Anaheim Angels: Aaron Sele had a bad case of nerves during the postseason, and he wasn't even playing.

	Sele

"I was watching every pitch, felt like a pitching coach,'' the Anaheim Angels' right-hander said from the team's camp in Tempe, Ariz. "It was better for the team for me not to be on the field, but I tried to go about my normal routine, go around and talk with the guys for four days, but just not pitch when it was my turn.''

The 32-year-old Sele, who signed a $24 million, three-year contract with the Angels before last season, had been a model of consistency in recent years. But, with his shoulder ailing, he went 8-9 last season, ending a stretch of four years with 15 or more wins.

Sele missed most of September after going on the disabled list Aug. 21 with a partially torn muscle in his right shoulder, only his third time on the DL and first since 1996. After five weeks of rehabilitation, he pitched into the fifth inning of the final regular-season game, after the Angels had clinched a playoff spot.

Sele is cautiously working his way back this spring. Manager Mike Scioscia said the pitcher's availability for the early season is a "week-to-week'' situation.

"I'm a question mark because I've never had surgery before,'' Sele said. "I talked with Kevin Appier (who had similar surgery in 1998) about what he went through, and he said my strength would come back before I was really able to control my pitches. I think you can cheat on velocity, but you can't cheat on location.''

Colorado Rockies: A back injury turned Todd Helton's smooth stroke into a choppy swing that became painful to watch last season.

After hitting a league-leading .372 with 147 RBI in 2000, and following up with 49 homers and 146 RBI the next year, he slumped last season, when he batted .329 with 30 homers and 109 RBI.

"Last year was frustrating, last year was painful,'' the Colorado Rockies first baseman said from the team's spring-training complex in Tucson, Ariz. "It's, hopefully, something I won't have to go through again.''

Helton, who hardly ever takes a day off, even pulled himself out of back-to-back games in June.

In the offseason, doctors discovered that the source of the 29-year-old's discomfort was a bone spur in his lower back. He received a cortisone injection on Jan. 30 and since then has begun an exercise and therapy program.

Surgery, Helton emphasized, is not an option at this time or in the near future.

Helton was impressed by the offseason acquisitions of third baseman Jose Hernandez, center fielder Preston Wilson and catcher Charles Johnson.

"I'm tired of losing,'' he said. "I think there are a lot of people tired of losing around here. I realize we're in a tough division. But we can contend if we do the right things, meaning play to win, play as a team and be professional about our business. It means just going out and trying to win that day's game and not bring off-field problems and other activities into the clubhouse."

Stark adds new pitch: When he takes the mound as the No. 3 starter for the Rockies this spring, Denny Stark will have a new weapon in his arsenal.

Stark has added a curveball to the fastball and slider he threw in his rookie season last year, when he went 11-4 with a 4.00 ERA.

"I'd never thrown a curveball in my life,'' Stark said. "Toward the end of last season, I started throwing a curve in the bullpen.''

Jim Wright, then the Rockies pitching coach, and Triple-A pitching coach Bob McClure began teaching the pitch to Stark.

"I was having some success with it,'' Stark said. "In the offseason, I really worked on it. I haven't thrown it in a game yet, but now I'm throwing it in our bullpen sessions. I feel comfortable with it, and when spring-training games start, I'm going to be throwing it.

"It's a different look and a different speed. It's not like (Oakland A's pitcher) Barry Zito's curveball. But I've gotten a lot better with it, and hopefully it gives me another weapon.''

New York Mets: David Cone, trying to make the Mets' roster after a year off from baseball, threw 10 minutes of batting practice Friday.

"I got a little tired at the end, but overall it was pretty good,'' said the 40-year-old right-hander, a non-roster invitee. "I know this, I feel a lot better this Friday than I did last Friday, my first day out.''

Cone pitched for the Mets from 1987 until being traded to Toronto in 1992. He pitched for Boston in 2001.

