Base notes

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct 2, 2005

LEADING OFF

Alex Rodriguez says he doesn't care about whether he wins the MVP, but he does have a sense of history.

So while A-Rod shrugged off most of the talk about his impending showdown with David Ortiz this weekend, he seemed downright proud to be mentioned alongside a legend.

Rodriguez's sixth-inning home run on Wednesday night was his 47th of the season, setting a record for most by a Yankee righthanded hitter. He passed Joe DiMaggio, who hit 46 in 1937.

A-Rod said he had an opportunity to meet DiMaggio in 1997 at a country club near Miami but was too nervous to approach the Yankee great.

"I'm Joe D's biggest fan," he said. "I've read a lot about his history. I had a chance to meet him and I was too chicken to go up and bother him. To this day, it's one of my biggest regrets."

When asked how he felt about being talked about in context with DiMaggio, A-Rod said, "You hear it, but you don't get used to it. When it's all said and done, it's something you can look back and say 'I'm proud to be in the same sentence with Joe D.' "

As for a chance to win this year's MVP, A-Rod said he refuses to stress himself. Worrying about how the voters will feel is something he did when he was younger, he said, but not anymore.

Joe Torre has shied away from questions about the MVP but has said he believes Rodriguez's play at third base allows him to help the Yanks win games both at the plate and in the field and he should be credited for that. Mike Mussina said Wednesday that should be the determining factor. "I give it to our guy simply because he plays defense and Ortiz doesn't," Mussina said.

New York Daily News

NEWS AND NOTES

-- The Pirates and All-Star OF Jason Bay are discussing a long- term contract. The sides have talked about a four-year deal that would cover each of Bay's three arbitration-eligible seasons and a five-year contract that would extend through 2010.

-- Troy Glaus, MVP of the 2002 World Series while playing for the Angels, congratulated his former team for clinching the AL West title. "I'm happy for them, I've got some close friends over there," said Glaus, who signed with the Diamondbacks as a free agent during the offseason.

-- The Red Sox went six consecutive home games without scoring more than three runs -- a streak that ended Tuesday. That's the first time they've done that since 1976.

BY THE NUMBERS

46 -- Number of wins it took for the Reds to give manager Jerry Narron a contract extension. The Reds went 46-42 under Narron before the former bench coach was given the extension Thursday.

157 -- Number of games it took for the A's to be eliminated from the playoffs, the earliest they had been knocked out since 1998.

4,000,000 -- Number of dollars No. 2 overall pick Alex Gordon received as a signing bonus from the Royals.

FROM THE WIRE

Sitting in the same room on March 17, listening to Mark McGwire testify before a congressional subcommittee during a hearing on steroids abuse, Dr. Denise Garibaldi found her simmering anger slowly evolving into genuine hope.

Squirming under steroids allegations levied against him by former teammate Jose Canseco, McGwire told the panel that he'd take a leadership role on the issue. And Denise Garibaldi and her husband, Ray, were seated only a few yards from McGwire after they had testified about their son's death. McGwire's words gave them a jolt of optimism.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) asked McGwire point blank: "You're willing to be a national spokesman against steroids?" And McGwire responded "absolutely" and added that, "I'd be a great one."

Denise Garibaldi is still waiting.

After making that pledge, McGwire retreated into private life, and he's yet to follow up on his words, which seemed so sincere at the time. McGwire apparently has contributed some money ($30,000) to the cause, which is a nice gesture. But those who heard the emotional McGwire in the Rayburn Building on March 17 expected him to be more directly, and aggressively, involved in this crisis.

Bernie Miklasz, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

QUOTABLE

"We don't look at it as struggle. We look at it as a victory. We won the West. That was our first job. The next goal is to win the next one."

San Diego's Mark Sweeney, whose team went 46-60 after May 31 before clinching the National League West on Wednesday

Combined wire services