Football
Associated Press 19y

Alou expects spotlight to be on Bonds

TAMPA, Fla. -- San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou
understands there will be even more attention on his team this
spring because of the steroid suspicion surrounding Barry Bonds.

"If you're good, you're good -- whether it is the era of the
steroids, or the cigars, or the hot dog, or the beer, or the
amphetamine, or the red juice, or the whiskey," Alou said as his
team reported Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. "He's been through the
death of Bobby, his dad, along with the steroid stuff. I expect for
him to just show up and swing the bat and hit."

In Mesa, Ariz., Cubs manager Dusty Baker said he reached out to
Sammy Sosa after the outfielder was traded to Baltimore, seeking to
understand why his relationship with the All-Star came apart at the
end of last season.

"I got hold of him and we had a short conversation. I wished
him well. I did ask him, I said, `Hey, man, I'm still bewildered
about what happened and why,' and he didn't really have an
answer," Baker said Thursday before Chicago's first workout of the
spring.

"He said, `It's in the past, good luck and God bless you.' And
that was the extent of the conversation."

Curt Schilling arrived at the Red Sox camp in Fort Myers on
Thursday, saying he hopes to recover from ankle surgery in time to
pitch Boston's April 3 opener at -- where else? -- Yankee Stadium,
possibly against former Arizona teammate Randy Johnson.

After Schilling and Pedro Martinez helped lead Boston to its
first title in 86 years, Martinez left to sign with the New York
Mets. Schilling said he enjoyed pitching with Pedro a lot more than
Martinez liked pitching alongside him.

"I think that was pretty obvious at the end, not while it was
happening. But I guess when you look at what he said afterwards, it
was obvious that it wasn't as fun of a thing for him as it was for
me," Schilling said. "When the playoffs came and he made the
comment about somebody having to have a lot of guts to come up and
tell him he wasn't going to pitch Game 1, that kind of told me
where we were at."

New Boston teammate David Wells, who helped New York win two AL
pennants and one World Series, got right into the swing of the Red
Sox-Yankees sniping, saying Alex Rodriguez "has to earn it" and
admitting he didn't get along with Yankees manager Joe Torre.

"I remember reading the press conference or something when he
went there," Wells said of A-Rod. "He said: `When we.' He said a
`we' in his comment about like he's won like three or four rings
with them and he hadn't, and that kind of disturbed me.

"He shouldn't put himself in that category," added Wells.
"You've got to earn it. It's like he's been there the whole time.
But you can't take away what A-Rod has done for the game. He's a
great player, and he will continue to be a great player."

Wells remembered difficult times with Torre and pitching coach
Mel Stottlemyre.

"I've never had a good relationship with Joe," he said.
"We've had a few run-ins and Mel Stottlemyre as well, and Mel's
probably the best pitching coach I probably ever had. But just when
you have run-ins like that, it just leaves a sour taste, and who
needs it?"

At the Yankees' camp, Randy Johnson playfully got into it, too.
The Big Unit said he didn't think that merely by signing with the
Yankees he'd join A-Rod as a target of the Red Sox and their fans.

"I haven't done anything to them," he said.

Not yet, but his job is to lead the Yankees to their first title
since 2000 and deny the Red Sox a second straight World Series
championship.

"So they'll be mad at me if I pitch well against them? Bring it
on then," he said, laughing.

In Viera, Fla., the new Washington Nationals held their first
workout for pitchers and catchers following the team's move from
Montreal. Players more or less used to performing in a vacuum are
having every throw filmed by seven television cameras.

"It was a little strange during stretch seeing everybody out
there," reliever Joey Eischen said. "Being an Expo, being here a
long time, I've never seen that. I've been in a lot of other camps.
I've been with 11 other pro teams. It would equate a little bit
with the Yankees."

In Peoria, Ariz., new Mariners manager Mike Hargrove didn't like
his cap as he watched his team work out for the first time.

"The hat's killing me," he said with a laugh. "The person who
designed these hats should be drawn and quartered, but the Seattle
colors are nice. That part, I like."

In Lakeland, new Detroit Tigers closer Troy Percival was the
first player to report, at 6:30 a.m. The Tigers also learned that
reliever Ugueth Urbina would not be in camp until at least early
next week.

Urbina's mother disappeared Sept. 1 from her home in Urbina's
native Caracas, Venezuela. A senior Venezuelan senior police
official has confirmed news reports that the amount of ransom
demanded was about $3 million.

Urbina left the Tigers last September for Venezuela following
his mother's disappearance. He has declined to comment on the case.

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AP Sports Writers Rick Gano in Mesa, Ariz., Tim Korte in Peoria,
Ariz., Janie McCauley in Scottsdale, Ariz., Howard Ulman in Fort
Myers and Joseph White in Viera contributed to this report.

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