Karros

The Dodgers' reluctance to sign Mike Piazza really points out Peter O'Malley's conservative narrow-minded attitude. I recently read that he was not fond of Piazza because he does not convey a clean-cut image like Karros. Piazza hit .336 last year with 36 home runs, Karros hit .260. First basemen are a dime a dozen, however catchers that can put up those numbers are not. Mike deserves a long-term contract, but they are offering only a two-year deal. I will be glad when the biased little Peter sells the team.

After a 13-year career with the Angels in which he set a franchise record for home runs, Tim Salmon on July 13 will attend his first All-Star game in Angel Stadium. The former right fielder will also take part in several events leading up to the game. "I finally made it . . . as a slow-pitch softball player," joked Salmon, who will be among the ex-players participating in Sunday night's All-Star Legends & Celebrity softball game. "I think I had a better chance as a baseball player.

It was great to see Dennis Gilbert, Phil Pote and John Young lauded for their efforts in bringing baseball back to the inner city. Hopefully, the new field at Southwest College will function not merely as a training ground, but as a metaphor as well--that an area given up for dead, and the young people within it, can blossom anew. Not to be overlooked in this saga is an unsung hero: Bill Plaschke. In documenting the dream, the struggle and ultimately the triumph, Plaschke showed how a responsible journalist can bring about changes in his community.

Don't be fooled by her perfectly applied mascara or lipstick when she strolls onto the basketball court. No, Mikah Maly-Karros likes to scrap. Just look at all of those war wounds -- the bruises on her legs, the scratch on her neck and the scar beneath her right eyebrow, which required seven stitches. "Relentless," one teammate called her. "She's fierce," said Coach Don Braunecker, who has watched Maly-Karros transform from an awkward athlete into a masterful rebounder. Maly-Karros, a 6-foot-2 senior forward for Manhattan Beach Mira Costa, is the new Southern Section rebound champion, surpassing local legends Lisa Leslie and Cheryl Miller, along with Alana Hampton, who had the mark of 1,718 while playing for Arcadia Rio Hondo Prep from 1989 to 1992.

As the team within the team, Delino DeShields and Brett Butler may represent the most productive potential at the top of the Dodgers' lineup since (choose one): --Davey Lopes and Bill Russell batted 1-2 for three consecutive seasons starting in 1977. --Maury Wills and Bill Buckner batted 1-2 for three consecutive seasons starting in 1970. --Wills teamed with Jim Gilliam or Wes Parker or Willie Davis at various times in the 1960s.

The sound of Fernandomania is just a distant echo. Nomomania is just a murmur. But Parkmania is growing louder by the game. And that's not always a good thing. It certainly wasn't Wednesday night. After getting shelled by the Montreal Expos in a 7-3 Dodger loss Wednesday night, a loss that dropped the Dodgers 2 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, Park said he had suffered from a lack of concentration caused, at least in part, by exuberant fans.

The Dodgers, wounded and worried, pretty much needed a miracle to shake them from their slumber. Eric Karros came up with one Saturday night, and the Dodgers scored a 5-4 victory. Until shortly after 10 p.m., as a parking lot full of the usual unfaithfuls scurried home early, there wasn't an encouraging word to be said about the Dodgers. Earlier, the team had put another outfielder, Eric Davis, on the disabled list. Later, starting pitcher Ramon Martinez struggled in his seven innings of work.

Dodger first baseman Eric Karros underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean out scar tissue in his left (nonthrowing) shoulder Friday, addressing a year-old injury that did not appear to be as serious as feared. There was some concern Karros may have suffered damage to a ligament or to the labrum, but Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Angel team physician who performed the surgery, found no extensive structural problems. Karros, who hit .

Eric Karros blasted the first grand slam of his career Wednesday night while helping the Dodgers post a 9-7 victory over the Montreal Expos, their biggest comeback of the season. "E.K. had a big day," Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said of his first baseman, who also matched his career high with six runs batted in. "His first grand slam couldn't have come at a more opportune time." The Dodgers trailed, 6-0, in the seventh inning before an announced crowd of 8,756 at Olympic Stadium.

