1999 Ad

Maybe it's true. Maybe the 1999 season won't live up to the excitement and drama of 1998, but judging from the stream of story lines coming out of Florida and Arizona, there's already a lot going on.

What's the buzz this spring? Listen closely:

* The tears and troubled faces in Tampa said it all last week. Yankees manager Joe Torre has attained remarkable stature in his relatively short time in pinstripes, and the news of his battle with prostate cancer hit the clubhouse very hard. But that doesn't mean baseball's best team is going to unravel.

The Yankees have weathered a series of traumatic events in recent years. They are a team of uncommon unity and maturity. Though the players, coaches and front-office officials were clearly shaken by the news about Torre, they will be focused on opening day.

Torre has had a calming effect on the franchise since he took over as manager three years ago. The Yankees will reflect his steady, determined personality even in his absence.

* When the Reds gave up second baseman Bret Boone in the five-player deal for former 20-game winner Denny Neagle, there were whispers the Braves were bailing out on Neagle because of looming physical problems. Now, Neagle has been forced to take it slow in spring training because of weakness in his pitching shoulder.

Though the Reds don't think the problem is serious, Neagle probably will be a couple of weeks behind when the club opens the regular season. Cincinnati can only hope that's the extent of it.

* Dodgers vice president Tom Lasorda has indicated he intends to broker a peace treaty between new Dodgers catcher Todd Hundley and Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who have been feuding since last season.

Lasorda has been something of a godfather to Valentine (who came up in the Dodgers' organization) and may have some influence with Hundley, but it will be a tough conciliation. Hundley is convinced Valentine was the unnamed Mets source who intimated in a New York tabloid last year that the veteran catcher might have a drinking problem.

* Two players, one roster spot. The Blue Jays will keep Cecil Fielder or Geronimo Berroa as the team's No. 1 designated hitter. The other will be released by opening day.

The morning line: Talk is Berroa has the inside track because he can play the outfield.

The sarcastic line: Who ever said Berroa could play the outfield?

* Diamondbacks third baseman Matt Williams obviously wasn't satisfied with his offensive numbers last year, even though some of the downturn can be attributed to injuries. Williams has opened his stance this spring, hoping to recapture the stroke that put him on a Roger Marls home run pace during the strike-shortened 1994 season.

Williams closed his stance two years ago, after he was dealt from the Giants to the Indians, to adapt to a higher percentage of breaking balls in the American League.

If Williams' new adjustment works, Arizona will have a lot more pop in the middle of its lineup this season.

* New Toronto reliever Graeme Lloyd wasn't thrilled to be traded by the defending World Series champion Yankees, but he views the move as a step toward a more important bullpen role. He'll get a chance to close more games this year, though it's hard to argue with his contribution in a specialized setup role in 1998.

* If there's a perception the Red Sox are waiting around for someone to appoint himself team leader, it's probably exaggerated. Several veteran players have stepped up to fill the void left by the vocal and productive Mo Vaughn.

DH Mike Stanley thinks the leadership issue has been overblown.

"We've got a lot of veteran guys here," he says. "We know when it's time to call a team meeting."

* Braves reliever Mark Wohlers is throwing in the mid-90s and is starting to display the form that made him one of the top closers in the game before he lost control of his pitches last year.

It couldn't come at a better time for the Braves, who last week lost Kerry Ligtenberg for an indefinite period because of a ligament tear in his right elbow. Ligtenberg, who supplanted Wohlers last season and recorded 30 saves, will be out for at least one month and, if surgery is needed, possibly the entire season.

* Mariners slugger Jay Buhner is clamoring to return to right field, even though the club's medical staff would like him to play left field and keep the strain off his surgically repaired elbow.

Earth to Jay: Take the conservative approach. The important thing is not where you play, but how much.

* The A's had better enjoy the exhibition season because the first five weeks of the regular season will be scary. Six A.L. teams won 85 or more games in 1998 and the A's play all of them by early May. Of their first 30 games, 23 will be against those clubs--the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Indians, Rangers and Blue Jays.

And after that, everybody else is going to beat them, too.

* The Raul Mondesi/Gary Sheffield outfield controversy hasn't materialized. Mondesi has been playing right field for the Dodgers in exhibition games and Sheffield is taking his lumps--literally--in left. Sheffield got hit in the face by a fly ball in a game last week against the Orioles, but--to his credit--he didn't use the incident to campaign for a switch back to right.