"I am very cognizant of not trying to do too much, and not trying to throw too hard,'' he said. "I know what my arm can do, and when you have a lot of miles on your arm like I do, you know how much you can push it.''

Cone, whose locker is between those of Tom Glavine and Al Leiter, said that developing arm strength is his main goal.

"The splitter is still there, but in the end it will be a matter if I can physically hold up,'' he said.

Left-hander reliever John Franco, who missed all of last season after left elbow surgery, threw for 10 minutes in the bullpen area.

San Diego Padres: Three days after his most recent chemotherapy treatment for a brain tumor, San Diego Padres pitcher Rob Ramsay threw 40 pitches during batting practice Friday.

"It feels great,'' Ramsay said. "Just playing baseball is something I'm not going to take for granted. It's kind of like going back to your childhood and playing for the love of the game.''

Shortly after the Padres claimed him off waivers in November 2001, Ramsay started feeling headaches. He put off seeing a doctor until January 2002, when he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.

Ramsay, who pitched for Seattle in 1999 and 2000, had surgery Jan. 23, 2002, to remove a tumor and was released from a hospital four days later. He hoped to pitch last season and started to work out with Triple-A Portland. But those plans were put on hold when his tumor reappeared.

"At that point, I said, 'Forget the baseball; I just want to get better,''' the 29-year-old left-hander said.

Doctors switched the type of chemotherapy Ramsay was undergoing, and the tumor was brought back under control without surgery. Ramsay still has the powerful treatment every six weeks, including a session on Tuesday. He missed workouts that day and Wednesday.

Chicago White Sox: As manager Jerry Manuel leaned on a golf cart and discussed a familiar topic -- the return of Frank Thomas to the White Sox -- the crack of a bat could be heard from the nearby batting cage.

	Thomas

It was Thomas generating the sound as he worked on his hitting stroke with coach Gary Ward.

"Him to come into camp at this time, being this early, being in good shape and swinging the bat with no hindrance from the arm of a couple years ago, he looks good,'' Manuel said Friday, the day before the team's first full-squad workout.

Thomas has been in Tuscon for about a week, first working out with ex-White Sox hitting coach Walt Hriniak, his personal batting guru.

He's anxious and eager to get his career back on track after re-signing with the White Sox following an offseason that saw him explore the free agent market.

Thomas went hunting for a job after the White Sox invoked a diminished skills clause in his previous contract that would have allowed to pay him $250,000 annually up front and defer $10,125,000 each year.

He re-signed in December, a one-year contract that also has three years of mutual options. He will make $5 million in 2003 and can void the deal after the season it is over.

Thomas will hold a news conference Saturday after the first official team workout. The two-time MVP has had little to say since returning to the only team he's ever played for.

Boston Red Sox: Johnny Damon relies on his speed to reach balls hit into the outfield gaps and to turn doubles into triples.

	Damon

That wasn't as easy after he hurt his right knee running into the outfield wall in Tampa Bay last July 18. Now he says the knee is fine after he chose to rest it rather than have surgery.

"I did a few things this offseason that make me feel my knee's in tiptop shape,'' Boston's center fielder said. "Every workout I did, nothing bothered it.''

He knows the real test will come when he starts playing games. The Red Sox first spring training game is next Thursday night against Minnesota.

Damon, who joined the Red Sox before last season, is expected to bat leadoff again for manager Grady Little.

"Johnny's fine,'' he said. "We talked at length about his knee earlier, back in January, and he's totally 100 percent, ready to go.''

Damon led the AL last year with 11 triples, was second with 35 infield hits and fourth with 118 runs and 31 steals. But his production dropped after the injury, diagnosed as mild inflammation.

Houston Astros: Spring training for Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell is another test of stamina in dealing with discomfort whenever he tries to throw.

	Bagwell

The 34-year-old Bagwell said he continues to have pain in his right arm, although it seems to be improving. When full-squad spring workouts got under way this week, he admitted the arm problems are nagging.

