No date says more about a franchise's true intent than July 31. Because teams must pass a player through waivers when attempting to trade him after that date, contenders work themselves into a frenzy gaining players before the deadline, while others, such as the Orioles, concede a season and dump.
The Atlanta Braves got B. J. Surhoff.
The Arizona Diamondbacks got Curt Schilling.
The St. Louis Cardinals got Will Clark and Mike Timlin. (Well, the Cards at least tried.)
And the Cleveland Indians, known in spring training as a certifiable postseason lock, got a load of intrigue to carry them through the rest of a disappointing season.
By entering the weekend 10 games behind AL Central-leading Chicago and five games behind the wild card, the Indians are poorly positioned to make a sixth consecutive postseason appearance.
However, that didn't prevent team president John Hart from making a slew of trades that further irritated a cranky clubhouse while turning up the heat under first-year manager Charlie Manuel.
The Indians may now appreciate Mike Hargrove's worth as manager.
Last weekend, they acquired starting pitchers Jason Bere and Steve Woodard, closer Bob Wickman and first baseman-DH types David Segui and Wil Cordero by sending young talent Richie Sexson, Enrique Wilson, Alex Ramirez, Ricky Ledee and Paul Rigdon elsewhere.
No team gambled more with its future for short-term gain than did the Tribe, which began the overhaul by trading veteran David Justice to the New York Yankees for Ledee.
"When I got here, the big names in our farm system were Sean Casey, Richie Sexson, Alex Ramirez, Russell Branyan, Enrique Wilson and Scott Morgan," said third baseman Travis Fryman. "Now, there's only one left - Russell Branyan.
"I'm sure we're developing more players in the minors, but those were the names everybody was talking about when I came here."
The Indians are now close to scramble mode. Proof is provided by their trade for Cordero, a player they allowed to leave via free agency last winter. Manuel, beloved as a hitting instructor, has bombed as manager.
Comparisons with the Orioles' 1998 promotion of Ray Miller from pitching coach to manager are obvious. As Hart's hand-picked successor to the vanilla Hargrove, Manuel lost much of a churlish clubhouse (Roberto Alomar, Kenny Lofton, et al.) just before the All-Star break.
A clubhouse meeting turned ugly as Alomar performed an old trick and ripped the manager in front of the team. Rampant pitching injuries haven't helped, but one only needed to see the Indians' season-opening series at Camden Yards to believe Manuel is overmatched.
"If the focus is more on me, that's the way it's supposed to be," Manuel said.
Should Manuel fail to last, Hart need only look inside the dugout to find bench coach Grady Little, bypassed as Miller's successor here last winter after a screening committee made him its majority recommendation over Hargrove.
Go, Nomar, go
No less an authority than Ted Williams has anointed Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra as a possibility to become the first player in 59 years since the "Splendid Splinter" to bat .400.
Garciaparra entered the weekend batting .393.
He's shown unswerving consistency throughout the season. He hasn't hit below .308 in any month since May 1998. This June, he hit a staggering .452 before hitting .388 in July. He has touched .400 three times this season - July 14, July 17 and July 20.
Garciaparra is an extremely aggressive hitter who has little use for working counts. And why should he? Teammates and opponents can hardly remember a scratch hit.
"For whatever he's hitting, he probably leads the league in line-drive outs," said Red Sox manager Jimy Williams. "That's what I think about his hitting skills. In here, we call it bad aim. But his aim is pretty good, to say the least."
"I walk up to the plate after he gets a double or a home run, and I've got the catcher looking up at me shaking his head, wanting to know how to get him out," said Red Sox left fielder Troy O'Leary.
An end for Surhoff?
As if being dealt to the Braves on Monday wasn't hurtful enough, Surhoff is likely to discover that his major-league-leading consecutive-games streak will become a casualty of new digs and a new manager.
Surhoff is a far superior player to injured left fielder Reggie Sanders, but Braves skipper Bobby Cox insists he has no plans to abandon Sanders.
"I'm going to play everybody, just like I have been doing," Cox said. "We've only got 50-some games to go the rest of the season and I want everybody to chip in and do what they can do. But I'm anxious to see this lineup go."
Surhoff enjoyed a string of 427 consecutive games when traded. He last missed a game on the final day of the 1997 season. His streak was the fourth longest in Orioles history, trailing only those of Cal Ripken (2,632), Brooks Robinson (463) and Eddie Murray (444).