Dodger first baseman Eric Karros, rehabilitating from shoulder surgery, said Wednesday he would be "ready to go" next spring. "I'm preparing myself for February," said Karros, in his first public comments since having scar tissue removed from his left shoulder Oct. 4. "I'll be ready." But even if Karros returns on schedule, he might be out of time as the club's everyday first baseman after batting .271 with a career-low 13 home runs and 73 runs batted in last season.

Just because Eric Karros made a guest appearance on the Dodger radio broadcast Wednesday doesn't mean he's ruling out baseball ... or anything else. "I'm playing church league basketball," Karros said. "I'm considering everything right now." Karros, the longtime Dodger first baseman released by the Oakland Athletics on July 29, said he would consider playing a 15th season if he could find the right fit.

The Oakland Athletics designated first baseman Eric Karros for assignment Tuesday. The A's also activated left-hander Chris Hammond from the 15-day disabled list. He has been out since June 12 because of a strained left shoulder. Oakland has 10 days to trade Karros, release him or assign him outright to the minors. He was told late Monday by General Manager Billy Beane about the decision. "Chris was coming back and we have a long road trip coming up and we've used our bullpen a lot," Beane said Tuesday.

The right-handed-hitting first baseman with a measure of power had wanted to fill that vacancy with the Dodgers in 2004. Eric Karros probably should have known that you can't go home again, even though he tried, to the extent of having lunch with Jim Tracy early in the off-season, when he was "flat out" told by the Dodger manager that, as Karros put it, "there were no problems between us."

After toying with the idea of returning to the Dodgers, free-agent first baseman Eric Karros has decided to sign a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics that will pay him at least $1 million and could include an option for 2005. Jeff Moorad, Karros' agent, said he had a "steady dialogue" with Dodger General Manager Dan Evans and former chairman Bob Daly over the last two months and had "conceptual discussions" with the team about a contract for Karros.

First baseman Robert Fick of the Atlanta Braves was fined Sunday for clubbing Chicago's Eric Karros with a forearm in Game 4 of the National League division series with the Cubs. Fick was fined an undisclosed amount by the commissioner's office and his team. "I just tried to hit his glove," Fick said before Game 5. "It was all a reaction. It wasn't like I tried to do it on purpose. I mean, I play hard. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody. I was just trying to knock the ball out of his glove.

Eric Karros said he would not gloat about the December trade that sent him and Mark Grudzielanek to the Chicago Cubs. It is tempting. The four-player deal in which the Dodgers reacquired catcher Todd Hundley is considered among the most lopsided of the off-season, as Karros and Grudzielanek have been key contributors to a team contending for the National League Central title. Hundley and the Dodgers?

Dodger first baseman Eric Karros openly ridiculed starter Ismael Valdes in a team meeting Saturday night and later exchanged angry words with Valdes in the shower area that led to a confrontation after the game, according to several Dodgers. Karros and Valdes refused to comment on the incident, which involved shoves. According to sources, Karros belittled Valdes during the 35-minute meeting for his pitching performance.

Just because Eric Karros made a guest appearance on the Dodger radio broadcast Wednesday doesn't mean he's ruling out baseball ... or anything else. "I'm playing church league basketball," Karros said. "I'm considering everything right now." Karros, the longtime Dodger first baseman released by the Oakland Athletics on July 29, said he would consider playing a 15th season if he could find the right fit.

The Dodgers' offensive struggle this year has made one thing clear: Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek weren't the problem. Karros refused the opportunity to make that point when contacted in Chicago, where he and Grudzielanek have responded to their roles with the contending Cubs.

It took New York Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens about two hours and 84 pitches Saturday to craft the makings of a masterpiece on as fine a canvas as baseball can offer, a gorgeous 70-degree day with a standing-room-only crowd packed amid the ivy and charm of historic Wrigley Field. It took Yankee reliever Juan Acevedo about two seconds and one pitch to slice and dice that portrait up like a steak on the grill at Benihana's.