Baseball Teams

The Los Angeles Dodgers may be leaving behind 60 years of history in Vero Beach, Fla., but the Arizona Cactus League they're joining has a rich history too. The New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians, for instance, set up their spring operations in Phoenix and Tucson, in 1947, well before major league baseball moved west. With the arrival of the Dodgers and the White Sox in Glendale, Ariz., and the return of the Indians, 12 of the 14 teams are now playing their home games in the Phoenix area.

El Dorado High School of Placentia was named the top-seeded team in the 5-A Division for the Southern Section baseball playoffs, which begin with wild-card games today and conclude June 4 at Anaheim Stadium and Blair Field in Long Beach. In pairings released Monday, Mater Dei of Santa Ana, Millikan of Long Beach and Simi Valley are the other seeded teams in the 5-A. Hart of Newhall, at 25-0 the only undefeated team in the Southern Section, is No. 1 in the 4-A.

Despite dozens of transactions, nothing has really altered the power structure in major league baseball this winter. The affluent teams, generally speaking, have the best players and the biggest dreams, and the poor teams have limited payrolls and ambitions for 1997. An off-season ranking of the 28 teams, from best to worst: * 1. Atlanta Braves: First baseman Fred McGriff is coming back from knee surgery and David Justice is being dangled for trade, leaving the everyday lineup uncertain.

Robin Ventura's two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and the United States beat Taiwan, 6-3, Tuesday night to earn a berth against Cuba in the finals of the World Baseball Championship today. Cuba, the defending champion, used an eighth-inning rally of its own in beating Japan, 7-3, earlier Tuesday to remain unbeaten in the tournament. The U.S.'s only loss was to Cuba, 10-9, on Sunday.

UC Irvine's baseball season has taken a turn--a turn for the worse. The Anteaters got off to a 22-11 start and were 23-13 going into last weekend's three-game series at Fresno State, the first-place team in the Big West Conference. Then, there went the record, like a throw from shortstop sailing over first. Or a dropped fly ball. Irvine lost all three games, striking out 34 times and committing 14 errors, including eight in the Sunday's loss. That might be a school record, but nobody knows.

Mark Carlson, assistant softball coach at San Clemente High School last season, has been named to replace Joe Miller as the school's baseball coach, Athletic Director Jim McNaught announced Wednesday. Carlson, 42, played second base on Chapman College's NCAA Division II championship team in 1968 and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins. He played in the Twins' minor league system for three years.

Cal State Fullerton's baseball team moved into the No. 1 spot in the polls conducted by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America this week after winning the Anaheim Hilton & Towers Classic at Titan Field over the weekend. The Titans' top pitcher, Ted Silva, had trouble at times against Texas, giving up 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings, but still got his fifth victory of the season without a loss. The Titans' hitting, however, has been a big factor in their success.

*--* PITCHERS IP W-L SO BB ERA Kevin Beavers Woodbridge Sr. 73 7-2 88 34 1.73 Jeff Cody Fullerton Sr. 76 1/3 12-2 79 26 1.56 Brandon Herbert Western Sr. 74 8-1 72 9 1.23 Steven Lee La Quinta Jr. 86 13-0 72 11 1.47 *--* * *--* POSITION PLAYERS AB H HR RBI BA C Brett Kay Mater Dei Sr. 90 35 7 24 1B Jason Martini Ocean View Sr. 82 38 8 34 IF Randy Blood Calvary Chapel Sr. 72 39 2 14 IF Skip Schumaker Aliso Niguel Sr. 96 44 2 23 IF Chris Willmer Mission Viejo Sr.

It was the original dream team. Maybe the greatest amateur team ever. But it didn't win. Or did it? "We were not only playing for ourselves, but for the guys who came after us," said Will Clark, the San Francisco Giants' first baseman, reflecting on the 1984 U.S. Olympic baseball team. Clark was a member of that powerhouse team that lost to Japan, 6-3, in the championship game of the demonstration tournament during the Los Angeles Olympics but helped sell the amateur program to the world.