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Tuesday, March 13
Updated: March 15, 1:30 PM ET
Rumblings and Grumblings

By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- There's a "T" on his cap this spring, and his shirt says "Rangers." But deep inside the heart of Andres Galarraga, his blood type is still B -- for Braves.

And in his head, a million questions still bounce around his brain cells. Those questions start with this one: Why?

	Triviality
	Only eight infielders in history won more Gold Gloves at any position than Bill Mazeroski won at second base (eight). Can you name them? (Not including pitchers and catchers.) (Answer at bottom)

"I'm not really angry," Galarraga says of his abrupt exit from Atlanta. "I just don't understand what happened. I don't know why they didn't have plans for me."

It was just last spring that Galarraga was the most uplifting story in the Braves' spring-training camp -- if not anybody's spring-training camp.

He had made it back from the depths of cancer. His smile was back. The thunder in his bat was back. And when Galarraga and the Braves journeyed south to play two exhibition games in Venezuela, the love his countrymen showered upon him brought tears to the eyes of grown baseball players.

He went on to hit .302 with 28 homers and 100 RBI. He started the All-Star Game. He won the Sporting News comeback-player-of-the-year award. His general manager in Atlanta, John Schuerholz, said he was really the comeback person of the year.

And then, when the season was over, the Braves told him they could afford to offer him only $1 million. Galarraga reluctantly said no, then signed with Texas for $6.25 million. Ultimately, the Braves signed Rico Brogna -- for $1.5 million.

"I know I only hit eight home runs in the second half," says Galarraga, who turns 40 in June. "But I think the fact that I played with a fracture in my thumb had a lot to do with that. It was really difficult to hit with that. It was even hard to catch the ball at first base. All the guys in the infield over there throw really hard.

"I understand the game's a business. But I think I still bring some people inside the stadium. So I don't understand what's going on. I drove in 100 RBIs. I think I helped the team. ... Then they wanted to give me a $1 million contract. I think that's unfair after hitting .300 with 100 RBIs. I think they just didn't want me over there."

Schuerholz, however, says this was simply one of those modern baseball business decisions -- one he wishes he never had to make.

"This," he says, "was one of the very tough things -- in fact, maybe the toughest decision we've ever had to make. But there are times you have to change the makeup of your team and the people on it to make the (financial) numbers work. All clubs are challenged with these decisions. And sometimes they even impact on people as grand and as good as Andres Galarraga."

Galarraga says: "I think they had different plans -- to sign Alex Rodriguez and maybe move Chipper Jones to first. I think they had plans like that. And because of that, they couldn't sign me."

The Braves, of course, did have interest in A-Rod. They also had interest in Mike Hampton. Had they signed either one of those guys, they would have made other moves -- maybe trading Brian Jordan, moving the Chipster to the outfield or first base, possibly shifting B.J. Surhoff to first.

None of those came to fruition. But the Braves knew they needed to establish financial flexibility someplace. They just made a business decision to save money at first base.

But that's not the same thing, Schuerholz says, as not wanting Andres Galarraga anymore.

"I wrote Andres a letter," Schuerholz says. "In that letter, I told him he was one of the finest individuals I'd ever been around in my life. He's one of two people I've known who have this aura, who would just make you feel good every time you see them. Those people are Buck O'Neil and Andres Galarrraga.

"So you think it was easy for the general manager to make that decision? No. It was a decision that hurt to make. Not only did he go through some great times with us, but we were there to embrace each other to help him through the most difficult time in his life. We became part of his spiritual family. So we would have loved to have had him come back. But it would have had to have been for a reduced number."

Some men in baseball wouldn't accept that explanation. But this isn't some men. This is Andres Galarraga. So you'll hear no venom spewing from Port Charlotte this spring or from Texas this summer.

"I don't have any bad feelings," Galarraga says. "I just want those guys to do the best. They gave me great support in '99, when I was sick. And they gave me great support last year. I just don't understand what happened."

Miscellaneous rumblings

A number of clubs have been following the Royals this spring, with Mark Quinn the chief object of their attention. It wouldn't be a shock to see Quinn wind up with the Mets, for Rick White and another player.

