Chili Davis

Jack Morris chose to become a free agent yesterday, and reliever Juan Berenguer left the Minnesota Twins and signed with the Atlanta Braves for $2.1 million over two years.Three other new-look free agents faced a midnight (EST) deadline to decide their futures. California outfielder Chili Davis was talking with the Minnesota Twins, but no offers were reported for San Francisco Giants pitcher Mike LaCoss and New York Yankees pitcher Dave LaPoint.The five were among 15 players granted new-look free agency Dec. 7 as part of the $280 million collusion settlement.

A partial list of eligible first-time players for upcoming Hall of Fame elections: 2004:Joe Carter, Dennis Eckersley, Jimmy Key, Dennis Martinez, Paul Molitor, Terry Pendleton, Juan Samuel. 2005:Wade Boggs, Tom Candiotti, Chili Davis, Willie McGee, Jeff Montgomery, Terry Steinbach. 2006:Albert Belle, Will Clark, Gary Gaetti, Orel Hershiser. 2007:Harold Baines, Scott Brosius, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Gwynn, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Mark McGwire, Paul O'Neill, Cal Ripken, Bret Saberhagen.

A partial list of eligible first-time players for upcoming Hall of Fame elections: 2004:Joe Carter, Dennis Eckersley, Jimmy Key, Dennis Martinez, Paul Molitor, Terry Pendleton, Juan Samuel. 2005:Wade Boggs, Tom Candiotti, Chili Davis, Willie McGee, Jeff Montgomery, Terry Steinbach. 2006:Albert Belle, Will Clark, Gary Gaetti, Orel Hershiser. 2007:Harold Baines, Scott Brosius, Jose Canseco, Eric Davis, Tony Gwynn, Stan Javier, Wally Joyner, Mark McGwire, Paul O'Neill, Cal Ripken, Bret Saberhagen.

Quote: "It's tough. You hope you have enough depth to handle it." -- Yankees manager Joe Torre after Chili Davis followed Mariano Rivera onto the disabled list.It's a fact: First-pitch temperatures, tracked by the Tigers public relations department to 1934, have ranged from a low of 34 in 1996 to a high of 80 in 1960. Yesterday's was 53.Who's hot: Detroit relievers have not given up an earned run in their last 14 1/3 innings.Who's not: The Blue Jays have 35 hits in six games and are last in the American League in batting at .189.

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The Major League Baseball Players Association is considering filing grievances against the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels on behalf of Brett Butler and Chili Davis, union chief Donald Fehr said yesterday.The Dodgers offered Butler a one-year, $3.5 million contract in January, then told him a week before the strike ended that the offer was off the table.Agents Tom Reich and Adam Katz negotiated a three-year contract for about $11.25 million for Davis, but the Angels announced last week that the offer no longer existed.

Quote: "It's tough. You hope you have enough depth to handle it." -- Yankees manager Joe Torre after Chili Davis followed Mariano Rivera onto the disabled list.It's a fact: First-pitch temperatures, tracked by the Tigers public relations department to 1934, have ranged from a low of 34 in 1996 to a high of 80 in 1960. Yesterday's was 53.Who's hot: Detroit relievers have not given up an earned run in their last 14 1/3 innings.Who's not: The Blue Jays have 35 hits in six games and are last in the American League in batting at .189.

...C Cardinals: Willie McGee hit .350 (14-for-40) as a pinch-hitter last year and is 10-for-28 (.357) in that role this season.Giants: Going into last night, reliever Julian Tavarez had not allowed a run in his past 18 outings.Mariners: Seattle has hit four or more home runs in a game seven times this season. The Mariners' 17 wins this month is a franchise record for June.Marlins: Reliever Felix Heredia has not been scored upon since May 23 and has 14 consecutive scoreless innings in June.

The short spring training has made for one wacky season. Who would've guessed that more than a month into the year, Melvin Nieves would have more homers than Jeff Bagwell, or that the Cubs, Padres and Tigers all would have more victories than the Yankees or Orioles. Now the question is whether the wackiness will continue:Item ........... CommentPhillies ....... Before the season started, Lenny Dykstra said this was the best team that he'd ever played on, and everybody laughed. He wasn't kidding.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay ... ... ... Time ... ... TV ... ... ... StartersTonight ... ... 7:35 ... ... HTS .. ... ... Joe Magrane (2-4, 6.29) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Mike Mussina (11-4, 2.67)Tomorrow night ... 7:05 ... .. 13, 50 .. .. Mark Langston (4-4, 5.28) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Ben McDonald (10-5, 4.92)Sunday afternoon .. 1:35 .. .. 54, 20 .. .. Brian Anderson (5-3, 5.70) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Arthur Rhodes (1-5, 9.09)

DALLAS -- Some of baseball's best offensive performers -- players such as Rickey Henderson, Edgar Martinez, Paul Molitor and Chili Davis -- could find themselves in limbo if their teams agree at this week's owners meetings to switch leagues under a widespread realignment plan.At least six American League teams face immediate problems if changing leagues next year. Their dilemma is how to contend with the loss of the designated hitter in the DH-less National League. It is a particularly thorny problem for Seattle, Minnesota and Kansas City, teams whose offenses are largely built around talented designated hitters no longer cut out to be everyday defensive players.

