SacBee: CLR- Baker: Mitchell will help Oakland
Steven Chan, quoting Nick Peters of The Sacramento Bee
Cactus League Report:
Baker - Mitchell
will help Oakland
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By Nick Peters
Bee Staff Writer
The Sacramento Bee
Thursday March 19, 1998
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It was a bad day all around for Giants manager
Dusty Baker. His team was clobbered 6-0 by the A's, and he didn't have
a chance to see star pupil Kevin Mitchell swing a bat for Oakland.
It was under Baker, then San Francisco's batting coach, that Mitchell
thrived in his MVP season for the Giants in 1989, attaining career
highs with 47 homers and 125 RBI. There was speculation Mitchell would
be brought up from the A's minor-league camp to face the Giants.
Now Mitchell, off to a 6-for-16 start (.375) against minor-league
pitching, won't make his Oakland debut until Friday night against the
Arizona Diamondbacks. Baker has no doubts that Mitchell will succeed.
In fact, he recommended him to the A's.
"I talked with (A's president) Sandy Alderson about Mitch at a
luncheon before we came to spring training," Baker recalled. "He said
he'd talk to (general manager) Billy Beane and (manager) Art Howe.
Then I told Mitch to stay in shape.
"Yes, I would have liked him for the Giants, but after we signed
Charlie Hayes, there wasn't room. Number one, Mitch can hit. How can
you be 6 for 16 without seeing a baseball for nine months and not be
able to hit.
"I remember Ralph Garr telling me, 'When you shake the baseball tree,
about 90 gloves will fall out and only about five bats.' A lot of guys
can field the ball, but only a few are great hitters."
Mitchell batted above .300 for three consecutive seasons after leaving
the Giants.
A's check out Las Vegas --
The A's have commissioned a study on the feasibility of Las Vegas
supporting a major-league team, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
San Jose remains the strong preference of A's owners Steve Schott and
Ken Hofmann as a future home for the A's, if they can find a way to
get a new ballpark built there. Given mayoral candidate Ron Gonzales'
longtime interest in bringing big-league ball to San Jose and his ties
to Schott, San Jose remains a favorite to land the A's.
But the rapid expansion of Las Vegas, the fastest-growing city in the
country over the past 10 years, has turned it into a possible
big-league city. The area is expected to grow from 1.2 million to 2
million within the decade. That is why the A's commissioned the study
last year and why people in the organization consider it one of a
small number of places the A's could end up, along with San Jose and
Sacramento.
Neither Schott nor A's president Sandy Alderson, both in Florida for
the owners meetings, could be reached for comment.
Rosters reduced --
The Giants pared their roster to 34 by sending pitchers Jeff Darwin
and Ricky Pickett, infielder Jeff Ball, catcher Henry Mercedes and
outfielder Jalal Leach to their minor-league camp for reassignment.
"It's always more disappointing (for a player) as you get closer to
the end of camp," said Baker, who reserved special praise for Ball, a
Merced native who batted .321 with 18 homers and 103 RBI for Triple-A
Phoenix last year.
"Ball, in his first major-league camp, opened some eyes. He started
his career as a pretty good third baseman, and he's turned into a very
good first baseman. Pickett has come a long way in one year. He'll go
to Triple-A (Fresno) and maybe be a stopper with Darwin."
The cuts left the Giants with 16 pitchers, three catchers, eight
infielders and seven outfielders. Baker, who would like to carry all
three catchers, will be able to do so only if the club takes 11
pitchers into the season instead of 12.
The A's reduced their roster to 36 by optioning pitcher Dave Telgheder
to their minor-league camp and selling the contract of outfielder
Ernie Young to the Kansas City Royals.
Young's departure doesn't clarify the outfield picture. With the
addition of Rickey Henderson and Shane Mack, plus the emergence of Ben
Grieve, Young's days with the A's were numbered. Rookie Ryan
Christenson originally wasn't in the equation, but he's threatening
Elk Grove's Jason McDonald for the center-field job with a .400
exhibition average, compared to McDonald's .200.
Et cetera --
The Giants announced two upcoming promotions: "Seat Yourself Day"
Saturday at 3Com Park. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., potential season-ticket
customers have an opportunity to select their own seats for 1998, if
they're not already reserved for someone else. And the players' wives
will conduct a food drive during the home opener, April 7, accepting
canned goods that will benefit the San Francisco Food Bank.
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