Several teams -- led by the Dodgers -- are on the hunt for a third baseman. Among the rumored potential options: Minnesota's Corey Koskie and either Tyler Houston or Jose Hernandez of Milwaukee.

At least 10 teams are looking for a backup catcher. One team that definitely has one available is Tampa Bay, which could talk about either John Flaherty or Mike DiFelice, with prospect Toby Hall on the way and veteran Pat Borders around for backup insurance.

The Braves are looking for a right-handed-hitting backup outfielder. They talked with Arizona at one point about swapping Paul Bako for Danny Bautista. But Eddie Perez's slow recovery from shoulder surgery makes it impossible for the Braves to deal Bako right now.

Three teams that have been following Ugueth Urbina's progress closely: the Yankees, Braves and Rangers.

The Orioles also are looking for another outfielder in the wake of Albert Belle's exit. One scout on the Albert-less Orioles: "The only good thing about this is that it's going to allow them to play Chris Richard. They're going to be lousy anyway. So they might as well play a guy like that."

Some may question Bill Mazeroski's election to the Hall of Fame, but it's hard to find anybody who played against him who does. Mazeroski was practically the brand name for second basemen. And the stories of players who made the mistake of trying to take him out on a double play sound like old war stories.

"I almost broke my shoulder doing that once," says Braves coach Pat Corrales. "It was at Forbes Field, in 1965. I hit him -- and I just kind of dribbled down his thigh. He was so strong in the legs, and he didn't move. He just straddled the bag and stayed there. You'd hit him -- and hurt yourself. I was sore for a week."

Spring fever
Spring training box score line of the week
Roger Clemens, Monday vs. the Twins:

3 1/3 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.

"Roger wasn't very good," said Joe Torre. "But he'll make the team."

Mystery guest of the week
In spring training, not even riveting comeback dramas can be forced to follow the usual protocol. Last week in Lake Buena Vista, John Smoltz had just walked to the mound and begun throwing his warmup pitches before his first start since Tommy John surgery when he had to stop.

Why? Because Orlando Magic star Tracy McGrady had arrived slightly late to throw out the first ball. So Smoltz, being the consummate gentleman, flipped McGrady the ball and stepped aside.

"That," Smoltz said, "was a little strange. I thought he'd already thrown his pitch."

Nope. McGrady actually asked Smoltz for a quick pitching tip before he delivered.

"I told him, 'Just like a three-pointer,'" Smoltz reported.

Florida motorist of the week
The best part of spring training for most veteran players is those long bus trips they don't have to make. But new Pirates pitcher Terry Mulholland is gaining a newfound appreciation of Florida's highways and byways this spring.

He's made every trip -- even to games he wasn't pitching in.

Mostly, Mulholland is just displaying some classy veteran leadership. But he told Spring Fever he does have other reasons.

"My last AAA Auto Club travel guide was from 1988," he said. "And there have been a few teams that moved around in the Grapefruit League since then. So I'm just trying to check my directions out -- in case I have to go to spring training with somebody else some year."

But Mulholland also has yet to miss an inning of a home game -- whether he's pitching or not. So obviously, he's not just doing research for MapQuest.

"You'll notice I've got my spikes on the whole game," said Mulholland, whose late-breaking offensive renaissance has hiked his career average out of the .050s all the way up to .114. "We've got a young manager (Lloyd McClendon). He might get into a crazy game in one of those American League parks and lose his DH."

Streak breaker of the week
When the Dodgers traveled to Disney to play the Braves on Tuesday, veteran utility man F.P. Santangelo was in for a major shock.

He wasn't on the travel squad.

"I'm pretty sure," Santangelo said, "that's the first road game in spring training I've missed in my career. I usually lead the Grapefruit League in mileage."

Inspiration of the week
It's possible the Braves will have four pitchers on their roster this year who came back from Tommy John surgery: Smoltz, Odalis Perez, Kerry Ligtenberg and Damian Moss.

"We might have Tommy John throw out the first pitch Opening Day," said GM John Schuerholz. "Either him or Dr. Jobe."

Leadoff men of the week
Because of a sore shoulder, Tigers third baseman Dean Palmer hasn't been able to play in the field yet this spring. But he was still able to get in his hacks the other day -- by leading off every inning during a minor-league minicamp intrasquad game.

