L.A.’S Guerrero Suspended For 8 Games

Wilton Guerrero of the Los Angeles Dodgers was suspended for eight games and fined an undisclosed sum Monday by N.L. president Leonard Coleman for using a corked bat.

Guerrero, a rookie second baseman tied for the major league lead with six triples, admitted he knew the bat was corked. It shattered when he grounded out to start the game at St. Louis on Sunday. Guerrero was ejected when umpires saw the bat had been altered.

“He knew before he used it. He admits it,” said Dodgers coach Manny Mota, translating for Guerrero, after a 6-1 win over the Cardinals.

The suspension started with Monday night’s game at Houston. Guerrero is eligible to return June 10.

Chris Sabo was the last player suspended for using an illegal bat.

Sabo, then with Cincinnati, was given a seven-game penalty last season after being caught with a corked bat in a July game against Houston.

In 1994, Albert Belle received a 10-day suspension for using a corked bat, but had his penalty reduced to six games.

Guerrero is batting .290 with 13 RBIs and five stolen bases. He is tied with Deion Sanders and Tony Womack for the bigleague lead in triples.

Braves No. 1 with fans

The Atlanta Braves are the most popular of Major League Baseball’s 28 teams, although the New York Yankees have surged to within one percentage point in the annual Harris Poll on baseball, conducted by Louis Harris & Associates Inc.

Those surveyed also approved of regular-season interleague play between American and National league teams by 73 percent to 20 percent, with 7 percent undecided.

The Braves were named by 14 percent of the 1,034 adults surveyed, while the Yankees were the choice of 13 percent. New York beat Atlanta four games to two in last year’s World Series.

The teams have been locked in the top two positions in the poll the past five years.

The Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners were tied for third most popular by getting six percent in the poll.

Fan interest in the Cubs changed little throughout the past five years, while interest in the Mariners rose from 1 percent in 1995. Seattle has some of the sport’s most well-liked players, including outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

Griffey leads All-Star vote

Griffey, the Mariners outfielder and major league home run leader with 24, also leads American League players in early fan balloting for the All-Star Game.

Griffey, selected to the A.L.’s starting lineup each year since 1990, has received 877,090 votes for the July 8 game at Cleveland. He was the overall vote leader in 1994 and 1996, and topped the A.L. in 1991 and 1993.

Baltimore third baseman Cal Ripken, a 14-time All-Star, who has started the last 13 years at shortstop, is second overall at 643,105. With Ripken’s shift to third base, Seattle’s Rodriguez tops the shortstops at 464,923.

Baltimore’s Roberto Alomar and Brady Anderson also are in position for starting berths, with Alomar the top second baseman at 463,862, and Anderson third in the outfield at 349,943. Cleveland’s David Justice holds the second outfield position at 397,317.

New York’s Tino Martinez tops the first basemen at 228,861, Texas’ Ivan Rodriguez leads catchers at 379,381 and Seattle’s Edgar Martinez is the top designated hitter at 305,638.