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By MIKE READLING and MARC TOPKIN
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 9, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Jason Tyner led off Thursday's game against Cleveland by trying to bunt for a single. The move, however, was more than just an attempt to reach first base.
It was the continuation of a conscious decision by manager Larry Rothschild to stress the fundamentals before the season starts.
Two of the three Rays wins this spring have been the direct result of hitters bunting at crucial times and moving runners into scoring position.
"You emphasize them now because they really count during the season," Rothschild said. "What I've come to realize is that, especially in the American League, you don't bunt. But when you do the game is probably going to be on the line and you may be asking a player to bunt sometime in June and July that hasn't bunted since who knows when and if you don't do it in spring training it's a lot longer."
The approach is slightly different from the one Rothschild has taken the past three years when he let his hitters be more free-swinging so he could evaluate them. With a fairly familiar roster this year, Rothschild said he can be more selective in what he wants to see.
"It's a little bit different this year," Rothschild said. "Early in spring training I didn't bunt much, I let guys swing because I felt they should get their at-bats and I needed to see them hit. Now I know our guys so it's changing that way and I want them to execute the things I expect them to do during the season."
WHITE HELD BACK: Highly touted pitching prospect Matt White, who has an outside chance of making the team, has been throwing on the side rather than in games so he can get the chance to "work on some things," Rothschild said. White probably will throw one more simulated game before making an appearance in a game.
Juan Guzman is scheduled to throw a simulated game this weekend as he moves closer to seeing his first live action since surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff in June. Guzman pitched 12/3 innings for the Rays last year before going on the disabled list.
Guzman, who Tampa Bay hopes could be ready by opening day, threw on the side Thursday and will take today off.
Wilson Alvarez, the other Rays starter to miss all of last season after rotator cuff surgery, is scheduled to throw on the side today and could move up to batting practice after that, Rothschild said. Alvarez has been throwing about 75 pitches on the side and is trying to build strength. THURSDAY'S ACTION: Jesus Colome gave up an eighth-inning grand slam to Cleveland non-roster player Danny Peoples as the Indians beat the Rays 6-2.
Albie Lopez, the favorite to be the Rays' opening day starter, pitched three innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out one and walking one. He said the main objective Thursday was to work on his curveball.
"I'm real happy. This was the first time I threw curveballs so I threw a lot of those, probably about 10," Lopez said. "It was a good, quality curve, I bounced a couple and put a couple in the strike zone."
Tanyon Sturtze continued his impressive spring as he battles for the closer's role. Sturtze pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two. For the spring Sturtze has allowed no hits in four innings, struck out six and walked none.
"I just feel comfortable out there," Sturtze said. "I threw my pitches and I hope it keeps going."
TODAY'S GAME: The Rays host the New York Yankees at 1:05 p.m. at Florida Power Park. Paul Wilson is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay with Bobby Seay, Doug Creek, Sean Bergman and Rusty Meacham also scheduled to pitch. ... Reserved seats are sold out but several hundred Berm tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. ... Union chief Don Fehr makes his annual visit to camp this morning and will meet with the players at 9.
The Rays host the New York Yankees at 1:05 p.m. at Florida Power Park. Pregame workouts begin at 9:30.
Russ Johnson, as the utility infielder gets a rare start today against the Yankees at second base.
Headline: Fantasy baseball leagues thriving
Last weekend at the Airport Marriott in Tampa, some of the finest baseball minds in the country gathered for what has become a rite of spring: the annual fantasy baseball draft
The League of Alternative Baseball Reality, or LABR as it's known, is a collection of baseball writers -- ranging from mainstream media such as USA Today, Baseball Weekly and ESPN the Magazine to fantasy-oriented magazines, Web sites and radio shows.
It's the best of the best, and results of the draft are used as a guide for thousands of local leagues in a hobby that recently has grown exponentially with the Internet.
"The Internet has been nothing but a positive -- from free services to free information, for the consumer, there's never been a better time," said Greg Ambrosius, a LABR member and editor of Fantasy Sports Magazine.
When LABR launched eight years ago, fantasy-league commissioners hunted down box scores and compiled stats by hand. By Ambrosius' recollection, an efficient commish still had at least seven hours a week with calculator and pencil.
Today, there are free sites available online, and stats are updated so often that team owners can check in each night and get partial box scores up to the latest at-bat. Ambrosius kept track of the number of fantasy service companies for a while -- from nine in 1989 to 120 in 1994, and he won't even speculate how many there are today.
"It's really contracting on the business side now, because nobody can make a profit," he said. "There's a great potential for a lot of consolidation up ahead."
Major sites like ESPN.com, CNNSI.com and sportsline.com have added fantasy pages in recent years, with weekly columns discussing trends, players to pick up and who should be cut. Other sites such asusastats.com charge a nominal fee to crunch the stats for your league, and here are a few free sites that can help your team:
rotonews.com: A great bookmark for any fantasy veteran, the site has projections for 2001, plus a page that will custom fit you a cheat sheet based on the number of teams and statistics your league uses. It's also good for injury updates and their fantasy implications.
drafthelp.com: It's the easiest site to remember, with tips on everything from writing a league constitution to running a draft online to sage wisdom like "avoid alcohol at the draft."
fantasybaseballcentral.com: Loads of links sorted into 30 categories to make your search easier. If there's something you're looking for, it's likely a click or two away.
topprospectalert.com: Rays star prospect Josh Hamilton graces the site's main banner, and for those wait-till-next-year types, this has the best insights into tomorrow's phenoms.
TID-BYTES: The 2000 Sugar Bowl championship ring once owned by FSU lineman Char-ron Dorsey is on eBay.com, with a minimum bid of $1,200. ... Sandbox.com is giving $10-million to anyone who can pick a perfect NCAA bracket, but Florida residents are ineligible to compete. This means you, too, Dick Vitale. ... Remember when you furiously scribbled down the NCAA field as teams were announced on TV? Two words you'll see on every site this weekend: printable brackets.
- If you have a question or comment about the Internet or a site to suggest, send an e-mail to staff writer Greg Auman at aumanac1@aol.com.