off to a good start in his long-sought bid to become a starter. "I'm always the optimist, but I'm really impressed with what I've seen down here,'' Brenly said. "You look at a guy like John Patterson, and I think we've only scratched the surface on how good he can be. BK (Kim) is a bit of an unknown as a starter, but given what we've seen in the early part of the camp, I think he's going to exceed expectations.'' Johnson and Schilling were a combined 47-12 last year. The rest of the Arizona pitchers 51-52. Brenly believes the quality behind the big two will be greatly improved, as will the bullpen. "Obviously anybody's a drop-off after those two guys,'' Brenly said. "But I don't think it's going to be as easy to pick on our three, four and five starters this year. I think they're really going to have to earn any victories off those guys.'' Johnson usually doesn't have his slider going this early, but he used it and his split-finger fastball on Thursday. "My main objective is to not kill anybody out there the first day,'' Johnson said. "I think I succeeded in accomplishing that. I have two objectives out there. ... I get my work in, get my arm strength up and make sure pitchers are hitting pitches. That means I'm throwing strikes. "I'm not trying, as far as I know, to make the team or impress anybody -- just get my work in and let the hitters do their thing.'' Johnson is scheduled to start Arizona's spring training opener next Thursday against Colorado. Schilling will start the following day against the Chicago White Sox.
But the worst idea may have been Beckett's own: burning the finger in the hope it would mend healthier than before. Beckett decided against such drastic treatment. "I was scared that I would lose feeling, and I didn't think I could afford that," the 22-year-old said. "I thought about it, though." The droll young Texan may have been jesting, but he was seriously annoyed that blisters on the middle finger of his pitching hand sent him to the disabled list three times. Four days into spring training, Beckett said the finger feels fine, and he's optimistic that he and the Marlins have solved the problem. Last season he experimented with such treatments as pickle brine, uncooked rice and Superglue. Now, to protect the sensitive area, he'll wear a small bandage when throwing between starts, and a modified finger splint when he fishes or goes to the beach. He also applies an antibiotic healing cream that dries out the skin. "I know what I'm doing now," he said. "I know how to maintain it." The second player selected in the 1999 amateur draft, Beckett offered glimpses of his enormous potential last season before it was sabotaged by blisters. He struck out 113 in 107 2/3 innings while going 6-7 with a 4.10 ERA.
"He's got the potential to be an outstanding center fielder,'' Mets manager Art Howe said Thursday.
Cedeno played for the Mets in 1999 and returned last year, hitting .260 with seven homers, 41 RBI and 25 steals, playing primarily in left. Howe would prefer the Cedeno of 2001, when he hit .293 and with 55 steals for Detroit.
"I want him to use his whole game,'' Howe said. "I've seen him do it in the past and I think it elevates his whole game when he got things clicking offensively. With Detroit, he was the team's catalyst.'' Cedeno said he looks forward to playing center field and remaining in one spot in the lineup this season.
"What happened last year you need to put in the past,'' he said. "Sometimes, bad things happen for good reasons.''
Mattingly arrived Thursday at Legends Field to serve as a Yankees' spring training instructor. "I hope to be able to do it in the future,'' Mattingly said. "I'm in the same boat I've been in. I've got a senior in high school, a freshman in high school and a fifth grader -- made a commitment to being around for them. That's the reason I quit playing, and nothing's changed. I know I don't have time to do it full-time. My priorities still lie at home with my three boys.'' Mattingly was the 10th and last Yankees' captain. His uniform No. 23 was retired in 1997. There has been talk in recent years that shortstop Derek Jeter could one day become the team captain. "It's the organization's choice,'' Mattingly said. "I don't see anything in Derek that wouldn't make him a great captain. Derek has been top notch. He's a guy that you have a lot of respect for from what he does on the field and the way he handles himself off the field.'' Mattingly will be part of an ownership group that plans to move the South Georgia Waves, a South Atlantic League affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to his home town of Evansville, Ind. "I don't plan on trying to coach,'' Mattingly said. "Plus, it's the wrong organization.'' Posada in camp: New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada rejoined the team Thursday after missing two days because his son had surgery. Jorge Posada IV, born in November 1999, has craniosynostosis, which occurs when the bones in a baby's skull fuse before the brain has stopped growing. It can be corrected through surgery.
At this time last year, the A's right fielder woke up with pain in his broken left leg, and he went to bed in pain. He hobbled around the team's training facility able to do little more than take a few cuts.
Dye broke his fibia bone during the fourth game of the 2001 division series against the New York Yankees and spent much of the offseason on crutches. He even slept in a reclining chair because he wore a cast up to his hip.
This spring training feels much like the last one he had with Kansas City in 2001. Last year tested him mentally like nothing he'd ever been through. Now, he's energized.
"I finally had another offseason where I was healthy and was able to get back on my own program,'' he said. "No problems with the leg, and it feels good to actually go into a season knowing that you're healthy and knowing that you're capable of doing the things you've done in the past.''
Clemente Alvarez's first pitch was a fastball that sailed behind the Pro Bowl fullback Thursday.
"That's for (Eagles coach) Andy Reid,'' Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa playfully yelled from behind the cage.
Alstott and the Bucs beat the Philadelphia Eagles, coached by Reid, in the NFC championship and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Alstott pretended like he was going to rush the mound, then stepped back in and impressed onlookers by spraying liners all over the field.
"That's for you,'' Alstott yelled to Bowa after hitting a liner to left field. His second time in the cage, Alstott hit a drive that carried over the left-center field fence.
The advertisements will run for a month on 30 cabs traveling between Manhattan and Queens. They read "Fonzie Loves New York,'' with a heart -- a takeoff of the popular New York theme. Also on there is "Edgardo Thanks You,'' with his autograph and a photo of him in an FDNY hat. "People were upset about me leaving New York,'' Alfonzo said Thursday, after arriving to the Giants' training complex three days later than planned because of snow in the Northeast. "It was something simple. I wanted to do it on a yellow cab because it's a great symbol in New York.'' Chris Leible, an assistant to Alfonzo's agent, Peter Greenberg, set the whole thing up. His father, Mike, works for Medallion Media, the company that handles ads on cabs. Alfonzo spent more than $15,000 on the messages. Now, though, he is focused on his new team, and doing all he can to help San Francisco return to the World Series, where the Giants lost in the deciding seventh game to the Anaheim Angels in 2002. New manager Felipe Alou has said Alfonzo will hit behind slugger Barry Bonds, though Alou hasn't said where in the order that will be. Bonds will bat either third or fourth, and Alou believes Alfonzo is a clutch hitter to follow him. He hit .308 last season with 16 home runs and 56 RBI, and had a .324 average in 2000.
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