"That would be the greatest job in the world, if you could arrange it (during the regular season), just leading off every inning," Palmer told Booth Newspapers' Danny Knobler. "You might get 1,500 at-bats in a season. But you could really have a bad week, go 0-for-80 or something."

Swan dive of the week
Reds outfielder Dmitri Young hurt his shoulder Wednesday trying to make a diving catch you won't be seeing on any Tom Emanski instructional videos.

"I gave him a low number," said Reds manager/gymnastics expert Bob Boone. "And the German judge gave him one even lower."

Super Mazio of the week
The day after being elected to the Hall of Fame, Bill Mazeroski threw out the first ball at the Pirates' game in Bradenton -- and made a picturesque toss to the plate.

That led the Beaver County Times' John Perrotto to ask manager Lloyd McClendon if he thought Mazeroski could follow the lead of fellow Pittsburgh legend Mario Lemieux and come back to help straighten out the Pirates' middle-infield jumble.

"I've mentioned it to him," McClendon said. "But he says his feet are too big and they would get in the way. I think he's more worried something else (i.e., his stomach) has gotten a little too big and might get in the way."

Slammer of the week
Indians rookie Danny Peoples thumped a game-winning grand slam in a road game against Tampa Bay on Thursday. That was the good news.

The bad news was: He then made the least-stylish game-winning grand-slam trot ever witnessed.

When he arrived at second base, running with his head down all the way, he heard the crowd cheer. Then he heard one of the Devil Rays say, "Great play."

Thinking someone must have made a leaping catch to rob him, People slowed down, then actually stopped at second base and stood there.

"I asked the umpire if it was out, and he just gave me a blank stare, Peoples told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes. "Maybe he was in on it, too. I got deked. That's what happens when you're a rookie."

Finally, though, he figured out he was a hero and completed the journey home. Upon his arrival in the dugout, manager Charlie Manuel shook his head and asked, "Did you get lost out there, son?"

Intentional walk of the week
In a Pirates-Reds game last weekend, the Reds managed to score their go-ahead run when Pirates pitching phenom Bobby Bradley threw a wild pitch -- on an intentional walk.

That seemed kind of odd, since Bradley got to be a phenom because of his great control. But he had a heck of an alibi.

"I'd never been asked to throw an intentional walk in my life," Bradley said. "I didn't know how to do it. ... It's not like it's something you work on in the bullpen between starts."

Sun tracker of the week
Those day-night split-squad doubleheaders in spring training can lead to all sorts of unprecedented developments. Latest to report one is new Arizona manager Bob Brenly.

"Men, you saw a first today," Brenly said last week. "I saw the sun come up and go down at the ballpark."

Quote of the week
From Jose Lima, who went from 20 wins in 1999 to 16 losses, 48 gopherballs and 108 extra-base hits last year:

"Lima time never left. It was just hiding for a while."

Useless information dept.

It isn't every day a guy calls it a career after a 100-RBI season -- let alone nine of them in a row. But Albert Belle just did.

We knew that leaving on that high a note was kind of unusual. But we didn't know just how unusual until the Elias Sports Bureau's Rob Tracy researched it for us.

The only previous time since 1900 that a player's career ended following even one 100-RBI season came in 1920. The players: Shoeless Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch, who were suspended for life following the Black Sox scandal.

Back in the 19th century, Dave Orr unofficially had 124 RBI for the Brooklyn in the 1890 Players League and then never surfaced in any major league again.

SABR'S Lee Sinins reports that Belle's career RBI total was 54 percent higher than the average AL hitter during the span of his career. That makes him the 39th player in history (with at least 5,000 plate appearances ) to outperform his league average by at least 50 percent.

First, the top five:

1. Babe Ruth, 79 percent
2. Hank Greenberg, 73 percent
3. Joe DiMaggio, 67 percent
4. Willie Stargell, 67 percent
5. Ted Williams, 66 percent

And now other hitters who have been active since division play and where they stand on the all-time list:

8. Juan Gonzalez, 65 percent
13. Mark McGwire, 60 percent
19. Hank Aaron, 56 percent
20. Harmon Killebrew, 56 percent
24. Willie McCovey, 55 percent
26. Dave Kingman, 55 percent
28. Johnny Bench, 54 percent
29. Albert Belle, 54 percent
31. George Foster, 53 percent
34. Mike Schmidt, 52 percent
35. Dick Allen, 52 percent
36. Boog Powell, 51 percent
38. Frank Howard, 50 percent

The early consensus is that Belle is not going to end up a Hall of Famer. But before we all dismiss him too fast, we need to consider this: His 1,199 RBI over the last 10 years represent the highest 10-year RBI total by any player since the '30s. The only players ever to have more RBIs in a 10-year period, according to Lee Sinins: Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Mel Ott.

