February 12

That would be Pokey Reese, Barry Larkin and, of course, Griffey.

But hold on -- the Big Red Machine's middle troika of Dave Concepcion, Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo all won Gold Gloves in three straight seasons. Two other trios -- Mark Belanger, Davey Johnson and Paul Blair of the 1969 Orioles and Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox and Jim Landis of the 1960 White Sox -- won Gold Gloves in the same season. Griffey and Pokey Reese won Gold Gloves in 1999.

Cat scratch fever
The Detroit Tigers were upset that C.J.Nitkowski took to his web page (CJBaseball.com) to render his displeasure with being forced to go to arbitrstion. Nitkowski wrote that the Tigers "have treated me like one of those clumps you find in a cat litter box."

Honesty never is popular with management.

Roll 'em easy
The Padres' infield could include Ed Sprague, whose 29 errors ranked second-highest in the league among third basemen; shortstop Damian Jackson, whose 25 errors ranked fifth; and Ryan Klesko, who had the second-lowest fielding percentage of any NL first baseman.

All of my rowdy friends
The Rockies win the spring training delegation championship with 70 players coming to camp. The Reds (67), Devil Rays (66), Tigers (63) and Royals (63) are right behind.

The dark side of the moon
The market price of left-handed relievers got Buddy Groom -- 0-for-9 in save opportunities the last two seasons -- $2 million a year for two years, and Graeme Loyd -- 3-for-11 in 1998-99 -- $3 million a year for three seasons. If Everyday Eddie Guardado signs a two-year extension with the Twins for an average of under $2 million, he will be a bargain; check his numbers against lefthanded batters last season. Then check Doug Johns and wonder when he'll get signed.

Left-handed relievers vs. Left-handed batters

The good

Reliever           Avg   AB   H  HR  BB  SO  BFP
Rocker, Atl       .140   57   8   2   3  27   60
Borbon, Tor       .156   90  14   2  20  22  112
Sauerbeck, Pit    .167   90  15   5  10  27  103
Wagner, Hou       .167   48   8   1   6  13   55
Guardado, Min     .176   74  13   2   8  30   84
Johns, unsigned   .179   67  12   2   6  15   80
Nitkowski, Det    .186   86  16   5  11  28  100
Myers, Col        .188   80  15   2  11  26   94
Painter, Tor      .189   74  14   2  10  18   85
Venafro, Tex      .193  114  22   1  11  22  130
Kline, Mont       .194   93  18   1  12  41  108
Cormier, Bos      .198   96  19   1   6  14  106
Embree, SF        .200   90  18   4  13  23  108
Plesac, Ari       .204   98  20   1   6  31  105
Remlinger, Atl    .205   83  17   3   5  22   91
Christiansen, Pit .205   44   9   0   6  16   51
Rhodes, Sea       .206   68  14   1  13  16   81
Cook, NY (NL)     .211   71  15   0   7  12   79
Byrdak, KC        .212   52  11   3   6  11   58
Swindell, Ari     .215   93  20   1   5  12  100
Magnante, Oak     .217  106  23   1  13  13  124
Masaoka, LA       .217   92  20   2  18  20  113
Whisenant, SD     .220   82  18   2  14  17   98
Mohler, StL       .224   58  13   0   4  12   64

The not so good

Langston, Cle      .292   48  14   3   2  10   51
Charlton, TB       .295   61  18   1  13  13   76
Spoljaric, StL     .296   71  21   4  11  29   84
Franco, NY (NL)    .300   30   9   0   4  11   37
Serafini, SD       .306   72  22   3   9   7   83
Guthrie, Chi (NL)  .313   80  25   2   6  17   90
Duvall, TB         .324   71  23   4   9   8   84
Brewer, Phi        .325   40  13   2   2  11   42
Roque, Mil         .328   64  21   2   6  12   72
Sampson, Min       .330   88  29   4   4  21   95
Brunson, Det       .333   24   8   0   4   8   30
White, Cin         .365   74  27   2   6  18   81
Ramirez, Col       .400   50  20   1   4  11   54
Vosberg, Ari       .462   26  12   1   1   5   31

Of interest

Rincon, Clev       .233   73  17   3   6  11   81
Groom, Bal         .245  102  25   0   6  22  111
Heredia, Chi (NL)  .247   93  23   3  10  26  105
Stanton, NY (AL)   .261   88  23   2   9  27  101
Lloyd, Mon         .269  108  29   6   7  24  115

The letter
We sent e-mail to some players, asking for suggestions on what fellow players they think will have big comeback seasons. The most common answer -- by far -- is Tigers outfielder Bobby Higginson; man, players really respect this guy. Among the other common or emphatic answers: Derek Bell, Jim Edmonds, Rich Loiselle, Darin Erstad, Jeff Fassero, Dan Wilson, Todd Hundley and Roger Clemens.