'White Flag' makes Hernandez see red

By MARC TOPKIN and BRUCE LOWITT

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 11, 2000

ST. PETERSBURG -- With the White Sox doing so well, the trendy story around Chicago is how the infamous "White Flag" trade of July 31, 1997, is finally paying off, that the young players acquired then are the key to their present-day success.

But Roberto Hernandez, one of the stars traded away, has a different view.

He says the trade that sent him, Wilson Alvarez and Danny Darwin to the Giants for six prospects was rooted in money and has little to do with what the Sox, who open a three-game series at the Trop tonight, are doing now.

"Name me the guys they have being productive there besides (Keith) Foulke and (Bobby) Howry. That's it," Hernandez said. "They went their way. They were committed to go young. But of the guys they traded for, (Mike) Caruso is in the minor leagues, Howry and Foulke are having decent years, (Lorenzo) Barcelo finally came up.. . .

"The main guys that have been doing their part on that team are the young guys they had in their system before those guys were even there. You look at Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordonez, James Baldwin, Mike Sirotka, Ray Durham. And they're getting help, inadvertently, from our scraps: Herbert Perry and Tony Graffanino. What they wound up doing was saving themselves salary."

Hernandez said he never made money an issue in Chicago, and notes, "They still haven't resolved who their damn closer is -- one week it's Howry, one week it's Foulke."

Still, he has enough friends on the team that he hopes they keep winning, after this weekend. "I wish them well. I wish they'd win the World Series. Chicago deserves a World Series."

DESTINATION DUNEDIN: Tony Saunders won't have to go far for the next step in his remarkable recovery from his May 1999 broken arm. Saunders is scheduled to throw four innings, or 60 pitches, Saturday for Class A St. Petersburg at Dunedin. Game time is 7 p.m. at Dunedin Stadium, 373 Douglas Ave. Saunders made two starts for Class A Charleston and is expected to make one or two for St. Petersburg. ... Minor-league third baseman Damian Rolls, out all season recovering from November shoulder surgery, will make his first rehab start Saturday for St. Petersburg, too. If all goes well, Rolls will move up to Double-A Orlando after about a week.

LOOKING (WAY) AHEAD: The Rays will open and close the 2001 season at home against Toronto, according to a tentative schedule. The opener is set for April2, the finale Sept. 30. Under the new unbalanced format, the Rays will have 10 home games each against the Yankees and Blue Jays, nine against the Red Sox and Orioles.

34 CANDLES: Gerald Williams got his 34th birthday celebration off to a pretty good start, hitting his career-high-tying 17th homer and getting on base four times. "I'm glad we won," Williams said. "It was an all-win situation." Despite a scoreboard announcement of the occasion, he appeared to escape any birthday hazing from his teammates. "They understand me very well," he said. ... All 17 homers have been from the leadoff spot, four more than the Rays' combined total at that position in 1998-99. ... Williams also hit 17 homers for Atlanta last season. ... Williams' walk to start the first inning was his third in that situation in 92 games.

IT'S LIKE, DEJA VU: Tampa Bay's Aubrey Huff and Minnesota's Danny Ardoin both hit their first major-league homers Thursday. The only other major-league game this season when two players did that was June 4 in New York, when Devil Rays' Felix Martinez and Esteban Yan went deep. ... Ardoin's homer was his first big-league hit. He is the 10th player to do that this season.

WHAT GOES UP. . .: Leftfielder Jason Tyner had his first tussle with the tricky Tropicana Field roof and lights, and he won, barely. Tyner made a long, and somewhat circuitous, run before hauling in David Ortiz's eighth-inning fly with two on and one out. "I took my eye off it, and I was like, "Uh-oh.' I really didn't know where it was, and then I was able to pick it up again," Tyner said.

HOO-RAYS: This is the first time the Rays have won a series from the Twins at home. ... With one win against the White Sox, the Rays will ensure a winning record for the 13-game homestand. They're currently 6-4.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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