Griffey’s As Good As Gold

Florida catcher Charles Johnson and Cleveland shortstop Omar Vizquel and third baseman Matt Williams wound up on the same side Wednesday at the World Series: the 1997 Gold Glove team.

Seattle outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and Atlanta pitcher Greg Maddux won their eighth straight Gold Gloves, San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds won his seventh overall and Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez won his sixth straight.

Anaheim outfielder Jim Edmonds and New York Mets shortstop Rey Ordonez, both known for acrobatic plays, were among five first-time winners.

Baltimore first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, Minnesota second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams also earned the honor for the first time.

The awards for fielding excellence were announced by Rawlings before the Marlins and Indians played Game 4 of the Series. Managers and coaches vote for winners within their leagues, but cannot pick players from their own teams.

Bad, but still better

Maybe NBC should be happy there won’t be a World Series sweep.

Even though this year’s series is on pace to be the lowest-rated yet, baseball gets better ratings than the No. 1 prime time network does on any night other than its vaunted Thursday lineup.

NBC’s highest-rated entertainment show last week, other than Thursday night, was No. 29 “Caroline in the City” - which drew 2.26 million fewer viewers than Game 1 of the World Series.

Tuesday night’s game got the second-lowest rating for a World Series Game 3, Nielsen Media Research said. The 15.6 rating and 27 share was 11 percent below the 17.5 rating and 28 share for last year’s third game between the Yankees and the Braves.

Selig scorches pitchers

Delivering a blistering assessment of the pitchers in Game 3 of the World Series, acting commissioner Bud Selig said baseball must cut the time of its games.

“The ‘Unfinished Symphony’ had a better chance of finishing before that game last night,” Selig said Wednesday. “What drives people crazy (is when) the pitcher’s circling the mound, waiting for a message from heaven or something, and the hitter’s stepping out. …

“Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. It reminds me of my own club,” said Selig, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. “When you have pitchers who can’t throw the ball over the plate, and when they do it hits the wall somewhere, you’re going to have long games.”

Davis wins Clemente honor

Eric Davis, who underwent colon cancer surgery and returned to help the Baltimore Orioles reach the American League championship series, received the Roberto Clemente Man of the Year Award.

Davis, 35, missed much of the season but rejoined the Orioles on Sept. 15 and finished with season totals of eight homers, 25 RBIs and a .304 batting average as an outfielder and designated hitter.

Davis, who underwent surgery June 13, has been undergoing weekly chemotherapy and is confident he’s rid of the disease.

“I intend to live up to the Clemente spirit of helping others,” Davis said. “I’m no different than any other cancer patient.”

Braves have arthroscopic surgery

Atlanta Braves pitchers Denny Neagle and Tom Glavine and catcher Javier Lopez all underwent arthroscopic surgery.

Neagle had a partial tear in his right rotator cuff repaired. The National League’s only 20-game winner this season, Neagle was 20-5 with a 2.97 ERA. Glavine had both of his knees cleaned out to correct a meniscus cartilage problem and had a bone spur removed from his right ankle. He was 14-7 with a 2.96 ERA this season. Lopez had a cartilage problem in his left knee corrected. He hit .295 with 23 home runs and 68 runs batted in this season.