With Mike Sirotka's health and future still in doubt, we got to wondering about the fewest wins a team got out of a pitcher it acquired for a 20-game winner. We looked only at starting pitchers who had been in the big leagues the year before the trade.

Fewest in season following trade
3 -- Bill Piercy, 1922 Red Sox (traded for Sad Sam Jones)
3 -- Octavio Dotel, 2000 Astros (traded for Mike Hampton)**
4 -- Denny Neagle, 1992 Pirates (traded for John Smiley)
5 -- Tim Conroy, 1986 Cardinals (traded for Joaquin Andujar)
6 -- Bob Kline, 1934 A's (traded for Lefty Grove)
** Dotel won one of 16 starts, then won two more games in relief.

Fewest for team traded to (career total)
6 -- Bob Kline, 1934 A's (traded for Lefty Grove)
8 -- Tim Conroy, 1986-87 Cardinals (traded for Joaquin Andujar)
14 -- Rip Collins, 1922 Red Sox (traded for Sad Sam Jones)
16 -- Bill Piercy, 1922-24 Red Sox (traded for Sad Sam Jones)
23 -- Dick Ruthven, 1976-78 Braves (traded for Jim Kaat)*
* three-way deal. White Sox wound up with infielder Alan Bannister and minor-league pitcher Roy Thomas.

Devil Rays first baseman Fred McGriff was hanging out in the dugout with Ben Grieve, Wade Boggs and GM Chuck LaMar this weekend when McGriff was asked if he could recall his last sacrifice bunt.

"Well," he replied, "I can remember trying to lay one down against John Candelaria."

"Candelaria?" LaMar gulped. "He retired about 10 years ago."

OK, actually, it was only eight years ago. But the point is that it had been a while. Turns out, in fact, that McGriff has exactly two career sacrifices -- the last one in 1990. But amazingly, he doesn't have the longest current streak of games without laying one down. The top six, courtesy of Elias' Randy Robles:

1,912 games (since Sept. 1, 1986) -- Bobby Bonilla
1,886 games (since April 17, 1986) -- Andres Galarraga
1,643 games (since July 17, 1986) -- Ruben Sierra
1,530 games (since Aug. 2, 1990) -- Frank Thomas
1,490 games (since Sept. 19, 1990) -- Fred McGriff
1,409 games (since June 9, 1988) -- Jose Canseco

McGriff's pick for the longest streak: Mark McGwire. But he's at only 1,110 straight sac-less games, dating back to May 29, 1991.

This list inspired us to look up the longest droughts by active players in all sorts of categories. So here they are, again courtesy of Elias and Randy Robles:

Most consecutive games without a triple
555 (7/20/1994) -- Jeff Reboulet
536 (7/25/1995) -- Brent Mayne
499 (7/23/1996) -- John Mabry
418 (5/27/1998) -- Eric Karros
397 (7/10/1998) -- John Olerud

Most consecutive games without striking out
23 (7/18/2000) -- Charles Gipson
19 (5/01/2000) -- Dewayne Wise
19 (8/24/2000) -- Luis Ordaz
15 (9/04/2000) -- Dave Roberts
15 (6/16/2000) -- Mark DeRosa
15 (9/13/2000) -- Bengie Molina
15 (5/29/2000) -- Tony Gwynn

Most consecutive games without a stolen base
821 (9/17/1993) -- Jay Buhner
515 (8/27/1993) -- Greg Myers
458 (4/30/1996) -- Kevin Jordan
445 (5/27/1997) -- Cal Ripken
431 (4/21/1997) -- Matt Franco

Most consecutive games without a home run
221 (9/28/1997) -- Aaron Ledesma
214 (4/10/1999) -- Orlando Palmeiro
202 (4/05/1993) -- Scott Pose
196 (5/08/1999) -- Kevin Sefcik
195 (7/23/1998) -- Jeff Reboulet