"I don't care what anybody says or how much money I get paid and all those kind of things, it's not fun going to work at times when you have a problem,'' Bagwell said.

That problem, a bum right shoulder that required screws inserted before last season, made routine throws a challenge for Bagwell, usually among the league's best defensive first basemen.

"Defensively, I'm not able to do all the things I used to be able to do. That is a little frustrating. I'm getting better and that gives me hope. But, let me tell you, it does get frustrating, there's no question about it,'' he said.

But Bagwell still carries a big stick at the plate, hitting 31 homers, 98 RBI and a .291 batting average in 2002. It was the seventh consecutive season in which he hit more than 30 home runs and he is ranked 46th on the career home run list.

New York Yankees: Rondell White was the ninth player in nine years to open the season as the Yankees' left fielder, and the team's streak is likely to reach 10 following the signing of Hideki Matsui.

	White

White isn't sure where he fits in with the 2003 Yankees.

"If you swing the bat, I think skip will find a way to get you at-bats,'' White said Friday after reporting to spring training. "I want to play. Every player wants to start. Last year I didn't do my job. I've got to come in here and prove I can play.''

White's first season in pinstripes was disappointing. After signing a $10 million, two-year contract, he hit .240 with 14 homers and 62 RBIs in 126 games.

"I'm not used to failing,'' said White, who has career batting average of .288. "I always hit from Little League on up. Last year was the first year. I didn't know how to take it. I started pressing more and more.''

White could get some at-bats at designed hitter, depending on the severity of the injury to Nick Johnson's left wrist.

"We'll talk,'' manager Joe Torre said. "A lot of things happen in spring training. You never really know. You still have to go about it like you're going to be a starter. Even in the event you're not a starter, you're ready when you need it. I don't sense that he's going to have any problem understanding that.''

Atlanta Braves: Mike Hampton strolled off the mound, having completed another baby step in the rehabilitation of his career.

	Hampton

Granted, it was just batting practice, and spring training was only a week old. Still, Hampton's pitches had some of their former bite, plunging toward the dirt as they crossed the plate.

"I'm starting to see some of the old movement,'' he said, relaxing later in the Atlanta Braves clubhouse. "It wasn't perfect, but it's the best I've been all camp.''

Yes, he seemed to be telling himself, things are getting better.

Of course, they can't get much worse.

Hampton's career veered horribly off course during two years in the thin air of Colorado. The guy who put up a dominating 22-4 record in 1999 was nowhere to be found, replaced by some hack who made everyone look like Barry Bonds.

After a 9-2 start with the Rockies, he went 12-26 with a 6.62 ERA the rest of the way, becoming so frustrated that he was practically throwing sidearm in a futile attempt to make his pitches move like they once did.

Seattle Mariners: Mark McLemore wants to set the record straight. He's not a utility man.

"A utility guy plays once or twice a week,'' McLemore said. "I play every day. I'm an everyday player. It's not a utility role. I just happen to play everywhere. There's a definite difference.''

Last season, McLemore's 14th full year in the majors, the Seattle Mariners' all-around specialist played 104 games. He started at designated hitter, second base, third base, left field, center field and right field.

"I think I excel at all of them,'' McLemore said. "I could play a few of those positions on an everyday basis. There's not a doubt in my mind. A couple of them, I have. It's by no means a matter of excelling at any one of them.''

McLemore's value doesn't stop there.

He's a switch hitter, batting .270 last season in 337 at-bats. He's got a reputation for delivering big hits in the clutch. And when the Mariners need a laugh, he's one of the team jesters.

"Truth be known, I'm a clown,'' he said.

Just watch McLemore at spring training, hamming it up for fans. He steps onto the field and asks how they're feeling, drawing a cheer. He takes cuts in the batting cage, then takes a bow on his way out.

"I like to enjoy myself, having fun but getting my work done and being serious when it's time to do it,'' McLemore said. "You've got to be able to have fun in this game. You've got to be able to have fun in whatever you do.''