DALLAS -- Some of baseball's best offensive performers -- players such as Rickey Henderson, Edgar Martinez, Paul Molitor and Chili Davis -- could find themselves in limbo if their teams agree at this week's owners meetings to switch leagues under a widespread realignment plan.At least six American League teams face immediate problems if changing leagues next year. Their dilemma is how to contend with the loss of the designated hitter in the DH-less National League. It is a particularly thorny problem for Seattle, Minnesota and Kansas City, teams whose offenses are largely built around talented designated hitters no longer cut out to be everyday defensive players.

...C Cardinals: Willie McGee hit .350 (14-for-40) as a pinch-hitter last year and is 10-for-28 (.357) in that role this season.Giants: Going into last night, reliever Julian Tavarez had not allowed a run in his past 18 outings.Mariners: Seattle has hit four or more home runs in a game seven times this season. The Mariners' 17 wins this month is a franchise record for June.Marlins: Reliever Felix Heredia has not been scored upon since May 23 and has 14 consecutive scoreless innings in June.

Forget the qualifiers for a moment, forget the fact that there are still five weeks to play. Imagine the season ended last night.The Orioles would be in the playoffs. They would play Cleveland in a best-of-five series.OK, back to reality: The Orioles moved into first place in the wild-card race with a 5-4 win over the California Angels last night, passing the Chicago White Sox as Mike Mussina pitched seven innings for his sixth straight victory and 17th of the season.The Orioles hold the high ground in the wild-card race, standing two games in front of Chicago and Seattle in the loss column with 34 games to play.

The short spring training has made for one wacky season. Who would've guessed that more than a month into the year, Melvin Nieves would have more homers than Jeff Bagwell, or that the Cubs, Padres and Tigers all would have more victories than the Yankees or Orioles. Now the question is whether the wackiness will continue:Item ........... CommentPhillies ....... Before the season started, Lenny Dykstra said this was the best team that he'd ever played on, and everybody laughed. He wasn't kidding.

Under court order to go through with salary arbitration after spending nearly a year trying to eliminate the process, owners exchanged figures yesterday with 39 players.California designated hitter Chili Davis asked for the most at $5.1 million, and St. Louis pitcher Ken Hill asked for $5 million. Kansas City pitcher Kevin Appier asked for $4,725,000 and pitchers Ben McDonald of the Orioles and Ramon Martinez of Los Angeles asked for $4.5 million apiece.Usually, figures are exchanged Jan. 18. But the 20th year of arbitration was delayed while the sides fought during the 7 1/2 -month strike.

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- The Major League Baseball Players Association is considering filing grievances against the Los Angeles Dodgers and California Angels on behalf of Brett Butler and Chili Davis, union chief Donald Fehr said yesterday.The Dodgers offered Butler a one-year, $3.5 million contract in January, then told him a week before the strike ended that the offer was off the table.Agents Tom Reich and Adam Katz negotiated a three-year contract for about $11.25 million for Davis, but the Angels announced last week that the offer no longer existed.

Under court order to go through with salary arbitration after spending nearly a year trying to eliminate the process, owners exchanged figures yesterday with 39 players.California designated hitter Chili Davis asked for the most at $5.1 million, and St. Louis pitcher Ken Hill asked for $5 million. Kansas City pitcher Kevin Appier asked for $4,725,000 and pitchers Ben McDonald of the Orioles and Ramon Martinez of Los Angeles asked for $4.5 million apiece.Usually, figures are exchanged Jan. 18. But the 20th year of arbitration was delayed while the sides fought during the 7 1/2 -month strike.

Mike Mussina and the California Angels have shared a common trend recently. When either is present, runs are a rarity.Mussina (11-4, 2.67 ERA) has not allowed an earned run in 15 innings, and just one in his past 18 innings. He has won four of his past five decisions and is 6-1 in eight starts following an Orioles loss.On the other hand, California hasn't scored a run in 22 innings. The struggling Angels were shut out in their past two games against an Oakland A's staff that has a 5.15 ERA.Mussina and the Angels meet tonight at Camden Yards as the Orioles and California open a three-game series.

Mike Mussina and the California Angels have shared a common trend recently. When either is present, runs are a rarity.Mussina (11-4, 2.67 ERA) has not allowed an earned run in 15 innings, and just one in his past 18 innings. He has won four of his past five decisions and is 6-1 in eight starts following an Orioles loss.On the other hand, California hasn't scored a run in 22 innings. The struggling Angels were shut out in their past two games against an Oakland A's staff that has a 5.15 ERA.Mussina and the Angels meet tonight at Camden Yards as the Orioles and California open a three-game series.

At Oriole Park at Camden YardsDay ... ... ... Time ... ... TV ... ... ... StartersTonight ... ... 7:35 ... ... HTS .. ... ... Joe Magrane (2-4, 6.29) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Mike Mussina (11-4, 2.67)Tomorrow night ... 7:05 ... .. 13, 50 .. .. Mark Langston (4-4, 5.28) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Ben McDonald (10-5, 4.92)Sunday afternoon .. 1:35 .. .. 54, 20 .. .. Brian Anderson (5-3, 5.70) vs.... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Arthur Rhodes (1-5, 9.09)