Dwight Gooden

BaseballNew York Mets -- Placed P Dwight Gooden (sore right shoulder) on the 15-day DL. Activated P Bret Saberhagen.FootballPittsburgh Steelers -- Signed CB Alan Haller.

Red Sox Nation tuned in Wednesday to see Daisuke Matsuzaka dazzle Fenway Park for the first time. But by the time the game was over, another pitcher, 21-year-old Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners, had the baseball world abuzz. Talk of Hernandez as the next Dwight Gooden began two years ago, but only now are the results matching the reputation. He'll make his third start of the season Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins. In his first two games, Hernandez is 2-0 and hasn't given up a run in 17 innings.

HittingShannon Stewart, Blue Jays: 4-for-5, game-winning single in 11th.Mike Benjamin, Red Sox: 3-for-5, 2 doubles.David Ortiz, Twins: 3-for-4, double.Todd Walker, Twins: 2 doubles, 2 RBIs.Matt Lawton, Twins: Game-tying HR in 10th.PitchingDwight Gooden, Indians: 7 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts.Pub date: 09/04/98

Inside Baseball: The Best of Tom Verducci Sports Illustrated Books/318 pages Tom Verducci, a veteran journalist who has been the lead baseball writer for Sports Illustrated since 1993, doesn't really write features or profiles. Instead, he writes epics. This is hardly news to the weekly devotees of SI, who have been quietly raving about Verducci's gifts for some time now. But reading the recently released anthology of his magazine work, Inside Baseball: The Best of Tom Verducci, one can't help but be awed, once again, by the carefully chosen rhythm of Verducci's sentences, and the authority with which he tackles narrative journalism.

Indians: It was only the second time Cleveland has been swept in a three-game series at Jacobs Field since the park opened in 1994. Kansas City swept three in a row April 14-17 that year. Dwight Gooden is 0-4 in his career against Boston, including 0-3 with Cleveland. Cleveland went 3-6 on a nine-game homestand.Pub Date: 5/31/99

Baseball contracts with average annual values of $3 million or more and baseball players with the highest 1992 salaries at each position. Figures include all guaranteed income but not income from potential incentive bonuses:Player, Club.... .... .... Years.. ... Avg. SalaryRyne Sandberg, Cubs.. .... 1993-96. .. $7.1MBobby Bonilla, NYM... .... 1992-96. .. $5.8MJack Morris, Tor..... .... 1992-93. .. $5.4MRoger Clemens, Bos... .... 1992-95. .. $5.4MDwight Gooden, NYM... .... 1992-94.. . $5.2MBarry Larkin, Cin..

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Dwight Gooden will apply for reinstatement to baseball sometime this week, he told the Daily News yesterday, and hopes to be back on the mound sometime this month, preferably with the New York Yankees."

NEW YORK -- Despite talk to the contrary, Dwight Gooden will not be reinstated early from his season-long drug suspension, a person close to Major League Baseball's ruling executive council said Wednesday."

NEW YORK -- Pitcher Dwight Gooden, continuing to test positive for cocaine use, yesterday was suspended for the entire 1995 season.The New York Mets right-hander, whose career has been in decline, has 15 days left of a 60-day drug-related suspension that was interrupted by the players strike, and he will serve an additional 168 days, the balance of the 1995 season, on the suspended list.The commissioner's office, providing no details, said the latest suspension was for repeated violations of his after-care program and baseball's drug policy.

At Oriole Park at Camden Yards Day ...................Time..............TV ..............................Starters Tonight................7:35 ............HTS ..............Roger Clemens (8-6, 3.98 ) .............................................................vs. John Parrish (2000 debut) Tomorrow .............7:35 ..........13, 50..............Andy Pettitte (9-6, 4.65) .............................................................vs. Scott Erickson (5-7, 7.41) Wednesday ..........

Scouting report: Yankees vs. Orioles At Oriole Park at Camden Yards Day Time TV Starters Tonight 7:05 HTS Andy Pettitte (19-8, 3.98) vs. Chuck McElroy (2-0, 5.02) Tomorrow 7:05 Dwight Gooden (6-5, 4.64) vs. Mike Mussina (10-15, 3.85) Sunday 1:35 HTS Orlando Hernandez (12-12, 4.41) vs. Jose Mercedes (13-7, 4.03) Radio: All games on WBAL (1090 AM) and WTOP (1500 AM) Yankees update The defending world champion Yankees have the league's best record (49-36) since July 1 but have lost 12 of their past 15 They are still poised to clinch their third straight AL East title after once leading the division by nine games Sept.

The top candidates for Comeback Player of the Year: American League Cal Ripken (Orioles): Can he make it all the way back from surgery? Darryl Strawberry (Yankees): With Chili Davis gone, might return to prominence. Jay Buhner (Mariners): Prone to injury, but also prone to hit 45 homers if healthy. Sandy Alomar (Indians): Trying to shake off another painful season. Jim Edmonds (Angels): Still trade bait after injury-marred season. Steve Trachsel (Devil Rays): Losingest pitcher in major leagues last year.

Indians: It was only the second time Cleveland has been swept in a three-game series at Jacobs Field since the park opened in 1994. Kansas City swept three in a row April 14-17 that year. Dwight Gooden is 0-4 in his career against Boston, including 0-3 with Cleveland. Cleveland went 3-6 on a nine-game homestand.Pub Date: 5/31/99

Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees/# (Best of seven; TV: chs. 11, 4)Tonight: 8: 07 p.m., at New York.Indians' Jaret Wright (12-10, 4.72 ERA) vs. Yankees' David Wells (18-4, 3.49).2& Tomorrow: 4: 07 p.m., at New York.Indians' Charles Nagy (15-10, 5.22) vs. Yankees' David Cone (20-7, 3.55).1% Friday: 8: 07 p.m., at Cleveland.Yankees' Andy Pettitte (16-11, 4.24) vs. Indians' Bartolo Colon (14-9, 3.71).3' Saturday: 7: 07 p.m., at Cleveland.Yankees' Orlando Hernandez (12-4, 3.13) vs. Indians' Dwight Gooden (8-6, 3.76)

HittingShannon Stewart, Blue Jays: 4-for-5, game-winning single in 11th.Mike Benjamin, Red Sox: 3-for-5, 2 doubles.David Ortiz, Twins: 3-for-4, double.Todd Walker, Twins: 2 doubles, 2 RBIs.Matt Lawton, Twins: Game-tying HR in 10th.PitchingDwight Gooden, Indians: 7 innings, 1 run, 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts.Pub date: 09/04/98