To know list: 6 letters to sum up our Ryder Cup team—they're all S-Q-U-A-R-E

Sporting News, The, Sept 27, 2004

(1) KEN ROSENTHAL

Baseball's BEST list

The conclusion of the baseball season is not just a time for intense competition. It's also a time to revel in the best--make that bests--the sport has to offer.

Bringing the heat: Cubs. Nine Cubs pitchers throw at least 93 mph. Starters Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano and Matt Clement all light up radar guns, as do relievers LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth, Todd Wellemeyer, Ryan Dempster and Ion Leicester.

Exerting plate discipline: Red Sox, They not only lead the A.L. in on-base percentage, but also in pitches seen per plate appearance. Six of their players--Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek, Johnny Damon, Kevin Millar, David Ortiz and Mark Bellhorn--rank among the league's top 20 in OBP.

Rallying in the late Innings: Yankees, A's. The two teams for the major league 25 comeback victories in the sixth inning or later, according to STATS Inc. Such comebacks are easier for the who rank second in the league in runs, than the A's, who rank ninth.

Flashing the leather: Dodgers. Led by shortstop Cesar Izturis and third baseman Adrian Beltre, the Dodgers began the week with 65 errors--11 fewer than the closest team. They not only rank first in the majors in fielding percentage, but also in defensive efficiency, a statistic that measures the percentage of balls in play that are converted into outs.

Manufacturing runs: Cardinals. They can slug--they're second in the N.L. in homers--but win even when they don't. "They force the other side to think" one scout says. "(Manager Tony) La Russa runs odd people. And he runs in odd Situations." The Cardinals are third in the N.L. in stolen bases and lead the League in sacrifice flies.

Executing fundamentals: Twins. The influence of former manager Tom Kelly remains evident in the Twins' sound approach to the game. One complaint: Their plate discipline and situational hitting lag behind their defense and baserunning.

Forcing the action: Angels. Manager Mike Scioscia doesn't adhere to the Earl Weaver philosophy of playing for the three-run homer. The Angels lead the majors in hit-and-run attempts and stolen bases, though they also run into more outs than most clubs.

Intimidating opponents: Who else? The storied history. The Yankee Stadium crowd. Gary Sheffield waving his bat. Derek Jeter producing his annual miracle. Mariano Rivera jogging in from the bullpen.

See you in October.

(2) YOU HEARD IT HERE

'Barry is the greatest hitter of all time. Period.'

--Hank Aaron, last week with James Brown on Sporting News Radio

(3) YANKEES VS. RED SOX

Out on the edges

The Yankees and Red Sox are quite similar, but each holds certain advantages over the other.

Late-inning relief. The Red Sox have given Yankees closer Mariano Rivera his only two losses, but the Paul Quantrill-Tom Gordon-Rivera combination remains more trustworthy than Alan Embree-Mike Timlin-Keith Foulke.

Manager. This will be Joe Torre's ninth straight postseason appearance. The Sox's Terry Francona isn't nearly as aggressive--his team began the week having succeeded on only six hit-and-run attempts, fewest in the majors, according to STATS Inc. Francona also makes odd pitching decisions, raising the possibility of a Grady Little moment.

Derek Jeter. Never a favorite of statistical analysts, but no computer program can quantify his confidence, poise and heart.

Starting pitching. Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez make the Sox better at the top. Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Tim Wakefield make them deeper.

Offense. The Yankees are very good, but the Sox lead the A.L. in runs, extra-base hits and on-base/slugging percentage.

Balance. Neither team has a lefthanded starter. The Yankees also lack a quality lefty reliever. The Sox do a better job compensating, holding opposing lefthanded hitters to the league's lowest OPS. Without an effective Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui is the Yankees' biggest lefthanded threat.--K.R.

(4) ZO SAD

Mourning wants back in, but the Nets don't want him

It has come to this for Nets center Alonzo Mourning, who's making another comeback attempt in the wake of his recent kidney transplant: The team he wants to come back to would rather take the salary cap savings than have him back.

The Nets took a tremendous risk last summer when they signed Mourning to a four-year contract. That's because it was unlikely that Mourning--given the nature of his kidney disease--would be able to play all four years. But signing him helped the Nets keep point guard Jason Kid& so they had to do it.

The team thought some of the risk would he offset by an NBA rule that allows players' salaries to be taken off the official payroll two years after a player suffers a career-ending injury. Mourning played only 12 games last year; one of the conditions for the payroll break is that a player must play in fewer than 15 games over two years. So the Nets thought they could pay Mourning's salary for 2003-04 and 2004-05 and get out of the last two years (and $12 million).

Alas, a league spokesman points out that if a player participates in 10 games in one season, he is considered healthy. Because Mourning played in 12, the Nets can begin taking his salary off two years after last season--only the last year of his contract can he knocked off the books. If he plays more than l0 games this year, his entire contract will he on the payroll.