Most consecutive games without a hit
23 (4/22/2000) -- Jorge Velandia
15 (9/16/2000) -- Bo Porter
14 (6/16/2000) -- Santiago Perez
14 (7/20/2000) -- Brooks Kieschnick
14 (6/17/2000) -- Mark DeRosa

Most consecutive games without a double
111 (5/30/1999) -- Scott Pose
67 (6/08/2000) -- Dave Hansen
66 (5/28/2000) -- Scarborough Green
66 (6/14/1999) -- Ryan McGuire
62 (7/03/2000) -- Ryan Christensen

History lesson
We continue to get voluminous feedback on our recent challenge to readers to try to come up with the longest continous service any team has ever gotten from one player. If the player was traded or the club got a draft pick as compensation when he left for a free agent, that new player continued the string.

Here are some of the latest submissions:

27 years, New York-San Francisco Giants (1951-1978)
Just Willie Mays to Charlie Williams.

(from Scott Jackson)

41 years, St. Louis Cardinals (1957-1998)
Curt Flood to Dick Allen to Ted Sizemore to Willie Crawford to Dave Rader to Steve Swisher to Rollie Fingers to Dave LaPoint to Jack Clark to Brian Jordan (plus many other assorted trade partners along the way).

(from Paul Winter)

44 years, St. Louis Cardinals (1952-1996)
In a variation on the previous submission, check out this one:

Willard Schmidt to Curt Flood to Dick Allen to Ted Sizemore to Willie Crawford to Dave Rader to Steve Swisher to Rollie Fingers to Sixto Lezcano to Ozzie Smith.

(from Alex Langlois, Salem, Mass.)

29 years, New York Yankees (1961-1990)
Al Downing to Danny Cater to Sparky Lyle to Dave Righetti.

(Also from Alex Langlois)

26 years, Boston-Milwaukee-Atlanta Braves (1942-1968)
Johnny Sain to Lew Burdette to Bob Sadowski to Jay Ritchie to Deron Johnson.

(from Jim Humdingding and the guys in Detroit who started this whole deal)

32 years, Philly-K.C.-Oakland A's (1945-1977)
Lou Knerr to George Binks to Ray Coleman to Paul Lehner to Gus Zernial to Kent Hadley to Don Larsen to Bob Shaw to Joe Azcue to Doc Edwards to Rollie Sheldon to Ken Sanders to Ron Clark to Bill Voss to Matty Alou to Rich McKinney.

(from the guys in Detroit)

30 years, Philadelphia Phillies (1954-1984)
Bobby Morgan to Solly Hemus to Gene Freese to Johnny Callison to Oscar Gamble to Del Unser to Tug McGraw.

(from John Felser, King of Prussia, Pa.)

27 years, Cincinnati Reds (1956-1983)
Frank Robinson to Dick Simpson to Alex Johnson to Pedro Borbon to Hector Cruz to Mike Vail to Rich Gale.

(also from John Felser)

31 years, Philadelphia Phillies (1948-1979)
Stan Lopata to Joe Koppe to Don Demeter to Jim Bunning to Don Money to Jim Lonborg.

(also from John Felser)

36 years, Baltimore Orioles (1957-1993)
Milt Pappas to Frank Robinson to Doyle Alexander to Rick Dempsey to Pete Harnisch to Glenn Davis.

(also from John Felser)

And the new leader for current active streak:

29 years and counting, Cleveland Indians (1972-2001)
Jack Brohamer to Larvell Blanks to Bobby Bonds to Jerry Mumphrey to Bob Owchinko to Bert Blyleven to Jay Bell to Felix Fermin to Omar Vizquel.

(from Eric Berman, Indianapolis)

Send any more you come up with to david.schoenfield@espn.com.

Trivia answer
Brooks Robinson 16, Ozzie Smith13, Keith Hernandez 11, Mike Schmidt 10, Ryne Sandberg 9, Don Mattingly 9, Luis Aparicio 9, Roberto Alomar 9

(The group at 8: Frank White, Mark Belanger, George Scott)

Jayson Stark is a Senior Writer at ESPN.com.

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