Tartabull

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The "Pine Tar Controversy" it wasn't.The Baltimore Orioles caught Kansas City Royals outfielder Danny Tartabull using an illegal bat on Thursday night, but were unable to take advantage of the situation.Tartabull was using a bat produced by a Japanese manufacturer (Zett) that is not approved for major-league play. If he had gotten TC on base in the opener of the four-game series at Royals Stadium, the Orioles were prepared to challenge the bat and -- if necessary -- protest the game.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Even in the bizarre world of George Steinbrenner's Yankees, Friday, July 28, 1995, will go down in the annals as one of the all-time crazies.Within a span of 90 minutes, the Yankees unloaded an unhappy and unproductive designated hitter, Danny Tartabull, and three minor-league pitchers, and added Cy Young winner David Cone and switch-hitting outfielder Ruben Sierra. The moves drastically change the face of the '95 Yankees as we know them.And to think, Darryl Strawberry is still supposed to fit in the picture somewhere.

The box score says that the Baltimore Orioles lost yesterday's game to the Kansas City Royals, 3-2, when Jim Eisenreich's sacrifice fly off Mike Flanagan knocked in the winning run in the ninth inning.But what really beat the Orioles was their squandering chances in the third, fourth and fifth innings, when they got seven hits against Kevin Appier . . . and scored one run.A few more runs during that span and the game would have been completely different. The Orioles would have put extreme pressure on a Royals offense that had averaged slightly more than six hits a game on a 10-game road trip.

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..

The Baltimore Orioles just can't seem to get it right. They came back from another big deficit last night and suffered another in a series of frustrating defeats.This time, Kirk Gibson delivered the late-inning home run, but it was the same old story. The Kansas City Royals scored a 6-4 victory and swept the three-game series at Memorial Stadium.Left-hander Paul Kilgus served up Gibson's 200th career home run with a runner on in the ninth to besmirch an otherwise solid performance by the Orioles bullpen.

Jeff Robinson, who was 4-9 with a 5.18 ERA with the Baltimore Orioles last season, signed a Class AAA contract with the Texas Rangers yesterday.Robinson, 30, was released Nov. 18. He had been acquired for catcher Mickey Tettleton the previous winter.Robinson started the 1991 season in the rotation, but won only one game in his last 11 starts and was optioned to the Class AAA Rochester Red Wings on July 30 in the pitching shake-up that brought Mike Mussina to the majors.Robinson failed to finish the fifth inning eight times in 19 starts.

Jesse Orosco, Orioles relieverThe five toughest hitters:1. Chili Davis. "He's just absolutely destroyed me. Doubles, singles, homers, whatever it takes."2. Danny Tartabull. "He's hit me very hard. He's the only guy I've allowed three homers to in my career."3. Harold Reynolds. "He's got like eight or nine hits against me in 10 at-bats. He wouldn't try to drive the ball off me. He'd hit it wherever the pitch would be."4. Andre Dawson. "He's always been so aggressive. You can throw him a good pitch, down and in, and he's such a good hitter where he's still going to be able to drive the pitch somewhere."

Don Mattingly was pulled out of the New York Yankees lineup yesterday because he refused to get a haircut."He was told to get a haircut before the game," manager Stump Merrill said. "He was told about it two weeks ago, too."He asked me if he was in the lineup, and I asked him if he would get his hair cut. He said no, so I told him he would not be in the lineup. Why have rules if you don't enforce them?"Mattingly, who was fined $250, said the haircut order was coming from general manager Gene Michael and being carried out by Merrill."

Having belted 39 hits in three games off a series of Boston Dead Sox pitchers over the weekend, the Orioles didn't have many left to spend on veteran New York Yankees right-hander Melido Perez last night at Camden Yards.Perez shut out the Orioles for eight innings, allowing but six singles, and watched the Yankees' bullpen survive a ninth-inning mini-rally to claim a 3-1 victory. The opener of the four-game, first-place showdown series pushed the Orioles two games out of first before a subdued crowd of 47,383 at Camden Yards.

THE YANKEES' MOVESThe players: The Yankees traded three minor-league pitchers for David Cone, the 1994 AL Cy Young Award winner, and swapped disgruntled outfielder Danny Tartabull to Oakland for disgruntled Athletics outfielder Ruben Sierra. The Yankees also are expected to activate outfielder Darryl Strawberry in the next few days.What it means: Cone is a tremendous addition to the Yankees, a veteran star with postseason experience, although some scouts think that he is gradually losing his fastball, becoming more of a breaking-ball pitcher.