Braves Pitchers, Aging Vets In News

Spring training

Move over Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery, at least for one day.

Make way, too, for Guillermo “Willie” Hernandez and Teddy Higuera - again.

The Atlanta Braves gave replacement baseball its first big highlight Monday when five pitchers combined for a no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the New York Mets.

“Typical Braves pitching,” manager Bobby Cox said. “Jose Alvarez really threw extremely well.”

Alvarez, voted the Braves’ most valuable pitcher back in 1988, worked two innings. Phil Harrison and Eric Mora also pitched two innings each and Keith Brown and Daren Brown both went one inning.

Braves players celebrated with high-fives on the field after the nohitter and those left in the crowd of 900 gave a standing ovation.

“Let’s face it,” said Alvarez, who pitched four seasons for Atlanta through 1989. “Fellows like Maddux and Glavine and Smoltz and Avery have been consistently outstanding over a significant period of time. Any player can be good on any given day, but consistency is what counts.”

At one time, Hernandez and Higuera were among the best pitchers in baseball. Now, after injuries slowed them, they’re looking for another chance.

Hernandez, the 1984 American League MVP and Cy Young winner with Detroit, agreed to be a replacement reliever for the New York Yankees.

Hernandez, 40, last pitched in the majors in 1989, a year before he underwent surgery for a torn elbow tendon. He was spotted by a scout throwing batting practice for a semipro team in Puerto Rico, and made a deal with the Yankees.

“I’m here because of a chance,” he said. “This is an opportunity to … make a comeback.”

Higuera, meanwhile, is close to a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles, who do not have a replacement team.

Higuera, 36, was 1-5 with a 7.74 ERA for Milwaukee last season. A 20-game winner in 1986, he won only five games after signing a four-year, $13 million deal because of a torn rotator cuff.

Name game

In Bradenton, Fla., there was this sequence during an exhibition between the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh: Pete Rose reached base against Lou Boudreau’s son, who was later lifted for pinch-hitter Ted Williams.

Actually, it was Pete Rose Jr. batting against Pirates replacement pitcher Jimmy Boudreau. And it was Ted Williams, a 30-year-old career minor leaguer.

“I’ve got to call my father and tell him about this - he’s going to get a kick out of it,” Jimmy Boudreau said. “I faced Pete Rose and was pinch-hit for by Ted Williams.”

Brewers 11, Mariners 7

In Chandler, Ariz., Rich Aldrete, brother of striking Oakland A’s player Mike Aldrete, hit his second homer in two games and knocked in three runs for Milwaukee in the win against Seattle.

Aldrete, who had five RBIs against the Chicago Cubs Sunday, added three singles and a walk in a 4-for-4 performance, boosting his spring batting average to .583.

The 30-year-old first baseman signed as a replacement despite pressure from his brother not to play while major leaguers are on strike.

“I’ve put myself in the middle of it, but the strike goes on with or without Rich Aldrete,” he said. “I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family and my brother has to do what’s best for him and his family.

“I’m a realist. I understand what’s going on out here. I don’t think this is big-league baseball. I’m not trying to make it back to the majors.

“But I think the longer this goes on the more people will keep coming out to watch. So many fans are sick and tired of the strike, and this is not bad baseball.”

Looking for better replacements

For a few weeks, it seemed like just a bad concept that never would become reality. Replacement players in a real major league game?

But a somber sense of reality has hit spring camps. Replacement players likely will start the season.

And within this reality, teams were searching for new players in an effort to field the best replacement team possible.

“It’s unchartered waters for everybody,” said Boston minor league director Ed Kenney, whose job has been to find replacement players. “A guy who indicates today he’s not going to play might be changing his mind later. I would think that offering the minimum salary to a player who’s currently unemployed would be incentive enough. But if there is competition, we might be getting into a bonus situation.”

Langston unloads

California Angels pitcher Mark Langston has blasted acting commissioner Bud Selig and Angels replacement players.

“It’s time for (Selig) to hand the reins over to someone else who’s more concerned about baseball,” said the team’s union representative.

“He asked to be acting commissioner and he’s supposed to oversee negotiations. It ticked me off to see him fly home to Milwaukee in the middle of important negotiations (in Arizona last week) because he wasn’t happy with the way things were going.”

As for the players in the Angels’ spring training clubhouse, Langston said they are “totally living in a dream world” if they think what they’re doing is right.

“I don’t know when they’re going to wake up and realize none of them are considered prospects,” he said. “They’ve only been hired to undermine something we believe in.”

Zimmer on the mend

Colorado coach Don Zimmer made satisfactory progress in his recovery from a temporary loss of blood flow to the brain Saturday.

Zimmer, 64, remained in intensive care, but doctors were considering moving him out of that unit.

“Everything continues to improve,” said Rockies trainer Dave Cilladi. “There has been no lasting effect from what happened.”

Zimmer suffered what Cilladi called a transient ischemic attack.