Baseball ‘98: Something Old, Something New Expansion-Year Homer Race Expected

Start counting.

Home runs by Mark McGwire and Ken Griffey Jr.

Wins for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hits by Milwaukee Brewers pitchers.

New names for the Florida Marlins.

All the elements of Baseball ‘98 - expansion style - will be on display today on opening day.

Kevin Brown and Darryl Kile pitching for new teams, Andres Galarraga and Marquis Grissom playing in new places.

The Bank One Ballpark, with its swimming pool beyond the right-center field fence, in Phoenix. Tropicana Field, with its cigar bar, in Tampa Bay.

The Brewers in a new league. The Detroit Tigers in a different division. A dozen members of the World Series champion Marlins scattered.

And a bunch of hitters waiting to tee off on guys who made it to the majors this year only because of expansion.

“We’ll be pitching guys who don’t belong here yet,” Marlins manager Jim Leyland said. “But there’s a big difference between not belonging here yet and not belonging here at all.”

World Series MVP Livan Hernandez starts the opener at home against the Chicago Cubs, who have added Henry Rodriguez, Jeff Blauser, Mickey Morandini and Rod Beck.

The rest of the Marlins, however, includes the likes of Rafael Medina, Brian Meadows and Felix Heredia.

“Our job is to develop youngsters,” Leyland said. “I’ll be glad to see them get better, but we’re not going to be able to compete this year for a title.”

Instead, the Marlins may come close to the worst record for a defending champion - the 1991 Cincinnati Reds went 74-88 following their World Series win.

Many fans, meanwhile, wonder whether McGwire and Griffey will contend for Roger Maris’ record of 61 home runs.

McGwire, who hit 58 last year, begins his first full season with St. Louis when the Cardinals open at Busch Stadium against the Rupert Murdoch-owned Los Angeles Dodgers. Griffey, the A.L. MVP, and the Seattle Mariners entertain A.L. champion Cleveland at the Kingdome.

Home runs seem to jump every time baseball expands, shooting up nearly 25 percent in 1993 when Florida and Colorado were added. Maris’ 61, it should be mentioned, came in an expansion season.

“It has to be tough for a kid pitcher these days just to watch ESPN,” Anaheim ace Chuck Finley said. “All they show are guys hitting balls where no one has hit them before. They show them bouncing into fountains and stuff. This is not a good time to be a bad pitcher.”

Even though no expansion team has ever won more than 70 games, Arizona and Tampa Bay are hoping to make good showings.

The Diamondbacks, with Andy Benes on the mound and Buck Showalter in the dugout, open at home against Colorado. Kile, a free agent signed to be the Rockies’ top pitcher, faces an Arizona lineup that includes Matt Williams, Jay Bell and Devon White.

Wilson Alvarez starts for the Devil Rays at home against the Tigers, who have moved from the A.L. East to the Central.

“The feeling here is that we can compete. In fact, we don’t think of ourselves so much as an expansion team, but a first-year team,” said Tampa Bay’s Wade Boggs, who needs 200 hits to reach 3,000.

“I mean, you think of expansion as a conglomerate of Triple-A guys trying to make a name. We have a lot of veterans who are still productive mixed in with the young players. There’s a lot of talent,” he said.

The Brewers, who added Marquis Grissom in the off-season, make their N.L. debut when they visit Galarraga and the Atlanta Braves. Milwaukee manager Phil Garner and his team will be trying to adjust to double switches and life without the DH.

“We will have a lot of information,” Garner said. “When you have a whole league, you don’t want to get so much information that it leads to paralysis.”

The 1998 season begins at Shea Stadium when the New York Mets face major league strikeout leader Curt Schilling of Philadelphia at 10:40 a.m. PST.

In other openers:

Cal Ripken extends his consecutive games streak to 2,479 when Baltimore plays host to Kansas City. Ray Miller makes his debut as the Orioles manager.

New manager Jerry Manuel leads the Chicago White Sox into Texas.

Brown starts for the San Diego Padres when they play at Cincinnati. Dave Burba, set to start for the Reds, was traded Monday to Cleveland for a minor leaguer.

Moises Alou, now in Houston, may get to face former Marlins teammate Robb Nen when the Astros visit San Francisco.